Clear Lake State Representative Dennis Paul to quit?

July 18, 2023

According to the Texas Ethics Commission Dennis Paul is quitting. Sort of…..

After serving just 8 part time years in the Texas House, it looks like Dennis Paul is going to cut and run with a nice retirement and free healthcare for life. Paul filed his July report with the Texas Ethics Commission and it leads one to believe he is leaving.

In his last report he only raised $9,600, spent $19,450, leaving a balance of just $3,118 and an outstanding loan balance of $40,000. All his donations except for $1,500 came from PACs and one third of his entire donations was paid to his Treasurer. Paul has never been a great fundraiser and depended upon a $150,000 loan from his company to win his primary. Instead of spending his money running for office during the 2022 election he repaid $70,000 of the partial balance of his loan. Based upon all of this it looks like he is quitting.

But, don’t cry for Dennis. According to the retirement system Paul’s 8 years of partial service will be quite rewarding! For the rest of his life he will receive a $25,760/year pension. Most people work their entire lives and will never get a $25k pension, or anything more than a retirement cake and a watch. But, it gets better. Paul will also receive free healthcare for himself and his spouse for the rest of his life! It truly is a sweet deal especially after just 8 part time years doing pretty much nothing.

After 8 years of representing House District 129 Paul leaves a legacy of having no town hall meetings, keeping his constituents in the dark, and being rated as “furniture” by the Texas Monthly. To me he will always be remembered for giving easy access to assault weapons to an 18 year old who killed 19 children in Uvalde.

To top it all it looks like he is grooming his replacement. From doing nothing to doing something worse.


Did Dick pull out?

July 17, 2023

Ok. This is weird.

Back in May Former Harris County Dept of Education Trustee, Eric Dick, filed a new Treasurer appointment to run for the Board again. Dick served on the Board then he decided to run for Houston City Council in 2019. He lost that race but not before generating a boat load of controversy. The headline from the Houston Chronicle says it all: “Houston Republican fined $30K for mailers suggesting Black Democrats endorsed him“.

He was not only fined $30,000 but the Ethics Commission referred him to the Texas Bar. I’m not sure what they would do with this but I doubt it would be a Rudy Giuliani outcome.

So today Dick has filed a “Designation of final report” which, according to the Texas Ethics Commission, terminates his newly appointed treasurer and relieves him of the duty to file any more reports. I am just assuming Dick has pulled out of the race. His final report show no money raised or spent during the short period.

I guess if he can find another Treasurer he can refile. Who knows?


Raising Campaign Cash: Houston City Elections FINAL Update

July 14, 2023

NOTE: To be far, many candidates contribute to their own campaigns. Some with non refundable donations our of their own pockets and/or loans. Candidate for Mayor Gilbert Garcia has reported raising $3,290,664 in donations, but $3,030,000 came from his own pocket.
Fred Flickinger, candidate for District E is also self financing.

