Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Harris County Republican Party: Yo, dude, do you support pedophilia?

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So I wake up a bit early this morning and find this in my Facebook Big Jolly Politics page Inbox:

In a 2011 article, Ed Hubbard wrote:

“Rather than drive these people away from us, can’t we acknowledge their courage, examine their qualifications based on competence and character, and then, welcome them to join us in our effort to rebuild our society based on our fundamental principles?”

The answer is a resounding no.

For proof, you should interview Chris Busby about his recent experience with the Harris County Vacancy Committee.

That quote is from Ed’s November 9, 2011 post titled It’s Time to Listen to Ourselves – and Stop and Think. And an awesome post it was.

I continue to be amazed at the ineptness of the Harris County Republican Party under the leadership of Chair Jared Woodfill. Yes, we’ve won the majority of the elections in Harris County for the last decade or so but as I’ve noted many times, that success has little to do with the party apparatus and a lot to do with the fact that citizens in Harris County are fairly conservative. But as we saw in 2008, 2010, and 2012, the Harris County Democratic Party has made progress in undoing that success and is poised to take over the county in 2014.

In case you missed this post, Chris Busby received an award from the Log Cabin Republicans for his outstanding volunteerism in 2012 and his work helping State Rep. Sarah Davis win her re-election campaign against a formidable Democratic opponent. Chris has also worked on the campaigns of Fernando Herrera, John Faulk, Jack O’Connor, Jack Christie, and obviously Mitt Romney. He is known as a relentless advocate and tireless worker who devotes hours upon hours each month to conservative Republican causes, particularly to groups that are not typically receptive to conservative Republicans.

It turns out that Chris moved last July into a precinct in Harris County that does not have a HCRP Precinct Chair. Like many, many other precincts unfortunately. It was after the primary and after the filing time to get on the ballot, so Chris decided to apply and go through the Vacancy Committee process rather than wait for the 2014 election. As it turns out, that wasn’t a very good idea.

Remember, this was July 2012. Chris personally gave his application to Executive Director Elizabeth Dillon. In October, having heard nothing from the party, Chris followed up and was told that his application “was lost”. So, he filled out another form, submitted it, and waited. Finally, this month, April of 2013, fully nine months after submitting his application, he was “granted” an interview with the HCRP Vacancy Committee.

After contacting as many people as I could today, including Party Chair Jared Woodfill, and talking to eight people who were in the room during that “interview”, I can tell you that I’m more certain than ever the demise of the HCRP will happen in 2014 unless Jared Woodfill resigns and new leadership is allowed to take over. The “gatekeepers” that are in place, including one personally appointed by Woodfill, are destroying the party.

One of the members of the committee that I talked to today said that what happened during that meeting was  “criminal” and that they would resign because of it. Another member told me that they were “appalled by the treatment of that young man”. Yet another said that it was “gay baiting” and that one person on the committee “implied that the only reason gays want to be a part of the party is to relax laws so that they can molest little boys”. A precinct chair in attendance to observe the meeting said that “they tried to bait the guy into admitting that he was a pedophile”.

All because he put on his application form that he was a member of the Log Cabin Republicans.

Hey people! Guess what?! I’m a member of that club too! Gonna kick me out of “your” party?

This “one person” that was so aggressive in questioning was none other than the guy that makes a fortune off of selling advertisements promoting his endorsements in the “Link Letter“, Mr. Terry Lowry. I know, I know, you aren’t surprised. Me either. But I continue to be surprised and amazed that the leaders of the HCRP allow this to happen. Specifically, Chair Jared Woodfill appointed Mr. Terry Lowry to this committee. I’ve had a difficult time determining who is even on the committee but here are the names of the ones that voted against Chris Busby:

  • Richard Dillon – Chair – SD15
  • Bill Kneer – SD15
  • Terry Lowry – SD7
  • Sarah Singleton – SD7 (no voter registration on file for 9807 White Rock Lake Trail, her address as listed on the HCRP website)
  • Bill Drout – SD7

It was a 5-4 vote against. Two members (at least) were absent from this meeting. How about a little transparency Mr. Woodfill? Put the names of the members of this committee on the website. I trust that you see the prevalence of Sen. Dan Patrick’s SD7 on that list.

