There is no question that the 2016 election will be talked about for many years to come. This election is unusual for several reasons and the candidacy of Donald Trump has added more stress for Harris County elected officials and candidates. Paul Simpson is doing the greatest Kabuki dance of all time trying to support what is arguably the worst field of candidates in Harris County history. Folks like Devon Anderson, Mary Lou Keel, Mike Sullivan, and Jim Murphy must give every true conservative on the ballot this election cycle tremendous heartburn. At this point, full panic mode is setting in. If you notice, Paul Simpson does not have one nice thing to say about Donald Trump and let me tell you why.
You cannot understand the 2016 race without looking at the 2014 election of Paul Simpson. In that election, Simpson was supported by a coalition of institutional, big government, pro-immigration, establishment Republicans who teamed up with Libertarians and Log Cabin Republicans to defeat Jared Woodfill. Another group of supporters bought into the fallacy that the defeat of Woodfill will bring down the “pay to play” guys (i.e., Hotze, Lowry, and Polland). Of course, the real goal for many Simpson sympathizers was to replace the so called “pay to play” slates with their own “pay to play” slates. Allen Blakemore, of course, has his hand in both camps. See Wayne Smith’s primary defeat.
![Kevin Shuvalov](https://bigjolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/KevinShuvalov.jpg)
Simpson’s strategist was Kevin Shuvalov of the Mammoth Group who works for Joe Straus. Think about that for a second. Straus is the establishment Republican whose job is to keep money flowing to contractors, party bosses, police and fire unions, Planned Parenthood, etc. in the Texas Legislature. After two failed campaigns, Simpson turned to Shuvalov’s establishment consulting group in Austin, the Mammoth Group for his 2014 campaign. Following Simpson’s victory, the Mammoth Group basically operates the Harris County Republican Party, and, in turn, the party’s campaign in November. The Mammoth Group works for establishment Republicans and is a reconstituted version of Karl Rove’s old group.
Simpson’s supporter list prohibits him from supporting Trump. Dick Weekley, a big Simpson financial supporter, would punish Paul if he even thought of supporting or helping Trump. Sad but true. It is important to remember that these folks are dependent on cheap foreign labor for their businesses to succeed. This need is juxtaposed against the Trump Train and Mr. Trump’s strong stance against illegal immigration and wasteful government spending. Weekley is not alone and a coalition of political economic opportunists have set their sights on Harris County – the biggest prize in contracting in the state.
The Cruz pity party adds to the crosscurrents of the local political outlook. When Trump defeated Cruz in the Presidential primary, many Cruz supporters in Harris County were disappointed and angry at Trump. Ironically enough, Cruz and Simpson share many supporters. How can Cruz, a man who claims to value the United States Constitution and the legacy of Mr. Justice Scalia, be so shortsighted? What will Cruz say if Hillary is elected and Justice Scalia’s legacy is tarnished by a very liberal court? Cruz and his hurt feelings do not bode well for down-ballot races in Harris County. Cruz’s failure to endorse Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland hurt Harris County Republicans.
Then, we have Devon Anderson as the District Attorney candidate. Devon’s problems have been well documented by me, David Jennings, The Houston Chronicle, Jace Larson of Channel 2, and just about every news organization in the country. Devon’s problem is the other battlefront in the conservative movement – social conservatives. Devon Anderson’s indictment and prosecution of David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt set off a political firestorm within the pro-life movement. The damage done to the pro-life movement nationally by Devon’s actions may well cost many Harris County Republicans this November. Devon Anderson to this day does not understand the damage she caused the pro-life movement. Social conservatives are rightfully angered by her mere presence on the ballot. See Dr. Hotze’s email to Devon et al. from Saturday night.
The fact that our local party officials are running away from Donald Trump is a disaster in the making. When you see Jim Murphy standing with Sylvester Turner supporting Turner’s pension reform plan, Harris County has a problem. Simpson did not want to involve himself with Devon Anderson and the indictment of Daleiden and all candidates will pay a price. With Simpson at the helm, the local party does not stand for life or fiscal conservatism. The pro-immigration issue is not helping much either. Simpson’s Muslim pep rally and recent carnival were symbolic of the utter failure of the local party. Simpson’s reliance on establishment money creates a well-funded local party, but one devoid of principle. The new mantra is pro-life is taboo and fiscal conservatism does not align with their big government contracts.
