Your new Texas Congressional delegation (part 1)

I was tempted to write "fresh", but then CD-1 incumbent Louie Gohmert is in another rematch with Shirley McKellar, who must just love losing to him.  She's the deep East Texas equivalent of James Cargas.  More on that in a quick minute.

-- CD-2: Todd Litton bested the four others on the D side, at least three of whom were to his left, to move on to the general election against either Kevin Roberts or Dan Crenshaw in November for the right to replace Ted Poe.  Kathaleen Wall got in bed with Trump, spent six million bucks, secured the endorsement of Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz, and missed the runoff by .3 of one percent, or about 145 votes.  I'm tempted to thank God.  The Republican who wins will still be favored in the fall.

-- CD-3: Van Taylor ran against Chet Edwards in 2004, right after the DeLay redistricting, and lost to the Blue Dog (who continued to fend off R challengers until 2010, losing to Bill Flores).  Taylor went on to win election to the Texas House and later the Texas Senate (where he is currently representing SD-8), and is now favored to hold the seat of retiring Rep. Sam Johnson.  He'll face either Lorie Burch or 'the other' Sam Johnson, of the Dems, in November.

-- CD-4: Incumbent John Ratcliffe is likely to vanquish his D challenger, Catherine Krantz.

-- CD-5:  Two GOPers will run off in May to replace Jeb Hensarling; Lance Gooden and Bunni Pounds.  The Rabbit Lady was a Hensarling campaign manager, political consultant, and fundraiser prior to hopping into this race.  Gooden seeks a promotion from the Texas House; the third-place finisher in the R primary is/was former state Rep. Kenneth Sheets.  The Democrat waiting to be skunked in the fall is Dan Wood.

-- CD-6: This contest drew thirteen Republican challengers after Smokey Joe Barton finally quit following the, ah, exposé of himself on Twitter.  The two who will go to May 22 are Ron Wright, a former Barton chief of staff, and JK 'Jake' Ellzey, a retired Navy pilot.  Democrats have two women in their runoff: Ruby Faye Woolridge and Jana Lynne Sanchez, who finished in a virtual tie yesterday. Woolridge led by just 19 votes out of over 29,000 cast.  Sanchez has followed me on Twitter from her campaign's earliest days and has a fascinating life story.

Jana Lynne Sanchez grew up in the Ellis County, Texas towns of Maypearl, Midlothian and Waxahachie. Her grandparents, migrant farm workers, settled in Rockett, outside of Waxahachie in the 1950s. Her grandfather was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who lived in the U.S. most of his life, before becoming a citizen in 1969. Her father, one of 27 children, grew up on the road and had little formal education.

Jana attended Rice University in Houston on multiple scholarships and thanks to financial aid, student loans, work-study jobs, and the support of family. After graduating from Rice with a degree in Political Science, she went on to work as a political fundraiser, raising millions for state-wide and local candidates in California. She also managed political campaigns in Alabama before turning to journalism.

She began her career writing about food and travel for the Baltimore Sun before becoming a technology journalist. Later she was a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Amsterdam. In 2005 she co-founded CitySavvy, an award-winning financial and corporate communications consultancy with offices in London and Amsterdam (www.citysavvy.com). At the end of 2014 she returned to Texas.

Jana serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the School of Social Sciences at Rice and is active in progressive political causes in Texas. She’s an aspiring country songwriter, singer and guitarist.

It'll be uphill for either woman to win this district, but if there is a Trump/Barton/#MeToo/#Time'sUp backlash in the fall, this would be a great place for it to hit.  I'll be watching this runoff almost as closely as ...

CD-7:  Laura Moser (8077 votes, 24.3%) scrambled into the runoff with Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (9731, 29.3%).  Dr. Jason Westin just missed, in show (6364, 19.2%), and to my delight, Alex T came in fourth (5219, 5.7%).  The Tough Guy raised and spent around a million dollars, much more than the others.  Ivan Sanchez and Joshua Butler finished fifth and sixth, and in dead-ass last ... James Cargas, with just 650 votes, or 2%.  The undervote in this race was 923 votes.

I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.  If I never see this guy's name on my ballot ever again, it will be too soon.

I've got 29 more of these to do and no more time left today to do 'em.  Back tomorrow morning, early (as usual) later.  Too much to do offline.  Texas Lege and county race takes still to finish as well.

The statewides: One May 22 runoff and November matchups

-- O'Rourke versus Cruz is your marquee.  As posted earlier, Lyin' Ted wasted no time in calling Robert a pussy "liberal man".  This is how it's going to be for the next eight months, Donkeys; better get used to it.  If Bob doesn't start counter-punching now, this race is gonna be over before the kids are out of school for the summer.

Update: This is the best take on the whole "Rafael versus Robert" nothingburger.  As a reminder, I will be using the candidates' birth names, not their chosen nicknames nor their assumed names (as with the incumbent lite governor), but I will be making puns like this out of them.

Don't leave the fighting-back to the bloggers, Bobo.

-- Valdez (or Average White Guy) against the juggernaut with $43 million, a bad attitude, and an ileostomy bag.  Valdez has a lot to do in the less-than-six-months after May 22 so as not to embarrass herself or the Texas Democrats to any worse outcome than they have experienced for the past 24 years.  Surely improving on 38% and not losing the female vote again, as Wendy Davis managed, is not so difficult as it sounds, yes?  No?

-- Mike Collier versus Danny Goeb.  Once more, if Texas conservatives actually functioned with a speck of rationality, this would not be a brainer.  But this is Texas, and conservatives think with their red, swollen, baboon-ish ass and not with the proper end.

"Keep Texas RED!"

Update (3/9): Goeb's challenger in the GOP primary, Scott Milder, has endorsed Collier this morning.