When I spoke to Chris today, he described the questions from Mr. Lowry as “brutal”. Chris was asked about his membership in the Log Cabin Republicans, should sex education be taught to kindergarteners, his position on gay marriage, and, bizarrely, did Chris agree with the 1972 homosexual agenda that promotes removal of all “age of consent” laws. Yes, he was asked that, confirmed by the people that were in the room. Chris took this to mean that the question was asking if he approved of pedophilia. Obviously he answered of course not but the damage was done and Chris was denied membership in the club.

No words.

If you don’t know about the “1972 homosexual agenda” just Google it. Like I had to. Who in the hell has a copy of that on hand so that they can interrogate potential Harris County Republican Party Precinct Chairs?

Terry Lowry, that’s who.

I did call Mr. Lowry and he told me that he was driving and would call me back later in the afternoon. Guess it was a long drive because I have not heard back from him.

If you have given this guy money as a candidate in the past or are a current candidate and intend to in the future, shame on you.

When I contacted Jared Woodfill, he advised me to contact David Riddle. I was confused by that but did anyway. Riddle is not on the committee and wasn’t at the meeting. His defense of the vote was that Chris volunteered to work the primary last year but when it came time to be there, he was nowhere to be found. Chris’ version is that Sarah Singleton, who was being paid to coordinate primary workers, asked him to work the primary. Initially, he said he would, but then called her back and told her that he couldn’t make it because Sarah Davis was in a tight race and it was more important for him to help her win. Which he did. And it was. The idea that David Riddle or anyone else would question Chris Busby’s work ethic is ludicrous. Just ask State Rep. Sarah Davis or any of the other candidates that he has volunteered for. Shame on them for coming up with that excuse.

I’m going to end this before I go ballistic. But rest assured, this argument isn’t over. Chris is going to file and run for the office – he will win. I look forward to the day when he shows up at the Executive Council meeting with the puritans that excluded him. I wish that when I was his age that I had the courage that this young man has shown. And I’ll be happy when the day comes that puritans don’t use their Bibles to discriminate against eminently qualified people.

I apologized to Chris today on behalf of all sensible Republicans in Harris County. You could do better by contacting your SREC representative and demanding changes in the witch hunts conducted in your name by the Harris County Republican Party. A good time to do that would be tonight at the annual “Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner“. While you are sitting there enjoying your fine meal and the homogenous crowd around you, say a prayer for a young man that you injured by either commission or omission – and while you’re at it, say a prayer for yourself, your party, and this country. Lord knows, we need it.

SEE ALSO: Chris Busby’s response to the Harris County Republican Party Vacancy Committee

SEE ALSO: Rhymes with Right: Questions for the Harris County GOP Vacancy Committee

Houston Moves FORWARD! Job Losses To Affect 123 Families in Houston

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Yvonne Larsen

The 10.1% unemployment rate in California must be an unemployment rate the Harris County & Houston Democrats are trying to emulate. Another 123 Houston families will be thrown onto food stamps, unemployment insurance and God knows what other misery when 70 people at Champion Windows (in CD-2) and 53 people at Devon Energy (in CD-18) lose their jobs within the next 45 days.

But hey, there’s a bright side.

Since Houston votes predominately Democrat, the families affected by this job loss have a higher propensity to BE Democrats.

This is precisely what you Democrats in Houston & Harris County voted for; congratulations on a job well done.

Harris County Democratic Party gets its writ kicked

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If you haven’t heard by now, Lloyd Oliver, Harris County Democratic Party nominee for District Attorney, will be on the ballot in November. Judge Bill Burke entered the order in time for the ballot printing and verifying process to proceed as normal. Most observers do not expect the HCDP to appeal his decision.

How bizarre was the case? The Dems tried to use the same argument that they used in the 1900’s to keep blacks from voting. See Grovey v. Townsend. Basically, the Dems were saying that they had a right to “associate” with whomever they deemed “acceptable”. Judge Burke saw through this and said in his order:

In this circumstance, the political party’s so called Right of Association must yield to other rights which vested as a result of the party’s primary process. The State of Texas, too, has a compelling interest in free and fair elections and promoting democratic decision making.