JulyJan
CandidateRaisedIn-KindLoansCOHRaisedLoansCOH
Gilbert Garcia$3,290,664$5,000$0$2,895,819
Sheila Jackson Lee$1,218,886$1,398$0$1,033,982
Lee Kaplan$478,479$0$300,000$1,356,488$465,180$200,000$1,164,527
John Whitmire$371,517$0$0$9,893,611$1,148,015$0$10,100,086
Robin Williams$75,100$0$52,700$0$188,995$52,700$188,995
Robert Gallegos$60,348$0$0$151,794$48,837$0$133,471
M J Khan$58,750$0$85,000$108,308$0$15,000$1,453
Derrick Broze$10,827$0$0$6,998
Naoufal Houjami$585$0$0$294
Chanel Mbala$200$0$0$326
Gaylon Caldwell$0$0$0$0
Julian Martinez$0$0$0$0
Theudis Daniel$0$0$0$0
At Large 1
CandidateRaisedIn-KindLoansCOHRaisedLoansCOH
Melanie Miles$189,366$0$50,000$161,052
Conchita Shelly Reyes$80,592$15,994$0$30,577NANANA
Leah Wolfthal$55,961$1,064$0$44,892$43,812$0$24,953
Julian Ramirez$32,671$1,630$20,000$40,892
Kendall Baker$3,795$0$0$1,070
Anthony Dolcefino$0$0$0$0$0$0$0
At Large 2
CandidateRaisedIn-KindLoansCOHRaisedLoansCOH
Nick Hellyar$125,507$6,021$0$135,248$65,854$0$44,710
Danielle Bess$113,550$11,037$0$109,525$0$0$0
Holly Flynn Vilaseca$109,182$3,958$0$89,585
Marina Coryat$12,050$0$0$9,914$13,714$0$1,562
Willie Davis$9,500$0$0$9,500
Obioha “Obes” Nwabara$20,316$0$20,000$0
At Large 3
CandidateRaisedIn-KindLoansCOHRaisedLoansCOH
Twila Carter$160,485$0$4,000$190,096$85,926$4,000$78,768
Richard Cantu$38,623$5,000$10,000$30,038
Casey Curry$18,212$850$0$15,670
James Joseph$10,060$0$102,755$82,351
Donnell Cooper$23,977$0$0$9,189$25,977$0$9,189
Ericka McCrutcheon$2,725$0$0$920
Bernard “Bernardo” Amadi$0$0$0$0
Ethan Michelle Ganz$0$0$0$0
Richard Nguyen$0$0$0$0
At Large 4
CandidateRaisedIn-KindLoansCOHRaisedLoansCOH
Letitia Plummer$57,814$0$7,000$100,392$4,125$0$24,741
John Branch$4,358$0$0$752
Roy Morales$18,435$1,417$205$12,854$0$5,838$0
At Large 5
CandidateRaisedIn-KindLoansCOHRaisedLoansCOH
Sally Alcorn$166,625$0$0$406,170$155,531$0$206,273
Chad Cossey$0$0$0$0
District E
CandidateRaisedIn-KindLoansCOHRaisedLoansCOH
Martina Lemond Dixon$18,064$0$0$13,871$254$100$84
Fred Flickinger$13,126$0$103,000$101,186$0$50,000$0
Controller
CandidateRaisedIn-KindLoansCOHRaisedLoansCOH
Chris Hollins$528,576$12,136$0$639,806$167,034$0$1,062,754
Shannan Nobles$64,458$0$50,000$30,975
Dave Martin$1,850$0$0$152,495$8,250$0$161,851
Orlando Sanchez$0$0$0$0


WTF is wrong with you? Latinos for Trump

July 14, 2023

Pendejos

I can see part of the Latino community supporting George Bush for Texas Governor or President. Bush had a great talking point of being a compassionate conservative which lines up with the values of the Latino community. He didn’t bash immigrants but was critical of illegal immigration, even though he didn’t do anything about it as Governor or President. There were many attributes that enticed Latinos to vote for him, one being that he wasn’t a dick about everything.

And now comes Trump. He is a big, giant, dick, a rotten excuse of a human being. He bashes immigrants to the point they are targeted by white wing extremists of the Republican Party. He makes fun of the language. He uses Latino voters as props, as ignorant pawns. He is a fucked up human being. He is disrespectful of everyone, the media, elected officials, foreign officials, and anyone he has a grievance with. He is a fucking liar, not just a liar, a fucking liar. He has fed the Latino community a mouthful of lies and some of you are too stupid to realize he is a fucking liar. He stole top secret military documents. He was impeached, twice. He has been indicted for felonies, twice, with more coming. He is a racist and is supported by racist organizations.

So I can see your Abuela (grandmother) looking at your stupid ass, taking off her chancla, and asking you the same question I’ve asked Dennis Paul and Veterans for Trump. What the fuck is wrong with you?

Seriously. WTF? This piece of trash is not your friend. He does not share your values unless you are a coward, a racist, a cheat on your spouse, a liar, or you steal from others, turn your back on your friends, make fun of the weak and disabled, or treat women like trash. Those are not Latino values. Those are not human being values.

You, we, are better than that. It’s time that some of you start acting like it.


Clear Lake’s State Representative rated as “furniture”

July 12, 2023
Illustration by Neil Jamieson

Who would have thunk it?

The Texas Monthly issues a report ranking the best and worst Texas legislators based upon their performance in the legislation session. Our own State Representative, Dennis Paul, made the list as “furniture” following in the footsteps of his predecessor, John Davis.

Dennis Paul joins such notables as Bryan Slaton who was thrown out of the House for giving alcohol to a minor staff member then porking her. Slaton won the new category called The Cockroach. The category of Furniture belongs to three members, Dennis Paul, John Raney, and Stan Lambert who are the who’s who of who the fuck are you. A legislator referred to as furniture is someone who takes space, does little, and sometimes is responsible for a stubbed little toe in the middle of the night. Furniture just sits there. They put out little if any effort. They might carry a bill that will pass just as long as the sun rises the next day. It doesn’t take talent or effort. Paul is good at that.