"I cannot on good conscience vote for a man who I know to be a liar, nor can I vote for a man who willfully ignores and disrespects his legislative colleagues and his constituents," Milder said in the (Facebook) post. "I will be casting my vote for Mike Collier, the rational Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, and will strongly encourage all Texans who voted for me in this race to cast their votes for Mr. Collier as well."

[...]

"It doesn't happen very often that a Republican endorses a Democrat, but public education groups recruited (Milder) to run against Patrick and he and I viewed proper funding of public education as very important," said Collier, a retired Kingwood CPA and business executive.

"I've already had a fair number of moderate Republican donors (to Milder's campaign) who have called and said they want to join me."

The salience here is that Milder earned nearly 368,000 votes last Tuesday.  That covers a lot of the ground between Democrat (bit more than a million voters) and GOP (over 1.5 MM) totals in the two March 6 elections.  It also provides a bigger opening for Collier to go after the Joe Straus/Sarah Davis Caucus.  This development doesn't enthuse me at all -- I voted for Michael Cooper because I thought Collier was too much like a Republican as it is -- but it can prove beneficial for him if he can walk the line between pandering to mild conservatives while not losing any D votes.

If Straus, for example, followed suit with his endorsement as well as some of that cash he's still sitting on, it would become a more compelling storyline for November, the corporate media, and "we just wanna win something" Dems (Kuffner).  Not so much me.

-- Ken Paxton versus Justin Nelson.  Ordinarily when your state's top law enforcement official is under criminal indictment for fraud, he would stand no chance of being re-elected, much less nominated.  Paxton drew no primary opponent.  Why are Texas Republicans afraid to run against him?  Texas Republicans nominated his wife to serve in the Texas Senate, for crine out loud.

Banana republics point and laugh at this.  National politicos -- poorly informed ones -- posit questions a ten-second Google search would clear up for them.  This may indicate a depth of ignorance and dysfunction of our political gatekeepers that even cynical ol' me hasn't plumbed.

-- Sid Miller versus Kim Olson.  Would anyone mind if I just typed 'ditto' to all of the above -- especially the baboon's ass -- and moved on?  Okay, one thing: Jim Hogan, just as he did in 2014 as a "Democrat", made no effort to get elected beyond pay his filing fee but almost pushed Sid into a runoff.  Trey Blocker is still drinking somewhere this morning.

-- George Pee Bush v. Miguel Sauzo.  There was some buzz about Bush being in trouble against Jerry Patterson that I read as late as Monday morning.  Can't find that article now.  Some journalist had their webmaster scrub it, I guess.  Screenshot, anyone?  The story this morning is that it's okay to fluff Trump if you're a Texas Republican, or IOKIYAATxR.  I don't think anybody asked Kathaleen Wall about that, though.  (Next post.)

-- Glenn Hegar against Joi Chevalier.  Maybe a spirited race for the most boring job in state government could turn in the Democrats' favor.  Chevalier defeated my candidate, Tim Mahoney, by a nose, perhaps on the strength of glowing endorsements in the Dallas News, the Houston Chronicle, and others.  Chevalier is the only African American on the state D slate who's not a judicial candidate.  If she can campaign effectively, raise and spend a little money to get her name out there, take advantage of whatever boost she can get running against the charisma-challenged GOP beancounter Jethro Bodine ... possibly there's a chance.

-- Christi Craddick facing off with Roman McAllen to run Texas railroads fellate oil and gas interests under the guise of regulating them.  No offense intended to Mr. McAllen, but he's up against more Texas Republican nepotism here.  He'd be one against two other conservatives in trying to slow down the fracking train if he pulled off the upset anyway.  Still, if the Latin@ turnout (as with evidence of the Russians hacking the election) were to finally show up, I could be a believer.  I remain of the opinion that the onus is all on Lupe.

One judicial tilt I'll mention for now: Sharon "Killer" Keller barely survived her primary and will match up with Maria Jackson in the fall.  If I do any volunteer work this cycle, it will be in this race.

Congressional races, a much hotter topic, coming, maybe by lunchtime today.

*heavy sigh*

As Election Day got under way, Houston City Council member Larry Green -- my representative downtown -- was found deceased in his bed at home after failing to appear at the regularly-scheduled weekly council meeting.  Just 52, it's a tremendous loss for the city, District K, and of course his family and friends.  His political future was quite bright.  And his legacy will encapsulate many things, but every time I see one of the painted electrical boxes in my 'hood, I'll think of him warmly.

As to a couple of top-of-the-ticket results from last night ...

-- Projected almost precisely by the TexTrib's poll from just over two weeks ago, Lupe Valdez and Andrew (Average) White (Guy) will run off in May for the right to get crushed by face Greg Abbott in November.  They finished at 42.9 and 27.4% respectively; the TT predicted 43-24.  Likewise, the Trib had Abbott prevailing with 95% in his primary; he underperformed that slightly at 90.4.  << This link has the final tallies for all the statewide, Congressional, judicial, and statehouse races I'll be referring to in this and subsequent posts.  Just click and open it now so you can scroll down as I continue.  It's the best resource I found, for the county maps alone.  (Credit where it's due: the TexTrib has beaten the pants off everybody else this cycle.)

My man Tom Wakely gained no traction.  The two African American candidates, Cedric Davis and Grady Yarbrough, along with Jeff Payne and even Adrian Ocegueda, finished ahead of him.  Valdez will win the runoff easily if Latin@s return in the summer.  But she needs to start raising some money, get better coaching and preparation if she's going to debate White, and otherwise project some viability as a potential and likely favored nominee.

