Texas Republican Leaders: Promises, Problems, and Power Failures

August 1, 2024

You would think that Texans would have figured this out by now.

In 2021 Texans endured days without power, living in freezing temperatures after the failure of the electricity grid. In 2024 Harris County residents endured days without power, sweating through their sheets after a failed response to Hurricane Beryl. Now the republican leaders, the very individuals who were partially responsible for the failures, are riding in shooting their mouths off, talking tough, and promising to solve the problem they created.

According to the Houston Chronicle State Senator Paul Bettencourt came to the Committee on his white wing horse spewing fire about a problem he created:

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt raised the specter of fraud in CenterPoint’s selection of a small, little known company to provide the generators rather than a well-established company with a much cheaper bid. Bettencourt, R-Houston, condemned what he portrayed as the overcharging of ratepayers in fiery comments Monday morning in the first meeting of the Texas Senate’s Special Committee on Hurricane and Tropical Storm Preparedness, Recovery and Electricity. 

This isn’t new for Republicans in Texas. In 2003 they deregulated electricity resulting in a fragile grid, higher rates, and a need for $12,000 generators. They reformed insurance resulting in a crisis of rising rates and premiums. Both of these issues are now being investigated by the House and Senate with Republicans leading the way as if they had nothing to do with the very problems they created.

Lucky for republicans Texans are pretty stupid voters. Instead of demanding a fix to the electric grid they cash in their retirement and buy a $12,000 generator. Instead of demanding insurance companies pay claims and reduce premiums they are satisfied with less coverage in exchange for lower premiums.

We’ve seen this before. In 2023 they passed bills that passed on the cost to fortify the Texas grid to the consumer. Expect them to do this again in 2025. Why? Because we will let them.

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Posted by johncoby

Houston’s Gallery Furniture hosts Mom’s for Liberty three way

March 12, 2024

Praise the lord!

This ought to be interesting. Last year the co-founder of Mom’s for Liberty, Bridget Ziegler, was caught up in the sexual three way with her husband, Christina Zieger Chair of the Florida Republican Party, and a woman who has accused him of rape. There were a number of stories as well as videos.

Ziegler was appointed to the Sarasota School Board by Governor Ron DeSantis. She is still on the board even after parents called for her resignation. The accusation of rape has since been dropped by the woman but the Republican Party removed him as the Chair.

Mom’s for Liberty is a white wing, Florida based, extremist organization with chapters in 48 states. According to Bloomberg they have advocated for book banning, as well as:

fought against equal treatment for LGBTQ children, and railed against sex education and the teaching of Black history. Its members falsely claim there’s a widespread conspiracy in American schools to expose children to concepts about sexual orientation and gender identity that don’t conform to the Moms’ idea of traditional family values.

Bridget Ziegler

I guess they occasionally enjoy a three way once in a while. Great family values! And now they are coming to Houston’s own Gallery Furniture with Kirk Cameron, who has a boner for the Gay community. He claims a legal process called marriage is “unnatural” between same sex among other things. His interview on CNN is disturbing.

So come to Gallery Furniture and enjoy the event. (no videos please)

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Posted by johncoby

The Democratic Primary. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

March 6, 2024

Let’s start with The Ugly

The Ugly.
What the living hell is happening to the white, male, Democratic Judges in Harris County? The purge continued with the loss of Judge Mike Englehart and Judge Robert Schaffer and I do mean “loss”. The losers are the citizens of Harris County who demand Judges who follow the law, do their fuckin job, and are fair to all parties. That is what Englehart and Schaffer brought to the courtroom. Why would anyone challenge them and why would anyone vote for their opponents? This is ugly. Real ugly. And stupid.

There is more ugly. After leaving the Mayoral race when Sheila Jackson Lee entered, Amanda Edwards endorsed Lee and ran for her congressional race. After being wiped out in the election Lee reentered her congressional race and won last night. Amanda lost and the Democratic Party has probably lost her as a candidate in the future. I wouldn’t blame her. The Party that wants young, talented, candidates to run for office didn’t vote for the young and very talented candidate. She lost.

