Raising Campaign Cash: Texas Representative Tony Tinderholt

October 9, 2020

State Representative Tony Tinderholt is a nut job representing the Arlington area. Based upon his fundraising report he is in a fight to retain his seat against a very good candidate.

Tinderholt is best known for his stand on the “sanctity of marriage(s)”. He has been married 5 times, twice to his current wife. He is a bonafide gun nut, supporting the right to walk around in public with a loaded assault weapon dressed like GI Joe. He has some strange fundraising totals.
According to his 30 day out report, Tinderholt raised $304,348. $150,000 came from one donor, Timothy Dunn the CEO of oil and gas business CrownQuest Operating. Another $22,675 came from the extreme right wing Empower Texas PAC. They have donated their balance to Tinderholt.

A new PAC, Leading Texas Forward donated an in-kind contribution of $50,000 for campaign advertising.

And the most interesting is a $25,000 in-kind donation from Texans for Lawsuit Reform for “campaign polling” Really?

So Tinderholt only raised $56,673 with $40,000 coming from just 5 individuals and 1 PAC. Why would anyone spend $25,000 on a poll unless they are concerned about their chance of reelection?

Empowering minds want to know.

Not Raising Campaign Cash: Harris County Republicans

October 8, 2020

I recently wrote about the Harris County Republican Party having only $1760.05 in their account as opposed to $800,000 this time two years ago and $450,000 4 years ago. What happened? Well it might be that their Chair, Keith Nielsen was asked to resign after his racist post on Facebook. Unfortunately according to reports filed with Harris County their candidates aren’t doing very well either! 

Name Office Raised COH
John Nation  County Attorney $0.00 $0.00
Chris Daniel District Clerk $0.00 $0.00
Mary Huffman District Attorney $1,600.00 $1,600.00
Stan Stanart County Clerk $4,095.00 $25,394.00
Joe Danna Sheriff $15,913.00 $8,781.00

Nation hasn’t raised any money, has no money, but loaned himself $16.10 to pay for a notary and certified mail for his report.
Mary Huffman raised $1600 then donated that amount to Kingdom Builders.
Daniel raised no money but spent $5070 out of his own pocket.
Joe Dana running for Harris County Sheriff was the only one who raised any money. According to his report he raised $15,913 ($10,500 from just 4 individuals) and has $8781 cash on hand. He has $21,716 in in-kind donations for a car and an outdoor LED sign. He also spent $18,000 of his own money with a credit card.
Stan Stanart raised $4095 and has $25,394. Stanart, like the Chair, shared a racist post 4 years ago. He lost.

Is the Harris County Republican Party broke?

October 8, 2020

OK. I must not be searching the Texas Ethics Commission correctly. Someone help me out.

According to the TEC website the Harris County Republican Party has only $1,760.05 cash on hand. Over the reporting period they received only $2,770 from a couple of candidates who really can’t afford it since they too have little if any campaign donations.

This can’t be right. This is the 30 day out report, the latest available, due Oct 05. In 2018 30 days before the midterm elections, they reported over $800,000 cash on hand. And in 2016 they reported just over $400,000. In 2020 they have just $1,760.05.

There still is time for the deep pockets of their party to come and donate to the Chairman who was asked to resign due to his racist post on Facebook. There is still time to dump money into a county that had almost every republican on the ballot wiped out in 2018. There is still time to dump money into a losing effort, but…

November is coming.


UFO running for Sheriff: Joe Danna

October 6, 2020

 

UFO. Unfit For Office.

Where did the Republican Party find this guy? Danna came out of the republican primary over his opponent Paul Day who had long standing law enforcement credentials. Danna on the other hand was fired as a Constable for falsifying records. According to Fox 26 Danna claimed he served a warrant on an individual. That person was actually in jail at the time and the residence where he served the warrant was vacant, for months. After an investigation, he was fired.

Now, much like Troy Nehls who was fired from the Richmond police force, he is running for another law enforcement office. As the Houston Chronicle said:

Danna was a previous candidate for constable in Precinct 1, where officials confirm he was fired in 2012 from his job as a deputy constable for falsifying records showing he served a warrant he had not actually served. Danna has for years papered unsuspecting fences with huge campaign signs to boost his name ID, but should have spent as much effort on his law enforcement resume. It appears the closest he got to being a Harris County deputy is the black and white photo on his website entitled “Deputy Joe Danna,” featuring a young boy dressed in western attire.

