The primary election is underway. Here in Texas, while
voting day comes up Tuesday, March 1st, early voting began Tuesday
and runs through February 26th. So I’m getting ready to vote next
week, and sharing my decisions.
I expect we’ll do this in two posts: one for national,
Texas, and Harris County races, and another for Texas and county judicial races.
I’ve gathered pamphlets, online info, endorsement lists from
friends and groups, and I’m using a handy matrix of endorsements put together
by Mark Ramsey, State Republican Executive Committeeman for Senate District 7
(my district), which he has been updating daily.
From Mark Ramsey's Facebook Page 2-18-2016 |
President
I won’t spend a lot of time here, because I’ve written my
opinion pretty clearly. [Read here, here, and here.] I endorse
Ted Cruz. If I can’t have my way, I could settle for Marco Rubio. There were
others in the race I could have settled for, but I don’t think Jeb Bush or John
Kasich qualify. I generally like Ben Carson as a citizen, but I don’t think he
has what it takes to be president. He is, however, better than many
alternatives.
I won’t vote for Donald Trump—even if he were to become the
nominee. I will not vote for the ruination of my country and the disposal of
our beloved Constitution. Every day his behavior convinces me more thoroughly
that he would be disastrous with power at his disposal.
Neither Bernie Sanders nor Hillary Clinton is even
conceivable as a president of this country. They would also be permanently
disastrous to our country. They are so bad that people would be tempted to vote
for whoever is running against them. But I can’t see that Trump would prevent
the damage they would do; he might even do damage they haven’t thought of.
It would be awkward (understatement) to be a Republican
Precinct Chair who refuses to vote for the nominee; I hope the party does not
put me in that situation. I trust Ted Cruz will win handily in Texas, which is
a winner-take-all-delegates state. We’re doing our part. But we depend on voters
in other states to be wise as well.
US Representatives
My representative, Ted
Poe, District 2, is unopposed. I support him.
I’ve been interested in a couple of nearby races. John
Culberson, District 7, used to be my
representative, until redistricting a few years ago. He hasn’t faced a primary
in a while. This year he has two opponents: Maria Espinoza and James Lloyd. I’ve met them both at local Tea
Party meetings. Both are impressive.
I was surprised at the urgency to run against Culberson,
because he seemed conservative to me when I voted for him. I asked James Lloyd
about that: Was I wrong about him? Has he changed? Or has our idea of what is
conservative changed? He said he thought Culberson had changed. He had been
conservative in the beginning. But he hasn’t faced opposition in a while. And
sometimes, when you hear from business lobbyists all the time, and no one is
paying attention, it gets easy to just give in.
I haven’t followed closely enough to give specifics on
Culberson complaints, but his conservative ratings have dropped of late. When I
heard from Lloyd, I was impressed with his experience at a young age. He was
valedictorian at Rice Law School—and came out still conservative. Like Ted Cruz
at Harvard. He also has experience in Washington working against terrorism.
He’s young, but very impressive. I’d be happy to vote for him.
Looking at endorsements from various groups, Lloyd is
endorsed by The Conservative View, Terry Lowry’s The Link Letter, Mark Ramsay
SREC SD 7 Committeeman, and Gary Pollard’s Texas Conservative Review. Of those,
Ramsey has the most sway with me. Espinoza doesn’t receive any of these club/group
endorsement.
I think Culberson will probably win; incumbency carries a
lot of weight. But the challenges might wake him to the need to respond to his
conservative constituency.
When our elected officials remember that conservative
principles lead to freedom, prosperity, and civilization, we back them up.
In the meantime, I hope we see more of Maria Espinoza and
James Lloyd in the future.
Another contested race is Kevin Brady, District 8. I knew someone who ran against him in the primary a few
years ago. People in his districts have similar feelings as Culberson’s
constituents. He used to be conservative; what happened? His opponent is Steve
Toth, who gets endorsements from Mark Ramsey, Terry Lowry The Link Letter, and
Texas Patriots PAC. In the meantime, Brady has been hitting the airwaves with
reminders of every conservative thing he’s ever done—same with Culberson. Maybe
this challenge will help him to actually be
more conservative.
Texas Representative
My representative, Duane
Bohac, House District 138, is running unopposed. I have found him
responsive and reliably conservative so far.
There are a couple of nearby races. The one getting the most
attention is House District 150.
Debbie Riddle has represented that district for fourteen years now. We cheered
her on as a conservative. But something has turned lately. She isn’t my rep, so
I haven’t looked too hard at the specifics, but the main concerns are that she
failed to vote for preventing Sharia law from having a place in Texas courts,
and she supports House Speaker Joe Strauss, whom we all know is conservative
only when forced. Also, some think she worked against Right to Life issues.
There are a total of four on the ballot, but the main
challenger is Valoree Swanson, who
recently served as SREC SD 7 Committeewoman, and has worked for conservative
causes for a long time. She gets endorsements from Steve Hotze’s Conservative
Republicans of Harris County, The Conservative View, CCHC PAC [Conservative
Coalition of Harris County—has weight with me because I know several of them
from my tea party; this is an unpaid group of volunteers who research and
interview candidates and express their opinions by secret ballot], Kingwood Tea
Party, Mark Ramsey, Texas Right to Life, Empower Texans, Texas Patriots PAC,
and Conservative Club of Houston. Debbie Riddle gets Pollard’s Conservative
Review and Houston Realty Business Coalition.
