Monday, June 07, 2021

Lone Star Election News Round-up


I'll start with the municipal runoffs that concluded over the weekend.  First, from Fort Worth and the mayor's race there:


It didn't get any closer after they counted Election Day votes.  Bud Kennedy wrote about the importance of not losing the office for Tarrant County Repubs.

The biggest win for the Texas Pachys came in the Valley again.


Send congratulations to Gilberto Hinojosa once more.

The news was better in Alamo City council runoffs.


District 2 challenger Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 5 candidate Teri Castillo won their runoff races Saturday, adding two young, progressive voices to the San Antonio City Council on Saturday ...

McKee-Rodriguez, a 26-year-old teacher, defeated the woman he used to work for, Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan, who was seeking a second term. He will be the first openly gay man to serve on City Council ...


Castillo, a 29-year-old urban historian and substitute teacher, outpaced retiree Rudy Lopez in early vote results and held her lead through the rest of Saturday night. She and McKee-Rodriguez both ran on progressive platforms and were endorsed by the Texas Organizing Project (TOP), the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio, and the San Antonio chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Castillo will find another colleague who prioritizes environmental issues in newcomer Mario Bravo, an Environmental Defense Fund project manager who defeated (three-term incumbent Roberto) Treviño.

Castillo was also endorsed by Bernie Sanders, both Castro brothers, and their mother Rosie.  Together with incumbent John Courage's re-election, the San Antonio City Council is by far the most progressive in the state.  Very impressive.


Moving on to 2022 statewides and Greg Abbott's announced challengers and potential ones.  Let's begin in the GOP primary.


If Miller runs against Abbott -- some rumors swirl that he might throw his extremely large hat into the ring against Dan Patrick -- he would join Don Huffines in vying for the MAGAt vote.  Trump, as you likely know, endorsed the governor last week.


West might run for Congress; speculation again suggests that he has been offered a favorable re-draw of TX-32 (Colin Allred is the incumbent).  Texas D Congress members will lose seats in '22, and not just in the RGV because of regional dysfunction there, but because what may be happening with West will happen for others after the second special session in the fall.


And then there's Beto.  ICYMI ...


SB7, or whatever it will be called in the first special, will pass.  Beto won't run.  Neither will Julian Castro.  Next?

There's just too much to write about George Pee Bush and Ken Paxton -- and for that matter, Joe Jaworski --  so I'll also do a shorter post on what will very possibly be the marquee statewide race next year.  That is to say, without some big name running for governor, which I candidly doubt will happen.  Even AllRight x3 isn't that stupid.

So how about some more disgusting Congresscritter news?


Congress is going to flip in 2022, both House and Senate, unless the Donks and Joe Biden can pull their shit together.  Then again, they'll have all the excuses they need to shrug and say, 'well, we just can't get anything done because of those mean ol' Republicans'.  In other words, nothing will fundamentally change from now.

Seizing the day, early-bird TX Rethugs are plucking worms and jumping into new races.


Finally, Dallas Democrats filled their vacancy in the county chairwomanship, and ...


Evbagharu explained his candidacy in that Medium post.  Frankly I'll be surprised if the powers that be -- Gerry Birnberg and Dave Matthiesen -- don't find another lackey to install over him, but we'll see.

Still working on eco- and social justice collations.
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The #87th Lege Autopsies Wrangle from Far Left Texas



Some things can still take your (or at least my) breath away, and that scene -- on Sine Die a week ago -- was one.  Speaker Phorehead was pilloried by the Trump faction inside and outside the Capitol; Lt. Dan got in his licks, but the Beaumont Hi-Brow returned fire.


They blamed staff -- clerks and those who verify their work -- for mistakes, but they also lied about typographical errors.


Mostly they blamed each other, but they also blamed anybody and everybody but themselves for failing to pass legislation that would've let them brag even more about being "tha Mos' Cunservative".




Yeah, it's always somebody else's fault.


More election news in the next post, followed by environmental, then social justice, and maybe some more, all separate as I play a week's worth of catch-up.


Yes, we all have known this for quite some time now, Cillizza.  Little slow on the uptake, dude.  Still, I suppose it bears repeating for the exceptionally "special" learners among us (like the TXGOP).

The elephants plan on taking their revenge in special session.




I'll also break out Greg Abbott's week in a stand-alone post.

So we know what the Lege did, and did not, accomplish before the curtain came down on the 87th.  Let's review anyway.


Looking forward to more stories like this one.


I suppose that will wrap this for now.  Here's a few calm-me-downs.


Lots more on the way.
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