Robert Eckels' Everlasting Love/Everlasting Hate

I had an e-mail forwarded to me today by several readers expressing shock and concern (and in some cases, outrage) over the endorsement of Pat Lykos by former County Judge Robert Eckels.

I appreciate the notice of Eckels' endorsement e-mail, but I was kind of surprised that my readers are surprised at his endorsement.

Eckels, after all, is the same guy who kept Lykos employed after her failed bid for Attorney General in 1994.  Nobody to this day is sure exactly what Lykos was doing for Eckels, other than drawing a steady paycheck.

He also bankrolled her campaign in 2008, as I pointed out in this blog post way back when.  The article that I linked to back then was one by then-Houston Chronicle columnist Alan Bernstein.  He reported that  Eckels had handed Lykos a very large chunk of change so that she could publish some very misleading campaign literature that created the impression that she had the official endorsement of the Harris County Republican Party.

Eckels has proven that his affection for Lykos runs deep.

What also runs deep, apparently, is his hatred.

Students of Harris County Courthouse History may remember that back in the Johnny Holmes era, Mr. Eckels' father was prosecuted by Mr. Holmes.  Those of us who have ever prosecuted a case will be the first to tell you that we don't really earn a big fan following from a Defendant's family.  Eckels' disdain for the Holmes Administration (and anyone he seems to consider to be formerly tied to the Holmes Administration) is par for the course in the Criminal Justice Business.

It is understandable that he would sympathize with Pat Lykos for being investigated by two Grand Juries and now the Texas Rangers.

But as Lykos takes his endorsement (and doubtlessly, his campaign donations), you should take what he has to say with a shaker grain of salt.  It has as many lies and misrepresentations in it as the mailer he financed (and denied) back in 2008.

Robert Eckels' endorsement pretty much exemplifies the origins of the phrase "consider the source."