Tag Archives: Texas Elections

A Justice for Sale in Austin?

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A Republican candidate for the Third Court of Appeals in Austin is stretching what are traditionally considered the limits for appropriate campaigning.  Mike Toth a card carrying Tea Party member and protégé of embattled AG Ken Paxton is embracing Donald Trump and conservative identity politics in his campaign for a seat on the influential Austin Court of Appeals.  Despite being in Austin, the Court is firmly in Republican hands because it covers a 28 county area stretching all the way to San Angelo.  Toth is also accepting contributions in excess of the standard $5000 limit.  Judicial candidates in Texas typically pledge to not accept contributions over $5000 as anything more than that gives the appearance of buying justice.  Toth is apparently blowing through that limit and accepting gifts of money for the education of his children from a Florida lawyer, as well as embracing our Realty TV Show President.  The Texas Tribune has more.

Candidate Michael Toth, a special counsel in the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton, has pulled in $151,000 so far in the 3rd Court of Appeals GOP primary contest, and more than a third of it comes from out of state, records show.

[O]ne of Toth’s major non-Texas donors, former hedge fund manager John Thaler of Greenwich, Connecticut, has notified the Texas Ethics Commission that he plans to exceed a $5,000 expenditure cap the candidates agreed to; that allows Toth’s opponents to ignore donation and expenditure limits.

Toth isn’t shy about touting his Tea Party bonafides and running on the same issues that non-judicial candidates use to attract Republican primary voters. In one mailer, Toth brags that he fought for “tougher border security, defended President Trump’s travel ban, sued to crack down on sanctuary cities” and “supported extreme vetting of refugees.”

Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Tom Phillips, a Republican, said he’d “never seen anything quite like” the mailer Toth sent out.

“I’m concerned anytime a judicial candidate suggests, even indirectly, that his or her election will lead to a particular policy outcome,” Phillips said. “To conduct a campaign based on your view of hot-button political issues confuses rather than than enlightens the electorate.”

Texas’ Hottest Primary Contests

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The Texas Tribune’s Ross Ramsey has categorized some of the 215 contested primary elections for statewide office, U.S. Congress and the Statehouse according to his calculation of the heat of the race  See Ramsey’s temperature scale of hottest, hotter and hot contests here.

The one GOP race that has Red excited is the contest to unseat Do-Nothing Land Commissioner and only holding office by virtue of his family name George P. Bush.  The Bush family scion had done nothing to deserve election to statewide office and by all accounts doesn’t really do much on the job other than collect a paycheck on the taxpayer dime.  Red is firmly backing former LC Jerry Patterson who actually wants to do a good job for Texas and protect Texas public lands.  Patterson fought hard for our historically open beaches when the Texas Supreme Court attempted to cut back access with bizarre rulings based on arcane concepts.   Patterson is a little extreme for Red’s taste on the weapons front –  but other than allowing hunting on some public lands (which is sorely lacking in Texas compared to our western neighbors), his views on concealed and open carry laws will not have much impact on the Land Commissioner’s office.

George P.’s endorsement of Donald Trump after Trump totally trashed his father JEB!!!!$$$$? tells you just about everything you need to know about the current LC.  Some might say only a spineless weasel of an ambitious politician would endorse a man who called his dear old Dad “dumb as a rock” – which was actually among his kinder things Trump said about JEB!!!!$$$$?.  Red won’t go that far, but you can.

Texas’ Most Endangered Species – Thoughtful Republicans

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The Republicans who represent a good chunk of the Texas Panhandle in the Texas House and Senate are facing ultra-right wing challengers in the upcoming GOP primary.  Merely being a somewhat thoughtful conservative or even considering a Democratic proposal is a dangerous game to play in the Tea Party dominated Texas GOP.  If you are unwilling to lick the boots of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, you might just find yourself back home wondering how you aren’t quite conservative enough.  Senator Kel Selinger and Representatives Ken King (Lubbock) and Four Price (Amarillo) may be unseated in March.  The Texas Observer has more on the far right movement to take down any such “Establishment Republicans.”