The Bad.
With 6 candidates in the race to replace Senator Whitmire Representative Jarvis Johnson will be in a runoff with Molly Cook. This is bad only because Johnson is the best of the bunch and shouldn’t be in a runoff. Representative Harold Dutton won. Representative Shawn Thierry will be in a runoff for her seat. Her opponent received 49.79% of the vote while Ashton Woods caused the runoff with 5% of the vote. That is bad. Judge Ursula Hall won. That’s bad too.

The Good.
There is a lot of good that came last night. Sean Teare defeated District Attorney Kim Ogg by a wide margin. The good she has done for Harris County was all wiped out by her pettiness. Let’s thank her for her service and move forward. Senator out of Arizona, Kristen Sinema will not seek reelection. Yeah! The Democratic Socialist Pervez Agwan running against Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher was wiped out by 60 points. Favorites Christian Menefee, Ed Gonzales, Jerry Garcia, and Judge Delgado will all move on to the general.

On to the general.

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Posted by johncoby

Raising Campaign Cash: Final Houston City Elections

January 23, 2024

Just an FYI to candidates. Even if you didn’t win you are required to file a report that was due Jan 16. The following have not filed as of 1/23/24:

  • Lee Kaplan
  • Melanie Miles
  • Marina Coryat
  • Obes Nwabara
  • Richard Cantu
  • Casey Curry
  • James Joseph
  • Donnell Cooper
  • Ericka McCrutcheon
  • Leticia Plummer
  • John Branch
Jan-24
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Gilbert Garcia*113705260696052280
Sheila Jackson Lee1095673699990908050
Lee Kaplan
John Whitmire7900071195804025327780
Robert Gallegos25250901276460
At Large 1
Candidate
Melanie Miles
Conchita Shelly Reyes00000
Leah Wolfthal853323170000
Julian Ramirez23590417520399830000
At Large 2
Candidate
Nick Hellyar68615126192026260
Danielle Bess00000
Holly Flynn Vilaseca53452553905210
Marina Coryat
Willie Davis71003301034762000
Obioha “Obes” Nwabara
At Large 3
Candidate
Twila Carter260071247044954000
Richard Cantu
Casey Curry
James Joseph
Donnell Cooper
Ericka McCrutcheon
At Large 4
Candidate
Letitia Plummer
John Branch
Roy Morales5000130220482211979
At Large 5
Candidate
Sallie Alcorn163618061901323950
District E
Candidate
Martina Lemond Dixon50251164100
Fred Flickinger18375140810140811003000
Controller
Candidate
Chris Hollins9646714637102722290
Shannan Nobles1000349880779112000
Dave Martin510037665000
Orlando Sanchez1988343369010415198128

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The fake Political Action Committee that meddled in Houston Elections

January 2, 2024

Elizabeth Sanders of the Houston Chronicle wrote a very interesting article concerning a mystery PAC meddling in Houston City elections. It is well worth a read.

In short, a PAC identified as the Houston Hispanic Action Committee sent mailers out to District G voters advocating for an unknown, first time, candidate for City Council who raised only $125. The candidate received 11% of the vote and sent the race into a runoff. City Council Member Mary Nan Huffman failed to receive the 50% margin by only a few hundred votes. The PAC also advocated against Huffman incorrectly saying she endorsed Trump for reelection.

So. Who is the Houston Hispanic Action Committee (HHPAC)? No one knows but someone spent a good amount of money to help Buzbee get to a runoff. HHPAC is not registered with the Texas Ethics Commission. They did not appoint a treasurer. These are very serious violations and could result in large fines especially if it was done deliberately to influence an election. Sending out mailers was deliberate. An ethics complaint should be filed.

Unfortunately there is no contact information available for HHPAC. They had a website up until today. The domain name https://houstonhispanicaction.com was created in Sept of 2023 just in time for the election. The administrator of the domain is hidden. They had a Facebook page until today. That page is no longer active. In order to file a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission you need contact information for the Houston Hispanic Action Committee and there is none.

