Waco attorney trying to unseat Falls County DA

True the vote, keep the faith, etc...

Marlin – Funny how the same names come up over and over when it comes to conservative politics.

It's a small world.

Take former Falls County Republican Chairman Robert Ford. So far, he's the chief contributor to the campaign of Denton Lessman for District Attorney. He has contributed $250, according to a campaign finance report filed July 15.

Mr. Ford figured in the news recently when State Republican District 22 Committeewoman Janet Jackson of Clifton tagged him with a quick jab after an altercation in which he grabbed her arm after an intense meeting held to appoint a replacement for the position.

When his wife was appointed, Mrs. Jackson and Committeeman Jimmie Kerr left the meeting, among others.

Both Mr. Ford and Mrs. Jackson were cited for disorderly conduct-fighting by Marlin police.

Mr. Lessman's campaign is one that is being carried out from his home and offices in Hewitt and Waco, it turns out.

He has a 5th wheel trailer parked on a 50-acre parcel he owns at 528 CR 121 in Marlin, right next door to his uncle's home at number 530. No improvements are listed on the property and no septic system permit has been obtained.

The Falls County Appraisal Office lists his home address as 920 Cheyenne Trail, Hewitt, where his wife and kids live.

Mr. Lessman registered to vote in Falls County in 2007, and has done so in elections held since then. He listed his uncle's address at 528 CR 121 when he did so. His wife continues to vote in McLennan County from their Hewitt address.

A phone number on his Campaign Treasurer's appointment document is listed as 254-883-3373, but it rings through to a Waco office number of 254-776-4544.

Mr. Lessman is opposing incumbent District Attorney Jody Morris, who prosecuted operators of an 8-liner betting parlor in 2009 and obtained a forfeiture order on buildings and the betting machines, only to see an intervenor obtain the Court's assent to take back the machines and sell them to satisfy liens on the buildings.

That intervenor is J.R. Hawkins, operator of J-Hawk 1, and a former principal in First city Financial Corporation of Waco. This real estate packager has bundled mortgages for both commercial and residential properties, traded them on the open market and obtained resolution on non-productive or troubled assets. The corporation is listed on the NASDAQ exchange. He has since retired from that business, but still operates J-Hawk 1 from an address on Lake Shore Drive in Waco.

Mr. Hawkins is the campaign treasurer for McLennan County Chief Deputy Randy Plemons, a candidate to succeed Sheriff Larry Lynch.