After crushing defeat of Buzbee KTRK (ABC13) takes on Commissioners Court

August 9, 2020

 

It all began with Wayne Dolcefino, once with KTRK, back in the 90’s. 

Back in 1995 Wayne Dolcefino was an investigative reporter (sic) for KTRK-TV. He had a boner for Sylvester Turner when Turner first ran for Mayor. Dolcefino was eventually sued and lost for a story about insurance fraud and a jury awarded $5.5 Million. 

Turner lost his bid for Mayor and Dolcefino is no longer with KTRK but that doesn’t stop them from crossing the line of integrity and fair reporting. In 2019 they seemed to have a thing for Tony Buzbee but that ended in a $13M crushing defeat. Now they have set their sight a bit higher, the Commissioner Court race. KTRK’s incorrect reporting of a possible 8% increase in Harris County property rates was as honest as a lead balloon was at floating. Harris County Commissioner summed up the reporting with the following:

Commissioner Adrian Garcia reassured property owners, though, saying, “There is zero chance that during a pandemic and an economic crisis an 8% tax increase would be proposed or passed.”

Maybe they should have started with that statement. Guess who KTRK will be behind this November in the race for the open Commissioner seat.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

When Harris County Commissioners ask for your opinion….give it to them

July 16, 2020

I should have known better.

Harris County Commissioners asked for public comments on creating an appointed Elections Administrator, removing the election functions from the County Clerk and voter registration from the Tax Assessor Collectors office. Voters will no longer be able to hold an elected official accountable for screwing up our election process or making it harder to register to vote. (Ask Stan Stanart) From the Houston Chronicle:

Harris County became the latest in Texas to adopt an independent administrator model to run elections when the Democratic majority on Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to create the new department. Court members voted 3-2 along party lines to create an election administrator’s office, which will assume the voter registration duties of the tax assessor-collector and the election management role of the county clerk.

Whether this is a good idea or not is not the point because it’s now a done deal, and that is the point. I’ve been to hearings in Austin listening to literally hundreds of individuals speaking against a bill with no opposition just to watch the committee immediately vote to approve the bill. The testimony wasn’t lost because comments would be used in the future to challenge the bill in court.
The Commissioners listened to our input then voted to approve the item regardless. Their minds were made up leaving us with many unanswered questions. Why were we left in the dark on this extremely important issue? Why was this being discussed in the middle of a historic election? Why was this being discussed during a raging pandemic killing Houstonians? Why didn’t the Commission reach out for comments from the public? Why were they not being transparent about the issue?
Here is a suggestion to Commissioners for future meetings. If your mind is made up already on a issue as important as our Constitutional rights don’t ask your constituents to waste their time speaking at a hearing. Don’t act like you are giving us the privilege to talk on the issue. Have the common courtesy to tell them it is a done deal, stay home, and just shut the hell up.
For all the good Judge Hildago has done over the last 2 years, this lack of transparency on this important issue was very disappointing. 

1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Harris County Republican Party in free fall. Chair resigns

June 7, 2020

It’s been a bad week for the chair elect of the Harris County Republican Party.

First he posts a meme of a quote from Martin Luther King, the black civil rights leader, with a picture of a banana. That cost him his job as the Chair of the Pasadena Planning Commission. Then he resigned as chair elect of the party. He was to begin his tenure on August 3.

Coming off a devastating loss in 2018 which resulted in every Republican in Harris County losing (except 1) they now enter the 2020 election with no Chair and running on the coattails of the head racist in charge, Donald Trump. This can’t end well.

This isn’t the first time the HCRP posted something inappropriate. Last year the Chair, Paul Simpson, used the Holocaust Remembrance Day to make an offensive political statement with a post on the official  county Facebook page. Hopefully it will be their last.


Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Raising Campaign Cash 8 days out. Harris County

February 26, 2020

Here are the major races. Updates will come soon.

Carvana Cloud raised over half her donations, $15,000, from Rusty Hardin and Carole Walter Cooke, who inherited an Oil and Gas company.

