The Guy Who Quit After 37 Days as Corpus Christi's Mayor is Now Running for Senate
Last edited Wed Aug 16, 2017, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)
Ted Cruz has a new challenger for his Senate seat in 2018: Dan McQueen. If you’ve already forgotten the name you can be forgiven—McQueen’s time in the limelight as the embattled mayor of Corpus Christi lasted just 37 days before he suddenly quit in January.
McQueen’s background is complicated. He was elected as Corpus Christi’s mayor last year despite having no political experience—his status as an unknown outsider made him an attractive candidate. McQueen ran into problems right from the start, grappling with a clean water crisis that drew national attention less than two days after he came into power. In the weeks that followed, he traded blows with local media and members of the city council on Facebook, and became the subject of several investigative news reports that raised questions about the legitimacy of his educational background, his business acumen, and the nature of his relationship with his chief of staff. Over a span of only a few days, everything fell apart for McQueen. It started when local media started looking into his business background:
A series of reports by Corpus Christi NBC affiliate KRIS-TV raised some troubling questions about McQueen. One report implied that McQueen, who campaigned on the back of his supposedly strong business credentials, actually didn’t have a particularly impressive record after all. According to KRIS-TV, McQueen was sued in 2007 for breaking a lease in a San Antonio shopping center where he was renting space for a karate school, and he still owes $25,000 on a court-ordered lien for the property. Citing court documents, KRIS-TV said McQueen was fined twice during that lawsuit for failing to turn over documents, and one of his attorneys withdrew from the case because he had “difficulty communicating” with McQueen. McQueen also ran a failed campaign to raise funds for a documentary film called Party Hard. According to KRIS-TV, the would-be director said the film would expose the “drugs, parties, illegal immigrants, and career criminals” supposedly living off of contributions to local homeless shelters. The film’s online Kickstarter fundraiser campaign raised exactly $0 of its $7,250 goal.
His professed educational record quickly fell apart too:
Another KRIS-TV report raised questions about McQueen’s academic background. According to KRIS-TV, McQueen has claimed for at least the past three years that he had a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Florida State University. But Florida State apparently had no record of anyone with McQueen’s name and birthdate earning a degree from the school. McQueen didn’t directly respond to KRIS-TV’s questions, but he did delete a LinkedIn profile that KRIS-TV said listed his Florida State degree just hours after the news station asked him about it. He also deleted his website, which mentioned that he earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering. We did find this flier for what appears to have been a speaking engagement McQueen attended at Delmar College, listing the Florida State degree in McQueen’s biography. The Caller-Times was able to confirm that McQueen earned a master’s degree in computer information systems at Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in professional aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, but it is still unclear why the bachelor degree details seem to have been made up.
Read more:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/guy-quit-37-days-corpus-christis-mayor-now-running-senate/
