James joined the Family Research Council as assistant to president Tony Perkins, intending to "fight the kind of 'religious bigotry' [James] blames for his firing by Fox." Texas Tech controversy James' son Adam was the center of a controversy that resulted in Texas Tech suspending, and later firing, head football coach Mike Leach shortly before the 2010 Alamo Bowl. Leach had allegedly forced Adam to stand in a shed for two hours during practice on two occasions. In response, Adam went directly to university chancellor Kent Hance and members of the board of trustees with his accusations. In light of the allegations, ESPN removed Craig James from announcing the Alamo Bowl, replacing him with Bob Davie. In a lawsuit filed by Leach against Texas Tech, he alleges that Adam "voluntarily placed himself into the electrical closet and apparently took pictures with his phone camera." In response, James stated, "Since the James family is not a party to the lawsuit, we deem it inappropriate to discuss it." Leach later filed suit against James and others for defamation and wrongful termination related to the publicity surrounding the incident. In August 2013, Leach's claims were dismissed on summary judgment. Politics In an interview with WFAA-TV in Dallas, James revealed that he was interested in getting involved in politics as a member of the Republican Party. James is a self-described conservative and stated that government intervention in business and health care were his main concerns. He founded a political group called Texans for a Better America. 2012 run for U.S. Senate On December 19, 2011, James announced that he would run for the United States Senate as a Republican in 2012 for the seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. Public Policy Polling found during the race that "as Craig James has become better known he's just gotten more and more unpopular." During a 2012 debate, James upbraided former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert for attending a gay pride parade, and declared that gays would eventually "answer to the Lord for their actions." Those and other controversial statements subsequently cost him his job at Fox Sports Southwest. On May 29, 2012, he finished a distant fourth out of nine candidates in the Republican primary with 3.6% of the vote. References External links CBS SportsLine profile 1961 births Living people American Conference Pro Bowl players American football running backs American television sports announcers College football announcers