The challengers are generally following a playbook developed by Empower Texans, a right-wing enforcement group that targets what it considers establishment Republicans: claim that you are unequivocally conservative and that the other guy is basically a Democrat, all the while vilifying bipartisanship and accusing your opponent of being a big-government patsy who’s soft on abortion.

Far-right groups, including Texans for Vaccine Choice, Texas Right to Life and Grassroots America — We The People are working to knock off the incumbents. And while the Panhandle is one of the reddest parts of the whole country (Trump took 90 percent of the vote in some of the counties here), the area continues to elect Republicans with a pragmatic streak. For instance, King has sought to secure funding for struggling rural schools; Price has been a champion for mental health care; and Seliger refused to divert money from public schools for private school vouchers. Wielding accusations of perceived liberalism, challengers have made the region a battleground in the civil war raging within the Texas GOP.

 

Today in Texas History – November 7

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From the Annals of the Constitution –  In 1972, Texas voters passed the Equal Rights Amendment to the Texas Constitution.  The Amendment was the end result of a campaign started in 1957 by the Texas Federation of Business and Professional Women. In 1957, the TFBPW sent attorney Hermine D. Tobolowsky to testify for a bill authorizing married women to control property separately from their husbands. When members of the Senate Committee reacted to her testimony with amusement, Tobolowsky determined to shift direction and steer the TFBPW towards a campaign for an equal rights amendment rather than seeking incremental changes in particular statutes.  Despite several setbacks including resistance from later-disgraced House Speaker Gus Mutscher, the TFBPW ultimately succeeded in getting the amendment passed by the Legislature and almost 80% of Texas voters approved the amendment.  The amendment is remarkably simple in its phrasing but broad in its impact.

Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin.  This amendment is self-operative.

Quote for the Day

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“I think that your successor 500 years from now is going to be writing about us the way that we write about the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. It’s just so corrupt, in the same way that they were selling bishoprics and indulgences to shorten your time in purgatory. We’re selling votes. We’re selling amendments. We’re selling democracy, and it’s absolutely disgusting. But what makes it even more fucked up is that everybody knows that it’s happening, but it’s just what has always happened for so long now that it’s all-encompassing in the system. No one seems really willing to do anything that will compromise their ability to be successful in that system by stepping out of it.”

Rep. Beto O’Rourke, candidate for U.S. Senate

Read more about O’Rourke’s campaign in the Texas Tribune.

Texas Loosens Voter ID Requirement

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Texas agreed Wednesday to significantly weaken its voter ID law, which federal courts have said discriminated against minorities and the poor and left more than 600,000 registered voters potentially unable to cast a ballot.

Faced with a direct rebuke from the Fifth Circuit and a complete lack of evidence of in-person voter fraud, Texas has loosened its voter ID requirements for the November election.  Voters without one of the absurd list of seven forms of suitable ID — which includes  concealed handgun permits, but not college IDs —  can now sign an affidavit and vote.  And that vote will be counted.  This provision essentially guts the law.  This is a remarkable failure of the Texas GOP’s attempt to suppress voter turnout – an effort that likely failed anyway.

The state also agreed to $2.5 million on voter outreach before November pursuant to the settlement submitted to U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, who must still approve the changes.

Red can already hear the outcry from Our Poor Idiot Governor Greg Abbott about how this will allow massive voter fraud at the polls despite the utter lack of any such evidence.  Republicans can take their cue from nominee Donald Trump who is already claiming that  the presidential election will be “rigged” against him. No sir, it is your party who has repeatedly attempted to “rig” elections by enacting numerous state laws designed to suppress voter turnout.

Tea Party Candidate Posed as “Gay Hitler”

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Kyle Biedermann, on the right, is running to unseat Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels, in Texas House District 73. Photo: Kyle Biedermann, Facebook

The San Antonio Express-News reports that GOP Texas House candidate Kyle Biederman attended a costume party dressed as “Gay Hitler” in 2008.  The costume was based on a Saturday Night Live character.

 A self-declared “conservative, Christian Republican,” Biedermann is running to unseat state Rep. Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels, in Texas House District 73, which covers Comal, Gillespie and Kendall counties just north of San Antonio. After winning about 36 percent of the vote in the March primary, Biedermann is facing Miller in a May 24 runoff.

