WCMessenger.com: Will King lose his golden touch with voters?

I'm known as Rich King Midas, and when you look at me you'll see, a king who knows a thing about his treasury. I never cared for women, I've never cared for wine, but when I count a large amount of money - ha ha! - it's divine. Gold, gold, gold! I worship it, I love it. Gold, gold, gold! I wish I had more of it. My love for shining gold is such that I could never have too much. I wish that everything I touched would turn to gold, gold gold!

- King Midas from the 1935 film "The Golden Touch"

Our own King has appeared to dilute his golden reputation recently. State Rep. Phil King's shining aura seems a bit tarnished in the wake of recent illuminations.

King has long had the golden touch in Parker and Wise counties. The most distinguished gentlemen and gentlwomen of the land line up to paint King's campaign coffers with a splash of wealth. But the King-dom extends well beyond the lines of Parker and Wise counties.

Last week, stories and comments about King accepting a questionable gift lit up the Texas blogosphere like a spotlight shining on a 24-karat gold nugget.

Most of the postings revolved around a recent revelation made in the Star-Telegram. According to the article, King acknowledged accepting a gift of two golden tickets to the 2004 Super Bowl in Houston.

King received the tickets from a utility industry lobbyist. He watched the New England Patriots barely beat the Carolina Panthers from the cozy confines of CenterPoint Energy's luxury suite. He also witnessed the infamous halftime moment involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. The barely visible flash of breast must have surely offended his socially conservative sensibilities.

But the "wardrobe malfunction" is not the controvery this time around.

CenterPoint Energy is a Houston-based energy company. The company regularly has business before the Texas House Committee on Regulated Industries. The thing is, King serves as chairman of this particular committee.

CenterPoint's vice president Scott E. Rozzell told a Texas House Ethics commission that he spent $876.30 on King and his son during the super bowl game.

King insists no legislative business was discussed during the game.

"We had an offer for a free ticket and we took it," King said in an interview with the Star-Telegram.

The Texas Penal Code might find a problem with the gift though. The language in the code is as clear as water in a fast-flowing mountain stream.

"A member of the legislature, the governor, the lieutenant governor, or a person employed by a member of the legislature, the governor, the lieutenant governor, or an agency of the legislature commits an offense if he solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept any benefit from any person," according to Chapter 36.08 (f) in the Texas Penal Code.

But such lapses of judgment have done little to curtail the fundraising capabilities of the King campaign. King has raised more than $362,000 since July of last year, according to the Texas Ethics Commission Web site, and he has more than $300,000 in cash on hand. Meanwhile, his opponent in the March primary, Joe Tison, the former mayor of Weatherford, has raised approximately $50,000 and has just over $33,000 of cash on hand.

It's up to the voters in the March primary to determine if King's golden touch has faded to pyrite.