-- Sema Hernandez earned almost 246,000 votes (or 23.7%) in the D US Senate primary.  She raised less than $10K for her campaign.  I'll let you nerds do the math on her cost per vote.  She won about three dozen mostly rural and RGV counties; Webb (Laredo) appears to be the largest.  Considering the degree to which she was both ignored and disrespected by the media and her primary opponent, that's amazing.  O'Rourke didn't 'coast', folks.  And because the GOP gorged their turnout numbers on Election Day -- the Senate primary on the R side drew over 1.5 million votes, while the Dems totaled just over a million, and Ted Cruz has already fired a shot at "liberal man Robert" -- the prospects for the blue wave seem to be ... swirling?

More on the way.

Final thoughts before the vote tomorrow

You already have my recommendations, so let's just provide an executive summary.

-- Sema Hernandez:

No matter what happens on March 6, 2018, I'm not going anywhere.#WeRise#TexasIndependenceDay

Pase lo que pase el 6 de Marzo 2018, yo no voy a ninguna parte. #SiSePuede #Elecciones2018#TexasPrimaries https://t.co/cuSTX4NXAJ

— Sema Hernandez for Texas U.S. Senate 🌹 (@ElectSema4TX) March 3, 2018

Well, you had better not.

It's been one of my deepest privileges to be associated with this candidate, her campaign, its nationwide presence and clout (just check her Tweet feed).  What she has accomplished has been against the headwinds of purposeful media ignorance, disrespect from her campaign opponent and, as usual, the Texas Democratic Party and its associated cohorts.

This piece from yesterday's Chronicle (firewalled after a few free clicks) and the accompanying video (she appears in the early part) was the best she received.  If Bob O'Rourke falls just short of defeating 'Poop' Cruz in the fall, I sincerely hope it is because of the votes of people like me that he loses, and also the blog posts I will write over the next several months that will continue to expose him for the fraud that I have found him to be.

Sincerely.

-- Tom Wakely:

Plain as day.  Andrew White is just bad news (as Aimee Cunningham reminds Texas women) and Lupe Valdez is just not ready.  Since there will almost certainly be a runoff, then I hope one of these two fails to make it.  If that happens, I'll at least be able to vote for the person not named White or Valdez in May.  This is a moment when a functioning Texas Green Party would have come in extraordinarily handy in November.  Alas ...

I'll return to that topic after tomorrow's primary election results get parsed.  Suffice it to say that I would like to hear from prospective gubernatorial candidate Janis Richards as to whether her bid to achieve ballot access as Green will go forward.  Or not.  Though a relative newcomer to the HCGP, she aligned with the Old White Guard against the black woman who finally succeeded in sweeping that trash out the door a week ago, at their monthly meeting/annual election of officers.  Bully on Bernadine Williams, whom I stood with a year ago against this crew.  I quit on the locals after that; she did not.  And she persevered.  It's the Pottery Barn rule for her now, though; she must rebuild the county party apparatus (which is essentially the same as the state party) with a goal toward functionality for 2020.  I just think the laws and internal obstacles regarding ballot access for 2018 are too stacked against them.  Couple that with the fact that the Democratic Socialists are ascendant, and it's a hard, heavy lift even if the Greens were united.

-- Enough has been said and written about the Texas Seventh Congressional District Democratic primary in the ten days since I posted this that linking to it all would take hours.  Check the #TX07 Twitter hashtag for the latest.  Forces aligned against Laura Moser include not just the Clintonistas and the Pelosiites, but the Republicans as well.  This should tell you all you need to know.

-- Last ... the only primary race on my ballot that I undervoted was the very last one, for Harris County chair.  I have not found the incumbent, Lillie Schechter, representative of my beliefs (since I'm an ultrasoft Democrat on a good day, and a Green on my best one, this should stand to reason).

The county chair needs a day job since the political one doesn't pay.  The problem here is that Schechter has been on the payroll of state senator (and CD-29 aspirant) Sylvia Garcia for several recent pay periods.  This isn't breaking news for those of you connected to the local D establishment's Facebook accounts, where the apparent ethical lapse has been mentioned more than a few times.  I've also been provided screenshots and CFRs that verify it.

No conflict of interest there, right?

Update: El Paso Democrats appear to have the same problem.  (At least he's 'former chair'.)

It's beyond my comprehension how the people who whine about Laura Moser's husband's consulting firm handling her business can seemingly overlook this more glaring, hypocritical contradiction.  Is there anybody who wants to explain this to me?  I'll keep an open mind if something is not as it appears.  For ... oh, another week or so.  The goose's sauce should have simmered long enough to be served by then.

-- If you haven't already, go vote tomorrow.  And don't wait until 6:30 p.m. to do so.

Election Eve Wrangle

Massive turnout in early voting across Texas is the news everyone is talking about as campaigns, candidates, and volunteers make the final push for Election Day.  The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes to congratulate tomorrow night's winners and console those who don't, offering encouragment to refocus (in some way of their choosing) for November.

As one of the perceived front-runners in the Texas Democratic primary for governor, Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer says that it's impossible to determine Lupe Valdez's chances of winning.

Grits for Breakfast posts his collation of criminal justice news that includes the growing movement on the part of some Republicans (!) to end the partisan election of judges in Texas.  A GOP 3rd Court of Appeals prospect is evidence of the problem that needs fixing.

In his compilation of Harris County judicial candidates on both primary ballots, attorney Murray Newman makes an inside joke -- see comments; since corrected -- about Brian Warren, the Democrat running against the vile GOP incumbent Michael McSpadden, about whom you may have read something recently.  Congrats to Murray, by the way, for ten years of blogging.  And Mark Bennett (a Libertarian statewide judicial candidate in recent years) demonstrates what disrespect for the justice system really looks like.

From Lewisville, the Texan Journal reports that the conservative extremists at Empower Texans have taken a few swipes at the mayor and the school board in that city.  In last week's Wrangle, you'll recall that Texas Monthly called out MQS, et. al. for similar tactics in HD-99 (Fort Worth).

Also from last week, you'll remember that OpenSecrets mentioned a retired Texan who gave $500,000 to a GOP org.  The TexTrib followed up on that.

The super PAC, #ProjectRedTX, has quietly raised a half a million dollars — from a single donor — as it looks to ensure Republican dominance in Texas through the next round of redistricting. Those efforts are ramping up as the state prepares to defend its current congressional and state House district maps before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The group is being helmed by Wayne Hamilton, (Gov. Greg) Abbott's 2014 campaign manager, according to a person familiar with the effort. Hamilton, a former longtime executive director of the Texas GOP, has been involved in politics for the past three redistricting cycles.

The Texas Observer sees a blue wave that won't have much green (as in cash) behind it.  Is that a good thing for progressive populism or a bad thing from a pragmatic POV?  Tell me in the comments.

Chris Ladd at Political Orphans sees 'something happening' in Texas.  Excerpt:

What we’ve never seen in Texas is a surge in primary turnout from the party out of power in an off-year election. Even in the watershed year of ’94, the only hint we saw of the coming wave was Republicans closing the gap in voter participation slightly. In statewide elections, serious Democratic candidates generally lose to Republicans by about a 9-point swing. That sounds daunting until you look at the raw numbers and the structure of the (one party, for almost 25 years) system. Turnout among eligible voters in Texas off-year elections ranges between about a quarter and a third. Eligible voter turnout hasn’t approached half in the fifty years that Texas has published the statistic. Texans don’t vote ... until one day they do.

Bonddad's thoughts for Sunday contains some empirical data that supports a similar premise.

Put this all together and the basic fact is that the 2018 voting population is going to be considerably more liberal and Democratic than the 2014 population, even if millennials turn out only in percentages consistent with younger voters in other midterm elections.

Off the Kuff wrapped up his look at Beto O'Rourke's visit-everywhere campaign strategy with hope and a sense that it's worth doing this way regardless of the outcome.

SocraticGadfly takes note of the DNC fraud lawsuit appeal, and while he still thinks something is there, is glad Jared Beck ain't his lawyer.

Scott Braddock documents Greg Abbott's contempt for Republican legislators.

Better Texas Blog explains why Medicaid work requirements are a lousy idea.

Millard Fillmore's Bathtub points out that spring comes about a month earlier than it did for our grandparents.  It's just another marker in the looming cataclysm that is climate change.

The Lunch Tray highlights some bad food research.

Neil at All People Have Value made note of the weekly John Cornyn Houston office protest.

Chris Conde at the SA Current asks if we really need a shopping bag with Selena's likeness on it to celebrate her legacy.

And Harry Hamid's latest post has a little bit of everything: Captain Beefheart, paranoia, snow in Houston ...

Sunday 'Almost Gun-Free' Funnies

Friday Semi-Automatic Excuses Toons

Lots -- lots -- more coming (but almost a gun-free zone) on Sunday.

The Weekly Wrangle

With early voting in high gear and coming down the home stretch, several bloggers in the Texas Progressive Alliance turned their attention to some of the strange goings-on in the Republican Party.  Here's the round-up of news and blog posts from last week ...

A Texas SBOE candidate called the Parkland high school shooting a 'false flag' and the children survivors 'crisis actors'.  Texas Freedom Network reveals the unhinged social media posts of District 11 Republican Cheryl Surber.

RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly sees Michael Quinn Sullivan's latest stunt -- mailing a postcard to voters that looked like a legal notice -- as something considerably worse than a dirty political trick.

It's not just Greg Abbott who's working hard (and spending hard) to defeat Rep. Sarah Davis in #HD134.  Jessica Glenza at The Guardian writes about infamous anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield's full-court press to help ultraconservative lackey Susanna Dokupil win the Republican primary.

Grits for Breakfast asked two hard questions: what is the point of mainstream media endorsing GOP candidates?  And why make excuses for Harris County judges who chose poorly when it came to deciding bail for poor people?

The Dallas Observer also blogged about how the Fifth Circuit's ruling on the Harris County cash bail system is going to affect Dallas County.

Off the Kuff puts the most recent Trump approval numbers for Texas into some context.

SocraticGadfly offers his take on the latest stupidity by former Dallas News columnist Rod Dreher.

In campaign finance reporting that won't bore you to tears, a conservative retiree named Michael Porter gave half a million bucks to something called #ProjectRedTX, and another named Patricia Walker contributed over $100,000 in small donations to Democrats — many $50 or less, in 1,400 transactions — through ActBlue.  They were two of the top 27 megadonors in 2017 (23 were GOP), as reported by Open Secrets.

And the TSTA Blog calls out state senators who underfund public education, then deny having done so when it is pointed out to them.

In items more relevant to the blue side ...

Dos Centavos says let the people vote! This, after DC insider/outsiders creep into local races.

The hotly-contested #TX-07 primary exploded onto the national scene after the DCCC launched an unprecedented attack on Laura Moser, presumably because of their belief that she is 'too librul' to defeat the incumbent, Republican John Culberson.  PDiddie at Brains and Eggs posted that her Twitter supporters responded with corrections to the record and donations to her campaign.

Texas Leftist has a questionnaire from CD-7's Ivan Sanchez, who wound up on his picks for March 2018 Democrats.  Transgriot and Ashton P. Woods also give their lists of endorsees.

The Lion Star reports on TX-16 Democrat Norma Chavez's financial problems.

The Lewisville ISD and the Office of the Attorney General of Texas exchanged letters that seemed to escalate the hostilities over the school district's encouraging teachers and supporters of public education to vote, and the OAGTX's threat of prosecution for "electioneering", a violation of Texas election law.  The story is in the Texan Journal.