Audia Jones is still not disclosing the in-kind donations from a socialist PAC called Real Justice.

Jolanda Jones has over $60,000 in unpaid expenses. That is strange.

CANDIDATE Raised Spent COH Loans
District Attorney
Kim Ogg (Inc) $102,688 $368,328 $150,584 $68,489
Audia Jones $11,573 $26,277 $20,311 $0
Carvana Cloud $26,385 $33,570 $788 $1,021
Todd Overstreet not filed
Lori Deangelo $1,175 $1,231 $641 $0
Mary Huffman $81,435 $62,612 $35,616 $0
Lloyd Oliver LOL LOL LOL LOL
County Attorney
Vince Ryan (Inc) $11,650 $77,291 $61,033 $0
Christian Menefee $12,640 $123,961 $24,961 $0
John Nation not filed
Sheriff
Ed Gonzalez (inc) $41,085 $307,714 $219,574 $0
Jerome Moore $3,670 $9,391 $6,975 $0
Harry Zamora $2,000 $911 $0 $0
Joe Danna $15,623 $17,789 $5,420 $8,000
Randy Rush not filed
Paul Day not filed
Tax Assessor
Ann Bennett (Inc) $19,027 $43,191 $31,803 $0
Jolanda Jones $16,960 $98,725 $30,102
Jack Terrence not filed
Chris Daniel not filed
Commissioner Pct 1
Rodney Ellis $483,204 $599,177 $3,822,587 $0
Maria Jackson $68,935 $36,053 $29,926 $9,400
Commissioner Pct 3
Michael Moore
Kristi Thibaut $53,836 $187,929 $178,180 $0
Morris Overstreet not filed
Diana Martinez $5,468 $2,929 $3,729 $0
Zaher Eisa not filed
Erik Hassan $0 $35,200 $0 $0
Constable Pct 1
Alan Rosen $0 $22,747 $928,052 $0
Cedrick Collier $4,105 $5,501 $3,392
Gilberto Reyna not filed
Perry Wesley not filed
Constable Pct 2
Chris Diaz $20,475 $44,406 $21,143 $0
Lt Jerry Garcia $4,905 $5,495 $17,849 $0
George Goffney not filed
Alberto Rivera $2,632 $1,042 $3,203 $500
Jerry Garcia Withdrew
Constable Pct 3
Sherman Eagleton $62,995 $71,703 $60,658 $82,550
Deborah Florus Not filed
Ken Jones
Michel Pappillion*
John Portillo
Eric Reed
Constable Pct 4
Jeff McGowen not filed
Constable Pct 5
Ted Heap
Mark Harrison $3,500 $0 $3,612 $14,178
Mark Miller
Randy Newman
Constable Pct 5
Silvia Trevino
Joseph Guerra
Constable Pct 7
May Walker

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Why are you running: CC Phillips, Robert Morales

January 30, 2020

Once again we need to ask: “Why are you running?” to CC Phillips and Robert Morales both challenging Judge Julia Maldonado. Judge Maldonado won her race for the 507th District Court in Harris County in 2016. There is absolutely no reason to change our Democratic nominee for 2020.

From a campaign finance perspective Morales and Phillips are lacking in funds so say the least.

Candidate COH Raised Spent Loan
Judge Maldanado $152,054 $72,174 $26,808 $0
CC Phillips $34 $3,100 $8,783 $2,000
Robert Morales $1,735 $1,735 $738 $3,805

.

Vote for Judge Maldonado for the 507th District Court.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Why are you running? Dawn Rogers for District Judge District 334

January 30, 2020

There are a number of challengers against well established incumbents especially in judicial races. Dawn Rogers is one who is challenging Judge Steven Kirkland. It makes you wonder: Why are you running?