To Paul’s credit he did sponsor a bill that would create a fund for future development of coastal protection barriers. Abbott vetoed it. Whomp-whomp. Paul did sponsor bills, that easily passed, to limit mail in voting by those in the military and the elderly. And the sun came up the next day.


Who is funding the Texas Latino Conservatives PAC? You will be surprised. Again.

July 12, 2023

White guys. More white guys.

Someone needs to do a deep dive into this entire Latinos/Hispanics for Trump stupidity. We aren’t that stupid. The Latino community might be the laziest group of people when it comes to participating in political issues that directly affect their lives, but we aren’t stupid. But the Republican Party and their white donors think so.

According to the Texas Ethics Commission the Texas Latino Conservatives PAC was formed in 2020 and raised $1.9 Million. 95% of the entire donations was donated by 8 white guys and 4 white PACs including the Coalition Por For Texas PAC which is funded by….you guessed it….white guys. WTF?

Besides the Coalition, which gave $977,000, Richard Weekley, the Houston developer, gave $281,000. Harlan Crow, who is mired in a controversy with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, gave $100,000. The other white guys include McNair, Duncan, Rowling, Swinbank, Levine and donations from the white guys of the Harris county Republican Party and Grimes County.

Coalition Por Texas PAC977,000.00
Weekley ,Richard281,800.00
Mc Nair ,Cary163,000.00
Duncan ,Jan105,000.00
Crow ,Harlan100,000.00
Rowling ,Robert B.100,000.00
Harris County Republican Party65,000.00
Swinbank ,Joseph B.30,000.00
Levine ,Herbert16,000.00
Grimes County Republican Party10,000.00
Texas GOP PAC8,000.00
1,855,800.00

The PAC spent money on a lot of white candidates including Harris county Commissioner Jack Cagle, who lost, and Jack Morman, Candidate for Harris county Commissioner Pct 2, who also lost. They also donated $330,000 to the Texas Latino Conservatives LLC which probably is a non profit organization whose spending habits are hidden due to their status. Mammoth Marketing was paid $419,000 for advertising in support of some white candidates. They threw a bone of $15,000 to Lopez and Assoc Consulting Inc.

White guys posing as Latinos.


Who is funding the Latino Coalition por for Texas PAC? You will be surprised.

July 11, 2023

White guys. Their donors are white guys.

The Coalition por for Texas PAC (yes that is their name) was created in early 2022 and looks as if it’s a PAC in support of Latino candidates. Their campaign finance reports reflects differently. Their expenditures are also interesting.

According to the Texas Ethics Commission this Latino PAC’s treasurer is Shannon O’Leary. (I kid you not, O’Leary) Since Jan of 2022 they raised a $2,550,000 from 5 white guys and 1 PAC. Here are the entire donations they received since they were formed. Harlan Crow is the Texas billionaire who paid for lavish vacations for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and paid the tuition for his adopted son. Both of these expenditures were never disclosed by Thomas. Richard Weekley is a developer from Houston and one of the republican oligarchs of Texas. Hillwood Development is a right wing PAC. So bottom line it looks like this is one of many front groups for a bunch of rich white guys.

Crow ,Harlan500,000.00
Crow ,Harlan250,000.00
Popolo ,Joseph50,000.00
Rees-Jones ,Trevor D.500,000.00
Rowling ,Robert250,000.00
Weekley ,Richard250,000.00
Weekley ,Richard250,000.00
Weekley ,Richard250,000.00
Hillwood Development Co250,000.00
2,550,000.00

Over the same period the Coalition Por For Texas PAC donated $2,290,000 to various organizations and candidates. The biggest donations include $943,000 to Texas Latino Conservatives (more on them later), $510,000 to Project RedTx PAC. A couple of Latinos received a few thousand dollars including Alexandria Mealer for $68,000. Here are their major donations of $4000 or more.

