trying to organize the avalanche of election info |
To put a positive spin on that, if you’re a well-informed voter, you get a bigger voice by voting in
the primary.
The challenge is in being a well-informed voter. I work pretty
hard at it. I know it’s hard to know all the candidates for all the offices,
and discern who’s telling the truth vs. who’s saying what needs to be said to
get elected. We don’t even all have the same definition of conservative,
although an understanding of the US Constitution and the philosophy behind it
is a good starting point.
What I’m doing here is presenting my thought process so far.
Mostly I’ve decided who I’m voting for, but in some cases I hesitate to call
that an endorsement; I call it my best answer at this point on the upcoming
exam. I plan to vote on voting day, rather than early, so I reserve the right
to change my mind. But I’m hoping that sharing what I know will help local
people add data to their decisions, and the process of it will help voters in
other places make good choices.
I’ve used a number of resources. A good starting place is a
sample ballot. I get mine at the county site HarrisVotes.org. You can choose either party there,
but I’m only dealing with the GOP ballot, where I’ve done research. (Good luck
finding a Constitutional conservative on the democrat ballot anyway—kind of a
useless exercise. You may find an occasional worthwhile libertarian candidate,
but they choose candidates by convention, rather than primary vote.)
For every candidate, you can do an online search for their
candidacy website, to learn how they’re presenting themselves. Much of my
research has consisted of meeting and hearing from candidates in person at
various forums: my local Tea Party meetings, King Street Patriots debates and
forums. And also comparing endorsement lists from various groups (all claiming
to be conservative) that have vetted the candidates, and also some individuals
whose opinions I value who have shared their views with friends. Among these is
a local group called Conservative Coalition of Harris County (CCHC PAC). These
are grassroots individuals, several of them longtime friends of mine. They
spend their own time vetting the candidates, with a combination of
questionnaire, in-person interviews, and online research. They do a secret
ballot, and if a candidate receives 70% or more of the panel vote, they
endorse. They are not funded by any outside sources, so candidates cannot
influence with donations; I guess that is possible with other organizations.
Other organizations whose endorsements I look at (as data,
not necessarily as a direction to follow) are Texas Conservative Review, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, and Houston Realty Business Coalition. I’m sure I’ve received others in my email inbox, but I have to limit the
avalanche of info somewhere as I set myself down to make decisions.
For judge races, I always take into account recommendations
from some friends in the county DA’s office, and I listen to some of the lawyers
who attend our Tea Party regularly. Also, a neighboring precinct judge shares
her recommendations with me.
So, here we go, mainly from the top down.
US Senate:
Besides
incumbent John Cornyn, there are seven other GOP candidates (plus some
libertarians you won’t see on this ballot). People in other states might not
understand our discontent with the powerful and apparently conservative senior
senator from Texas. But there is some friction in Washington between his
get-along-with-the-enemy approach and Ted Cruz’s take-the-right-position-and-let-things-fall-where-they-may
approach. Cruz is more of a Constitutional, principled conservative than
Cornyn. That doesn’t mean Cornyn is always wrong, or that Cruz’s approach will
always accomplish the best ends. But we need more bravery and principle from
our leaders, and it has appeared to us that Cornyn has worked behind the scenes
to undermine Cruz’s efforts. I don’t know what is true. I expect Cornyn will
win the primary, without a runoff. But in this primary I am willing to send a
message to Cornyn that he ought to pay more attention to us Texans. So then the
decision in the primary is, which alternative?
Reid Reasor
came to our last Tea Party meeting. I liked him. Linda Vega came last month. There
are things I liked about her, but I wasn’t persuaded she was US Senate material
yet. I’ve met Steve Stockman and Dwayne Stovall. People have mentioned good
things about Chris Mapp. So, I’m still undecided,
but I do think I’m going to do a protest vote in this primary, and then support
the republican candidate.