According to the article the PAC used a specific printer, Long Plan Printing or LP Printing. They have declined to provide who paid for the printing but there is a way to find out. According to the Texas Ethics Commission LP Printing has received over $163,000 over the last ten years mainly from Republican candidates and organizations. Spring Republicans spent over $93,000 for services during this time period.

Sending these mailers under a fake PAC name is a serious violation of the laws governing campaigns and it should be investigated by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office or the Harris County Attorney’s office. They have the authority to issue subpoenas and find out who designed the mailers and who paid for the mailers to be sent. If this is allowed to go unpunished it could affect elections on all levels in the future.

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Posted by johncoby

Yes you can run for City Council and have a homestead exemption in another county

December 23, 2023
Dave Wilson

I don’t like it but I accept it.

Thanks to Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee for responding to this. As my 5 readers recall I noted that Houston City Council Member Elect, Wille Ray Davis, listed his residence as the City of Houston while taking a homestead and disable veteran exemption on his $600,000 home in Brazoria County. This exemption does not disqualify him from running in the City or voting in Harris County.

As I said, I do not like it but I accept it. A few years ago Dave Wilson, a candidate for Houston Community College, was sued by the County Attorney for not residing in the district he was running in. Wilson, a supporter of the sanctity of marriage, was separated from his wife and listed his residency as a 1,140-square-foot apartment upstairs at his office, located at 5600 W. 34th St. in the college system’s District II. He eventually won this lawsuit and took his seat on the Board. He eventually resigned.

So, back to Davis. The case against Wilson showed taking a homestead exemption doesn’t necessarily determine where you live, where you put your head down at night. It doesn’t make sense to those of us who are not trained in law. It’s not hard to understand but it is hard to accept. So there. A candidate can take a homestead exemption in another county and run in Houston for office by just claiming an address in Houston and claiming they live there.

I wonder if someone was tailed the candidate for a month, his cell phone traffic was investigated, and it showed they did not lay their head at their Houston address but instead at their homestead if that would make a difference.

Regardless, we can attend the inauguration ceremony on Jan 2 and welcome Willie Davis to the Houston City Council.

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In defense of Harris County DA Kim Ogg

December 21, 2023

I believe we need to thank Kim Ogg for her service then nominate Sean Teare for DA in 2024, but let’s be honest, she has received some undue criticism.

Personally I believe Kim Ogg has worn out her welcome with her constant drama concerning Commissioners Court and the primary of 2022 but the issue with the COVID contract award and the investigation is justified and troubling. On the surface it stinks. The County awarded a multi million dollar contract to a small, local, woman-owned firm called Elevate. The allegations by a member of the Commissioner’s Court claimed that this company did not have any employees, had no experience for the job, was given special treatment, and was selected as a political favor. All of these allegations are disturbing if true. Judge Hidalgo has published a page debunking these allegations. It is worth a read.

The contract was eventually cancelled and District Attorney, Kim Ogg, began an investigation that has resulted in the indictment of three members of her staff. Having served on multiple grand juries I find it very disturbing that multiple indictments were handed down. On a vote of at least 9-3 the grand jury believed there was sufficient evidence that a crime was committed. A grand jury provides a check and balance for those charged with a crime. Every grand jury I have served on took their jobs extremely seriously. So as I said, it bothers me. We will see if the allegations hold water next year.

As I have said above, this entire situation with this contract stinks. Ogg’s giddiness in publicly investigating the issue doesn’t help. Neither does the drip, drip, drip, of additional information by the Houston Chronicle. It all doesn’t pass the smell test and those who think this is yet another political attack on the Harris County Judge need to take a step back and ask themselves what they would want the DA to do if the Judge was a Republican.

Personally I believe the three staffers will be acquitted. I do not believe they were that stupid to do something that stupid.

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Posted by johncoby

Will the City of Houston or Harris County investigate voter fraud or not?

December 21, 2023

I just don’t get it.

After the 2022 election the Harris County Republican Party bitched and moaned about voter fraud. They filed multiple lawsuits, all but one, was dismissed and the election results stood. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg was also quick to call for an investigation. So far her investigation continues.

