Houston City Elections Results. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

December 10, 2023

Let’s just jump right in….

The Good. Ding Dong Buzbee’s gone! After spending over $800,000 of his own money for a district race that usually costs at the very most $100,000 Buzbee got his ass handed to him. Again. In 2019 he spent over $13 Million of his own money to lose like a bitch to Turner and he lost like a bitch again. Even the rich white folk of District G knew better than to elect Buzbee.

More Good. Senator John Whitmire is the new Mayor of Houston beating Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee by 31 points. That was not expected. Maybe 10-15 points but 31? I still don’t understand why SJL entered this race. She is a lightning rod for the rabid right and lightning struck last night. To the 34% of voters who supported SJL, give Whitmire a chance. Yes he is a moderate but he is actually a progressive who moves the ball forward. He has a history of making progress. He is going to be good for the city.

More Good. Chris Hollins easily beats Orlando Sanchez. I can’t figure this one out. If those who voted for Hollins had voted for Sheila, Sheila would have been Mayor. Go figure. Well, Hollins was the least qualified of the entire bunch running for Controller and now he is Controller. As with Whitmire, let’s give him the opportunity to succeed.

The Bad. Juan Ramirez and Twila Carter won by just a couple hundred votes. Hopefully they will not be MAGAts on City Council coupled with Fred Flickinger and WIllie Davis to just cause chaos. There are a number of republican voting Council Members but they work well with others providing a good balance where needed. Hopefully Ramirez and Carter will fit in. I have my doubts about Flickinger and Davis.

The Ugly. What the living fuck Houston? Wille Davis over Nick Hellyar? Whether you are a Democrat or Republican Nick Hellyar was by by far the most qualified, most respected, most endorsed, candidate running for city council this cycle. Instead you voted for Willie Davis? I mean, come on man. That is just plain fucking ugly. Davis didn’t raise much money so someone had to finance his campaign. More on that later. With Davis there could be up to 4 MAGAt Republicans on City Council. That is enough to cause chaos.


A Pale Horse of a different color

December 8, 2023

This doesn’t change anything.

Pale Horse Strategies is a consulting firm associated with Defend Texas Liberty PAC and owned by former State Representative Johnathon Strickland. Strickland was also the lead of Defend Texas Liberty. Was….

The Texas Tribune exposed DTL, specifically Strickland, for meeting with a known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes at Pale Horse Strategies. DTL has since removed Strickland, the Speaker of the House had called on all republicans to denounce DTL and return any donations they received.

Well today The Texas Tribune says that Pale Horse Strategies is changing their name to West Fort Worth Management LLC. From the Tribune:

In a Nov. 13 filing with the Texas Secretary of State, an attorney for Pale Horse Strategies LLC wrote that the firm would also conduct future business under the name “West Fort Worth Management LLC.”

The firm is owned by former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, and is heavily involved in right-wing politics in Texas.

PaleHorseStrategies.com has gone dark. According to the Texas Ethics Commission no political organization has spent money with West Fort Worth Management. You just can’t change who you are by changing what people call you.


Mexican MAGAt to challenge State Representative “Little Baby” Briscoe Cain

December 8, 2023

It’s like laughing and throwing up at the same time.

“Little Baby” Briscoe Cain, pictured here at the annual Take your Child to Work Day, has a challenger in the Republican Party. Bianca Gracia, founder of Latinos for Trump, claims Briscoe is a pro-Democrat which is laughable. Cain is so far right he is wrong. Maybe the PAC Defend Texas Liberty known for meeting with a white supremacist is funding her campaign. Cain was one of the many Republican House members to vote to impeach Ken Paxton. Even right wing wackos have their limits. The PAC has vowed to primary these members.

Gracia is best known for meeting with Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, and founder of the Oath Keepers Elmer Stewart Rhodes in a garage a day prior to the Jan 6 insurrection. Tarrio and Rhodes were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States and are serving 20 year prison sentences. In 2020 Gracia ran for the Texas Senate and won 7% of the vote in the primary. If fundraising is an indication of future success she should quit while she is behind.


More Trumped Up Dick.

December 8, 2023

I just can’t.

So two interesting articles have come up about local attorney and Harris County Department of Education Trustee Eric Dick. Yesterday I posted about an investigation into Dick concerning possible illegal solicitation of clients in Maui. Today there is an article about Dick being sanctioned $137,000. According to ClaimsJournal.com:

A Texas judge has ordered a Houston plaintiffs’ attorney to reimburse an insurer $137,000 for the legal fees it expended to defend itself against a “frivolous” and “groundless” lawsuit that was filed “solely for the purpose of harassment.”

