Rep Veronica Escobar(D-TX) appeared on MSNBC Reports w/Andrea Mitchell (07/18/22) to discuss the recently released report by the Texas Senate on the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Rep Escobar made a very important point on the show, telling host Andrea Mitchell that the deadly “wild west” environment created by Texas elected officials, beginning with Governor Greg Abbott, is partly to blame for the horrific shooting in Uvalde.
This point is largely missed by the mainstream media when reporting about the mass shooting in Uvalde, but it cannot be restated enough.
Rep Escobar(video at 1:00):“I think the report is important, but I also think we need to zoom out a little bit because the leadership void goes far beyond law enforcement. And what the report did not touch on[are]2 things, (1) the Governor, who is the highest ranking elected official, the chief elected official of the state and (2) the state legislature that makes open carry the law of the land in Texas so that anyone can get access to a gun without any training and really a loosening of gun laws that was historic. It is so important that these reports and that this analysis look at what happened on the ground that day, but we also have to look at the context in Texas, the environment that has been created by Republicans, who want to create a wild west sort of environment in a state, that has led us to be…one of the most deadliest states for mass shootings.”
Rep Escobar went on to specifically address Gov Abbott’s failures:“He’s been pretty silent. He’s very eager to point the finger at others, really on any situation including Uvalde and he, as the highest-ranking elected official in the state of Texas, I have yet to hear the Governor accept any responsibility, or bring forward any ideas for meaningful change. He is literally someone who has only used his position to make Texas less safe for its citizens and uses our resources for political stunts.”
She went on to add that the political stunt Gov Abbott is pulling at the southern border aka “Operation Lone Star” has siphoned much needed funds away from mental health services and public schools, both of which are still poorly funded in Texas compared to other states.
Bottom line folks, Texas is, and has been a solid red state for quite some time now. It is important however for people who don’t live in the Lone Star state, or keep up with its politics, to know that none of Governor Abbott’s Republican predecessors created the deadly gun violence environment in the state like Gov Abbott and his allies have. Rep Escobar is absolutely spot on, that any meaningful discussion of gun violence in the Lone Star state has to take into account the “wild west” environment created by Gov Abbott and his Texas Republican allies.
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Rochelle Garza, the Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General in this Fall’s election, appeared on MSNBC’s American Voices w/Alicia Menendez(06/04/22) to discuss her campaign against Republican incumbent Ken Paxton.
Rochelle Garza slammed as “very dangerous”,AG Paxton’s suggestion that we arm teachers in an effort to prevent another mass shooting like the one we witnessed in Uvalde, Texas. Garza said(video at 1:20):“We know that that is not the solution. Teachers are overworked and they are underpaid, and this is absolutely not their responsibility, so we need to have a special session where we could pass reasonable gun laws, safe gun laws like red flag laws, raising the age to 21 to purchase a firearm. There are real solutions that we can put on the table, and arming teachers is absolutely not one of those.”
Regarding expanding access to the ballot, Garza said(2:22):“Ken Paxton is dangerous for democracy, and he has undermined our right to vote at every turn. I envision having a fully funded civil rights division, where we are actually protecting civil rights, we’re protecting access to the ballot box, reproductive rights, and all of the hard fought civil rights. Voting access is absolutely critical, and in the state of Texas, we have a lot of folks who just don’t show up to vote because they are disenfranchised, mostly Black and Brown communities, and so we need to flip the script on that, and make sure that we have voter access, and that starts with a good Attorney General that is going to look out for the interests of the people of Texas, and that is exactly what I’m going to do.”
On the fight for reproductive rights, Garza said the role of Attorneys General across the country is going to be critical. She touted her previous work as an ACLU lawyer fighting for reproductive rights of detained migrants, something which makes her uniquely suited for the AG role at this time, given the attacks on reproductive rights by Republicans both in Texas and nationally.
Garza concluded by reiterating the importance of state AGs in the fight for democracy saying:“We need to pay attention to these races because this is going to be the last stand for the people of each state, and for the people of Texas specifically. If we can get Ken Paxton out of office, not only because he’s corrupt, but he’s harmful to our state and to democracy, we can have a real big change in Texas, and have better protections for voting rights, for reproductive rights, for all of the things that underpin healthy families. That is why I’m running for this office to fight for us, to fight for all Texans.”
Bottom line folks, AG Ken Paxton has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that he does not view his role as requiring him to represent all Texans, but rather, to please MAGA Trumpers. His felony indictments in 2015, which strangely have not resulted in a trial yet, also make him uniquely unsuited to be Texas AG. Maybe, just maybe, voters in the Lone Star state will put an end to the travesty that is AG Paxton in this Fall’s election, by electing Rochelle Garza as Texas AG, and making history in the process.