There really is no reason Judge Kirkland should be challenged except for maybe one thing. Back in 2017 Judge Kirkland ruled against Landry’s Restaurant. The Houston Press wrote:

Landry’s must pay an animal welfare organization it sued for defamation $450,000 in sanctions, a Harris County District Judge ruled Wednesday, upon dismissing the case. Judge Steven Kirkland dismissed Landry’s suit with prejudice and wrote that the sanctions were necessary “to deter Plaintiffs from filing similar actions in the future.” Kirkland also ordered Landry’s to pay more than $170,000 in legal fees.

So this case cost Landry’s $620,000. Kirkland’s opponent raised $9,395 with $5,000 coming from Landy’s Restaurant PAC. Coincidence? Kirkland has served the community very well. Let’s keep him on the bench.

Candidate COH Raised Spent Loan
Judge Kirkland $105,141 $50,271 $23,846 $0
Dawn Rogers $2,865 $9,395 $10,715 $0

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Texas Organizing Project endorses the Socialist for Harris County DA

January 22, 2020

I should have seen this coming and I think I see the next one coming.


Texas Organizing Project (TOP) has endorsed the Socialist running for Harris County District Attorney, Audia Jones. TOP has received a major donation from a far left donor from California. As I have said in a previous post:

Real Justice PAC has spent $425,192 which includes in-kind contributions. $280,000 was donated to Texas Organizing Project PAC, an organization that generally performs great work in the field. Real Justice have donated to three candidates for District Attorney in Bexar, Tarrant, and Harris County.

$280,000 was donated by a single donor to Real Justice PAC, an extreme far lefty from California. They also have donated over $50,000 to Audia Jones which includes in-kind donations of over $20,000 for staff. (Jones has not reported this on her campaign finance reports). Jones is from the Democratic Socialists of America, as is her husband, a sitting judge. TOP’s endorsement and money has given this socialist an opportunity to run under the cover of the Democratic Party, much like LaRouche candidates have in the past. The DSA has now become the LaRouche of the party minus the signing.

TOP claims Audia is the only one that would advocate for bail reform, which is absolutely not true. This type of endorsement gives socialists a foot into the door to our party. They run as “progressives” yet will be seen as the candidate of the Democratic Party  that is more concerned about those who break the law instead of protecting those who don’t.

Bali reform is needed Another Socialist in our party is not.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Raising Campaign Cash: Harris County Candidates

January 18, 2020

Republicans are in red

The incumbent District Attorney has a significant advantage over her competitors with $385,908 COH compared to $23,431 combined from Jones, Cloud, and Overstreet.

Christian Menefee raised a significant amount of money….but $50,000 came from his own pocket.

Ed Gonzalez has a huge lead in this race. As does Michael Moore. Rodney Ellis has been sitting on a $3M war chest for some time now.

Alan Rosen has a commanding lead over his opponents with over $944,000 COH. There is no competition in this race. Rosen has served his district very well.

Chris Diaz is mired in controversy. He has a great challenger, Jerry Garcia, who has excellent experience but he has not filed his report yet.

Michel Pappillion* for Constable will not raise or spend more than $500.

May Marker for Constable has no opponent.

