Clay Jenkins, a freshman politician in an obscure political office, is back in the national spotlight thanks to the Ebola scare. Yesterday he described Dallas’ response to Ebola to Rachel Maddow as one of “unapologetic compassion.” If those words sound familiar — Maddow, compassion — that’s because this is the second time Jenkins has made the network news rounds. In July, he controversially tried to open county facilities to migrant children.
But who is this guy? That’s what I tried to find out in this profile from the October issue. Once labeled John Wiley Price’s “water boy,” he has emerged as a local political force. He was a hell raiser in his youth, survived a near-death car wreck, and, after some early term muffs, has demonstrated a knack for the political hardball of county politics. But will he even win his reelection this November? Here’s a taste:
In college at Baylor, Jenkins continued to distinguish himself dubiously. He was arrested twice, once for reckless driving after he led Baylor security and Waco police on a car chase he’d planned and a second time for criminal trespassing in a women’s dorm during a panty raid. Strangely enough, he was never arrested for his role as the famous Baylor Pie Man, a hit man for a student-organized ring that offered to throw pies in people’s faces—professors, ex-boyfriends—for a fee.
Read the whole thing here.
