The forum was held as a part of the SJRW’s regular monthly meeting at Incredible Pizza in Pasadena. Incredible is a good word, the place is huge. Located in a building that once was a Walmart, they have indoor go karts, bumper cars, mini-bowling, mini-golf, etc. They also have meeting rooms; we were in a rather large one that could be partitioned into four separate rooms if desired. At the peak of the meeting, I counted 46 total people.
The forum was more of a series of candidate speeches. Each candidate was given five minutes to introduce themselves and make their pitch to the attendees. Five minutes is a long time for some of these guys, especially when they are used to getting at most two minutes. Some, like Rick Green, Jared Woodfill and Ed Hubbard, had no problem filling five minutes and the timekeeper had to step in!
Justice Supreme Court Place 3
Both candidates, Debra Lehrmann and Rick Green were there. This was my first opportunity to meet Ms. Lehrmann and I must say that she is an impressive candidate. Talk about a mismatch of credentials but that is the way it works in Texas. Qualified jurist on one hand, political hack on the other. I’m sure that Mr. Green is a nice man but c’mon people! This is ridiculous. It is reminiscent of President Obama putting all of those academics in charge of things they’ve never actually done. I’ll have more on this race in a separate posting closer to the start of early voting.
District Judge 180th District
This is another race with a seeming disparity in qualifications. Candidate Danny Dexter was able to make the meeting, candidate Marc Brown was not but was ably represented by Linda Butler. Mr. Dexter touted his time in the District Attorney’s office, noting that he had totaled 986 years of penitentary time, an average of 25 years per conviction. His recollection of his time in office is so different from that of Murray Newman, who was also an ADA, that I emailed Mr. Dexter this morning to ask for clarification. He refused to answer my Judicial Q & A prior to the primary election, so I don’t hold much hope of getting an answer but at least I tried.
Ms. Butler is obviously a fan of Mr. Brown. She discussed his long tenure with the DA’s office, his range of positions there, his handling of the ultimate Capital Murder Death Penalty cases, and the fact that he is actually an instructor for new judges, teaching them the ropes. She also noted his many endorsements, among them former DA Johnny Holmes and State Sen. Dan Patrick.
Family District Judge 308th District
Ah, if only. If only James Lombardino hadn’t given $15,000 to Terry Lowry. I really like Mr. Lombardino, and the truth is that of all of the people that did fund Lowry, Mr. Lombardino does have a good story to tell as to why. But that doesn’t change the fact that by funding Mr. Lowry, Mr. Lombardino is hurting the Harris County Republican Party as a whole. And that just isn’t acceptable.
Alice O’Neill is certainly qualified and will be getting my vote. I didn’t realize that she had done so many things in life – she worked in HR for Baker Hughes, has an MBA, did social work and has practiced family law for 13 years. Unfortunately, it looks like the rumor mongers are out – she felt it necessary to clarify that she believes that marriage is for one man/one woman. Unbelievable what those good Christians will say about people behind their backs.
Harris County Republican Party Chairman
The most important race on the ballot for Republicans in Texas. On election day, 54{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of Harris County Republicans recognized that the party is adrift and needs to return to prominence. Unfortunately, that 54{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} was split among three candidates, so we have a runoff between 46{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} Jared Woodfill and 30{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} Ed Hubbard.
Mr. Woodfill was in fine form – I’d hate to be Ed and have to speak after him because he is so positive and optimistic that the facts are obscured. I wish that questions could be asked because here is one I’d ask – Mr. Woodfill, you just stated that the party has to grow, especially in the Hispanic community. For eight years, you have been the leader of the party and the participation by Hispanics has not only not grown, it has shrunk. Why, sir, should we believe that you can reverse this given your track record?
I’d really like to hear the answer to that.
Mr. Hubbard stayed with his stump speech, talking about his work over the last year and a half with various groups around the county. He has been attacked by some in Mr. Woodfill’s camp for wanting to work with people and groups that might disagree with him on one or two issues. But he soldiers on, knowing he is the underdog in this race but remembering that 54{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the voters recognize that after eight years under Mr. Woodfill’s leadership, it is time for new leadership and renewed focus on core Republican principles.
This is the first time I’ve discussed the HCRP Chair race since the primary but I’ll address it more as early voting gets closer. During the primary election, I stayed neutral between Ed, Paul Simpson and Don Large. Now that there is a runoff, my wife and I decided to make a small financial contribution Ed’s campaign. If that bothers you or you think it taints my coverage of this race, so be it. Jared is a very nice man and I’ve found him to be a man of personal integrity but I think that he doesn’t have the skills necessary to lead the party forward at this time.