The Beaumont Enterprise reports that thousands of Southeast Texas voters did not confirm their addresses to register to vote this spring and hundreds more requested mail-in ballots.  This is an unanticipated and lingering effect of Hurricane Harvey that could impact voter turnout in Jefferson, Orange, and Hardin counties.

And in developments beyond politics ...

More than a thousand Texas teenagers have been ordered to jail -- not juvenile detention, adult jail -- on charges that began with skipping class and escalated to unpaid court fines.  The costs to their education are high.  As Buzzfeed documents, some kids, like Serena Vela, never go back.

Andrew Reimers at TribTalk relates the background connection of oil and higher education in the Lone Star State, and concludes that the fossil fuel divestment movement, i.e. "keep it in the ground", may dictate that it's time for the Permanent University Fund to consider diversifying its portfolio.

Beyond Bones updates us on the Mexican freetail bat colony that has long resided under a Houston bridge over Buffalo Bayou.  Their numbers were decimated by Harvey's flooding, but they perhaps are making a comeback (although with their previous behaviors altered).

And on a lighter note:

Rice University Magazine honors the "crazy uncle" of the MOB, John "Grungy" Gladu.

Neil at All People Have Value took note of a citizen-improved sign in a Houston neighborhood.

And to answer his question: Harry Hamid isn't superstitious, but is surrounded by too many people who are.

Sunday Funnies

Trump hit Florida golf course amid funerals of shooting victims

Some facts about the life of Billy Graham

Thanks, DCCC!

Your smearing of Laura Moser last evening may have just pushed her into the runoff.

For those still not operating in the Twitterverse, the #TX07 hashtag trended briefly nationwide as reactions to this (first, I believe) from the TexTrib's Abby Livingston:

The DCCC is going nuclear on a Democratic Congressional candidate in Texas. In three cycles of covering these races, I ain't seen anything like this. Story to come soon. https://t.co/UxXgn5nsT5 #TX07

— Abby Livingston (@TexasTribAbby) February 22, 2018

Livingston's report posted shortly thereafter led with the details:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted negative research on Moser, a Houston journalist vying among six other Democrats in the March 6 primary to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. John Culberson. Democrats locally and nationally have worried that Moser is too liberal to carry a race that has emerged in recent months as one of the most competitive races in the country.

The DCCC posting, which features the kind of research that is often reserved for Republicans, notes that Moser only recently moved back to her hometown of Houston and that much of her campaign fundraising money has gone to her husband's political consulting firm. It also calls her a "Washington insider."

But DCCC spokeswoman Meredith Kelly went even further in a statement to The Texas Tribune.

"Voters in Houston have organized for over a year to hold Rep. Culberson accountable and win this Clinton district," Kelly said.

Then, referring to a 2014 Washingtonian magazine piece in which Moser wrote that she would rather have a tooth pulled without anesthesia than move to Paris, Texas, Kelly added:"Unfortunately, Laura Moser’s outright disgust for life in Texas disqualifies her as a general election candidate, and would rob voters of their opportunity to flip Texas’ 7th in November.”

And it was on like Donkey Kong from there.  Go read a sampling of top Tweets here.  The geek fighting kept going for a few hours after dinnertime.  Samples:

The slime-buckets at the DCCC are on the warpath against progressive candidates everywhere in the country. You think I'm exaggerating? Look what they're doing to destroy Laura Moser in Houston's #TX07 right in the middle of early voting:

— Howie Klein (@downwithtyranny) February 23, 2018

I’m confused why the @dccc likes me enough to call on a regular basis asking for money but doesn’t trust me enough to cast my #TX07 ballot, trust me, I’m looking for a Democratic progressive, and found one in @lcmoser, this move makes me think less of the dccc, back off.

— Greg Fleischaker (@GregFleischaker) February 23, 2018

@DCCC, how is this okay? You have NO business telling people how to vote! I have no dog in this fight and don't care who the folks in #TX07 support, but you're wrong a lot so just let voters decide. In this article, you sound like tyrants, not Democrats. https://t.co/ihappAmazP

— Victoria L. Nadel (@2dSentence) February 23, 2018

@dccc Your intrusion into the #TX07 is awful. What you are doing to Laura Moser and the people of that region of Texas is awful. I'm a lifelong Democratic voter and I am disgusted by this. I will not donate a penny to the DCCC and I will dissuade my friends from donating as well.

— Miles Howard (@MilesPerHoward) February 23, 2018

"Her grandfather arrived in Houston in 1942 as a refugee from Nazi Germany" #TX07 😠 DCCC is OUT OF BOUNDS https://t.co/NKd4igimYI

— The Third Summers Brother🍕 (@hugetinymistake) February 23, 2018

By openly trying to destroy a well-known candidate in their primary field in #TX07 , the @DCCC is saying very clearly to all of her supporters, “none of you are welcome in the Democratic Party.” 🙄 bravo.

— patrick dillard (@pcdillard) February 23, 2018

.@dccc got caught red handed trying to destroy @lcmoser a progressive candidate for #TX07 Texas go early vote get rid the DCCC preferred candidates vote for Progressives instead. #BlueWave

— 🐦Victor.C.Rocco🌹 (@V1ct0rCR0cc0) February 23, 2018

Keep your hands of off the #TX07 race, you centrist hacks. Telling Democratic voters which Democrat they should support in a primary is not democratic. #Truth

— Mike M (@MicMej231997) February 23, 2018

@dccc needs to get out of the way. If they don’t like progressive then that’s their dam problem. The Revolution is here whether you like it or not... @lcmoser #MoserMob #TX07 https://t.co/FcPC2mcRpd

— Bryan Madrigal (@b_mad_) February 23, 2018

That's probably enough for you to get the gist.  Scroll down in my own Tweetfeed, top right column, for some of my responses.

