| 1997 – 2002: | Linda Harper-Benz sits on the Irving City Council. According to her own admission, at this time her husband was involved in business dealings with the companies linked to her Benz. Apparently aware of a conflict-of-interest, she abstained from several votes on contracts between Paradigm Traffic Systems and the City of Irving. |
| March 2002: | Harper-Benz barely squeaks by to win the Republican nomination for State Representative by 79 votes (51% of the vote). |
| November 2002: | Absent a major party opponent, Harper-Benz still earns a measly 75% of the vote to become the next State Representative from Irving. |
| January 2003: | Harper-Benz is sworn in as State Representative. |
| February 2003: | Harper-Benz is appointed to the House Committee on Transportation, and serves as that committee’s powerful Chair on Budget and Oversight. |
| April 28, 2003: | The Texas House overwhelmingly votes (103 to 34) against allowing cities to use photos from red light cameras to issue citations for traffic violations (HB 901). |
| May 28, 2003,
8:52 PM: |
With the 2003 legislative session drawing to a close, Harper-Benz sneaks a carefully disguised amendment into a major transportation bill (SB 1184), which would allow for red light cameras.
When Harper-Benz addresses her colleagues to introduce her stealth amendment, she describes it with the following: “This amendment defines regulating.” In less than a minute, her tactics overturn the collective will of her colleagues in the Texas House. Watch Linda Harper-Benz earn her alleged bribe on the floor of the Texas House (Start at 6:29:05). |
| November 2004: | Harper-Benz wins re-election with 59% of the vote. |
| November 2006: | Her unpopularity growing, Harper-Benz wins reelection with only 55% of the vote. |
| November 2008: | Harper Benz is reelected by a narrow 19 vote margin. |
| June 16, 2010: | Scandal breaks loose. The Dallas Morning News and WFAA (Dallas ABC-8) report that Harper-Benz and her husband are driving a 2010 Mercedes Benz and 2004 Chevy Tahoe owned by Durable Enterprises Equipment Ltd. Neither vehicle is reported on her mandatory personal financial disclosure reports.
Harper-Benz immediately posts a video on YouTube responding to the scandal. She suggests that somehow she was not aware that driving an undeclared Mercedes Benz bought by a TxDOT contractor was wrong. Harper-Benz “set[s] the record straight” by repeatedly blaming “Washington, DC liberals” for her problems. |
| July 2, 2010: | Harper-Benz posts on YouTube another misleading video, where she claims to have handed over to the media “over a hundred pages” of contracts between TxDOT and the companies linked to her Benz. |
| July 3, 2010: | After her false statements are exposed, Harper-Benz pulls the misleading video. Her campaign claimed it was intended to be “one-day video”. |
| July 8, 2010: | The Dallas Morning News reports that Harper-Benz has stopped driving her sleek new Benz. Too little, too late. |
| The investigation continues… | |
