Election for the Chair of the Texas Democratic Party coming up!

This ought to be fun.

We have 3 candidates to choose from, our current Chair Gilberto Hinojosa, Kim Olson, and Carroll Robinson. I've heard all three speak at various events and I have my personal choice. Here is what I think the atmosphere is like in the convention.

Most everyone I have asked have good words for Chairman Hinojosa but follow it with a big but......we need to do something different. Hinojosa is running on his record but the other two are running on his record also. Hinojosa has been the chair for 10 years now and quite frankly I have to agree with the opposition. Our state has moved backwards on all fronts and we stalled in 2020. 

Lots of folks wearing pink Kim Olson shirts. Lots of women are supporting her. Robinson has a small showing. Hinojosa has a supporters but seem to be subdued. We will see what shakes out when the the sign waving starts.

Hinojosa has some interesting endorsements including one from an unknown PAC called Future Generations. Never heard of them but I received a text endorsing Hinojosa. FG was created recently, raised only $66,000 and seems to be endorsing far lefties across the county and Hinojosa, which I do not consider a far lefty. Not sure why they would pick a State Chair race to endorse.

Olson has received an endorsement from the Texas Progressive Caucus. I know very little about them.

Vote is later today.

Who's is Future Generations PAC?

 

Kim Olson for Texas Democratic Party Chair

Sometimes a change is necessary. That time is now.

I remember voting for Gilberto Hinojosa many years ago. He was a great choice then and did a great job for many years but it is time for the party to move on and do something different. As with every issue facing our state whether it is gun safety, immigration, civil rights, women rights, etc, etc, we are not moving in the right direction. It is time to do something different.

Kim Olson is running for the Chair of the Texas Democratic Party. Kim's resume is outstanding. Take a minute to review it here. She has been involved in the party for many years, running for Texas Agriculture Commission and Congress, and advocating for Democratic issues. (See her video here. It's a good one.) Running for office requires raising money. Running the Party also requires raising money as well as enthusiasm.  I am confident she has the ability to raise money for the party. Kim is tough, battle tested. Unlike many who have run for office and lost, Kim is still here, still working to make our Party and our State better. 

We should all thank Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa for his years of service to the Democratic Party. He has served our Party honorably. Kim is up for election on Saturday. I believe the Party will be represented well by Kim Olson if elected.

Guide to the Texas Democratic Convention in Dallas July 14-16

The Texas Democratic Convention will take place  in Dallas from Thursday-Saturday July 14-16. Here is a quick guide for those attending:

Do not sign any petitions. When you check in and during the convention you will be asked to sign petition for various resolutions. Do yourself a favor Don't sign them. If a group gets enough signatures from each of their Senate District their resolution must be brought to the floor for a vote. Sometimes this could amount to a very long, drawn out, worthless vote. If the resolution they are pushing have merit they should have pushed them through the resolution committees of the Senate Conventions. Many of the fringe groups have done this in the past.

The Texas Democratic Party has a load of information at their website, TexasDemocraticConvention.com. It has a schedule of events and the rules of the convention as well as other information. Take some time to read it.

Go to the Kickoff receptions. The kickoff is a great way to meet your elected officials, donate to the party, and have fun. It is always a good party for the party. The kickoff is at the host hotel on Thursday evening. Find tickets here.

Find hospitality suites. Many elected officials and organizations will have hospitality suites throughout the event. Organizations like Annie's List, Texas Freedom Network, Young Democrats, etc are just a few that will most probably have a party. This is again a great way to meet like minded people on specific issues. And they are usually a lot of fun!

Visit the vendors. Once they are open find a plastic cover for your convention credentials. The vendors will have t-shirts, stickers, and other political merchandise. Many organizations will have a booth with information about their specific issue. Find an issue you are concerned about. Sign up to keep informed.

Attend your Senate District Caucus. At this time delegates will vote for SDEC chairs and positions for the various committees. You should have been contacted by those who are running by now.