The final judgement, which you can read here, is quite interesting and reminds me of his run in with the Texas Ethics Commission. According to the judgement:

During discovery, Dick named four expert witnesses who would testify about the loss: Richard Gadrow, Billy Bray, Matt Morgan and Shiran Perera. The order says Gadrow, Bray and Morgan testified that they were unaware that they had been named as experts. Perera, an engineer, testified that he had never inspected the property but did review photographs that showed wind damage, not the hail damage that had been alleged.

Of course Dick is now using the old Trump defense claiming it is a witch hunt, yada, yada:

Dick told the Claims Journal that the judge’s order is “100% political.” He said Williams has “weaponized” the justice system and using it against him because she is a Democrat and he is an elected Republican. Dick is an elected trustee on the Harris County Board of Education.

“This is how these corrupt judges do it,” Dick said. “This is the same way they are doing it with Donald Trump.”

Not only was he sanctioned the Judge has required him to pay the defendant’s fees for any appeals:


Local attorney being investigated in Hawaii?

December 7, 2023

I just can’t get rid of Dick.

If you have read this blog at any time you might have noticed I have written about Eric Dick, Harris County Department of Education Trustee, candidate for city council, and candidate for Harris County Treasurer. I filed 2 ethics complaints against Dick which the Texas Ethics Commission accepted, investigated, and fined him $30,000 and $10,000. You can read the results of those investigations here and here. I actually expected a small fine and a promise not to do it again.

Dick is a well know insurance attorney. You might have seen his ads or flyers. He has since been appointed to the Harris County Department of Education. That should have been the end of all of this but he has now come under fire for soliciting clients in Maui after the massive fire. According to Hawaii News Now Dick sent out flyers (see below):

The flyer says “you may be entitled to money” and “We are helping your friends and neighbors protect their legal rights and want to help you,” although Dick has no Hawaii clients.

The back of the flyer included a contract and instructions to sign it and text it to Dick’s law firm.

Dick claims:

Dick said the flyer was approved by the Texas Bar Association and he has used similar flyers thousands of times, but apparently didn’t realize without a Hawaii license or working in partnership with a licensed Hawaii attorney, it is illegal to solicit clients here.

Dick seems to be like the jam of the month club. He just keeps on giving. I doubt if the Texas Bar, the Ethics Committee, or any other Texas organization will take action. It’s up to Hawaii to do so.


A school board Chair, a GOP Chair, Moms for Liberty and a three way

December 6, 2023

I can’t make this stuff up. Literally.

So the party of family values, the party of demonizing the gay community has it’s very own little secret that has blown up into calls for resignations of the Florida Republican Party Chair and the Chair of the Sarasota County School Board.

In a nutshell: The Florida Republican Party Chair, Christian Ziegler, has been accused of rape. He is currently under investigation. His wife, the Chair of the Sarasota County School Board, Bridget Ziegler, has been drawn into this because the accuser claims she was involved in three way sex with the Zieglers. Why is this dripping with hypocrisy if this is all true? Glad you asked.

Bridget is the co-founder of Mom for Liberty, the group that has been the driving force behind book bans targeting the gay community. According to the accuser she was having a three way with the Zieglers and the details are quite disturbing. Christian claims the sex was consensual and he has a video to prove it. (Yes he took a video of himself having sex) It should be bad enough that the Chair of the Republican Party was involved in adultery but that just qualifies you for being the GOP nominee for President. Regardless, even the Governor, Ron DeSantis, has called for his resignation.

And school board members have also called for the resignation of Bridget saying

She’s vilified the LGBTQ community, while at the same time having a sexual relationship with her husband and another woman. We don’t care who she has sexual relationships with. She’s a grown adult. The issue is, you can’t have a bisexual relationship and at the same time vilify the LGBTQ community

Ziegler is under investigation. Film at eleven. Literally.


Texas GOP votes to continue relationship with Nazi sympathizers

December 5, 2023

It’s 2023. It wasn’t a hard vote.

You just can’t make this stuff up. The Texas State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) members declined to ban associations with the PAC Defend Texas Liberty by a close vote of 32-29. I wonder how CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen voted.