I have my doubts as to whether a lack of desire to live in Paris, TX can be extrapolated to the entire state, just for openers in rebutting the DCCC's projecting "outright disgust" onto Moser's reticence to live in one of her ancestors' homes.  I'm just supposin' here, but maybe somebody at the DCCC doesn't really know that Paris is a kind of a long way from the Seventh.  And if they think not wanting to live there is bad, then perhaps the good folks who are responsible for getting Blue Dogs elected to Congress might relocate -- just for a few months -- to Vidor, or Jasper, or one of East Texas' other garden spots.

This move was telegraphed earlier in the day in Tilove's 'First Reading' blog at the Statesman by none other than the keynote speaker for the Harris County Democratic Party's big fundraising dinner (just last week).  It was quickly followed up by this account in The Intercept about Emily's List, endorser of union-busting law firm attorney Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, launching their own broadside against Moser.  The reveal:

“Alex T(riantaphyllis) has been open about being the chosen candidate of the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee],” said Daniel Cohen, president of Indivisible Houston, who is not endorsing any particular candidate. (The DCCC has not officially endorsed a candidate in the primary, though its support can come in less public ways.)

Moser is hosting actress and Democratic activist Alyssa Milano this weekend for what will now be a much larger and more engaged rally than it would have been just 24 hours ago.

So with Harris County turnout already surging and media attention to the CD-07 race going national, we're headed for a rip-roaring finish to the wildest Democratic Congressional primary I can recall.

I'll be onboard for the full ride.

A few things you should know before you vote early, starting tomorrow *updated*

Here's a spreadsheet of every single Democrat on your Harris County ballot.  If I haven't endorsed a race you're voting in, ask me for my recommendation in the comments.

Here's an awesome list of the best progressives across the United States running for the US Senate, House, and governor.  Just scroll down and find the Texas candidates.  Links and background are invaluable.  It's the kind of resource you should forward to your progressive friends in other states.

Update: The Texas Tribune has its primary polling results out for some statewide races this morning.  Use their own advisory about the perils associated therein as you read the campaigns spinning them to their favor.

Some testicles that need rupturing:

-- Will Texas women drive turnout for female candidates in the wake of school shootings, #MeToo, #TimesUpNow, and the conservative marginalizing of them; a parade of full-blown misogyny led by drum major Cadet Bone Spurs Trump?  Will African American women save the Democrats' bacon (as they did in Alabama) despite the fact that black statewide candidates like Michael Cooper and Chris Spellmon have been side-railed by the same Donkey elitists that have selected "Bob" O'Rourke, Andrew White, Mike Collier, and other rich white conservative men to be the standard-bearers for Texas Democrats in 2018?

-- Will black Democrats do what they didn't in 2016 -- save the Donkeys?  Or not?

-- Texas Latin@s may lift Lupe Valdez, Roman McAllen, Miguel Sauzo and others, but why not Sema Hernandez?  Is this the 'Bob as Beto' effect?  Was this his plan?

In the big picture: will they be motivated to come back in droves in November with issues critical to them at the forefront of the political debate -- the border wall, the DREAMers?  Or will they be demoralized by national Democrats' repeated failures to do right by them in that regard?

All open questions.

-- Texas Leftist wondered where the money was in the D primary for governor.  I can see where a big wad of it went (Alabama), and I doubt those people are tapped out.

Texas donors (to Doug Jones) included Dallas heiress Patricia Walker and New Braunfels resident William Holliday. Walker gave over $5,900 to Jones. Holliday gave just over $3,100 to Jones. Others to give at least $2,700 to Jones included Houston attorney Kathy Patrick and H-E-B Chairman and CEO Charles Butt.

In total, Jones raised $849,000 from Texans for his entire campaign. Moore pulled in $597,000.

They're probably just waiting for March 6's dust to settle.  Or at least Team Blue ought to hope that's the case.

One of Wayne's featured posts, his fawning 2014 endorsement of Nico LaHood as Bexar County's DA, is laugh-out loud ridiculous in light of recent developments.  If you can't click over, then just get a load of this headline from the Daily Beast: "Texas’ Anti-Islam, Anti-Vaccine, Born-Again Christian Candidate is a Democrat".

-- Stace picked the wrong week to endorse a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned back to Democrat gun fetishist for Harris County treasurer.  Yes, Nile Copeland is a nice guy to have coffee with.  But when he called asking for my endorsement, I had to wonder why somebody coming back to the Democrats from the right would want the imprimatur of somebody coming back to the Democrats from the left.  His explanation for his conversion was, paraphrased, that he was "doing reconnaissance behind enemy lines".

Not buying that.  He bragged at the time about being welcomed to the HCRP with open arms.  He's also still the sort of fellow who liked to visit Louisiana so he could walk around open-carrying (this was years before Texas passed its open carry law, mind you).  Ask him about Concealed Carry Reciprocity the next time you see him.

-- Moni at Transgriot (Jackass Jef Rouner is a big fan) has an endorsement slate that's about half-good, half shit.  I'm not gonna fisk it but if you know who I support and who I don't, you can figure her completely illiogical list out for yourself.  As for Rouner: right message, wrong messengers.

Here's the P-Slate for March 6, 2018.

For US Senate: You should know by now that I'm voting for Sema.  She's making a public appearance at Lone Star College-CyFair tonight, and I've alerted the media via Twitter.  Her debate with "Bob" O'Rourke is scheduled for the 21st, and despite his promise to debate his primary opponents, you should not expect him to show up.  This is completely characteristic of him.  He consistently says one thing and does the opposite.

If he and Ted Cruz and some stoner Libertarian are the only ones on my November ballot, I will undervote the race.

For US Congress, 7th District: Here's Down With Tyranny on CD-07, and a brief overview of the Congressional landscape in Texas.

The thing is about the Texas primaries is that they're going to, in most cases, lead to primary runoffs on May 22. So we're going to be waiting for another couple of months before we know who the candidates we have going up against Republicans for blue-trending seats in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, all of which are likely to deny any candidates 50% on March 6. It's a wide open race in west Houston, where award-winning cancer researcher and doctor Jason Westin has a bunch of establishment candidates he's competing with, as well as another progressive.

The "other progressive" is Laura Moser, my preferred.  My second choice is Westin.  The good doctor is best on Medicare for All but slips in my rankings because he has described himself in candidate fora as a 'moderate on all other issues', and cautioned TX-07 voters 'not to go too far left'.  I would have liked having my endorsement of Moser to be as well-received as Moni at Transgriot's, but my ego doesn't need that much stroking.

Two votes for Moser from this household.  But if she doesn't make the runoff and Westin does, I'll cast my ballot for him in May.  My two options in case neither Moser or Westin are there in late spring are Joshua Butler and Ivan Sanchez.  I will not vote for Alex T, or Lizzie PF, or Cargas in March or in May.  And may not in November, either.

Our candidate in Austin/San Antonio, Derrick Crowe, one of the best candidates anywhere in America, is likely to be forced into a runoff with a multi-millionaire Republican, Joseph Kopser, pretending-- although not well-- to be a Democrat. Same in Dallas, where our candidate, Lillian Salerno, Obama's deputy undersecretary of rural development for the Department of Agriculture, is facing off against two pretty garden variety establishment big money careerists.

Here's what Kopser said recently about the border wall.  Here's what DWT said about Salerno.

For Texas Governor:  Tom Wakely.

This piece from Mike Ward at the Chron's Austin bureau is still the best short-form analysis of all candidates for governor save Janis Richards, the Texas Green Party candidate who must petition to get on the ballot.  (Disregard Demetria Smith; she was disqualified when her filing fee check bounced.)

The media and Democratic bastions of labor and GLBT would have you believe that there only two candidates for governor: Andrew White (simply unacceptable) and Lupe Valdez (simply unprepared).  I will sooner vote for Cedric Davis or Joe Mumbach in a runoff than either of the two alleged front-runners.  If they are my only choices in May I can skip the race and vote Green in November.

All this potential #DemExit 2.0 I'm probably going to be faced with is no joke.  Blue Dogs gonna have to learn they can't shit on the left side of the grassroots and not get it rubbed back in their faces as part of the lesson.  It looks like 2016 all over again at this point to me.  I hope I'm wrong.

Update: The TexTrib's numbers (provided they have some basis in projecting reality) don't surprise me.  White's money and establishment endorsements aren't buying him any love, and as I blogged way back in November, Valdez -- though woefully unfit at this time for the job -- is the best hope for a blue wave of Texas Dems downballot, based on their kneejerk, identity politics decision-making thought process. 

Update (2/19, p.m.):

-- For Lite Gov, TX AG, Comptroller, Land Commish, Ag Commish, and Railroad Commish:

Michael Cooper, Justin Nelson, Tim Mahoney, Miguel Suazo, Kim Olson, and either Roman McAllen or Chris Spellmon.

Most of these have been previously endorsed here, in my December posts about the progressives on the local ballot.  I moved Spellmon up as co-endorsee because he earned the Our Revolution endorsement (according to Carl Davis' Facebook account of the meeting).

-- For Texas Supreme Court Justice, Places 2, 4 and 6; and for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Presiding Judge and Place 7:

Steven Kirkland, RK Sandill, Kathy Cheng, Maria Jackson, and Ramona Franklin.  All previously blogged here (scroll down).  All are Houstonians; all are people of color save Kirkland, who is gay and a longtime family friend.  The rest know me less well except for Judge Jackson (I almost served her court as a grand juror once, but my business schedule at the time would have precluded participating).  More on the candidates and their Republican opponents from the Chron, from late November 2017.

This is as fine a slate of judicial candidates as the Texas Democratic Party has ever been graced to be represented by.  We MUST get some balance on the state's highest benches.

All of the Democrats running unopposed in their primaries for state courts of appeals seats in the Houston area (1st and 14th) merit my vote.  I can make no recommendation in the 14th, Place 8 tilt between Margaret Poissant and Michele Chimene.

In contested state district judge contests, I'll be voting for Rabeea Collier (113th criminal), Jason Luong (185th criminal), Fred Cook (189th civil), Barbara Stalder (280th family), Kathy Vossler (309th family), Tracy Good (313th juvenile), Harold Landreneau (County Criminal At Law #2), Kris Ougrah (CCAL#15) and Michael Galligan (Judge, County Probate Court At Law #4).

Lina Hidalgo, (County Judge), Diane Trautman (County Clerk), and Marilyn Burgess (District Clerk) are all my favorites for Harris County executives.

Other Houston-area races ...

CD-02:  Add J. Darnell Jones and Ali Khorasani to my list of prefered candidates to replace Ted Poe in this Montrose and far-flung northeast side suburban seat.  Silky Malik remains a good choice, Jones has bonafides, and Khorasani is the DSA-backed candidate.  Anybody but Todd Litton, please.

CD-29: Hector Morales.

I'd like to see the voters on the east side turn away from the two establishment candidates, Sylvia Garcia and Tahir Javed, and put in a freshman who will be serious about undoing the long, fetid, corporate and fossil-fueled legacy of one of the most flea-bitten Blue Dogs in Congress, Gene Green.

CD-36: I favor Dayna Steele but her primary challenger Jon Powell is also an excellent candidate.  I'm hoping many of these fine folks will not drop out of political participation because they were unable to navigate crowded primaries.