Yet here we have a situation with a candidate for Houston City Council, Willie Ray Davis, who won in the runoff, with very questionable residency issues and no one is looking at this. Not the City. Not Harris County Attorney’s office. Not Harris County District Attorney’s office. Not the Ballot Integrity Committee of the Harris County Republican Party. And not the media.

What the fuck over? As noted before Willie Davis claims on his application to run for office that he lives in the City of Houston but according to Brazoria County he bought a new home in 2021 AND took a homestead exemption and a disabled veterans exemption. (Thank you for your service) In order to take that exemption he must live in the home for 12 months and in order to run for office he must live in the city of Houston for 12 months.

Besides that issue, Davis voter registration card lists his residency as the City of Houston while he has a homestead exemption in Brazoria County. Isn’t this voter fraud?

I’ve asked the City to investigate. They referred me to the Harris County Attorney. The City Attorney, the County Attorney and County DA should be investigating this issue. I don’t know how much clearer this needs to be. According to official documents Willie Davis does not live in Houston and should have been disqualified from running.

The City and County needs to either get off their asses and do something or make it real clear that you can run for office in the City of Houston without actually living in the City of Houston.

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Posted by johncoby

Voter fraud in Houston elections by winning candidate?

December 13, 2023

The voter integrity committee of the Harris County Republican Party is probably jumping on this like Donald Trump on a porn star.

Ok, hear me out. Prior to the election the Houston Chronicle questioned the residency of 7 candidates running in the Houston city elections, including Willie Ray Davis candidate for At-Large 2. Davis won in the runoff. According to the article the City only performs an initial check to verify the candidate put a city of Houston address on the application, they are registered to vote, and have not been convicted of a felony. Maybe someone needs to check a bit deeper.

Davis lists his address on his voter registration as 4734 Arbilla Ln Houston Texas 77021. That property is a single family residence owned by Lott Paul Wesley Sr. But here is where it gets interesting and disturbing. According to the Brazoria County Appraisal District Willie Ray Davis owns a $591,000 home at 3531 BENITO DR IOWA COLONY, TX. He claims a homestead exemption as well as a Disabled Veteran exemption. (Thank you for your service)

So here is the potential issue that the voter integrity committee is chowing down on. If this is the same Willie Ray Davis then he may have voted illegally. According to Texas law a candidate must live in the district for at least 12 months prior to the election and I believe if you take a homestead exemption on your home in Iowa Colony then that address is where you live. (it makes sense) So Willie Ray Davis lived out of the city of Houston.

And….if he registered to vote in Harris County using someone else’s address isn’t that a violation of voter integrity? And….if he voted in the City elections isn’t that voter fraud? And….if he didn’t vote in the City elections isn’t that a confirmation that he knew he would be committing voter fraud? If he claims residency in the City of Houston for the election then he can’t take a homestead exemption. That would be against the law and a lie. Willie Ray Davis is a pastor and I am sure he believes in Thou Shall Not Lie commandment.

There are a lot of IFs here and maybe this is a different Willie Ray Davis. So maybe someone should look a bit deeper on this. I will forward this to the voter integrity committee of the Harris County Republican Party and wait patiently for a response.

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Posted by johncoby

Post election thoughts. SJL. Amanda Edwards.

December 12, 2023

Now what?

After Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee entered the race for Houston Mayor, Amanda Edwards dropped out of the race and endorsed her. Amanda then filed to run for SJL Congressional District knowing that if SJL did not win she might run for re-election in her Congressional seat.

SJL lost by over 30 points and a day later she filed for her Congressional seat. Kind of not cool but that is politics and it was a risk Amanda realized and took. So now what? According to the Houston Chronicle Amanda has outraised SJL 4-1 and SJL won her district in the Mayors race by only 2 points. Amanda has been working the district for months. She is raising money. She is young and very capable of doing the job. She has experience as a former City Council Member.

Sheila is Sheila. She had performed the job for many years. Everyone knows her but that loss in the Mayors race was huge. It was surprising and her performance in her own district has to be concerning.

Personally I wish SJL had ended the race for Mayor by endorsing Amanda and welcoming a new, well qualified, young, woman for the next Congresswoman for Congressional District 18.

But then again. What the hell do I know?

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Posted by johncoby

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