It is appalling that even as the Democratic Party is set to nominate a black man for a second term as President of the United States, Harris County Democrats would reach back into their history of racism to find an argument to use to keep a duly elected person off the ballot.

When he isn’t kicking Democratic writs, Judge Burke spends some of his free time playing one of his many Taylor guitars. He plays in a band called The Writ-Kickers (hence the post title) with fellow judges Brent Gamble, Patricia “Legs” Kerrigan, and attorney Steve Ferrell. They aren’t bad – check out this tune:

In the end, justice prevailed in this case. Congratulations to Mr. Oliver – now he gets to have his writ kicked by Mike Anderson!

Harris County Democratic Party vs Lloyd Oliver – vote suppression attempt?

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At yesterday’s Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club, Ed Johnson from the Harris County Clerk’s office gave an update on the attempt by the Harris County Democratic Party to remove their District Attorney nominee, Lloyd Oliver, from the ballot in November. His update had to do with the effect on ballot printing and mail out ballots.

Ed Johnson discusses ballot printing at the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club.

It makes one wonder: is this entire episode a ruse by the HCDP designed to bring chaos to the process in an attempt to steal the election?

Here’s the deal. Mr. Oliver filed suit to put his name back on the ballot in state court (where it belongs). The HCDP filed  a motion to move it to the federal courts, where they have had success lately. A hearing was held this past Tuesday in front of Federal Judge Lee Rosenthal. During this hearing, September 6th was given as the date a decision must be rendered by.

But that date is for the FINAL decision. Thus far, she has not seemed to be in a hurry to rule. If she doesn’t get with it and make a decision, there will not be time to hear the case, be it in federal or state court . Why? Because of the ballot printing and approval process.

The due date for political parties to turn their ballots in to the Texas Secretary of State was yesterday, August 30. The Harris County Democratic Party turned their ballot in sans Mr. Oliver. The process of printing ballots, applying logic tests and getting all parties involved to sign off on them takes approximately three weeks. If a decision isn’t made in this case before September 6th, ballots will be printed without Mr. Oliver’s name and then will go through the approval process.

If those ballots are mailed to voters requesting them and a later decision by the court rules that Mr. Oliver should be on the ballot (as expected), the ballots must be reprinted, pass the logic tests, be reapproved, and then mailed again.

So let’s pretend that you are an elderly voter that received one of the first ballots, made your selections, and mailed the ballot back. Then, you receive another ballot in the mail – you know that you’ve already voted once and toss the second ballot in the trash.

When the ballot board goes to count ballots, they have in their hands the first ballot, the one without Mr. Oliver’s name on it, but cannot find the second ballot that was sent to this elderly voter. What do they do?

Consider that in the last two elections, 2008 and 2010, Harris County Republicans have won the absentee balloting 2-1. Consider again that because Democrat Bill White won Harris County in 2010, the Harris County Democratic Party controls the ballot board.

What do you think the decision will be? Toss the ballot in the trash.

Judge Rosenthal needs to decide TODAY and then the full hearing needs to be held immediately regardless of which court it ends up in.

Talk about disenfranchising voters – why aren’t “real” reporters talking about this very real possibility?

Lloyd Oliver files suit in State Court, Democrats want Federal

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The sage of the Harris County Democratic Party trying to remove a man duly elected in a primary continues this afternoon. We just aren’t certain where the latest round in the fight will be held.

Harris County Democratic Party primary winner and District Attorney nominee Lloyd Oliver filed his complaint in State District Court – it was assigned to the 133rd, Judge Jaclanel McFarland. She is on the ballot, creating a conflict of interest, so an associate judge is supposed to hear the case. You can read his full complaint here.

However, I talked to Mr. Oliver this morning and the HCDP has filed a motion to move the suit to Federal Court. They want to use the case law created when former HCDP Chair Gerry Birnberg removed Dave Wilson from the ballot. Interestingly, Mr. Wilson is a named plaintiff along with Lloyd Oliver in the current suit.