Attend a caucus. There will be a caucus for a number of organizations including the Hispanic Caucus, Young Democrats, and specific issues caucus. Pick one and attend. Unfortunately they only schedule a couple of hours for these meetings and most of the time is spent listening to candidates. 

Attend a training session. Your delegate package will have a detailed schedule with training sessions usually on Saturday morning. Pick one or more.

Do not feed the fringe groups. In the past the fringe group was the LaRouche people. I did not see them at the last convention. But if there is a new fringe, just leave them alone. They tend to be like lost, cute puppies. Once you talk to them you will end up taking them home. And feeding them. These fringe groups are the cult of the Democratic Party. Do yourself a favor and just leave them alone.

Local republican national committee member votes on RNC resolution censuring Cheney

The republican national committee is composed of 3 members from each state, 2 elected committee members and the chair of the State party. Robin Armstrong is one of the committee members from Texas. Robin lives in Friendswood. From the RNC:

Robin Armstrong was elected as the National Committeeman from Texas in June of 2012. He is a politician and physician who served as vice chairman of the Republican Party of Texas from 2006-2010. Mr. Armstrong has a B.S. in microbiology from Texas A&M University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. 

The resolution censured Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Congressman Adam Kinzinger for participating in the Jan 6 Committee investigating the Jan 6 riot at the capitol that led to the deaths of a number of police officers and 2 rioters, along with millions in damages. Robin voted on the language claiming the riot was  "legitimate political discourse". From the resolution:

WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes,

The full resolution can be read below. 

WTH is wrong with Texans?

You're freezing your butt off. You're paying a tax for the electrical grid upgrade that was supposed to have happened in 2003. You're paying high electricity prices due to deregulation in 2003. You're paying outrageous home insurance prices due to the failure of insurance deregulation in 2003. You're paying some of the highest property taxes in the country. You're paying high college and trade school prices ever since Abbot and company deregulated college tuition in 2003. 

And over 75,000 of friends, family, and fellow Texans have died from COVID partially due to Abbott's politicizing of COVID.

Yet you're still voting for him? WTH is wrong with you?

Raising Campaign Cash: Lee Merritt for Texas Attorney General

Lot's of socialist money being poured into this campaign. 

The socialists of America has figured out a way to infiltrate the Democratic Party by running in deep, deep, deep, blue districts such as in Hays County (Austin). They pick and choose just a few candidates unlike what they did back in 2016 when they adopted the "Run Everywhere, Lose Everywhere" approach. From an early post:

Out of 80 candidates endorsed by , only 7 won. 2 were incumbents in deep blue districts. 1 was unopposed.  4 were all in very blue districts wiping out their general election opponents. It's not like they were endorsing in tough competitive states like Texas, although those that did, lost. All of them. One raised over a $1 Million and lost 70-30 in the primary.

It looks like they have picked Lee Merritt to run in Texas for AG. Texas is far from being deep, deep, blue. It's a possible swing state if that. In his latest report Merritt raised a total of $404,615 which is pretty good for a primary. $185,333 are unitemized. More on that later.

Of the remaining 2146 donations of $219,281 that were itemized, only $70,085, 31%, were from Texans. $149,196, 69%, came from out of state donors. $60,751 came from donors from California. $22,298 came from Real Justice PAC a socialist Organization based out of California. Real Justice raised $25,880 with $21,445 coming from cash donations, which is hard to believe. I've written about Real Justice before:

According to the Texas Ethics Commission Real Justice PAC has raised $298,050 with $200,000 coming from one individual, Cari Tuna from San Fransisco. Only $10,200 came from Texans, and only $600 came from Harris County.

About that $185,333. Merritt listed unitemized contributions of $185,333. According to the Texas Ethics Commission all donations over $90 must be reported as well as all donations submitted electronically. So this $185,333 must be donations of $90 or less and in cash. That is a lot of cash.

Lee Merritt for Texas Attorney General merits no further consideration

Lee Merritt is a prominent civil rights attorney who represented the family of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Ahmaud was killed by 3 individuals who decided to take the law into their own hands. They were found guilty of murder and will spend the rest of their lives in jail. Merritt has an excellent record on civil rights....but....

