Hugh Shine has responded to an allegation that he assaulted a Molly White staffer Friday morning.

Around 12:30 PM, Molly White's campaign Facebook page published a video shot by her campaign manager,  David Huber. In the video, Huber alleges that Shine was tampering with a booth he set up on White's behalf outside an early voting station near the Bell County Court Annex in Temple. The video then cuts to Huber asking Shine not to touch the booth, after which Shine is heard telling Huber to get away. Huber then begins driving away  as Shine appears to strike his vehicle with a metallic object.

The administrator of the Hugh Shine for State Representative Facebook page posted the following statement at 3:30 PM:

Hugh Shine is now being ambushed.

At approximately 6:00 a.m. on Friday, February 26 – 3 days before Election Day – Hugh began setting up his campaign outpost on Avenue A in Temple in front of the early voting location, just as he had done for the last two weeks.

This morning, Hugh found his truck blocked by Molly White campaign paraphernalia. Hugh moved the paraphernalia to access his truck and get to his campaign material. At that point, a car pulled to within inches behind Hugh, startling him. As Hugh turned, a part of the canopy he was assembling was brushed by the car. Of course, the driver was filming this. He is now misrepresenting what happened.

Police arrived on scene, spoke with both parties, and nothing came of the incident. Mr. Shine himself is considering what legal action he may take.
“Set up”, “ambush”, “sneaky”, and “unfair” are all accurate descriptions of what happened.

Shay Luedeke, a candidate who was at the Annex Friday morning, saw the interaction and had this to say, “I was there this morning at the Temple Annex putting out my signs. I did not witness any confrontation. I actually spoke with White’s campaign manager before he left the scene and he did not mention anything about any confrontation.”

Who thinks of this? This is not the act of a responsible, trustworthy public servant. Molly White should be embarrassed to be associated with such tactics and operatives.

Republicans deserve better than this. Bell County citizens deserve better than this. District 55 deserves better – much better – than this.

-Colonel Hugh D. Shine (retired)

Temple police issued a release Friday indicating that they were called to the location by Huber, but they did not offer any new details. According to the release, officers resolved the conflict and both parties agreed to erect their tents next to one another.

However, according to White's Facebook post, Huber plans to file aggravated assault charges against Shine.

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