Speculation continues to mount regarding a potential run for retiring Congressman Kevin Brady’s House district by his former campaign manager Christian Collins. Recently, Collins received high praise from prominent Christian historian David Barton.
Barton was the keynote speaker at a prayer lunch in The Woodlands organized by Collins himself. The lunch was attended by over 100 pastors and faith leaders from the north Houston area.
Towards the end of his talk, Barton told the audience that they should look for candidates to support who would do the right thing without having to be called or pressured. Barton mentioned Collins, who has said he is “strongly considering” running for congress, as an example of someone who would be that kind of conservative leader.
“I’ll do an little announcement here,” said Barton. “At some point I think Christian Collins is going to tell you he’s going to run for congress out of this area. He hasn’t announced that- I’m just telling you it’s probably going to happen.”
Barton noted that while he and Collins might have minor differences on certain economic policies, he praised Collins’ bonafides as a strong social conservative.
“I’m not worried about having to call him on a whole lot of stuff,” continued Barton. “There may be some economic stuff I may call him on because I’ve got opinions, but when it comes to moral issues, that’s not going to be an issue at all.”
For his part, Collins said an announcment is coming soon:
“Regarding my future, expect a decision this summer. We’re excited about what’s coming.”
Collins then gave what is probably a sample of the kind of stump speech he will be giving once he does indeed decide to throw his hat in the ring.
“I never want to be someone who just does what lobbyists in Washington or wherever, or whatever the leadership says just vote yes or vote no, I don’t want to be that person,” said Collins, striking a populist tone. “I want to be someone that stands with the constituents. You can call that person a populist, but I want to be someone who fights to defund Planned Parenthood and does everything they possibly can to stand up for this country.”
Barton’s comments are significant. Although many of his historical ideas are controversial in academia, he wields enormous influence among evangelicals and the “religious right”. Since evangelicals are a major voting block in GOP politics, securing support from that wing of the party will be critical in a Republican congressional primary.
Collins also continued his association with the populist House Freedom Caucus, remarking that, “I really like those Freedom Caucus guys because they do it right.”
Texas Citizen Journal 