As a voter, the action by the Democrats is outrageous. About the only thing that could make it more outrageous is a ruling in their favor. Goodness, just think about us poor Republicans – if you think that the Harris County Republican Party is ruled by the Taliban now, just wait and see what happens if they can remove candidates at will. Wow.

This came via email, no author provided:

Death of Democracy

Democracy, 236 years old, of the Texas Democratic Party passed peacefully into God’s Eternal Kingdom Wednesday August 22, 2012 surrounded by her friends in the Harris County Democratic Party Headquarters.

Party Chairman, Lane Lewis, with orders from Gerald “Boss Tweed” Birnberg and with the blessings of State Party Chairman, Gilberto “Hitler” Hinojosa, declared 57,000 primary voters null and void.   57,000 voters get trumped by 3 people because 3 people do not agree with who the voters choose!

The Republicans state “If you don’t vote, you don’t have a say in who your elected officials are.”

The Democrats   state “if you   do    vote, you don’t have a say in who your elected officials are.”

Democracy celebrated a long and patriotic life in Texas, always keeping the citizens in the forefront of her actions.

Democracy in the Democratic Primary first became ill in January  2010.  Gerald “Boss Tweed” Birnberg removed Dave Wilson (Democratic candidate against the disgraced Republican Jerry Eversole) from the ballot without cause.  The case, which became diagnosed as the “Tammany Hall Cancer”,  was sent to the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans for treatment.  Doctors of Jurisprudence, Davis, Smith and Southwick only diagnosed the case half right.  They concluded that Mr. Wilson has a cause of action for damages, but they went on to state that a person does not have a property right of access to the ballot and they cannot be given a new election.  This opened the door for Birnberg and Lewis’s actions; therefore spreading the cancer that destroyed Democracy in the Democratic Primary!

Democracy leaves behind many sons and daughters, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, who will miss her.

A Memorial service will be held for her Monday, August 27, 2012, in State District Court # 133 at 3:00 pm.  In lieu of flowers, please send your condolences to Mr. Birnberg and Mr. Lewis.

P.S.  No one has to worry about Voter I.D.

Raul Torres tries to break Democratic Party chokehold, again

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Competitive races for Texas Senate District seats are rare for any number of reasons but mostly because during redistricting incumbents protect themselves.  About the only SD race that “political pros” think is competitive is that for SD-10 between incumbent Sen. Wendy Davis (D) and challenger Rep. Mark Shelton (R).  But there is another race that Republican stalwarts should be involved in if they want to give more than lip service to the future and that is SD-20, a South Texas district that has been held by Democrat Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa for the past ten years but is being challenged this year by freshman Rep. Raul Torres.

There are many reasons why the Republican apparatus in Texas should support Rep. Torres but the best one is also the most obvious – he’s already done the “impossible” once. In 2010, he defeated two-term incumbent Solomon Ortiz, Jr. in a huge upset. Then “powers that be” in the Republican leadership decided to favor fellow freshman Rep. Connie Scott (R-34)  and good ol’ boy Rep. Todd Hunter (R-32) and redistricted Rep. Torres right out of his seat. He had a choice to make – run against his friend, Rep. Scott, go home and sulk, or try to find the silver in the lining.

Fortunately for Republicans around the state of Texas, he chose to try to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse by challenging Sen. Hinojosa. Why is this important? Well, because if Torres and Shelton win, Senate Republicans will be able to overcome the tradition of the two-thirds rule. You can read more about that here. Can you imagine the possibilities if that is the case?

But why do I think he has a shot? Because I think that the voting trends of South Texas and in this specific district support the possibility. The district is much like a barbell – a population center on each end with not much in between. Here is a map of the district with the two population centers highlighted:

Texas SD-20 PlanS172

Here is a table of the counties in the district and their vote levels from 2008 and 2010:

[table id=8 /]

And here is a breakdown of population for the five largest cities in the district:

[table id=7 /]

The Obama 2008 turnout is not likely to happen but a repeat of 2010 could, along with a heavy turnout in Nueces County. If so, Rep. Torres has a very, very good chance of winning, IF he gets help from the Republican Party of Texas leadership.