Where in the world did the Republican Party find people like Nehls and Danna?


Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton INDICTED!

October 5, 2020

OK. This is sort of old news. Paxton was indicted years ago and has spent over $70,000 of his campaign funds for legal services. I am sure he has paid much, much more. But….there is something new and it is much more serious.

Paxton’s staff at the Attorney Generals office has accused Paxton of abusing his office and accepting bribes. The Washington Post has details including:

The top attorney has now resigned
Five deputy Attorney Generals also penned the letter
The Association of Attorney Generals has called for his resignation
Allegations involve an Austin donor who has been raided by the FBI
Governor Abbott and Lt Governor Patrick has thrown Paxton under the bus


Both Abbott and Patrick have distanced themselves from Paxton like a baby who took a dump in a pool. The Association of Attorney Generals were not too kind and were more direct. From the Post:

“Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is an embarrassment and a danger,” the association’s co-chairs said in a statement on Sunday. The statement added: “All state attorneys general must be above reproach. For too long Paxton has teetered on the edge. He needs to go, and an independent investigation should be launched immediately.” 

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-Tex.) said he first learned about the “obviously concerning” claims through media reports. The state’s governor also acknowledged the letter on Sunday.

“These allegations raise serious concerns,” Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Tex.) said in a statement on Sunday. “I will withhold further comment until the results of any investigation are complete.”

This is all coming from within the office. From republicans. It’s serious. He should resign to spend more time with his criminal attorney


Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls a no show at endorsements interview

September 29, 2020

He is just another trump loafer licker.

The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Democratic candidate Sri Preston Kulkarni for Congress in Texas Congressional District 22. According to the Chronicle:

Kulkarni, who notes he speaks six languages, told the editorial board that he would use his 14 years of experience of diplomacy to serve the diverse community as well as reach across the aisle to Republicans.

Nehls on the other hand didn’t even show up for the interview. Nehls only raised about $500,000 for his primary and was left with only $29,000. His fundraising and who is donating money should be very interesting. Maybe the donors are just tired of the trump candidates like Nehls whose focus is on divisive rhetoric, or the fact Nehls was fired from the Richmond Police Force only to come back as a Sheriff, or that he supervised a racial profiling traffic scheme.

Kulkarni is a good candidate. He has excellent experience. He is very qualified, and he is a nice individual. You can’t say that about Troy.

Or Trump. 


Troy Nehls. Another dishonest, corrupt, Texas sized, ass kisser

September 22, 2020

Ask Tony Buzbee how kissing Donald Trump’s ass did for his campaign.


Fort Bend Sheriff Troy Nehls is why we need police reform

September 20, 2020

Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls is running for Congress in Texas CD 22 a diverse community in the Sugarland area. He is a perfect example of why we need police reform and why he should never be allowed to step foot onto the floor of the United States Congress.

The recent senseless killing of George Floyd by 4 policemen has raised the issue of racism and police reform to the center of the presidential debate. One of the issues being discussed is how a law enforcement officer could be fired and then be re-hired by another law enforcement agency. Troy Nehls is a great example.

Nehls was fired from the Richmond Police Department. He is now the Sheriff of Fort Bend. How in the world can this happen? Nehls should have been banned from law enforcement not elevated. Compound this with the fact that his department was caught profiling Latinos in speed traps

Nehls is now running for Congress. He is a living example of why police reform is desperately needed in order to protect the public and to protect law enforcement officers.


Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw and Trump. A picture is worth a thousand votes

September 20, 2020

You will never see Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw taking a photo with Donald Trump. He knows what happened to Tony Buzbee in his race for Mayor. He knows better. He is embarrassed. He should be. Unfortunately Crenshaw will suck up to this president in the background while staying away from him like he is walking around with a 2 day old dump in his shorts.

Thanks Pat for the Photoshop!


Latinos for Trump

September 18, 2020

 


Donald Trump. In his own words

September 16, 2020

 

Rotten Bastard.


Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?

September 13, 2020

It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? You can’t go to the movies. You can’t travel. You can’t go to work if you still have a job. Your kids can’t go back to school safely. Your teacher friends and relatives can’t attend school safely. You can’t go to a bar because they are closed. You cant go to concerts, or indoor sporting events. You can’t attend outdoor sporting events unless they allow limited attendance. 40 million of your fellow Americans are out of a job due to the virus. The airline industry is barely flying. Many small businesses are closed.