It’s hard to take out an incumbent, but I think Valoree
Swanson has a good chance of winning this one. I would vote for her, if I were
in her district.
House District 128 is open, with the retirement of Allen
Fletcher. Tom Oliverson and Kay Smith are running. Oliverson gets endorsements
across the board on my list of groups. CCHC gives him a 67% support, which is
less than an endorsement. Kay Smith gets 33%. She is a longtime active member
of our local Tea Party, former member of the county school board, and energetic activist. I don’t know Oliverson, so I was surprised at how that
race is going. I suggest looking at both of them and making an informed
decision: Oliverson’s website. Smith’s website.
Texas Railroad
Commissioner
The Texas Railroad Commission is a three-person regulatory
committee over energy, which in Texas is mainly oil and gas. There is one place
on the ballot this year, with seven Republicans running (with some added
confusion, because Lance Christian and Wayne Christian have the same last
name).
This full list, in alphabetical order is: Lance Christian,
Wayne Christian, Gary Gates, Doug Jeffrey, Weston Martinez, John Greytok, and
Ron Hale.
Ron Hale attended our tea party back in November, which
seems forever ago. My notes aren’t very revealing. Two years ago I was leaning
toward Wayne Christian for Railroad Commissioner, and I know people who still
support him. But the majority of recommendations I typically turn to support
Weston Martinez. I’ve looked at his website, and he seems easy to support. The CCHC
PAC supports Martinez with 55%, not an endorsement, and give Wayne Christian
36%. Another 9% go to John Greytok. The magazine slates—Hotze’s Conservative
Republicans of HC, Terry Lowry’s The Link Letter, and Polland’s Conservative
Review all support Gary Gates, but that doesn’t persuade me without anyone I
personally know supporting him.
At this point I’m leaning toward Weston Martinez, subject to more information by the time I vote
next week.
Harris County Sheriff
Harris County, where Houston is located, is one of the
largest law enforcement jurisdictions in the country—the third largest
sheriff’s office. The county is almost exactly 50% Democrat, 50% Republican.
The previous sheriff, Adrian Garcia, resigned in 2015 to run for mayor (he did not
win). The County Commissioners appointed Ron Hickman, who had been Precinct 4
Constable prior to the appointment. He is now running, and his main opponent is
Carl Pittman, who ran for sheriff in 2012.
Both talked at a recent Cypress Tea Party meeting. Carl Pittman went first. I liked him last time he ran,
but he wasn’t my final pick (my pick didn’t win in November either). He has
been here, supporting tea party ideas, with his big smile and healthy
handshake. I wanted to be able to vote for him this time. He talked about the
need for better technology, and better ways for law enforcement to work across
jurisdictions (the five constable precincts, and various incorporated cities).
He seemed convincing.
Then Ron Hickman spoke. He’s been working in the job for
about nine months already. He was appointed, so we don’t have to think of that
as an incumbent position. But he has a pretty long record of incorporating
technology. As Precinct 4 Constable, he instituted laptops in patrol cars, and
paperless warrants. It looks like he’s already doing the things that Pittman
says need to be done.
Pittman is getting big help from Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Sheriff Richard Mack, both big names, but both from somewhere else. There are
accusations going both ways in this campaign. I don’t like to see that, and I
pretty much tune it out. It’s unpleasantness that I hope will stop filling my
email inbox very soon.
I’m still trying to get an inside view from a local
sheriff’s deputy. But, looking at the various groups, but everyone across the
board has endorsed Ron Hickman, including 100% endorsement from CCHC, and also
Mark Ramsey. I have individual friends going with Carl Pittman. Either one I
believe would be better than their predecessor, Adrian Garcia. But right now
I’m leaning toward Ron Hickman.
Harris County Tax
Assessor/Collector
Mike Sullivan is the incumbent. Don Sumners [I didn’t find a website for his campaign] was the assessor before losing to Sullivan
several years ago. Don Sumners claims to be a watchdog for the taxpayer. But
Paul Bettencourt, now our Texas Senator for District 7, who was truly a
watchdog for the taxpayer when he held the Tax Asssessor position, and was all
about paying less and paying with ease, is supporting Mike Sullivan. In fact,
Sullivan is getting endorsements across the board. The CCHC PAC is supporting
him with only 60%, which isn’t quite an endorsement. Still, if all of these
people are satisfied, I’m not sure I can see a good enough reason to replace
him with a 76-year-old who held the job previously. So, I’m going with Mike Sullivan.
Harris County
Republican Chair
We elected Paul
Simpson just two years ago. He’s done a lot to better communications,
technology, and outreach. He has two challengers, but I’m willing to let him
keep working.
We’ll look at Texas Supreme Court and Appeals Court in the
next post, along with county judicial races, and anything else we haven't yet covered.
I believe that Texas is a winner take all state only if the winner wins more than 50% of the popular vote. If not, which is a possibility this year, then the delegates will be allocated proportionally.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. Real Clear Politics calls us a proportional state with an open primary. Let's hope Ted Cruz gets 50% here in his home state. 155 delegates is pretty powerful.
ReplyDelete