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Dem gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke chatting with a supporter after his speech at the reproductive rights rally in downtown Houston(05/07/22)
Houstonians showed up in large numbers at the Discovery Green park in downtown Houston (05/07/22) for a reproductive rights rally headlined by gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke. The very well attended and high energy rally comes on the heels of the recent bombshell leak of a draft Supreme Court majority opinion which suggests the high court is getting ready to strike down the landmark Roe v Wade decision which made abortion legal. Judging from the energy in the crowd at Discovery Green, one can safely assume that reproductive rights and the future of the Supreme Court generally, will be major issues in the upcoming midterm elections. This message was very clear from Beto O’Rourke and the other high profile Dem leaders in attendance, who included State Senator Carol Alvarado(District 6), Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, and Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvia Garcia.
Beto said at the rally:“This has been among the toughest weeks for so many people across this state and across this nation, but as I look out at each and every single one of you, there is something extraordinarily beautiful in the way that we have decided to come together. And in these tough times, Texans turn out. They are there for and by one another. It brings out the very best in us…We want our fellow Texans, wherever they are, to whatever party they may belong to, to whomever they pray, however they love, whatever country their families originally came from, to know right now we stand together. We stand with them…For most of us, I’m 49 years old, for my entire life, Roe vs Wade has been the law of the land, I’ve known nothing else. But those who preceded me, those who preceded all of us, they made that happen. That fortunate generation who was fighting for the rights that so many, too many have taken for granted for too long, we now have that same opportunity to fight like just they did, and I want us to remember, whatever we think the odds are right now against us, this is possible, and in fact it has been done before against much greater odds.”
There’s no other way to interpret Beto’s remarks other than a call for Texans of goodwill to unite against efforts by Republicans at the federal level and their state counterparts(Gov Abbott’s regime), to peel back their constitutional rights. This could end up being the winning message because it could attract a sizable chunk of the independent vote.
Bottom line folks, historical trends favor Republicans to do very well against Democrats this Fall(party out of power). Reasonable people will agree however, that the leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion has given Democrats nationwide, a much needed jolt. Will this jolt be enough to upend historical trends and hand Democrats a surprise victory in November? Only time will tell. Given the high energy at Discovery Green Park however, the potential certainly exists for Democrats to “come from behind” and pull off a surprise win in the elections this Fall.
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo appeared on Houston’s ABC13 TV station (04/14/22), where she slammed the recent criminal indictments of three of her top staffers for corruption. The allegation which led to the indictments, is that Judge Hidalgo’s office funneled an $11 million COVID contract to her pal, despite other more qualified bidders. She totally denies these allegations, and dismissed the subsequent indictments of her top staffers, telling ABC13’s Steve Campion that this was a “flimsy, unsubstantiated case”.
You’ll remember Yours Truly recently wondered aloud as to why the criminal prosecution of these three senior Hidalgo staffers was playing out during the thick and thin of her reelection campaign? It’s a troubling question that at some point, will need to be addressed.
Judge Hidalgo specifically told ABC13’s Steve Campion: “I think it’s a very flimsy unsubstantiated case…At best this is going forward with a fundamental misunderstanding of the facts and at worst, it’s the weaponization of the criminal justice system for political purposes, so I’m not going to play into that. My staffers are hardworking people. They work day and night for the people of Harris County.”
Asked whether she’s worried about being indicted, Judge Hidalgo responded, “No. I mean look, I don’t know how far this is going to go, and it’s very easy if you present one side of facts to a grand jury, everybody knows a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich if that’s all they see, right?..I’m not scared, I’m not losing any sleep over this. Whatever happens I’m ready for it. I’m tough, I’m battle-tested, this is just politics, and you know we’ll face it, we’ll keep working, but I think it’s clear the community sees through this, and I’ve got work to do.”
There’s no other way to interpret Judge Hidalgo’s remarks on ABC13 other than, she considers the corruption allegations not only meritless, but also more importantly, part of a well orchestrated political attack masquerading as a criminal prosecution. Her “weaponization of the criminal justice system for political purposes” statement says it all.
Bottom line folks, Judge Hidalgo is absolutely correct. It is impossible to ignore the deep political undertones, given the close proximity of this “criminal prosecution” to the date she is scheduled to face voters at the polls(November). I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the Harris County District Attorney is a Democrat.
