Bay Area Houston

The Houston Chronicle listed the endorsements of the two leading candidates in the Harris County District Attorneys race.

It’s the who’s who of who’s who and the who’s who of who’s that? Some of these endorsements can be disturbing to some, for instance DA Ogg is endorsed by the C Club. The C stands for Conservative or Confusing. They are proud of their support by Michael “Hit and Run” Berry the local white wing, loud mouth, talk show host who was caught in a gay bar, on camera. The Texas Observer has a great article on what happened:

According to the bouncer at T.C.’s Show Bar in Montrose, Michael Berry left the club, where he was attending as a patron, at 11:00 PM on January 31. The bouncer, Tuderia Bennett, said Berry drove in reverse for 70 feet, hit Bennett’s car, and drove away. 

But I digress…..If the C Club is actually a fiscal conservative club then they have endorsed some pretty good candidates such as Mayor Whitmire. If the C is for Confusing then they are spot on in their support of Council Member Willie Davis who was the least qualified to run for City Council. The Chronicle lists the C Club as endorsing Kim Ogg. I’m not sure how to address this.

Ogg’s other endorsements include the Who’s Who of law enforcement including members of the Houston Police Union who have recently endorsed some pretty good candidates. She has the endorsement of Mayor Annie Parker, and others including:

Ogg has collected several endorsements from members of the law enforcement community, including Harris County Afro-American Sheriff’s Deputies League, Houston Police Officers’ Union Executive Director Ray Hunt, HPOU President Doug Griffith, Pct. 3 Constable Sherman Eagleton, Pct. 2 Constable Jerry Garcia, former Harris County Sheriff’s Office Captain Frank Stilley, former HCSO Major Greg Summerlin and former Houston Police Department Chief C.O. “Brad” Bradford. 

Sean Teare, on the other hand, has the endorsement of the Who’s Who of Who’s That? The list includes various Democratic clubs and little known organizations. Texas Organizing Project, an organization that provides great ground work for candidates, has endorsed Teare but lately they have endorsed extreme left candidates and has been financed by known socialists. I don’t think Teare is an extreme anything. He is well qualified for the job. He has great experience. From the Chronicle:

He’s also been endorsed by Area 5 Democrats, NAKASEC Action Fund Texas, the Women’s Association of Lawyers, Houston Black American Democrats, the Working Families Party and Harris County Tejano Dems.

Working Families Party is a far left, socialist group. Like the C Club I wouldn’t put too much into their endorsement. I had to google NAKASEC. Teare is also endorsed by a number of elected officials including Judge Hidalgo, Commissioner Rodney Ellis, State Representative Gene Wu.

For the record I have been pretty clear about who I would support. DA Ogg has been in office for 7 years. She seems to have an ongoing feud with Judge Hidalgo. She has every right and duty to investigate the situation with the COVID contract but it’s the way she has handled the situation. It’s divisive. It’s troubling. The cooperation between the DAs office and Commissioners Court has to get better.

Bu then again maybe I just need to chill out with a cold Bud Light and Michael Berry.

Is there a connection to the PAC Fort Bend United?

Back in 2022 a PAC created in 2019 created and mailed an “Election Guide”. It did NOT come from the Harris County Democratic Party. This election the Community Justice PAC is promoting a “Harris County Democratic Endorsed Candidates” slate for the Democratic primary election. As with FBU the endorsement includes some interesting selections but is NOT from the HCDP.

As mentioned in my last post HCDE is funded by two individuals/entities from the Pusch & Nguyen law firm. Over the last few years Pusch & Nguyen have contributed to various candidates and organizations including $60,000 to the Harris County Democratic Party. See below.

Since 2019 Anthony Pusch has donated a total of $47,440 to various candidates including $9,440 to Fort Bend United in 2022 and 2023. In the next few weeks we will see if HCDE sends out any mailers.

It’s Dick again.

Well, the  Bankruptcy & Collections Division of the Office of the Texas Attorney General has issued a demand letter from Harris County Dept of Education Trustee Eric Dick. Dick was fined $30,000 for his involvement in a mailer supporting his 2019 run for City Council. He also agreed to a $10,000 settlement for not reporting expenditures. The Texas Ethics Committee (TEC) referred Dick to the AG’s office in December of 2022. A year later the AG’s office took action.

According to the letter Dick had till early January to pay his debt to the State:

 If payment is not received in ten (10) days from the date of this letter, or if arrangements are not made within that time to satisfy the debt, our office will consider filing suit to recover the full amount owed plus any attorney’s fees and court costs that can be recovered. This is the only letter you will receive from us relative to the unpaid fines so it should be considered a final demand. 

You can read the entire letter here.