CapitolInside_08.30.04

August 30, 2004

For Texas Lawmaking Pair, Republican
Convention in New York is Family Affair

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

NEW YORK - O Brother, Where Art Thou? If you're State Rep. Dan Branch of Dallas or Dr. Charles Branch of Advance, North Carolina, you have a brother here in New York City for the Republican National Convention.

Dan Branch talks politics at convention with Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst

Like Father, Like Son was a 1980-era movie starring Dudley Moore. But in the 2004 real life version, the stars are State Rep. Dan Flynn of Van and Josh Flynn of Houston. What do the Flynns have in common? Like his lawmaking father, Josh Flynn is attending the GOP's quadrennial gathering at Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple this week.

For the Flynns and the Branch brothers, the Republican convention is a family affair. Dan Branch and Dan Flynn are two of the four Texas House members who are delegates from Texas. The other delegates are State Rep. Robert Talton of Pasadena and House Speaker Tom Craddick of Midland while State Reps. Frank Corte of San Antonio and Kenny Marchant of Coppell are alternates in New York.

The younger Flynn - a 38-year-old accountant and father of five from Houston - is also a delegate to the convention from Texas. While father Dan the legislator attended the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia as a guest, this year marks the first time that he or his son have ever had the chance to nominate a national ticket as delegates to the GOP's big event.

For Dan Branch, the convention is more of a brotherly reunion given the vast distance between Dallas and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where brother Charles chairs the Department of Neurosurgery at the Wake Forest University Medical School. While Dr. Branch has received recognition for innovations in the field of spinal surgery, brother Dan Branch has emerged as a key player in Austin as a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Select Committee on Public School Finance. It's not that common for a freshman representative to land such powerful committee assignments.

But Branch wasn't exactly a new name on the political scene when he arrived in Austin to represent the Highland Park area of Dallas when the GOP control of the House at the start of 2003. The Dallas attorney was a Dallas County co-chair of George W. Bush's campaigns for governor in 1994 and 1998 and he led outreach to Democrats and independents for the Bush-Cheney campaign four years ago. While he's served less than two years in the state House, Branch's name is already mentioned frequently as a potential candidate for statewide office in 2006. A race for attorney general or another office could well be in the cards for Branch two years from now.

Dan Flynn came up short in a couple of state House campaigns before winning a seat representing Hunt, Raines and Van Zandt counties in Northeast Texas in 2002. A rancher and businessman, Flynn also has been a key player as a freshman, serving as vice-chairman of the Financial Institutions Committee while holding a seat on the General Investigating Committee as well. Flynn played a leading role during a recent General Investigating Committee hearing on the controversial Children's Health Insurance Program rural contract.

But for the time being, the legislative duties will have to wait a few more days while the Branch brothers and the Flynn team tend to another important task: nominating Bush for a second White House term.