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo appeared on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show (09/24/2021), where she blasted elected Republicans in Texas for giving in to former President Trump’s baseless demands for an audit into the state’s 2020 election results. The decision by the Texas Secretary of State’s office to conduct an audit into the election results of Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant counties, came literally a few hours after Trump’s demand, which led a visibly upset Judge Hidalgo to tell host Maddow that Texas was “being run from Maralago.”
Judge Hidalgo told Maddow:“We have to remember we had incredibly successful elections here in Harris County in 2020. We had innovations that led to record turnouts from both parties, the highest in 30 years, I mean it was beautiful, and since then, no evidence has come out that would in any way cause the need for this kind of audit. All we’ve seen is [former]President Trump exhorting the state, or [Governor]Abbott, to have this audit…The reality of it is Texas is being run from Maralago, and that is dangerous, and it’s not appropriate…it’s extremely concerning.”
Judge Hidalgo added that time had come for politicians in Washington to get off the sidelines, and actively join the fight against voter suppression in the states, telling host Maddow, “We need the federal government to act, I mean, this has gone too far… This should be another call to action. We’ve got the writing on the wall. We’ve got to get off our chairs and get moving on all this.”
Bottom line folks, as Judge Hidalgo correctly pointed out, time has come for some decisive action to be taken against these naked efforts by Republicans at the state level, to restrict the voting rights of minorities. Democrats in Washington cannot just sit on the sidelines, and watch their counterparts in Republican-led states like Texas, go to war against GOP’s efforts to restrict minority voting rights. Simply put, time has come for Democrats in Washington to finally do away with the filibuster, and institute a national voting standard geared towards making it easier for people to vote, as opposed to GOP’s scheme of limiting access to the ballot box. As Judge Hidalgo correctly put it, congressional Democrats need to “get off their chairs and get moving” on a comprehensive federal voting rights law.
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Texas State Rep Jasmine Crockett On MSNBC’s Cross Connection show on 08/14/2021
Texas State Rep Jasmine Crockett, one of the Texas Democrats currently “in exile” in Washington DC, appeared on MSNBC’s Cross Connection show(08/14/2021), where she exposed the real deal behind Texas GOP’s voter suppression laws. Rep Crockett basically exposed what Texas residents have known all along, but is rarely mentioned in the national mainstream media, and that is, Texas is quickly becoming majority-minority state, and Texas Republicans, who are heavily dependent on the White vote, are freaking out. This, she correctly points out, is the real reason behind the Lone Star State’s voter suppression laws.
The full Cross Connection segment is available here, but the relevant clip is below.
Rep Crockett told host Tiffany Cross:“We have the real deal numbers[from the census], and it shows that over the last ten years, 95% of the growth in the state of Texas has been people of color…that’s absolutely true. When we look at Trump and Biden, he only lost Texas by five percentage points. That’s what scary. So they[TexasGOP]are saying wait a minute…we only added 180,000 Anglos in the last ten years, whereas Asian-Americans grew over half a million, Black-Americans grew over half a million, Latino-Americans grew over two million. So they are saying wait a minute, if we don’t do something now, then that floor[Texas Legislature]is going to start to look like what the state looks like. The state is a majority-minority state, and they don’t want that.”
Folks, if you miss everything else in the fight for voting rights currently playing out in Texas, do not miss what Texas Rep Jasmine Crockett said on the Cross Connection show. GOP’s freak-out over the dwindling White population in Texas is right at the heart of their voter suppression effort. The restrictive voting laws Texas Republicans are currently pushing, have zero to do with the integrity/security of the vote. It’s all an effort to keep as many Blacks and Browns as possible, from voting.
Bottom line folks, Democrats need to bring a lot of pressure to bear on Senators Joe Manchin(VA) and Kyrsten Sinema(AZ) who are still reluctant to get rid of the filibuster, despite it’s racist roots. They need to be told in no uncertain terms, that racism is at the center of GOP’s voter suppression efforts in Texas and other Republican states, and that by insisting on keeping the filibuster, they are complicit in GOP’s racism. Plain and simple!!
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Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner(L), Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee, Rep Al Green and HPD Chief Troy Finner March at the Stop The Violence Rally in Houston, Texas (05/15/2021)
Democratic members of Congress Al Green and Sheila Jackson-Lee, attended the Stop The Violence Rally in Houston(05/15/2021), in remembrance of George Floyd and slain Houston Polce Department Sgt Harold Preston. Attendants of the event, which was organized by Houston radio station 97.9 The Box, marched from Yates High School(Floyd’s school), to the Texas Southern University(TSU) football stadium, where the rally was held. At the rally, Congressman Green urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act to help reduce police violence
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee railed the reckless Texas “constitutional carry” bill currently being considered by the Texas legislature, and urged Congress to pass meaningful gun reforms so as to reduce gun violence. She also urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act so as to speed up much needed policing reforms. Other speakers at the event included HPD Chief Troy Finner, State Rep Ronald Reynolds, NAACP Houston President Bishop James Dixon, popular 97.9 The Box radio host Madd Hatta, among others.
