Monday, May 11, 2020

The Weekly Wrangle *updates

This installment of the weekly Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundup opens once again with the crimes against humanity committed by our governor.


Schadenfreude enthusiasts were able to take some consolation in Abbott's self-own later in the week.


Dos Centavos tells about his hometown's battle with COVID-19, and how their experience with Greg Abbott isn't much different than that of big city leaders.  Scott Braddock chronicled Abbott's various power moves during the crisis, and Lisa Gray, in her HouChron column Gray Matters, interviewed Braddock about the "full-on culture war" that Abbott and others are leading over COVID-19.

In a surprising development over the weekend, Harris County Clerk (and elections administrator) Diane Trautman announced her resignation, effective at the end of the month.


In Congressional candidate follies, Kuff adds Chip Roy to the active roster of death squad enthusiasts.  Kim Olson, in the Democratic runoff in TX24, draws more unfavorable media attention, this time for her tenure at the Dallas ISD.

The SD14 special election has seen some late scratches and adds to the field.

Austin attorney Adam Loewy announced he would not seek the seat vacated by former Sen. Kirk Watson. Austin physician Jeffrey Ridgeway established a campaign committee for the race. Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin); former Lago Vista council member Pat Dixon, as a Libertarian; and Austin attorney Waller Burns II, as an independent, have filed for the July 14 special election. Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt has announced for the seat, triggering the constitutional resign-to-run provision. Former Austin council member Don Zimmerman is considering the race, and Austin council member Greg Casar recently announced he would not ...



A recent poll from The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler shows Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn has a solid lead over two Democratic challengers in the Texas race for Senate. MJ Hegar of Cedar Park and Royce West of Dallas will meet in a July runoff election. But Cornyn’s lead isn’t insurmountable.

Bob Garrett, Austin bureau chief for The News, told Texas Standard Friday that both Democrats trail Cornyn in the poll by “low double-digits.”

“In November matchups, Cornyn [beats] Hegar by 13 points and West by 11,” Garrett said.

Between the two Democrats, Hegar leads West among several demographics: white voters, independent voters who lean Democratic and seniors. Hegar has also raised more money than West, and has been endorsed by Texas Cong. Veronica Escobar and former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.

But West leads among black and young voters. Prominent Democrats have also endorsed him, including former DNC chair Howard Dean, and West's challenger in the March primary, Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez. The race also seems to be much closer in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, where West is from.

“West seems to have a few pockets of strength,” Garrett said.

The pandemic has made it hard for both candidates to campaign since they aren’t holding public events. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have an opportunity to beat Cornyn, since a large portion of the Texas electorate – 34% – are undecided, Garrett said.


Update:


With the latest on the race for the White House, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs had Trump's visit to a mask factory where the background music was "Live and Let Die", Bernie Sanders being reinstated to the New York primary ballot, Jesse Ventura declaring he would not be a Green candidate for president, and several Libertarian and other minor party presidential candidate developments.

Socratic Gadfly blogged twice about the Jesse Ventura nuttery.  He first mentioned how much this shows Jesse is Just.Another.Politician.™   In a follow-up, he wanted to see exactly what was in the "letter of interest" that Jesse's minions sent to the Greens and who signed it, as the GPUS risks looking like Just.Another.Political.Party™.

Billionaries Mark Cuban and Elon Musk had differing reactions to the COVID-19 lockdown/restart.


More on the Proud Boys' legal troubles.


And the Sinclair media group, which owns a large number of television stations across the state, set a dubious record last week.


With a wrap to this first edition of the Wrangle, let's drive out to the end of the universe, aka River Oaks, for a cup of coffee.  There's still one Starbucks left out there.


There will be several environmental blog posts and Tweets as a commemoration to Mother Earth, and some lighter news items and late-breaking developments in the next edition of the Wrangle, later today or tomorrow morning!
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