Governor:
I’m for Greg Abbott. Another candidate I’ve met
is Lisa Fritsch, who was running against Abbott with an outsider vs. insider
campaign. I didn’t buy it. But I liked her. I wish she were running for
something else where I could support her. I’m glad to be able to vote for Greg
Abbott. All of my sources are unanimous in supporting him. Sometime after the
primary I’ll compare and contrast him with the democrat challenger, Wendy Davis,
which should be an amusing exercise.
Lieutenant Governor:
I wrote
about this race a few weeks ago. I’m for Dan
Patrick, as are my sources, unanimously. But this race shows the deep bench
of conservative leaders in Texas. As the campaign continues, I see more
attacks, particularly from Jerry Patterson toward Dan Patrick—old and implied
with lack of fact, and it’s harming Patterson in my view more than Patrick. The
race is really between Patrick and Dewhurst, so Patterson’s attacks are going
to make it awkward either way for Patterson.
Attorney General:
I’ve been
truly undecided on this race. We met Barry Smitherman some months ago at the
tea Party, but he was likable but unremarkable in a state full of conservatives.
Ken Paxton came to our meeting last
week, and we had a great little conversation about Constitutional principles,
and about some inside politics. Paxton ran, last term, against the “moderate”
Texas House Speaker Strauss—because someone had to, and he couldn’t find
someone else willing. He was punished by having his district split—he won
anyway and recruited a number of new conservative representatives around him.
He also got removed from all committee leadership, and was the only
representative placed on two committees led by democrats. In addition, any
amendments he put forth on the floor were ruled not germane, even when they
clearly were. But rather than complain, he says that’s what we face
politically, and the solution is to get more conservatives elected. He seems to
understand the attorney general position well, and while I think Greg Abbott’s
shoes will be difficult to fill, I’m ready to give Paxton my vote. CCHC
supported him with 60% of their vote (not enough for an endorsement; Smitherman
got the other 40%). TFR also supported them. Smitherman is supported by TCR,
HRBC, and my precinct chair friend (I’ll refer to her as PC).
Comptroller:
This is like
a state treasurer position—it’s accounting. It’s an open seat, with retirement
of Susan Combs, who has been quite good. There are a few things Debra Medina
says that I agree with; she’s more libertarian than traditional conservative,
however, and there always seems to come a point where we diverge. Glenn Hegar was a state senator, whose
office we visited last term. I like him, and he seems quite capable. He gets
the support of CCHC (85%), TFR, and PC. Harvey Hilderbran got TCR’s
endorsement.
Land Commissioner:
I’m still
wavering on this race. George P. Bush
is the son of Florida Governor Jeb Bush, grandson of George H. W. Bush, nephew
of George W. Bush. It’s hard to say how much the name either hurts or helps. In
his own right, he seems fairly capable. I know less about his opponent David
Watts. CCHC gives 55% support to Watts. TCR, HRBC, and PC all support Bush. I
am leaning toward Bush for now.
Commissioner of Agriculture:
We met Eric
Opiela some time back at our Tea Party. I liked him, but I disagreed with him
on the use of the Rainy Day fund for water infrastructure. He supported his
argument well, and a number of people agreed with him, including Dan Patrick. I
know less about the other candidates. But I’m taking a longer look at Sid
Miller, who got 90% support from CCHC, as well as TFR and PC. Tommy Merritt got
the endorsement of TCR. Because of the influence of friends, chances are I will
go with Sid Miller.
Railroad Commissioner:
This
position has a traditional name but actually has nothing to do with railroads,
and everything to do with energy resources, such as oil and gas. We’ve had
Wayne Christian and Ryan Sitton at our Tea Party. I’m leaning toward Wayne Christian. He also got 80%
support from CCHC. But all the others got some support. TCR supports Malachi
Boyuls. HRBC supports Ryann Sitton. And PC supports Becky Berger.
So far we’ve
only gotten through statewide races, and even those not including judges. So
this is going to take another post. So tomorrow we’ll work through the local
and judicial races.
Extremely helpful!! My research is closely aligned with yours!! Thank you so much!! Diana Z, Cypress
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