But don’t think for a minute that getting R’s to 21 is the driving force behind Torre’s campaign. Make no mistake, he is an advocate for South Texas. I drove down to Corpus and dropped by his campaign headquarters on Airport Blvd. Monday afternoon. Rep. Torres was on his way back from a Republican Women’s function, so I had some time to sit and talk to his volunteers, Celest and Micaela. It’s always a good sign when you walk into a campaign office that is staffed and enthusiastic about their chances. Micaela was making phone calls for a fundraiser that Rep. Torres was holding and appeared to be having some success at getting commitments to attend. Celest is the Nueces County coordinator and gave me an overview of their activities in the Corpus area. I really appreciated them taking the time to entertain me as I waited for Rep. Torres.

When Rep. Torres arrived, we went into his strategy room and he proceeded to explain the district, his campaign, and why he thinks he has a very good chance of winning.

Rep. Raul Torres outlines SD-20 strategy.

I asked him what his number one problem is with the incumbent, Sen. Hinojosa, and he told me that it was the budget. Turns out that Sen. Hinojosa was the only Democrat in either legislative body to vote for the budget. Rep. Torres actually voted against the budget because he thought that South Texas was shortchanged when it came to the distribution of education funding. He is PASSIONATE about education and the problems that South Texas educators face. I can’t begin to give you a sense of his urgency about the problems they face. Watch this episode of Torres TV to get a feel for it:

Rep. Torres can rattle off statistic after statistic about the problems in education in South Texas and how the incumbent has failed to help address them. Two points that he stressed were:

  1. The Texas economy, and specifically South Texas, needs an educated workforce.
  2. The future growth of the Latino population in Texas and the current state of education in South Texas means that industry in the future will not have enough workers and will move to states that do.

That last point is critical, not only for South Texas, although I understand his passion for it, but for Texas as a whole. That is the very reason that Ed Hubbard is trying to start a constructive dialogue about the issue. Remember, one of the reasons that Texans revolted from Mexico was the failure of the Mexican government to provide a decent education system. Our constitution requires it – it is time to get it right.

As a CPA, Rep. Torres has made it his passion to cut waste and as such has embraced the concepts of the Theory of Constraints and Lean/Six Sigma. Although his signature bill, HB3149, did not get out of the Local & Consent Calendar Committee, he was able to attach an amendment to Sen. Mike Jackson’s SB-563 which required a pilot waste cutting program to be implemented in the Texas Workforce Commission.  And wow, was it ever successful! Please take a few minutes to read the report from the pilot program: Rapid Process Improvement: Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program. A few highlights:

  • 48 percent decrease in the average number of days, from 194 days to 101 days, and a sustained increase in the number of determinations per month
  • 60 percent decrease in the processing backlog, from five months, to less than two months
  • 45 percent increase in the percentage of applications processed by the tax filing deadline, from 60 percent for CY 2011, to 87 percent for CY 2012

Those are some amazing results! As a side note, it is fun to talk to someone that appreciates TOC/Lean/Six Sigma! I’ve been using those techniques for years in manufacturing environments – if you have a process of any kind, these tools will help you improve it. Take it to the bank. Can you imagine the savings that Texas would have today if his original bill would have gotten out of committee? We might need to discuss that at some point since there will be another challenge this year to Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.

Texas Republican leadership, listen up! You need to commit to supporting Rep. Torres in this race! As Rep. Torres told me, there are very few events that actually change political history. This election has that potential – imagine having 21 conservative Republican Senators! But even beyond that, think of the future – a South Texas Latino Republican in the Texas Senate could change Texas politics for decades by convincing Latino voters that our shared values are far greater than our differences. I hope that the Republican Party of Texas puts the ORVIS scores aside and thinks long term and puts resources behind Rep. Torres’ campaign.

Believe me, the future of Texas will be brighter for the effort.

Resources:

Cities and Census Designated Places (CDP’s)

District Population Analysis with County Subtotals

Population, VR, and TO Analysis with County Subtotals 2008

Population, VR, and TO Analysis with County Subtotals 2010

State website: Rep. Raul Torres

Campaign website: Elect Raul Torres

Facebook: State Rep. Raul Torres

Twitter: RaulTorresRep