Merritt is running in the Democratic Primary for Texas Attorney General. The AG has, in the past, been the "people's lawyer" representing the interests of the State of Texas and it's citizens. Unfortunately Mr. Merritt is not authorized to practice law in the State of Texas and has had a complaint filed by the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee of the Texas Supreme Court, Cause No. 417-00438-2018.

The complaint alleges Lee was practicing law in multiple cases, citing 6 specific cases as well as a number of others. The entire complaint can be read here. The complaints were eventually dropped with Lee signing a Final Consent Judgement listing 12 specific restrictions including not being able to advertise his services, or participating in discovery in Texas cases, and much more. The list is pretty specific. I would think it could be alleviated by Lee taking and passing the Bar. This Judgement was signed in Feb 2018 nearly 4 years ago. According to the complaint:

Although he applied to take the July 2015 Texas Bar Examination, Defendant did not do so and has not since sought admission to the State Bar of Texas.

It seems pretty clear he does not intend to take the Texas Bar Examination. It makes sense that the top lawyer of the State of Texas should be licensed to practice law in the State of Texas. Although Lee has a stellar record in civil rights he just doesn't merit any further consideration for the office of Texas Attorney General.

Read the complaint and judgement here.

Fact Check: Is it now illegal to chain a dog in Texas? No.

When it comes to the humane treatment of dogs, Greg Abbott is still a dick.

Texas Senate Bill 5 was passed during one of many special sessions called by Governor Abbott concerning "relating to the unlawful restraint of a dog; creating a criminal offense." This bill makes it illegal to use a chain to restrain a dog but it does NOT make it illegal to restrain a dog with a rope or tether.

According to the bill a dog cannot be tethered without access to food, water, and shelter and the tether cannot be less than 5 times the length of the dog or 10 feet. This is just an incredibly stupid bill. A responsible dog owner would not have a dog unless they have a fence and it is able to run freely. Restraining a dog for it's entire life with a chain or rope or tether is cruel. It's just plain hillbilly mean yet the bill does not stop this from happening. Take a moment and read the gdamn bill. #NoPlaceButTexas

Sec. 821.102.  UNLAWFUL RESTRAINT OF DOG; OFFENSE. (a) An
	owner may not leave a dog outside and unattended by use of a
	restraint unless the owner provides the dog access to:
	(1)  adequate shelter;
	(2)  an area that allows the dog to avoid standing water
	and exposure to excessive animal waste;
	(3)  shade from direct sunlight; and
	(4)  potable water.
	(b)  An owner may not restrain a dog outside and unattended
	by use of a restraint that:
	(1)  is a chain;
	(2)  has weights attached;
	(3)  is shorter in length than the greater of:
	(A)  five times the length of the dog, as measured
	from the tip of the dog's nose to the base of the dog's tail; or
	(B)  10 feet; or
	(4)  is attached to a collar or harness not properly
	fitted.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott takes the lead in the Lap Dog Award

In Texas we don't take kindly to a brown nose, an ass kisser, a boot licker, a suck ass, or an obedient lap dog. Unfortunately our own Governor, Greg Abbott, has stooped to a level of ass kissing never seen before. He is currently beating out Pedro Bush who kissed Trump's ass only be be crapped on when Trump endorsed his opponent, Ken Paxton.

Moments after the results of the Arizona audit was announced, showing, once again, that Biden won the election and no election fraud was found, Trump instructed Abbott to start a similar audit here in Texas. Like Arizona, this will cost Texans about $6 Million. $6 million that could be put towards law enforcement, or infastructure. Instead like the ass kissing lap dog Abbott is, we will pay $6 million to one of Abbott's buddies to perform an audit of the election which will show, once again, no election fraud.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Lapdogs we don’t need these days, as Abbott’s embarrassing acquiescence reminds us. As long as one of our major political parties is in thrall to a would-be demagogue, democracy is in danger. Instead of yapping lap dogs, we need the political equivalent of the majestic Great Pyrenees, loyal canines that protect Hill Country sheep and goats from coyotes. Our political Great Pyrenees would stand firm for the rule of law, for an abiding trust in the democratic process, for America itself.