CANDIDATE COH Raised Spent Loans
District Attorney
Kim Ogg (Inc) $385,908 $106,572 $83,276 $68,489
Audia Jones $29,973 $49,186 $29,177 $0
Carvana Cloud $16,889 $33,881 $17,382 $0
Todd Overstreet $0 $0 $0 $0
Lori Deangelo $500 $0 $2,012 $0
Mary Huffman $0 $0 $41,089 $0
Lloyd Oliver $0 $0 $0 $0
County Attorney
Vince Ryan (Inc) $101,039 $33,655 $18,779 $0
Christian Menefee $128,547 $135,579 $41,249 $50,000
John Nation $0 $0 $1,369 $0
Sheriff
Ed Gonzalez (inc) $317,264 $95,636 $47,317 $0
Jerome Moore $12,698 $28,595 $15,896 $0
Harry Zamora $0 $4,500 $18,177 $0
Joe Danna $9,857 $78,820 $39,274 $7,000
Randy Rush $0 $1,000 $1,000 $0
Paul Day Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Tax Assessor
Ann Bennett (Inc) $39,845 $20,965 $8,734 $0
Jolanda Jones $16,320 $16,320 $1,250 $0
Jack Terrence $0 $1,000 $1,400 $0
Chris Daniel $0 $0 $1,250 $0
Commissioner Pct 1
Rodney Ellis $3,881,740 $122,631 $396,998 $0
Maria Jackson $19,353 $110,230 $71,241 $8,000
Commissioner Pct 3
Diana Martinez Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Zaher Eisa Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Erik Hasson Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Michael Moore $199,052 $209,391 $13,248 $0
Morris Overstreet $15,925 $17,950 $2,025 $0
Kristi Thibaut $45,761 $51,180 $4,536 $5,000
Constable Pct 1
Alan Rosen $944,281 $719,338 $60,120 $0
Cedrick Collier Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Gilberto Reyna $3,526 $7,416 $7,579 $0
Perry Wesley $0 $0 $529 $529
Constable Pct 2
Chris Diaz $28,989 $77,411 $43,202 $92
Lt Jerry Garcia $17,305 $31,768 $21,239 $0
George Goffney Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Alberto Rivera $2,096 $7,551 $6,285 $200
Jerry Garcia quit quit quit quit
Constable Pct 3
Sherman Eagleton $110,937 $30,255 $25,626 $82,550
Deborah Florus $8,999 $15,100 $15,841 $0
Ken Jones Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Michel Pappillion*
John Portillo $21 $3,366 $21,441 $43,253
Eric Reed $0 $0 $0 $0
Constable Pct 4
Jeff McGowen $0 $0 $1,019 $1,200
Constable Pct 5
Ted Heap $287,366 $29,925 $19,484 $0
Mark Harrison Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Mark Miller $0 $1,365 $2,370 $0
Randy Newman Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed Not Filed
Constable Pct 5
Silvia Trevino $18,587 $33,034 $28,627 $0
Joseph Guerra $641 $6,488 $2,965 $0
Constable Pct 7
May Walker $28,978 $5,925 $3,487 $0

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Why are you running? Brittanye Morris

January 16, 2020

This is a new “Why are you running” series for me.

Brittanye Morris is an attorney running for 333rd Judicial District Civil Court. She is a late challenger to Democrat Judge Daryl Moore. According to the Houston Bar Association Judge Moore is the highest ranked Judge in Harris County with an overall score of 69% (see below). He was elected to the bench in 2016 and as far as I can tell has performed well for the citizens of Harris County which brings me to the question for Brittanye Morris: Why are you running?

Every candidate challenging an incumbent should be prepared to answer the question, Why are your running?. It’s a fair question and there just might be good reasons to force a member of your own party, in good standing, to spend resources to run. What has Judge Moore or any incumbent done to compel you to put your life on hold and run a campaign? Many candidates can’t answer this question.

Besides answering the question Morris is not raising money, has no website, Facebook page, or anything that shows she is trying to win.

Would love to know why she is running. I have asked.

1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Socialists running in the Democratic Primary

January 15, 2020

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is taking over for the LaRouche cult in infiltrating the Democratic Party. Unlike LaRouche DSA does not have much money and they are definitely less whacky but they are running candidates in the Democratic Primary.

Case in point, Audia Jones. Audia is running for Harris County District Attorney. She is a member of DSA. Her husband is also a DSA member and was elected to the bench in 2018. As with the other DSA candidates she is running as a “progressive”, a very far left progressive. She is young and has some experience which is always good but we do not need to be coddling socialists in our party. Ever.

She is joined by another socialist, Sema Hernandez a long shot, inexperienced, candidate for United States Senate. And there are probably more. In fact the Texas Observer found 17 running in the 2018 elections with at least one winning right here in Houston.

DSA is the tea party of the left. They are the extreme. They are the unwanted lightning rod for the party. The word “socialist” scares the living crap out of independent voters. If DSA candidates want to run, run in your own party. Running a socialist in the Democratic Party is like passing gas in a crowded elevator.

It stinks.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »