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 Matters, Part I

Here in Texas, early voting is already underway for the Primary election. As I’ve said before, if you want to really have an effect, choose the candidates by voting in the Primary.

The Harris County sample ballot
available here

It’s not a big presidential election year, but there’s still quite a lot going on. Among them, for me, is the congressional race for retiring Congressman Ted Poe’s seat. There are nine GOP candidates, so I’ve spent a fair amount of energy trying to decide on that.

I need to go through the whole ballot to prepare myself to vote. And friends have begun asking me for my recommendations. So that is my goal for today and tomorrow.

There are quick ways and longer ways. I’m doing it mostly the long way, with explanations for my decisions. This looks like it is going to take three posts. I’ll try to do them on consecutive days (or even two in a day, if I get done). And I’ll also do the short way: I intend to provide a chart of all my choices in the end. Along the way, I highlight the names of candidates I’m endorsing.

·         Part I will cover the contested statewide races (except judicial).

·         Part II will cover the Congressional District 2 race.

·         Part III will cover the judicial races, any other county races, and the propositions.

US Senator from Texas

Ted Cruz is running for his second term as the junior Senator from Texas. I don’t know a single Republican not supporting him. There are primary challengers, but I have received zero contact from them—not a mailer, not an email. Nothing. I don’t know their purpose in running, but it doesn’t seem even quixotic; it seems insincere and pointless.

Ted Cruz has been doing what we here in Texas have asked him to do. I’d give him a 99+% approval rating—and I can’t think of anything in that imperfect 1%.

Governor

I endorsed Governor Greg Abbott and volunteered to help with his campaign way last July. He has two primary challengers, but I have heard nothing from either. One of them has changed his first name to (all capital letters) SECEDE. This cannot be a serious challenge to our very effective governor.

Lieutenant Governor

Dan Patrick was our state senator prior to his run for Lieutenant Governor. We miss having ready access to him, but he’s been doing a good job. He helped the legislative session go much better than it might have, considering the stonewalling caused by the House Speaker. So, again, I endorse Dan Patrick.

Commissioner of the General Land Office

There has been a tough campaign against incumbent George P. Bush. Much of it revolves around the Alamo. Here’s what I know. I hesitated last time around to vote for yet another Bush (George P. is the son of Jeb Bush, a nephew of George W. and grandson of George H. W.), because I don’t like the idea of ruling families. But George P. Bush was trained and qualified for this specific job, so I voted for him. As far as I’ve seen, he doesn’t have other political aspirations. Since his election, I have followed both the Land Office and the Alamo projects, mainly through a Facebook friend, Bryan Preston—former employee of Laura Ingraham, and was associated with local force Not On This Watch—who went to work for the Land Office.

When Jerry Patterson and others started complaining about “Reimagine the Alamo,” and claiming that they would ruin our history, and take away the importance of the Battle of the Alamo, I looked at the Land Office for original sources to verify. I could not find a single complaint that was valid. And I looked through at least two candidates’ plans for what they would do differently—which, to my view, were essentially point-by-point what the Land Office is doing and has planned to do all along.

I ran all of this past my son, Political Sphere, who has a background to understand some Land Office duties, and he found the same thing I did. So did people he has talked with about the issue. There is no threat to the Alamo. What will happen—and which everyone seems to agree should happen—is an annexation of the property directly in front of the Alamo, including businesses across the street, enlarging the footprint of the landmark, so that they can prevent both traffic and protests from getting in the way of tourists who want to enjoy the iconic front view of the Alamo. 

Here is candidate Rick Range’s “Save the Alamo” campaign site: https://savethealamo.us/ . 

“Save the Alamo” [https://www.facebook.com/reinforcethealamo/] is alternatively the Facebook page  of the General Land Office about the preservation projects of the Alamo. 

Here is a piece by George P. Bush from November about the Alamo projects: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/16/the-alamo-must-be-preserved-for-future-generations/  . He summarizes the master plan with these three purposes: “preserve the Alamo, close the street to restore reverence, and build the world’s largest museum dedicated to the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution.” This is all designed to preserve and protect our Alamo, and to make a better experience for visitors. 

Here’s a one-minute video from last October:

None of the challengers has the expertise in Land Office work that George P. Bush has. It may be that they are just trying to oust a person where they think their might be an opening for their own careers. I watched a forum where all three opponents spoke, and they seemed to agree that Texas was in for disaster if they couldn’t somehow oust Bush. I kept waiting for facts; there were none forthcoming.

Patterson ran against Dan Patrick last time, for Lieutenant Governor. The main race was between Patrick and Dewhurst, but Patterson attacked from the sides, with innuendo and implication rather than facts. It was unseemly, and while I liked many things he said that were conservative, he lost my respect in that race. So this time, again finding so many accusations that just aren’t true, I doubt I will ever be able to support Patterson for dogcatcher.

Commissioner of Agriculture

There are two challengers to Sid Miller as Ag Commissioner. I know less about this position, but I don’t know of any particular complaints about the job Sid Miller is doing. I looked to advice from friends last time and voted for Miller. Friends who do a fair amount of work to figure these things out are recommending him again. So I’ll vote for him again.

Railroad Commissioner

This job isn’t really about railroads; it’s about energy, including especially oil & gas. There are three commissioners, whose terms come up at alternate times. I supported Christi Craddick last time around. I’ve seen a couple of slates that measure her as less conservative than some. But the issues she’s less conservative on are unrelated to her energy-related job. So I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and vote for her again.

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.

Primarily Speaking, Part III

We’re going through the long ballot for the Texas Primary, where we vote for judges, in addition to the more typical elected positions. In Part I, we got through the statewide races. In Part II, we covered the statewide judicial races and a few local races. I expect we’ll finish today, with district (Harris County) judicial races and whatever we’ve else is left (county party leadership). Today covers a few of the more interesting races I’ve been wanting to think through. We’ll go in order, however, rather than just most interesting first.

Gaahhh!!! This additional avalanche showed up
in the mail while I was writing Part III

 

District Judge 246^th Family Court:

This is an open bench (no incumbent) with two candidates, Angelina Gooden and Charley Prine. I heard both of them briefly. Gooden has 24+ years of experience in family law, appointed by the court to represent children. Prine has been an associate judge in the county, for Judge Sheri Dean. His work as a grassroots Republican go back to working for Phil Gramm, and campaigning for Reagan. Both candidates get 50% support from CCHC. Prine gets the nod from TCR, HRBC, DA, and PC. Considering his judicial experience, I’m going with Charley Prine.

 

District Judge 247^th Family Court:

This is also an open bench, and one of the most difficult to decide—because there are good choices. We’ve been hearing from the candidates for this position since last spring, and they’ve been coming faithfully, so that we feel like they’re part of us. I’m not going to endorse, because I want to be open to change my mind up until the last, but I’ll give you some info about each. Melanie Flowers and MLWalker are both African American women—not what you’re told you find at Tea Party meetings. (If I recall correctly, Angelina Gooden fits that demographic as well, as does Governor candidate Lisa Fritsch.) Walker has been functioning as associate judge in this court for some time. Flowers has a certification in family law (the only candidate with this credential, but it isn’t a requirement to do the job).  John Schmude is the third candidate (there used to be a fourth, who dropped out). When he came to our Tea Party to introduce himself, he gave one of the best 10-minute speeches on Constitutional philosophy that I had heard. It was impassioned and memorable. If I were going just by my first impressions based on those 10-minute talks, he would have earned my vote. But there is more. Walker is currently doing the job, for example. And she gets support from my DA friends, as well as one of our regular Tea Party members who has a family law practice. She also has continued to come to our meetings, to become one of us. Only Melanie Flowers has done that more. I see her everywhere—she hands out flowers to remind voters of her name, and I’ve gotten a bouquet-ful.  

I got a heads up to ask the question about long-term conservative principles. Only Schmude voted against Obama in 2008. He has always been conservative. I asked Walker about her vote at a Tea Party meeting, and she answered with considerable grace. Up until that point in her life, she wasn’t political, didn’t pay attention to politics. She voted for Obama, caught up in the hype about it being a historic moment. But shortly into 2009 she realized what a mistake that was, started paying attention, became a Republican and hasn’t looked back. Someone asked Melanie Flowers that question at a forum elsewhere. She admitted she voted for Obama in 2009 (not 2012), because it was historic. She was at that time a GOP precinct chair, which strikes me as unacceptable. Disqualifying? Maybe. But I didn’t get to talk with her about it, and I don’t know of anything else I disagree with her on. Of all the candidates, I think I’d feel most comfortable going to lunch for fun with her, and I think she’d probably do well as a judge. But in this close race, not realizing what a disaster Obama would be is a significant problem. 

Schmude gets 89% support from CCHC, my guess is because conservative philosophy is his native language. He also gets support from PC. Walker gets support from DA, TCR, and HRBC. I hope this is enough info to help you make a decision. Fortunately, it looks like you can’t really make a terrible choice.

 

District Judge 263^rd Criminal Court:

The candidates are Jim Wallace and Robert Summerlin. Wallace has been the sitting judge on this court since 1994. DA as well as TCR support him. But Summerlin gets 100% support from CCHC, plus HRBC and PC. Hmm. I don’t know if the challenge is just because he’s been there so long. It’s odd to challenge a sitting judge. It does appear the challenger has conservative bonafides. He has experience as both a felony prosecutor and defense attorney. I’m not sure which way I’ll go, but the CCHC recommendation has me leaning toward Robert Summerlin.

 

District Judge 269^th Civil Court:

Dan Hinde is the sitting judge on this bench. He was appointed by Governor Perry in 2008 and was a number 1 target of democrats in 2010, but stayed put. He has reduced his docket backlog by 27%. His opponent is John Wittenmyer. All my resources except TCR are behind Hinde (including 100% from CCHC), which means he’s perceived as doing well as the sitting judge. Dan Hinde suggests you remember, “Be kind, vote Hinde, for 269.”

 

District Judge 311^th Family Court:

This is an interesting if confusing race. As an outsider, I’m uncertain if I have all the facts. Denise Pratt is the sitting judge. She has four challengers from her own party. That suggests there’s a problem in that court. The Houston Chronicle agrees the court has problems. In December, hundreds of cases were dismissed without a ruling. Pratt explains that the lawyers had been detaining and then failing to follow up and reschedule—some for years. She insists that she considers the child individually in each and every case. When she spoke at our Tea Party meeting, she seemed sensible, although I wondered about the defensiveness about not being pressured to rule, because we’re all aware of how inefficiency is a huge failure for justice. She was impressive enough that she won our straw poll by a single vote (a snapshot opinion of those attending that day, including candidates and their helpers if they choose to vote). I saw later one of her supporters citing that victory as if it were an endorsement from us. Not true. And we do not, as a group, endorse any candidates. She did not win the next straw poll. Denise Pratt got 65% from CCHC, which is not an endorsement, but a response to specific questions, which relate to conservative principles, not to orderly running of the court. I can see how that could happen in the absence of additional information. 

I had heard about this court previously, but I didn’t immediately make the connection, since there are so many courts, and we’ve met so many candidates, in pretty random order. But what we hear from people dealing with this court is that it’s a huge problem. They say the judge comes in late, leaves early, and simply fails to make rulings. Some have speculated either unadmitted health issues or mental issues, although I don’t see evidence of that from Judge Pratt in person. But there’s enough rumbling that I think it’s fair to say she isn’t doing a good job of managing her court. The challengers have gone as far as to say, “I don’t even care which one of us you vote for; we just have to get someone who will do the job.” Wow!  

So the challengers are Donna Detamore, Alicia Franklin, Philip Placzek, and Anthony Magdaleno. I tend to lean toward whomever I’ve heard from lately. Donna Detamore is supported by PC. Alicia Franklin is supported by DA (which might sway me) and TCR. Anthony Magdaleno is also supported by PC. In straw polls I’ve voted once for Detamore and once for Magdaleno. And there’s a good chance I’d support Franklin as well. Without additional info or support for Placzek, I guess I’ll eliminate him. But otherwise I think the choice is anyone but Pratt.

 

Judge County Criminal Court 10:

There are four candidates for this open bench. Dan Spjut brings experience from 27 years at the Houston Police Department with 14 years as an attorney. (He doesn’t seem old enough, so I’m not sure if the attorney years are included in the other.) Mary Heafner has been a private detective, and worked for the FBI, and in real estate, plus 30 years as a defense attorney. (I’m often amazed at the impossibly long careers of judicial candidates, and wonder if I’ve gotten numbers wrong. Similarly, I fail to understand billable hours.) Tonya Rolland McLaughlin has been a Harris County prosecutor and defense attorney. She points out that she has been through hundreds of trials, while her opponents combined have tried less than 10 cases. The other candidate, Ken Wenzel, I have not met. Spjut gets support from TCR and HRBC. But McLaughlin gets 60% (less than an endorsement) from CCHC, plus DA and PC. I think I’ll go with Tonya Rolland McLaughlin. She suggests you remember, “Tonya for the 10^th.”

 

Justice First Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3:

The candidates for this bench are Dan Linebaugh, Chad Bridges, and Russell Lloyd. Lloyd has been an assistant DA and has 31 years of civil practice before becoming a civil district judge. He was first vetted by Phil Gram for appointment by Governor George Bush (not approved by the then-liberal legislature, however). David Linebaugh is appeals board certified, and was name a Texas Superlawyer every year since 2008. He has spent 15 years on the jury charge committee, training judges on how to give jury charges. He did litigation for 18 years. Chad Bridges spent 11 years as a prosecutor, and has experience in both small and large counties, covering a large variety of cases.  CCHC gave 90% support to Lloyd, and NRBC, DA, and PC also support him. Linebaugh got support from TCR. I think I’ll go with Russell Lloyd.

 

Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, Place 2:

A justice of the peace does not have to have a law degree, but it helps. This bench just came open after 30 or so years, so this opening is a great opportunity. The candidates are Lena Engelage, Layssa Korduba, Nasir Malik, Dean Combs, and Louis Guthrie. The first three have come to our Tea Party to introduce themselves. Both Engelage and Korduba have returned and made themselves at home. Korduba also showed up at the King Street Patriots judicial candidate forum.  She has ten years of practice, and 5 years as a judge—in the City of Tomball since 2008, the first woman judge there. She seems to understand the way this court is run, and has ideas for improved efficiency. Nasir Malik is running as an outsider, claiming the other candidates are party insiders. He’s a businessman. I’m unconvinced about his claims of conservatism. I liked Louis Guthrie when he ran for Sheriff last time around, but I don’t think he has any judicial experience, and he hasn’t campaigned anywhere I’ve seen him. Lena Engelage teaches criminal justice at a high school. She has 5 years’ experience with the FBI and 18 years’ experience as an attorney (and doesn’t look old enough). Her background is diverse, which helps with the variety that comes up before a justice of the peace. All of my sources go with Laryssa Korduba (CCHC gives 90% support), and I will too.

 

Justice of the Peace Precinct 5, Place 2:

The two candidates are Jeff Williams and Erik Hassan. Williams is the incumbent. He has 28 years’ experience as a practicing attorney, plus three years as a judge. His opponent doesn’t have a law degree. Again, a law degree isn’t required, but it helps. He handles a staff of 40, with 9,000 new cases a month. It’s not a good place for on-the-job learning. All of my resources support Jeff Williams, and so do I.

 

Harris County Republican Party Chair:

Jared Woodfill is the six-term (12-year) incumbent for this unpaid position. He is being challenged by Paul Simpson. His challenger complains that he’s a corrupt trial attorney, but I’ve hunted and there’s surprisingly little evidence of corruption, so I’m unconvinced. Simpson, by the way, is also an attorney, just not a trial lawyer. Simpson is claiming that things have gone downhill with Woodfill there. Actually, that’s debatable as well. Precinct chairs need to be filled. Both candidates agree on that; I’ve seen Woodfill acting on it; maybe there should be more action, though. Simpson says he will do something about it; but I didn’t catch exactly what he would do. There’s a third person on the ballot, but if she can’t even make herself known to people like me, she doesn’t know how to spread the conservative message for the party in this key county, so I’m not even giving her a mention. 

Simpson claims to be both a longtime Republican grassroots activist, and a party outsider. I’ve also heard that Simpson is part of a group working to move out the most conservative elements of the party. Seriously, I don’t know what to believe. But at our Tea Party, while Simpson was impressive enough, when he said the reason we have Obama is because “Mitt Romney wasn’t the best candidate to talk about conservatism,” he lost me. He was listening to the enemies of Romney and believing them, instead of vetting the candidate himself. Truly I understand how difficult that is—for someone like me. But I found it pretty easy to find the truth about Romney and always wondered why so many ON OUR SIDE failed to see, and failed to support the best candidate in my lifetime as a result. We simply can’t have someone that obtuse running the party for the county. I don’t actually know Woodfill’s personal opinions about Romney, but when it counted all I saw coming from him was appropriate support. 

Woodfill got 78% support from CCHC. Other sources went for Simpson. I’m open to hear more, but for now I’m staying with Jared Woodfill.

Primarily Speaking, Part II

It’s a long ballot this primary season. Yesterday we only got through the statewide races. We still need to cover judicial and local/county races. And I’m ignoring for now the races with no challenger in the primary. (Technically that includes my uncontested race for precinct chair; I’m told that at the close of voting day, that makes me official. Yay me!)

By way of review, among other sources, I’ve been looking at endorsements from several sources. CCHC is the Conservative Coalition of Harris County, and is a self-funded grassroots group, including several people I know personally; they try hard to get to know the candidates and share what they find. They do a silent ballot, and offer the percentage of the vote; 70% or more means endorsement. TFR stands for Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, which gives scrutiny to taxes and other fiscal issues. TCR stands for Texas Conservative Review, and HRBC stands for Houston Realty Business Coalition. These both claim conservative credentials. I vary in how much I agree with them, but they give me additional data. I also have personal resources: DA stands for a couple of friends in the DA’s office who share their inside opinions on judicial races with friends who ask. PC is a neighboring precinct chair with quite a lot of experience, so I add her endorsements to the data. 

Texas is set up with a two-part Supreme Court, consisting of the Supreme Court, which handles mainly civil cases, and the Criminal Court of Appeals, which is the “supreme court” for criminal cases. 

going through the avalanche of info

In Harris County (which includes the Greater Houston Area), the courts are divided into district courts, with numbers based on whatever number came up when the division was made. Different courts typically have a specific assignment, like criminal courts, or family courts. 

Usually when there’s a primary challenger, it’s because there’s an open seat: a judge has retired or been appointed to another court. Candidates don’t necessarily know who their challengers are prior to signing up to run. So sometimes we find a number of really good people in one race. We’ll eventually get to a couple of those.

 

Chief Justice, Texas Supreme Court:

I am struggling to make a decision here. Nathan Hecht is the incumbent, recently appointed by Governor Perry. He has been a justice on the court since 1988. Among my sources, DA, TFR, and HRBC support Hecht. His opponent is Robert Talton, whom I became aware of during his tenure as a Texas representative. He was a brave standard-bearer of conservative causes. He left the Texas House to run for US House, a race he didn’t win. Because I recognized his name, my first reaction was to lean toward him. He also gets 60% support from CCHC, as well as support from TCR and PC. However, there ought to be a good reason to take out an incumbent. Last time around, David Medina had come to our Tea Party and talked about his position on the Supreme Court. He had been appointed by the governor as well. I liked him. I thought he was the better candidate, from what I could find. But he lost—because he’d been appointed rather than elected to the position. While I don’t think appointments just need to be rubber stamped, I think judges need to be taken on their actual merits. I can’t find a significant reason for removing Hecht, who has served well as an elected Supreme Court Justice for so long. So I am inclined, right now, to vote for Nathan Hecht.

 

Supreme Court Justice, Place 6:

The two choices are Joe Pool and Jeff Brown. CCHC gives Brown 100% support. He also gets support from all of my other sources. No one gives anything positive about Pool. I can’t add any additional knowledge to this race. So I’m voting for Jeff Brown.

 

Supreme Court Justice, Place 8:

Phil Johnson gets 100% support from CCHC, plus support from TFR, HRBC, DA, and BC. Only TCR supports Sharon McCally. I am inclined to go with Phil Johnson.

 

Court of Criminal Appeals 3:

Bert Richardson gets 85% support from CCHC, plus DA, TCR, and HRBC support. PC supports Barbara Walther. I haven’t met either one, but I think I’ll go with Bert Richardson.

 

Court of Criminal Appeals 4:

This is an open seat with three people running: Richard Dean Davis, Kevin Patrick Yeary, and Jani Jo Wood. All of my sources support Yeary, with CCHC giving him 100% support. Incidentally, the Houston Chronicle thinks Yeary is a nice guy but prefers Wood. I don’t know what criteria they use, but I seldom agree with them, so an endorsement might be a point against. I think I’ll vote for Kevin Yeary.

 

Court of Criminal Appeals 9:

David Newell and W. C. “Bud” Kirkendall are running for this position. I met David Newell at a judicial candidate forum recently and found him quite impressive. I haven’t met his opponent. David Newell gets 90% support from CCHC, plus support from DA, HRBC, and TCR. PC goes for Kirkendall. I think I’ll go with my personal opinion and go for David Newell.

 

That finishes the statewide races. Now we’ll go to more local/regional.

 

State Senate District 7:

This position opened up when Dan Patrick decided to run for Lieutenant Governor. Paul Bettencourt and James Wilson are running for the position. Paul Bettencourt, former Harris County Tax Assessor, was nicknamed the Tax Man, and was known for going out of his way to inform people on how to get their property assessments lowered. Locally, we’ve liked him a long time, and he has name recognition. James Wilson used to work with the legendary Phil Gramm. He seems like a nice guy. But he doesn’t have the fire to overcome Bettencourt’s name. I hope he’ll do some other good work in the future. But I’m voting for Paul Bettencourt—who also got 100% support from CCHC, plus HRBC, PC, and TCR.

 

State Representative District 150:

I’m not in this district, and wouldn’t comment, except that I want to give a good word for Representative Debbie Riddle, who has been a treasure. It’s hard to overstate how hard-working she has been, and responsive to the very issues important to us grassroots conservatives. Her opponent, Tony Noun, was scheduled to speak at a recent Tea Party meeting and didn’t show. I can’t figure out why he’s running.

 

State Representative District 132:

I’m not in this district either, but it’s close to mine. I have a lot of friends in this district. It’s an open seat, because of the retirement of Bill Callegari. Of the four candidates, I think I like Michael Franks best, a lawyer, very logical and well spoken. However, I think the leading candidates are Justin Perryman and Mike Schofield. People feel strongly positive about both; Schofield is new to the district, but has been active nearby for a long time. Perryman has a resume that looks like a character on NCIS—varied and talented, with some military, some business, some out-of-country experience. There may be some family challenges going on there, however. All I can say is, good luck deciding.

 

County Treasurer:

The incumbent is Orlando Sanchez. He has been quietly effective as a conservative in liberal-run Houston for many years. I know very little about his opponent, Arnold Hinojosa. Sanchez gets the support of all my sources (100% CCHC), and my support as well.

 

District Clerk:

Chris Daniel came from among us in the grassroots. I think he was a law student his first time as a state delegate, the same time I was. I think he’s done a good job as District Clerk. I like his opponent, Court Koenning, who offers suggestions for technological improvements. However, most of those improvements are already underway, within the constraints of the actual budget, but making what looks to me like real progress. So I’m going to stay with Chris Daniel. All of my sources agree (82% from CCHC), except PC, who likes both and won’t endorse.

 

OK, we’ve gotten through the statewide judicial races and most of the local non-judicial races. But the interesting races, the ones, I’ve wanted to write about in order to think through them fully, are still to come. There are some additional county judicial races as well, but I need one more post to cover the 247^th Family Court, the 311^th Family Court, and the Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 Place 2 race. And after all those, I’ll render my decision about the County Republican Chair. I don’t usually post on Saturdays (or Fridays either, this year), but it’s a long ballot, and now is the time, if it’s going to be useful to people getting ready to vote. So stay tuned for Part III.

Primarily Speaking, Part I

trying to organize the avalanche of election info

Texas is early, as states go, holding the state primary election March 4^th. (Early voting started Tuesday, February 18^th.) Because this is a conservative state, most of the decisions about who will be our elected officials will take place in this primary election. Yet in a typical primary election only 10% of registered voters turn out.

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.

 

 

Texans Over the Top

This image available as bumper sticker here.

Yesterday was the primary election in Texas. And we Texans got the historic opportunity to put Mitt Romney over the top, officially onto the GOP ballot for president. Nice to have the opportunity. 

Another somewhat historic moment of the evening was the relative success of Ted Cruz for Senator, getting into a runoff election with the likely candidate, David Dewhurst. Dewhurst has been Lieutenant Governor since Rick Perry became governor (more than a decade). So his name recognition is off the charts. In addition, he is independently wealthy. If I understand correctly, if he is elected, he will then be the wealthiest US senator—in the range of beyond John Kerry (who has an unknown number of homes, but several times more than Mitt Romney owns). So Dewhurst has not had to rely on fundraising to finance an exorbitant political campaign. He has spun that as “not beholding to any special interest groups,” which is good spin, but implies that no one who isn’t independently wealthy should be elected, and that isn’t exactly the American way.

The voting day tally was Dewhurt 45.86% and Cruz 43.62%. The runoff happens if no candidate reaches 50%, so that in and of itself was a feat. The overall count was lower, because early voting goes on for two weeks in Texas, and the counts are separate and then combined. The trend on election day was much closer than in early voting, which means there is momentum for Cruz. Also, when you consider that those who are voting merely on name recognition—the less informed and less passionate, and presumably less conservative, voters—may not show up for the runoff election, that is an additional plus for Cruz.

There’s a good summary of the situation here.

If you’re into data for fun, here are a couple of sources.

·        Decision 2012 MSNBC.com: You can get the county results for each state, and also demographic data when they did surveys in various states (not Texas, as it was decided at that point). It’s a good graphic representation of county-by-county results.

·        Real Clear Politics: This is the delegate count, which has been the scorecard up until now to see progress toward the nominee. RCP also has a lot of other polling data, including their daily average of polls. Sometimes you can go deeper and find out who was polled: registered voters means more accuracy than simply adults; likely voters (have voted in recent elections) means more accuracy than registered voters. Interestingly, lately Romney has been doing considerably better in likely voter polls than in registered voter polls; I hope the more accurate polling is more predictive, although this is still very early in the overall campaign (even though we’ve been dealing with this election for more than a year already).

·        HarrisVotes.com: This is the county site for Harris County, containing Houston and surrounding areas. I expect other counties to provide similar information. There are also archives for past elections, so you can dig into data to your heart’s content. After the immediate results are shown at news sites and in newspapers, what you want to know may disappear without an actual data source like this.

If you’re in Texas, put July 31^st on your calendar; that’s the runoff election. There will be just a week of early voting, July 23^rd through 27^th. Remember that for early voting you can vote at any voting location, but on election day, you must vote at your precinct location. Look that up (at HarrisVotes.com), because it may be that fewer locations will be used.

Between now and then—and on up until the November election—this is the time to get engaged. Commit to candidates, support with money, time, yard signs, etc., where you can. And persuade any persuadable friends to make choices that will support our Constitution and therefore our freedom and prosperity.