It's embarrassing living in Texas. Texans never used to adore liars, cheaters, brown nosers and obedient lap dogs.  Until now.

Allen West. Q sent him to run for Texas Governor

Former military, former teacher, former Congressman, and former Chair of the Texas Republican Party, nut job Allen West has thrown his hat into the ring for Governor against billionaire Huffines, and Trump ass kisser Greg Abbott. Abbott's ass kissing has earned him the endorsement of trump.

West was forced to retire from the military after an incident in Afghanistan. He spent a year as a high school teacher then served only one term as a tea party congressman. He moved to Texas where the Republican Party endorsed his losing credentials and elected him as the Chair. That lasted less than a year. He is now running for Governor.

I would bet he will run far right of Abbott moving Abbott even further right in order to lock in the Qanon vote. Not quite sure how much further the state can go. before Texans wake up thinking they are in a Mexican city ruled by a cartel. Maybe both will run on open carry for high school students in their high school. Who knows. 

It should be fun to watch.

Who is the biggest republican kiss ass in Texas?

 They are lining up behind Donald trump's big ass.

George Pedro Bush. So far Pedro is leading the pack with his lips firmly planted on Trump's ass. Unfortunately not only is he kissing up to trump to court his racist base, he is isn't very good at disguising it. He not only is a kiss ass, he looks like a kiss ass, he acts like a kiss ass. A Texas sized kiss ass at that. Pedro is far behind others and needs to kiss trumps ass to catch up to the others, like Ken Paxton.

Ken Paxton. Ken may be an indicted crook but he ain't no dummy. He has worked hard at kissing up to Trump by leading a lawsuit to end the Affordable Care Act and to overturn the election that Trump lost. He has spent a considerable amount of tax dollars to do so and he is expecting Trump to endorse him over the younger kiss ass Pedro. 

Greg Abbott. Greg has had his lips so attached to trump's ass that the jaws of life would be needed to remove his head if Trump decided to stop too fast. He is leading the way to make it harder to vote for minorities and he followed Trump's irresponsible reaction to the COVID pandemic which ended the lives of thousands of Texans. Abbott has an advantage over Pedro and Paxton since he is at just the right height to continue his ass kissing.

There are more and they will surface as soon as a real conservative republican challenges them in the primary. Real conservatives are hard to find now a days. There are more conservatives in the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. They are now just a party of Qanons.

Texans don't generally like ass kissers, brown losers, suck ups.....unless they are in the Republican Party.

Texas State Representative Dennis Paul (R) sends thoughts and prayers to #BoulderColorado

#NoPlaceButTexas 

Socialists primary Texas State Representative Gina Hinojosa.

From the Texas Tribue

Instead of "Running everywhere and losing everywhere, the democratic socialists of America have started a targeted primary campaign against Democrats in deep, deep, blue districts. First up is Texas State Representative Gina Hinojosa House District 49 (Austin).

Representative Hinojosa won her district by 60 points (yes, 60, it is that blue) so it is an easy target for the socialist party. Hinojosa is a great representative and is the Vice Chair of the Criminal Jurisprudence; Human Services Committee. Prior to her run for HD49 Hinojosa served as a member of the Austin Independent School District. Her challenger, Herbie Smith, is a student at Texas University. 

Back in 2018 the lead socialist group, Justice Democrats, ran 80 candidates across the United States. They lost 73.

Out of 80 candidates endorsed by JD, only 7 won. 2 were incumbents in deep blue districts. 1 was unopposed.  4 were all in very blue districts wiping out their general election opponents. It's not like they were endorsing in tough competitive states like Texas, although those that did, lost. All of them. One raised over a $1 Million and lost 70-30 in the primary.