So while you are suffocating while wearing a mask to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, remember to stop thinking about your selfish self and ask the question: Are WE better off than we were 4 years ago? It’s not about you. It is about US.

Literally.


Harris County Republican Party adopts new logo

September 12, 2020

 

You can’t make this stuff up.

The HCRP put out a new logo for the upcoming election. Great Opportunity Party, the GOP. I guess they think they are the party that can give you an opportunity. Here is a list of opportunities the GOP can give:

  • The opportunity to publicly display your racism on your pick-em-up truck
  • The opportunity to walk around in public dressed like GI Joe wearing body armor and a finger on a loaded AR-15
  • The opportunity to ignore science 
  • The opportunity to ignore laws
  • The opportunity to get sick and die
  • The opportunity to get others sick so they can die
  • The opportunity to lie, cheat, and steal 
  • The opportunity to work for less
  • The opportunity to work from home due to the mismanagement of the COVID crisis
  • The opportunity to send your kids to COVID classes
  • The opportunity to be an asshole
Well at least it is better than Gross Old Pharts.


Texas Republican Party denounces Trump lack of character

September 7, 2020

From the Dallas Morning News:

“His behavior does not reflect the values of the GOP of Texas, and we do not wish to promote anyone of his character,” the party said in a statement.

Well…. ok. That really isn’t exactly what they said but it is pretty funny when the party of “wholesome, christian, conservative family values” will take a stand against a republican candidate for violating their oath of honor yet will do nothing about their leader for porking a porn star, paying her off, and covering it up.

Republican Senate candidate Vanessa Tijerina was recently arrested for driving under the influence with children in the car. In Texas that is a felony. Much like Trump she has had multiple run ins with the law:

Tijerina has had legal problems in the past. As a Green Party candidate for Congress in 2016, Tijerina was arrested for a food stamp and Medicaid scam in which she received thousands of dollars for falsely claiming that she was a single-parent household even though her child’s father was living with them and was a wage-earning member of the family, according to court records.

So Tijerina crossed the line and the Republican Party will throw her in the garbage while standing with trump in the dump.


Another republican loses his job over racist posts

September 4, 2020

They just can’t keep their racist, filthy fingers off the keyboard.

Nick Moutos, assistant State Attorney General, lost his 6 figure salary for his recent racist posts. According to The Texas Tribune:

“A Texas assistant attorney general sent dozens of tweets over the past several months threatening violence against progressives, spouting racist and transphobic rhetoric, casting doubt over the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and sharing QAnon conspiracy theories. On Thursday, he lost his job with the state agency after national media reported on his social media activities.”

Nick Moutos can join the Chair of the Harris County Republican Party, Kieth Nielsen. Nielsen lost his job as the Planning Commissioner of Pasadena after posting a racist meme of a Martin Luther King quote with a banana. 

Moutos has since gone into hiding hopefully joining all the racists in American on November 4.


Movie Review: Yellowstone starring Kevin Costner

September 2, 2020

It gets old. Quickly.

Yellowstone started off pretty interesting. You might think Yellowstone is about cowboys in the open, wild, wild West of Montana displaying conservative cowboy values with ranching, bull riding, rustling cattle, living the hard life, making a living wage and working hard. All that noble shit that cowboys are known for.

That isn’t Yellowstone. Instead it’s a modern day cowboy vs Indians movie with the cowboys being a bunch of really fucked up people. It could actually be just a movie about the entire Trump family on a dude ranch vacation. 

Kevin Costner is the filthy rich owner of thousands of acres of open land in Montana, butting up against an Indian Nation. He is the Cattle Commissioner with his branded (literally) ranch hands as deputies toting automatic rifles. His daughter is a drunk, power hungry, rotten, spoiled bitch. One of his sons is the family attorney with a bad hair piece and a script designed to show he knows how to lawyer. Like his sister he is an asshole.

There is a lot of killings, stealing, and coverups. The entire family gets away with it. No one is held accountable. There is no one that can’t be bought or killed if they don’t accept their offer. The live in a lawless environment even though Costner is also an appointed official in charge of law and order.

As I said, it gets old. You just can’t wait till someone slaps the living shit out of the daughter or one of the ranch hands gets his ass kicked or gored by a bull. You just want the entire fucked up family to take the family helicopter and disappear in a canyon.

So in short this is a Trump at the Dude Ranch movie. Do yourself a favor and watch something worthwhile.


Raising Campaign Cash: DA candidate Mary Nan Huffman

September 2, 2020

Well I think we located the cash cow.

