Primary Matters, Part III

This is part III covering the Harris County Primary ballot. Early voting ends Friday. Primary voting day at your precinct polling location is Tuesday, March 6^th.

Just the judicial races. There's a bigger pile of everything else.

In part I, I covered the statewide races (except judiciary, which we’ll cover today). In part II, I covered Congressional District 2, the race to replace retiring Congressman Ted Poe. Today we handle all the rest, which is mostly judiciary.

As in the other two parts, I’ll be covering only contested races. I don’t know of any candidates unopposed in the primary who ought to be opposed.

I use a number of sources for my decisions, including endorsements and input from a friend inside the judiciary, my SREC chair, the Conservative Coalition of Harris County (CCHC), candidate websites when available, personal meetings at my Tea Party and other places, and more. I suggest you add my opinions as part of your research in your decision-making process.

I’ve added a graphic at the end to summarize all three blog posts into a single, easy-to-read list of my choices.

Judiciary—Statewide

The Texas Supreme Court is divided into two parts, with different purposes: The Supreme Court and The Court of Criminal Appeals. There are two positions on the ballot for Supreme Court Justice, unopposed in the Primary. And there are three positions on the ballot for The Court of Criminal Appeals, two of which have challengers.

Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4

Sharon Keller is the incumbent, serving more than 15 years so far. There is a sense that Keller has been imperfect, but has been a solid conservative judge—which means judging according to the law, not legislating from the bench. Her opponent, David Bridges, has impressive appellate experience himself and could be good. But, without a compelling reason to oust the incumbent, I’m going with Sharon Keller. My inside-the-judiciary friend and the Conservative Coalition (CCHC) are with me here.

Justice, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 8

I have less surety on this position. Both the CCHC and my SREC chair go with Michelle Slaughter. But my judiciary friend says, “Jay Brandon has extensive experience that is better suited to the position he is seeking than either of his opponents. He has served for many years as a prosecutor, defense attorney, and appellate specialist.” I’m giving weight to the judiciary experience and going with Jay Brandon.

Justice, 1^st Court of Appeals District, Place 7

Terry Yates has 27+ years relevant experience. Katy Boatman has been licensed less than 10 years. I haven’t met either. But my judiciary friend and CCHC go with greater experience, and so I go with Terry Yates as well.

Judiciary—Harris County

District courts all cover the entire county. They are assigned specific purposes. When a new court is created, it gets the next number. So the “district” and its number have nothing to do with location within the county. Many courts have been displaced since flooding from Harvey, so I offer my appreciation for the way the courts have worked long and creative hours to keep their courts functioning.

In all but a couple of cases, the contested judicial races are for seats held by Democrats, or open benches with a retiring judge. Two years ago, in a presidential election year, the Democrats, who vote straight ticket (until the law against that goes into effect in 2020) swept Harris County, winning every countywide race, which meant displacing a number of good Republican justices with inexperienced judges, some of whom willingly legislate from the bench. So it is important to vote this election to recover some of those lost seats.

District Judge, 189^th Judicial District

This decision is evenly divided. Stacey Bond has judicial experience for this criminal court, and has worked as a prosecutor and defense attorney. She leans toward the defense. Maritza Antu has good experience as a prosecutor, but no judiciary experience. She has the badge of honor of not being retained when Soros-funded District Attorney Ogg got elected, and the defense bar doesn’t like her. It makes more sense to go with experience, although I’m tempted to go with the emotional appeal of Antu. Still may change my mind, but I’ll probably vote for Stacey Bond.

District Judge, 189^th Judicial District

Erin Elizabeth Lunceford has been a Governor Abbott appointee, has judicial experience, and scores high in the local bar poll. I’ve met her opponent, Sharon Hemphill, at Tea Party meetings, and she seems experienced as well. But I’m going to go with the unanimous recommendation of my sources and vote for Erin Elizabeth Lunceford.

District Judge, 263^rd Judicial District

Justin Keiter gets unanimous support among my sources, with relevant experience for this court, over his opponent Charles Johnson. I’ll be voting for Justin Keiter.

District Judge 295^th Judicial District

There are three candidates for this civil court: MichelleFraga, Fred Shuchart, and Richard Risinger. My sources unanimously support Shuchart, and I heard him in person and was impressed by him. So Fred Shuchart gets my vote.

Family District Judge, 257^th Judicial District

I like both Alyssa Lemkuil and Melanie Flowers, and have heard them both several times at Tea Party meetings. Flowers always seems to be in a race with a stronger candidate. Eventually I hope she can become a judge. But Alyssa Lemkuil is a former Abbott appointee, and was highly rated by the attorneys who practice in her court. She’s the experience judge, so I’m voting for Alyssa Lemkuil.

Family District Judge, 280^th Judicial District

There are three candidates for this court, which handles restraining orders related to domestic violence: Geric Tipsword, Angelina Gooden, and George Clevenger. I’ve heard all three in person. Angelina Gooden was recently appointed by Governor Abbott, so she’s an incumbent of only a few months. While the others would probably be adequate, I going with the Governor and my other source and vote for Angelina Gooden.

Judge, County Criminal Court No. 8

The two candidates are Dan Simons and Jay Karahan. Karahan is the incumbent and has done a good job, according to my judiciary friend. Dan Simons gets support from other sources, but he doesn’t have judicial experience. I’ve met Karahan in person a number of times. I can’t see any reason to oust a good incumbent, so I’m going to vote for Jay Karahan.

Judge, County Criminal Court No. 11

The two candidates are Lori Botello and Aaron Burdette. I met them both at the February 3^rd Tea Party meeting. Aaron Burdette was particularly impressive. He’s has the better experience, and he gets the unanimous endorsement of my sources. I’m voting for Aaron Burdette.

Judge, County Civil Court at Law No. 2

This race has puzzled me. I wondered if I was missing some hidden information. Theresa Chang is the incumbent, with oodles of experience and high approval by the local bar. Her challenger, Erin Swanson, is just four years out of law school, and, while she claims extensive experience, that can’t be so. She’s barely eligible to run for a judge position. Why challenge an effective incumbent? I would not have taken her at all seriously, except that she is the daughter of Rep. Valoree Swanson, which is probably why she got a high percentage endorsement from CCHC. But I looked into this race long enough ago to tell Judge Theresa Chang to list me as endorsing her.

Judge, County Civil Court at Law No. 4

I have met Sophia Mafrige. I have not met David Tang. All my sources, and my personal impression leans toward Sophia Mafrige, so she gets my vote.

Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5, Place 2

There are three candidates: Jeff Williams, J. R. Harris, and Mike Wolfe. Williams is the incumbent, since 2010, and I’m told he’s doing a good job. Again, I’m puzzled by challengers to an effective Republican incumbent. Harris got the nod from a spare majority of CCHC, but I’m voting for Jeff Williams.

Other County Races

Among non-judicial countywide races on my ballot, only one is a challenger.

Harris County Republican Chair

Paul Simpson was voted in as HCRP Chair at the same time I became a precinct chair, four years ago. This is an unpaid position, although it takes pretty much full-time work. I’ve seen training and outreach improve considerably. Funding is sound. Technology gets ever better.  Communications have been excellent.

We did lose the county in 2016. The county has always been 50/50, so it’s a matter of voter turnout, and the other party has some effective (albeit unethical) ways of making that happen when there’s an emotional election going on. I’m hoping we make some returns during this off-year election. Chris Carmona and his supporters think a change in leadership is the solution. I don’t. I’m in favor of keeping Paul Simpson.

Propositions

Propositions on this ballot do not become law; they become suggested party platform planks, with more emphasis than other grassroots suggestions, because they have already made their way through grassroots support to the county party level.

I’m not 100% in favor of every idea, although I do strongly support most of them. But I’m willing to have the debate on all of them. My SREC chair and the CCHC both support a yes vote on all 11 propositions. I’m inclined to vote yes on all as well.

Primary Recommendations, Part I

The primary election is underway. Here in Texas, while voting day comes up Tuesday, March 1^st, early voting began Tuesday and runs through February 26^th. 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.