In 2020 they got smarter targeting deep, deep blue areas such as the Travis County District Attorney's office and just 9 candidates across the country. They did better and they believe they have the key to infiltrating the Democratic Party.

Candidate	Position	Result	Percentage
Marie Newman	IL-03	Won in general	53-46	Deep Blue
Cori Bush	MO-01	Won in general	80-17	Deep Blue
Jamaal Bowman	NY-16	Won in general	82-17	Deep Blue
Georgette Gomez	CA-53	Lost in General	59-40	Deep Blue
Kara Eastman	NE-02	Lost in General	50-46	Toss up
Alex Morse	MA-01	Lost in primary	58-42	Deep Blue
Betsy Sweet	ME-SN	Lost in primary	71-22	Collins Seat
Morgan Harper	OH-03	Lost in primary	68-31	Deep Blue
Jessica Cisneros	TX-28	Lost in primary	57-39	Deep Blue

Texas Republican Party Executive Committee in support of overturning the election

Much like the Democratic Party the Texas Republican Party has an executive committee, the State Republican Executive Committee or SREC. Every senate district has two representatives, one man and one woman. Senate District 11 (our area in Clear Lake) is represented by Tania Robertson and H Scott Apley. Both voted for a resolution supporting the overturning of the election where Trump lost by over 7 million votes. Remember when the State Democratic Executive Committee voted on a resolution condemning the 2016 election where trump won with the aid of Russia? Yeah. Neither do I.

This is going to be a very long 4 years for these guys. They might want to take this opportunity to actually read the Constitution and election laws.

Texas Republican Party. Caught in a Convention Do Loop

There was nothing worse than being caught in a never ending Do Loop when programming in Fortran, a language that is about as out of date as the Texas Republican Party.

The Texas GOP was caught in their own Do Loop trying to have a virtual Convention since their in-person COVID Convention was cancelled due to health reasons. The Texas Democratic Party was able to successfully conduct their entire convention virtually. From a delegate perspective a virtual convention sucks. There are no speeches, no networking, no training opportunities, no hospitality parties, no drinking. It's as boring as watching paint dry in the closet. On the other hand the Republican virtual convention was a complete shit show that was fun to watch.

After attempting to restart their Do Loop they eventually just performed an interrupt and aborted the entire event. The comments were spectacular including one delegate asking "What's the internet?". Here are a few samples coming from delegates attempting to participate:

One of the most important tasks of the GOP State Convention is to elect delegates to the National Convention to be held in Florida, during the summer, outside. Most delegates were not too interested in sweating like pigs while attempting to stay alive during an out of control pandemic and god forbid they would have to wear a life saving mask! Do Loop part II is coming soon.

It's just sad. Really, really, sad. 

End Do

Primary Runoff. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly

The primary runoff was delayed from May to July because of the COVID crisis. Greg Abbott wanted the virus to be completely out of control before he let us vote. He did a fine job with over 10,000 new COVID cases on Election Day.

The Good
MJ Hegar won the primary for Uniteds States Senate and will face John COVID Cornyn. MJ is different. She is exciting. She is a combat veteran. She took the same oath that John Cornyn took but unlike Cornyn, I believe she would honor that oath. Senator Royce West was close behind MJ. He also would have been a great nominee.

Chrysta Castenada is our nominee for Railroad Commissioner. Chrysta is an excellent candidate for the position.

The Bad
Democrats lost big with a win by Tamika Craft for the 14th Court of Appeals. Tamika was endorsed by one Democratic organization. She refused to be screened for other endorsements unlike her opponent who was very well qualified and should have been our nominee. If you are really concerned about the 14th Court of Appeals you might want to skip this race.

The Ugly
Kathaleen Wall spent $7.5 million of her own money to get her ass kicked in the republican primary. She only got 24% of the vote. In 2018 she spent $6 Million to come in 3rd place. Unlike Wall, Tony Nehls couldn't raise much money and hasn't much left. Hopefully Nehls, another Trump loving republican, will be a loser in November.