I was wondering where Kathleen Wall was going to put her money after spending $13 Million of her own money in a losing effort to win a republican primary for congress in two different district. Wonder no more! 

Last reporting period Harris County District Attorney candidate Mary Nan Huffman raised $30,000. $10,000 of that, a full 1/3 came from one donor, Kathaleen Wall. Other big contributors include HillCo PAC ($2000), the Houston Police Officer’s Union ($10,000), Constable Mark Herman ($5000). I’ve expected Wall to spread her money around to other candidates since she can’t seem to win herself.

Huffman is a trump supporter and will probably run as a “law and order” candidate. She has the support of Joe Gamaldi the president of HPOU who incorrectly blamed activists for the shooting of 4 police officers in a botched raid when in fact his own officers were responsible. Wall. Huffman. Gamaldi. What could go wrong?

I bet he endorsed Tony Buzbee.


Harris County republicans embrace disgraced County Chair Kieth Nielsen

September 1, 2020

Well no one saw that coming.

The Harris County Republican Party officials embraced their new chair, Kieth Nielsen. Nielsen was asked by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to resign his seat before officially accepting the position for his racist post concerning a Martin Luther King quote. That racist quote cost him his position as the Planning Commissioner of Pasadena. He also claimed he would not accept the position, one he had just recently won.

When Dan Patrick calls for you to resign, whatever you did must be really, really, bad, like racist bad. Patrick is the low life of the Republican Party and when he is calling for you to resign, you might want to consider doing something different with your meme generating skills. Dan Crenshaw also called for Nielsen to resign. He told him to fuck off.

Nielen was eventually sworn in. And the executive committee welcomed him even after over 100 chairs wrote to him thanking him for not taking the position. He lied to them. This is the new Republican Party. This is who they have become. They tolerate racism. They tolerate those who promote racism.  It starts at the top.


Texas Republican Party adopts new slogan: We are Stormy Daniels!

August 22, 2020

 

This is what happens when you elect a nut job as the head of your party.

The Republican Party elected Allen West, a 1 term, far right,  conspiracy theorist, nut job, Congressman from Florida. They also elected a Harris county chair that posted a clearly racist meme. This is the new Republican Party. This is who is in charge. West has now endorsed a new slogan that represents their party well “We are the storm”. The slogan has a history. From the Houston Chronicle:

The slogan, “We are the storm,” uses nearly identical language to a popular rallying cry among followers of the debunked theory, known as QAnon. On Thursday, The New York Times cited the party’s new motto as an example of how QAnon has permeated official Republican circles.

The slogan comes from the conspiracy theory nut jobs in Qanon. (Qwee-non or Qway-non or Qualude). Qanon makes the Texas Tea Party look like a bunch of Bernie Sanders liberal lefties.  They are truly the far, far right of the far right of the party. They are loons. Delusional. They are the new Republican Party.

WTF happened to you guys?


Expected delays by the USPS for mail in ballots

August 15, 2020

Bottom line. If you are voting in person, you can vote at ANY voting center in Harris County during early voting AND election day. You can visit the website to see how long the lines are and go to the one with the smallest line.

If you are voting by mail send it in ASAP to avoid delays or drop it off at any of the 11 offices and annexes across the county up to Election Day by 7PM.

STATEMENT: Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins
on Expected USPS Delivery Delays in November

 

(Houston, Texas) –– In response to the United States Postal Service’s warning regarding vote by mail deliveries, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins issued the following statement:

“In Harris County, we are expanding voter access to give voters more options to have their voice heard and cast their votes safely. Voting by mail is hands down the safest method to vote this November. I encourage all eligible voters to apply to vote by mail and return their application and ballot as soon as possible to avoid delays.

“Voters concerned with mail delays will be able to drop off their marked ballot in-person at any of the County’s eleven offices and annexes during business hours, beginning whenever they receive their ballots and continuing through Election Day, November 3, at 7:00 PM. This is the first time in Harris County history where voters can drop off their marked ballots during the Early Voting Period to ensure on-time delivery. We encourage eligible voters to use this method of voting to avoid long lines at voting centers.

“The earlier you apply to vote by mail, the faster my office can mail your ballot to you. Don’t hesitate to mail it back to us, but you also have the choice to utilize our drop-off locations to return your ballot directly.”

For more information, please visit HarrisVotes.com and follow @HarrisVotes on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 


Bay Area Houston

Hard hitting political commentary always full of wit in Houston Texas.

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