The Texas Tribune sums up the vote:

Two months after a prominent conservative activist and fundraiser was caught hosting white supremacist Nick Fuentes, leaders of the Republican Party of Texas have voted against barring the party from associating with known Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers.

This shouldn’t have been a hard vote. The leader of Defend Texas Liberty was caught meeting with known nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes and exposed their associations with other white supremacist organizations and individuals. But the executive committee pulled out every excuse they could think of, much like they did when defending George Santos, Donald Trump, Ken Paxton and others. The Speaker of the House, Dale Phelan tweeted:

Despicable. @TexasGOP/SREC can’t even bring themselves to denounce neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers or cut ties with their top donor who brought them to the dance. There is a moral, anti-Semitic rot festering

As noted earlier, CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen also has some uncomfortable ties to the individuals The Texas Tribune reported on. I’ll find out how he voted.


Movie Review: Napoleon

December 5, 2023

Watch it? Rent it? Skip it?

Skip it. Wow that was truly disappointing. Acting was just so-so. Script laughable at times (seriously we actually laughed) Slow at times. Some in the audience actually fell asleep and woke up suddenly after snoring loudly. It was just that bad.

We were considering leaving the movie after an hour or so and sneaking into Godzilla. Do yourself a favor and go watch Godzilla.


Poll watcher in Clear Lake looking for wealthy, white folks illegally voting

December 4, 2023

I think I have seen this guy before.

Back in 2018 one of the poll workers at the Clear Lake Library was wearing an nra hat. This was just 2 days after the Pittsburgh mass shooting at a synagogue. Not only was it a violation of the election laws, it was a real dick move. He was confronted, Fox News 26 ran a story, and the County Clerk (a republican) told him to take it off. From Fox 26:

Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart, who oversees the county’s elections, was alerted to what was going on. “They shouldn’t have anything on their shirts, hats or anything that is of political nature or perceived to be political by anybody.  We’re a neutral gatekeeper of the whole election process,” explains Stanart.

I think he came back for more in 2023. This looks like the same guy. I bet the election judge is his wife as was in 2018. His wife defended him wearing the hat. She was also put in her place.

Eventually the redshirt dude was harassed enough and he removed his hat and returned looking like a douche. Not quite sure what he was trying to accomplish in a predominately white voting area. Maybe he should have taken his big nra ass to a minority polling location. He might not have been harassed.

LOL.


Raising Campaign Cash: Houston runoffs

December 4, 2023

Sides are being taken.

Financial reports have been posted for the Houston City Council races, Mayor and Controller. Here is a rundown.

Mayor. Whitmire raised $1.7 million. Sheila Jackson Lee raised $498,000. There is a PAC supporting Whitmire that raised $576,000. More on them later. It’s clear the various PACs, at least 16 of them donating the max $10,000, believes Whitmire will win and many have joined them. These PACs include the Firefighters, Houston Apartment Association, Police Union, and many business PACs. PACs can only donate a maximum of$10,000. Individuals can donated only $5,000. SJL has only 1 PAC that donated the max allowed. Raising money doesn’t aways results in a win. Ask Tony Buzbee. Speaking of…

District G. Buzbee threw in another $300,000 of his own money into his campaign for a total of $850,000 in personal loans. He raised $48,000. City Council Member Mary Nan Huffman raised $158,000. As with Whitmire I think the PACs are banking on a Huffman win.

Controller. Hollins raised $330,000. Orlando Sanchez raised $82,000. Here are the rest:

CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Sheila Jackson Lee$498,414$341,575$1,055$235,189$0
John Whitmire$1,783,437$2,995,793$35,452$3,318,439$0
At Large 1
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Melanie Miles$9,490$87,756$0$66,377$50,000
Julian Ramirez$50,422$41,130$3,348$8,241$20,000
At Large 2
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Nick Hellyar$185,984$169,364$3,488$44,891$0
Willie Davis$21,920$11,654$0$13,874$1,500
At Large 3
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Twila Carter$108,330$92,589$0$79,191$4,000
Richard Cantu$30,210$15,106$0$38,723$0
At Large 4
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Letitia Plummer$48,396$77,125$0$26,069$0
Roy Morales$11,288$1,092$0$16,844$21,979
Controller
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Chris Hollins$330,956$161,689$0$315,346$0
Orlando Sanchez$82,897$127,089$1,500$56,592$198,128


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