State Senator, District 17: Either Fran Watson or Rita Lucido.  I was gerrymandered out of SD-17, some years ago; both women are top notch candidates, and incumbent Republican Joan Huffman needs to be turned out.

HD-134: It might be a little more than imperative for Allison Sawyer to win this primary over Lloyd Oliver, because Greg Abbott stands a puncher's chance of knocking out incumbent Republican Rep. Sarah Davis.  Nobody -- and I mean nobody -- wants to have to choose between Oliver and Susanna Dokupil, who will be Abbott's puppet, a flack for Empower Texans, and advance the worst of the bills churned out by TXGOP policy mills like TPPF.

Though Sawyer's background as an oil and gas company woman and her website with a picture of her in front of a refinery provides no solace to me personally.  "Not Lloyd Oliver", as with those Democrats who are mostly running "Trump Sucks" campaigns, is not offering the voters enough hope and change.  If I still lived in this district I would be sorely tempted to just pinch my nostrils and vote in the GOP primary for everybody running against the incumbents statewide ... and Sarah Davis.

That's not an endorsement.  Of either Sawyer or Davis.

HD-138: Jenifer Rene Pool over Adam Milasincic.  The HGLBT Caucus -- and Moni, again -- simply doesn't like Pool, a transgender candidate for City Hall a couple of times prior to this bid for the statehouse.  I don't care for Adam after having read this account at the Texas Observer about how he busted the SEIU and Janitors for Justice when they fought for a raise almost ten years ago.

As a sidebar, virtually the entire Caucus Card of endorsements -- usually a good resource -- is more than a little questionable this cycle.  It's not available on their website yet, and their Twitter feed hasn't been updated either with a full listing.  The Caucus has, very uncharacteristically, fallen down on the job.  My advice is to simply disregard their choices.

HD-146: Shawn Thierry, my representative, was outstanding as a freshman in the last session, particularly in calling attention to the crisis of maternal mortality in Texas.  She's earned re-election and more substantive committee assignments in 2019.

That's it for now.  Let's hear from you in the comments.

The Weekly Wrangle

With early voting commencing tomorrow in the country's first November 2108* primary election, the Texas Progressive Alliance's member blogs want you to have all the data you need to make the best decision you can at your polling place.

(*see comments for explanation)

Nancy Pelosi energized Harris County Democrats and Mike Pence revved up Dallas Republicans at each party's respective fundraisers ahead of the GOTV effort for the primaries.

The San Antonio Current offers the city's voters their primary guide.  And Grits for Breakfast is watching DA races in Bexar, Dallas, McLennan, and Smith counties.

The Lewisville Texan Journal covered the Democrats from Highland Village, Flower Mound and Lewisville who met the voters and discussed the issues Saturday at the Barn in Highland Village’s Double Tree Ranch.  The candidates discussed an array of topics, including gun control, the justice system, climate change, and funding.

Moderated by the party’s parliamentarian George Nassar, the event featured debates between 63rd state district candidates Richard Wolf and Laura Haines, 26th congressional district candidates Will Fisher and Linsey Fagan, county judge candidates Willie Hudspeth and Diana Leggett and county chair candidates Angie Cadena and Phyllis Wolper.

In the Texas Observer, Michael Barajas covered the social media storm of Texas public education supporters who "blew the whistle" on conservatives trying to engineer some Lone Star-styled voter suppression.  The highly motivated bloc of Democratic voters (teachers and administrators) who've been on the front lines of the Lege's War on Education for the past several sessions made a mockery of the effort. #BlowingTheWhistle

Juanita Jean at the World's Most Dangerous Beauty Salon passes along a couple of primary recommendations.

DBC Green picked up on "Bob" O'Rourke's duplicity regarding his promise (videotaped and YouTubed) to debate his primary opponents.  At post time, that doesn't appear to be on his schedule.

Texas Rural Voices conducted an interview with D LG hopeful Mike Collier when he visited Caldwell recently.  The first of that four-parter focuses on education and property taxes.

Off the Kuff questions the assumption that Republicans have the advantage for November in Harris County.  And as with so many other hopeful Democrats, Ted at jobsanger wants to believe that Texas might really be turning blue this year.

SocraticGadfly has some First Amendment and other questions about the Mueller indictments.

Neil at All People Have Value said school shootings are an intended result of America's gun culture rather than an aberration.  And Brene Brown speaks truth to bullshit on gun reform.

Texas Leftist shares news about the brave students of Houston's Austin High School, who protested the ICE detention of an undocumented classmate just months shy of his graduation.  Is it truly the priority of our federal law enforcement to persecute high school students who have done nothing wrong? #FreeDennis

Texas Vox celebrates the closing of three coal-fired electricity plants in the state.

Paul Battaglio, Doug Goodman, and Meghna Sabharwal at the Houston Chronicle voice concerns about how nonprofits are handling sexual harassment allegations.

Jason Pittman and Anita Ledbetter at the Rivard Report explain how Trump's tariffs on solar panels will affect Texans.

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In lighter blogging fare ...

Jim Schutze at the Dallas Observer considers AG Ken Paxton as nothing less than an agent of Satan, and considers him representative of the RPT at large. 

The Lunch Tray highlights a class difference in how parents treat junk food for their kids.

Stace at Dos Centavos is still sad that RodeoHouston doesn't have any Tejano Music on GoTejano day.  But San Antonio is having one awesome music fest in March with the Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair Weekend.  Because without Tex-Mex culture, politics is pretty boring.

Millard Fillmore's Bathtub reposted Phillis Wheatley's inspiring poem about George Washington to note Presidents Day, and reminds you to fly your flag.

And Texas expat Elise Hu prepares for the Year of the Dog.