 Biedermann dressed up like “gay Hitler,” he said, for a Saturday Night Live-themed costume party that benefited a Fredericksburg food pantry about eight years ago. “Gay Hitler” was a character portrayed on the television comedy show in 2001 by actor Chris Kattan.

“What would be offensive about that photograph?” Biedermann asked on Wednesday. “This whole thing is about political correctness. It’s not a problem for me whatsoever.”

Red is loath to criticize because he once dressed as “Yessir Paraquat” for a costume party.  But Biederman may have  just lost the “Hitler Lover” and Skinhead vote  – which probably will hurt him in a GOP runoff election.

Photo of “Gay Hitler” from Kyle Biederman/Facebook

Entire 5th Circuit to Decide Fate of Texas Voter ID Law

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The Texan Republican Party’s Voter ID law passed by the Legislature still has some life.  A U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi ruled that the law (known as Senate Bill 14) was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and that decisions was upheld by a 3 judge panel of the Fifth Circuit.  Now the entire Court has decided to hear the case – which is likely an ominous sign for the voters of Texas.  The notoriously conservative court of appeals is likely to uphold the discriminatory law whose only purpose is to suppress voter turnout for poor, elderly and non-white citizens.

At trial, the burden was on the law’s opponents to show discriminatory impact and the plaintiffs succeeded.  Unfortunately, the State does not have the burden to establish a rationale basis for the law.  Unfortunate, because it would be impossible to do so.  There is no in person voter fraud in Texas that has ever affected the outcome on an election – at least not on the part of the voters.  Texas has been unable to point to more than one or two reported instances of in person voter fraud.  Everyone who knows anything about elections knows that all the potential electoral hanky-panky occurs with the mail in ballots.  And the Voter ID law does nothing to prevent that.  This has always been about Republicans attempting to suppress the vote and nothing more.  Shame on the GOP for promoting this farce.

Today in Texas History – January 19

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From the Annals of the Halls of Power –  In 1999, Rick Perry took office as Texas’ first Republican lieutenant governor since Reconstruction.  Perry’s long career in public office began in 1984 when he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat from District 64, which included Haskell County where his father had served as a County Commissioner.   Perry was well regarded as a Representative and served three terms.  He supported Al Gore for President in 1988.  But when George H.W. Bush won the Presidency, Perry was clearly attune to the direction the political winds were blowing in Texas, and he changed his party affiliation to the GOP.  In 1990, he narrowly defeated the popular incumbent Jim Hightower for Agriculture Commissioner.  With the help of Karl Rove he raised over $3 million and tarnished Hightower’s name – aided by a corruption scandal that enveloped 3 of Hightower’s aides.  Perry’s narrow win by about 20,000 votes pushed him into statewide prominence.   After serving two terms, Perry chose to run for Lieutenant Governor to succeed the retiring Democrat Bob Bullock.  Perry had a notable falling out with his previous top political strategist Karl Rove leading to the much-reported rivalry between the  Bush and Perry camps.  In the 1998 election, Perry eked out another narrow win with 1,858,837 votes (50.04 percent) to the 1,790,106 (48.19 percent) cast for Democrat John Sharp.

Jonathan Stickland Liked the Weed – A Lot

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Rep. and self-styled “former fetus” Jonathan Stickland (TP-Bedford) is trying to move past his on-line record indicating that he condoned marital rape and really liked smoking the marijuana so much so that he was curious about growing his own cannabis.  Stickland, a Tea Party stalwart, now claims that he regrets the on-line trail of evidence he left and that yes, he smoked a few spleefs in his time, but he has repented and been forgiven. Red is the last person to cast stones – unless the target thereof is parading as some holier than thou state representative who is fair game for public comment. Red also believes in forgiveness – but not disremembering.   The Trail Blazers Blog from the Dallas Morning News has more.

Notably, our former poor idiot governor Rick Perry has endorsed Bedford pastor Scott Fisher, who he once appointed to serve on two state commissions.