Constable Chris Diaz. Diaz's multiple shenanigans finally caught up with him. He can now focus his time on the lawsuit filed by 12 of his employees. Diaz was a disappointment.

Alexandra SmootsThomas. Alexandra was indicted for stealing campaign money. She shouldn't have run. 

Gary Gates finally buys a seat in the Texas House!

Money Mayes Middleton and Tony Buzbee should be so proud.

Gary Gates put over $1.5 Million of his own money into a special election to win a seat at the table. From a previous post:

Gary Gates is one of those guys who runs for office, over, and over, and over again. He is also very wealthy, wealthy like Texas Representative Money Mayes Middleton, Kathaleen Wall, or Tony Buzbee. 

It hasn't worked for Gates in the past. In 2005 he began loaning himself money and spending from his own pocket in a race for State Senator District 18. He lost. In 2014 he ran again, this time loaning himself $1.7 Million. He lost. In 2016 be ran for Railroad Commissioner loaning himself about $4.5 Million. He lost. 

So he finally won with money left over. He did what Tony Buzbee couldn't do. Next up, Kathleen Walls should spend about $6 million in her attempt to win in CD22. 

Little Baby Briscoe has a primary opponent

Little Baby Briscoe is a Texas State Representative from Deer Park, House District 128. He is well known for making threats and fondling of his little gun in public. He now has a challenger and it seems like he is a real conservative.

Robert Hoskins has filed to challenge Briscoe Cain for House District 128, a deep, deep, red district. Hoskins seems to be a talented individual currently sitting on the Baytown City Council with experience in the private sector, and President of the Goose Creek School Board. On the surface he seems to be a true Conservative Republican as opposed to the white wing wacko Briscoe Cain.

Cain might have a challenge on his hand. Hoskins has a long list of endorsements from Mayors, City Council Members, and members of the community. Cain probably has the endorsement of the various gun nut groups, tea baggers, and other white wing wackos. This will be a true test of the Republican Party. Do they want to be Conservatives or continue to be a bag of dicks?

The HD 128 race also has a Democrat, Josh Markle. Markle has recently outraised Cain.

BREAKING: Local Texas Teabagger Congressmen have poopy

No Place but Texas.

Texas Teabag Congressman Brian Babin, Pete Olson, and Randy Weber soiled themselves while joining in a stunt to obstruct justice at an impeachment hearing. The stunt lead by the far white wing of the party disrupted one of three committee impeachment hearings. They brought their cell phones into a secure facility that does not allow cell phones. They chanted like freshmen at a panty raid. They ordered pizza and stuffed their faces with warm fried cock from Chick-Fil-A. Then they left their trash for others to pick up.

In trying to defend their savior, Donald Trump, they were claiming the hearings are being held in secret, in a basement, even though that is where the secure facility is located and the rules allow only those on the specific committee to be in the facility. Republicans were in the committee meeting. There was no secrecy to it. In fact the date, time, and location was public knowledge.

One of these days, after the testimony has been taken under oath, these hearings will be in the open and the teabaggers will get what they want along with a dozen eggs on their face. I can see the Democrats bringing Rick Perry in front of the cameras and all the tea baggers conveniently missing the meeting. It's going to happen.

Until then, Babin, Olson, and Weber has poopies much like Joe Swanson of Family guy.

Raising Campaign Cash: Texas Senate Candidates

I'll update as necessary but the major players are here. There are a few fringe candidates on both sides. I'm not posting any of their report values.

MJ Hegar leads the pack by a 2-1 margin raising over $1Million, followed by Edwards, West and Ramirez.

Candidate	Raised	Spent	COH
MJ Hegar	$1,029,038	$481,087	$595,433
Amanda Edwards	$557,430	$219,645	$337,785
Royce West	$549,708	$172,926	$376,782
Cristina Ramirez	$459,442	$233,953	$225,489
Chris Bell	$206,629	$84,894	$111,734
John Cornyn	$13,478,993	$5,605,326	$19,785,448