It kind of makes me miss Jared.
#NeverDevon
Your criticism of Sen. Cruz for failing to endorse Donald Trump misses a big point. I disagree with Cruz on most issues and I agree with Sen. Graham that he is so hated in the Senate that if you shot him on the Senate floor you would be acquitted if the jurors were all senators. I especially did not like him going to the floor to call the majority leader a liar. That had to hurt his influence as a senator and it deprives Texas of much of the influence it could have.
On the other hand, Trump insulted Cruz’s wife, called him a liar and tried to tie his father to the Kennedy assassination. That’s personal. Attacking a man’s wife and saying his father was involved in a presidential assassination is real personal and uncalled for.
If I had been Cruz, I would have punched him out on general principles. I might have suggested a dawn meeting with pistols for two and breakfast for one.
And this screed was what? A rallying cry? Glad to see you’re as useful as ever Don. Lots of folks are working hard to get out the vote despite everything you’ve described. Thanks for pissing on their efforts. Republicans are either going to got out and vote or they’re not. I don’t think anything you said is going to encourage any fence sitters. IF we lose, some of the blue will now be on you. But hey, at least you’ve got your “principles” and a platform. Evidently that’s all that matters. Selfish. The new right.
Aren’t these the same people that worked so hard to get a conservative family judge out of office with no evidence at all? Not a single one of them had ever talked with the judge, not once, about any of the feigned issues. Not a single one of them ever went to her court. Not a single one of them ever researched a single case that was blasted across the Houston Comical. With a D.A. that announces the judge did nothing wrong, and announced that the D.A. didn’t force the judge out of office, but then announces she did just that (so all we know is the H.C. D.A. lies and admits to using her office for political purposes – isn’t that illegal?). So when complaining about the liberality of the ‘republican party’, let’s not forget who worked to get rid of the conservative judge that no one could make an actual case against, and make it that way: Bettencourt (went around trying to get endorsers to change their minds), Emmett (had his asst contact supporter), D.Anderson by admission, David Jennings, Olsen, Valerie Swanson, Gary Polland,Terry Lowry, Sharon Hemphill (who campaigned against Pratt because she lost a case in court – pitiful). And have you noticed how many used that as a stepping stone to launch their own campaigns? Olsen, Jennings, Hemphill, Swanson. The Republican Party of the third largest county in the country has become nothing more than self-dealing greedy gangs of people who no longer have character-if they ever had any at all-that has allowed the liberals of the county to scare them into being liberals themselves.
Yep, the whole Republican Party lost me when they didn’t stand up for their best, most conservative, judge, who never over got overruled while on the bench. Houston Chronicle completely defamed her, and when the Democratic party invaded the quarterly meetings, the gutless wonders laid down, and then even attacked their finest, and most qualified judge. These fine conservatives have a county judge and a party chairman that are basically democrats. You get what you deserve. Valerie Swanson hasn’t been in office what, 6 months, and already getting outed for ethics violations by Mike Sullivan. Pratt helped Lowry get tougher laws for courts permitting teen-age girls to get abortions BEHIND THEIR PARENTS BACKS, and for the love of money, endorsed a Democrat who ran against her, who admitted voting for Obama – not just once – and Lowry knew it. Too much of the party is self-dealing and power-hungry. I actually looked up the cases complained about in Pratt’s court – guess what…..every single complaint made was a total lie. But the ‘leaders’ of the party believed the democrat who wrote to the newspaper, and finally brought in a whopping ‘TWO’ attorneys that claimed to be Republican, and helped trash Pratt to the point that her opponent’s supporters threatened and shot at her home. If the Republicans had half the nerve of the Democrats, they would have thrown Enos out, and Jennings with him, before they ever got any traction. Losers.
Sounds like a party at war, like the pundits have stated the GOP will be seeking to survive as a national party. Better hope that Hillary does not do to the witch hunters what they have done to her. Women are like angels you might clip their wings but then they use a broom to fly.