#ProjectREDTX PAC ,100,000.00
Adam Hinojosa Campaign ,10,000.00
Alex Mealer Campaign ,68,000.00
Conservative Hispana In Action ,38,000.00
Guillen Campaign ,75,000.00
Hidalgo County Republican Party ,15,000.00
Hispanic Republicans of Texas PAC ,175,000.00
Hispanic Republicans of Texas PAC ,38,000.00
Janie Lopez Campaign ,10,000.00
John Guerra Campaign ,5,000.00
John Lujan Campaign For State Representative10,000.00
Marc Lahood Campaign ,5,000.00
Maverick County Republican Party ,7,000.00
Michelle Lopez for HD 45 Campaign ,5,000.00
Oscar Rosa Campaign ,5,000.00
ProjectREDTX ,400,000.00
ProjectREDTX ,10,000.00
RightSide ,6,990.00
Stop Houston Murders ,150,000.00
Texans for Educational Freedom ,150,000.00
Texas Federation For Children PAC ,12,500.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,450,000.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,184,500.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,100,000.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,75,000.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,48,000.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,40,555.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,30,000.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,11,000.00
Texas Latino Conservatives PAC ,4,000.00
The Republican Party of Jim Wells County ,23,500.00

Senator “Money” Mayes Middleton financing campaigns across Texas

July 6, 2023

I don’t call him “Money” Mayes for nothing.

Senator Middleton is using his wealth to finance campaigns across Texas, hand picking extreme right wing candidates and providing them with funding. His biggest contribution, according to the Texas Ethics Committee, is to himself. Since 2015 Middleton self financed his campaigns for State House and Senate to the tune of $5.7 Million.

Middleton has donated over $9 million to candidates and extreme right wing organizations with over 60% going to his own campaigns. Some of his biggest donations include $300,000 to Louie Gohmert who unsuccessfully ran for Texas Attorney General against Ken Paxton in the Republican Primary. He donated over $60,000 to Galveston’s State Representative Terri Wilson. Wilson raised over 87% of her entire campaign donations from out of district PACs and individuals. He donated a few thousand dollars to the leader of conservative values, State Representative Tony Tinderholt, who has been married 5 times. He donated $186,000 to Carrie Isaac of Dripping Springs.

You can view Middleton’s donations here.


Stealing Campaign Cash: Houston City Councilman Michael Kubosh

June 21, 2023

So much for his candidacy for Houston Controller.

According to Councilman Michael Kubosh he has quit the race for Controller due to health reasons. KHOU TV thinks otherwise and for good reason. KHOU compared Kubosh’s campaign finance reports to his social media activity and found that he spent some of his donors money on personal travel and entertainment. From KHOU:

KHOU shared with Gutierrez a list of 20 questionable campaign expenses and corresponding social media videos. They include other expenses for family meals, and airport parking charges during out-of-state trips. The items span six years of Kubosh’s nine-year city council tenure and total $7,754.76.

Now to be fair, $7,754.76 isn’t that much. I’ve seen worse. There was Secretary of State Jane Nelson spending tens of thousands of dollars of her donor’s money on a condo. There was Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole spending $250,000 of his donors money on Starbucks, antique books and western chaps. (seriously) And there was State Representative John Davis of Clear Lake spending $1500 of his donors money on fancy, custom made, cowboy boots.

But Kubosh was running for Controller on a platform of fiscal responsibility, transparency, and all of those right wing talking points. He obviously was also running on hypocrisy which is a trademark of the Republican Party. So just days after KHOU started asking questions, he quit, as he should have.

Kubosh has claimed he has filed updated reports. According to Texas laws if you get caught breaking the Ethics Commission laws by a media outlet all you have to do is file a correction and you are off the hook. It’s like stealing from a bank. If you return the money you won’t be charged. (LOL)


Donating Campaign Cash: Don McGill Toyota

June 16, 2023

Much like Tilman Fertitta Don McGill plays both sides. Sort of.

According to the Texas Ethics Commission Don McGill of Don McGill Toyota donated over $1.8 million to various PACs and candidates since 2000. From 2000-2014 he donated a total of $145,500 with donations not exceeding $5000. In 2014 he began donating large sums of money totaling $1.7 Million. His largest donations includes $500,000 to Judicial Fairness PAC and Stop Houston Murders PAC formed to support republican judicial candidates. He also donated to Sid “The C*nt” Miller and Ken “The Impeached” Paxton. (See below)

He does play both sides of the aisle just like Tilman Fertitta. Of the $1.8 Million he has donated $2500 to 2 Democrats.

Judicial Fairness PAC ,500,000.00
Stop Houston Murders PAC ,500,000.00
Texans for Dan Patrick ,390,000.00
Harris County Republican Party (CEC) ,260,000.00
Miller ,Sid50,000.00
Ken Paxton20,000.00