One very notable presence at the rally was the legendary Reverend Bill Lawson, a famed civil rights activist and religious leader who marched with, and was a close friend of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr back in the 1960s. Speakers at the rally paid respect to the legendary Houstonian. Rep Al Green said about Rev Lawson, “I am here because Bill Lawson, William Alexander Lawson, after more than 90 years, is still in the fight. I am here because he has paved the way for me. He has made it possible for the Al Greens of the world to hold these titles and positions that we have.”
Legendary Rev Bill Lawson(93, in wheelchair), at the Stop The Violence Rally in Houston(5/15/2021)
This was the first Stop The Violence rally in Houston in honor of George Floyd, and organizers say they plan to make it a yearly event. See other images from the event in the gallery below.
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These are the images from the Stop The Violence Rally in Houston, Texas(05/15/2021) in remembrance of George Floyd and slain HPD Sgt Harold Preston. Full story available here
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Whereas political contributions are not always the best indicators of election outcomes, politicos largely agree that they are very good indicators of voter enthusiasm. Yours Truly recently scoured through the Federal Elections Commission’s (FEC) data on the Democratic contenders for the Texas U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican John Cornyn and came up with some interesting findings.
According to FEC data, M.J. Hegar is leading the Dem hopefuls in the amount of political contributions raised ($2,058,080.28), followed by Amanda Edwards($557,430.43), Royce West($551,266.18) and Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez($459,442.70) respectively. (see image below–candidates per Ballotpedia). Any reasonable person looking at this FEC data would therefore surmise that as it currently stands, Texas voters are most enthusiastic about Mary Jennings going up against incumbent GOP Senator John Cornyn in 2020.
There are however some interesting observations which must be taken into account. M.J. Hegar’s figures cover the period from 1/1/2019 to 9/30/2019 presumably because she declared her candidacy earlier. Both Amanda Edwards’ and Royce West’s figures cover the period 7/1/2019 to 9/30/2019(3 months). Cristina Ramirez’s numbers are from 7/29/2019 to 9/30/2019(2 months). M.J. Hegar’s numbers therefore reflect a good 7-month advantage over Edwards, West and Ramirez. Is that why M.J. is widely leading the pack in money?
It is also worth pointing out that M.J. Hegar, Amanda Edwards, and Royce West have all previously vied for Texas elective office. It is therefore not clear whether the amounts they currently have are rollovers from previous campaigns or whether they are monies raised specifically for their 2020 U.S. senate runs. M.J. Hegar you will remember unsuccessfully contested TX-31 congressional seat in 2018. Amanda Edwards currently holds a seat at Houston City Council, a position she has held since January 2016. Royce West is a Texas State Senator representing the 23rd district(Dallas).
Cristina Ramirez has never held any elective office in Texas or elsewhere, but is a very well known(and very popular) community organizer mostly recognized as a co-founder of the Workers Defense Project. Given the fact that Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez has never run for elective office before, the impressive $459,442.70 she raised in a 2-month period, should catch the attention of Texas politicos–certainly has caught Yours Truly’s.
For some of the candidates, there is no available FEC data so it is hard to gauge where they stand with voters. Pastor Michael Cooper’s campaign is in the red $680.10 and Adrian Ocegueda has only managed $1048.73 in political contributions. No right thinking person could ever ascribe viability to either Pastor Cooper’s or Ocegueda’s political campaigns given that the primary is only three months away.
Bottom line folks, as Yours Truly stated earlier, money is not always the best indicator of election outcomes. It is however a very good barometer for voter enthusiasm and as it currently stands, it appears Texas Democrats are enthusiastic about the prospects of Mary Jennings, the self-described “ass-kicking, motorcycle-riding Texas Democrat” going up against GOP’s incumbent Senator John Cornyn in November 2020. The Texas Democratic Party primary is scheduled for March 3, 2020. As President Trump famously says, “We’ll see what happens.”
