I had the opportunity to chat with Sen. Mike Jackson yesterday afternoon about his entry into the race for the new Texas Congressional District 36. Yeah, I’m sure that most of you don’t care but this is exciting stuff for those of us in Shoreacres! Having a hometown boy like Mike in Washington, D. C. would be akin to Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
My first question out of the box was why switch from state gov’t. to federal? After all, he is 15th on the seniority list now and was just elected President Pro Tempore, meaning he is in charge of the state if both Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst are out of the state. It seems like a lot to give up to be one of 435 U.S. House representatives.
I think his answer can be boiled down to this: he’s mad about what is coming out of Washington, D.C. The policies that the Obama administration is putting out are insane and killing jobs. After 10 years in the State House and 13 years in the State Senate, plus his 35 years creating jobs in the construction business, Mike thinks he knows a thing or two that can help the federal government. He wants to help bring a Texas miracle to Washington, D.C. He told me that D.C. needs help and it isn’t in his nature not to try when he knows he can help.
We then talked about the new district itself. It is a huge area, covering 100{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of 8 counties and 8{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of Harris County. Here is a map:
Here is a chart of the ethnicity of the district that I pulled out from the Plan185C redistricting reports:
As you can see, Harris County accounts for 48{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the population even though it represents a small geographical portion. The district as a whole is 63{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} Anglo but Voting Age Population is 67{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} Anglo. Unrelated to anything, look at the VAP/Total Pop difference between Anglo’s and Hispanics – a 16{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} gap. Sort of proves the point about the future demographic changes.
I asked Mike to tell me what is unique about the district, if anything. He explained that the uniqueness of the district lies in its diversity. It is such a large geographical area that you have a mix of urban, suburban, and rural areas. Business runs the gamut from the space industry to petrochemical to lumber to ranching to farming to seafood. Throw in sport fishing on the bay and on Toledo Bend and you begin to get an idea of what Mike is talking about when he says it is diverse. He told me that he really hadn’t thought yet about where or how many district offices he would set up but he would use a combination of population density and geographical location to determine that.
About the primary, I noted that his announcement listed Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell and Baytown Rep. Wayne Smith as early endorsers. Anyone else? He didn’t want to commit anyone before he got it in writing but did say that he has worked well with the two state senators for the area, Sen. Robert Nicols and Sen. Tommy Williams. He also mentioned his relationships with state representatives John Davis and Ken Legler, as well as U.S. House Rep. Kevin Brady. Indeed, after I talked with Mike, Rep. Legler put his endorsement in writing, stating:
"It has been an honor to serve with Senator Jackson in the Texas Legislature for the past four years," stated Legler. "I am confident that his leadership skills with serve us well in the Unites States House of Representatives. As a State Representative and also a constituent of the newly formed Congressional District 36, Senator Jackson shares our mutual values of smaller government, low taxes, and opposition to harmful government overregulation."
I expect that many more endorsements will be forthcoming.
We talked a little about “tea parties” and his thoughts on their activities. He told me that they were just ordinary people fed up with the craziness in Washington, D.C. He specifically mentioned the Clear Lake Tea Party, stating that their members met regularly with his office during the just completed session, making certain that their views were known. He thought that was a positive thing, unlike many of the media reports that portray “tea parties” in a negative light.
Speaking of the session, I asked him what he thought about it. He thinks it went pretty good overall, although he wished they could have done more for education. But, he said, the money just wasn’t there, so he was looking forward to seeing the schools streamline and become leaner and meaner. He told me that he didn’t really like some of the fee increases but, overall, he was happy about cutting spending and not increasing taxes. As for the Rainy Day Fund, he expects it to grow as the price of oil and gas increase, allowing the new legislature to use it to pay the payments that they postponed in order to balance the budget.
Disclaimer: Mike lives down the street from me, so I am biased. We aren’t friends or anything but when you share the experience of having your home flooded during Hurricane Ike, and climbing out of that hole, there is a certain bond there that can’t be broken. I still remember the sadness on his face when he told me that a 1961 Fender Stratocaster had been soaked in the floodwaters. Talk about a bummer! He and his wife Vickie have two children, Vic and Michelle. Michelle went to La Porte High School with my oldest daughter, so there you have more bias. Hey, at least I admit my biases – I wish big city reporters would. I don’t know who is going to be running against him but I’m going to support him in any way I can.
Mike is the perfect candidate for this district. Down to earth, plain spoken, able to go from the boardroom to the barnyard, a solid conservative, he is the right choice. Good luck Mike!