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Texas Secretary of State Ruth Rugerro Hughs(Left) and Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman(Right)
An interesting feud that could have national political implications has erupted between two Texas women–Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman, a Democrat, and Texas Secretary of State Ruth Rugerro Hughs, a Republican. At issue is a last minute advisory Secretary of State Hughs’ office handed County Clerk Trautman on how to handle votes cast during the Houston Mayoral race that according to Trautman, resulted in a 12 hour delay in announcing the election results. The 12 hour delay in announcing election results has generated a lot of finger-pointing with Republicans blaming it on Democrat Trautman and Trautman in turn placing the blame squarely on GOP Secretary of State Hughs’ office..
Houston’s Mayoral elections were held on November 5, 2019 and are headed for a December 14, 2019 runoff because no candidate managed to get a majority of the vote(more than 50%). Early voting began on October 21, 2019. On October 23, with early voting already underway, Texas Secretary of State Hughs’ office issued an advisory directing all Texas counties to make copies of election result data before transmitting them electronically. This would ensure that the county had a backup in case hacking was suspected or alleged during electronic transmission of election results.
The problem with this seemingly prudent advisory from Secretary of State Hughs’ office is that it was such a last-minute advisory(issued after early voting commenced) that Harris County officials simply could not abide by it. The county did not have the equipment necessary to make the desired copies and could not get them in time to keep up with the election timetable. Because of this last-minute advisory, County Clerk Diane Trautman made a decision to physically transport all election results to a single point and manually feed them into a single machine thus doing away with the electronic transmission concerns. It is this process of physically transporting election results to a single point and feeding them into a single machine that resulted in the 12-hour delay in announcing election results.
This is the point however that you must not miss. Republicans have been running Harris County elections way before Democrat Diane Trautman came along. Their chosen method of transmitting election results(via modem) has been widely criticized by Houston area Computer Scientists, notably Professor Dan Wallach of Rice University, as being very unsafe and susceptible to hacking. Houston Public Media’s Jen Rice, who wrote a piece about this election feud, spoke to the aforementioned Prof Wallach who told her, “We found that this particular modeming process[used by Republicans] was really not secure….and that has been used unmodified despite our findings for a decade.”
Despite decades-long concerns by Harris county residents, neither Republican Harris county officials nor the Texas Secretary of State have deemed it prudent to institute the election security advisory they suddenly imposed on Democrat Diane Trautman–copying election data before transmitting them electronically. In other words, Texas Secretary of State has known for decades that transmitting election results via modem was not secure and violated Texas election law(which mandates a secure method of transmission), but allowed Republicans to do it anyway. Their concerns about election security have only been stoked now that Democrat Trautman is in charge. Texas election law specifically bans the use of modems during tabulation yet the Texas Secretary of State has allowed Harris County Republicans and possibly other counties to do that anyway, for decades. It is only now that a Democrat is in charge that they are applying the law.
For the record, reasonable people can disagree as to which mode of election data transmission is more secure–the Republican modem or the Democratic Party’s intranet. All reasonable people will agree however that making a copy of election results before transmitting them electronically is a necessity when there are concerns about the security/safety of election data during transmission. The question now confronting Harris county Republicans and the Republican Secretary of State is why for all these years, they have transmitted election results electronically using non-secure modems, without first making a copy of the data? You don’t have to take Yours Truly’s word for it, Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman made the same argument to Houston Public Media’s Jen Rice. Trautman said, “The one that my predecessor used[modems] last November was over a cellular network, which is the internet. So he was violating this 10-year law that the Secretary of State brought up.”
More importantly, Diane Trautman added that the last-minute advisory from Secretary of State Hughs’ office came as a result of political pressure put on her by the Harris County Republican Party and specifically, Harris County GOP Chairman Paul Simpson. This is a very serious allegation which definitely deserves to be investigated further. If Texas Secretary of State Hughs is being unduly influenced by partisan politicians when making decisions about the state’s election procedures, then she needs to resign immediately.
Trautman told Houston Public Media, “I believe it’s common knowledge that the Secretary of State admitted to our County Attorney that the Harris County Republican Party put pressure on the Secretary of State to make this last minute advisory.” Harris County GOP Chair Simpson denied this allegation saying, “The advisory went out before the Republican Party was even involved….To my knowledge, we didn’t ask for any advisory.”
Bottom line folks, there are three crucial questions here that beg for some serious answers. First, why has the Texas Secretary of State allowed Republicans to use modems for election data transmission for decades when Texas election law expressly forbids that? Secondly, why didn’t the Texas Secretary of State impose the “copy before electronically transmitting” rule before Democrat Diane Trautman came along? Thirdly, was the last-minute advisory the result of political pressure from Harris County Republican Party officials? A serious investigation needs to be conducted over this third question and if proven, Secretary of State Hughs must resign.
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