Posts Tagged ‘John Kuempel’
Thursday, March 7th, 2024
Now that the dust has settled a bit, here are some more election tidbits from Tuesday’s primary, most gleaned from The Texan’s tracking page.
President Trump got more than twice as many primary votes as Joe Biden.
Ted Cruz got more than twice as many votes (1,979,327) as all the Democratic Texas Senate candidates combined (964,250). And even more votes than Trump (1,808,823).
Trump and Cruz both won all 254 Texas counties. Joe Biden lost sparsely populated Loving County to Frank Lozada one vote to zero, and King County (small and overwhelmingly Republican) either hasn’t reported Democratic votes or didn’t hold a Democratic primary. (Both Trump and Cruz got over 70 votes in Loving County.)
Republican incumbent Christi Craddick won her Railroad Commissioner’s race without a runoff at 50.4%.
If you compare the topline race primary results of 2022 (Texas Gubernatorial race) to the Presidential primary results of 2024, Republican votes are up just over 365,000 (2,323,754 in 2024 vs. 1,954,172 for 2022), but Democrats are down over 96,000 votes (979,179 for 2024 vs. 1,075,601 for 2022).
The Ken Paxton slate for the Court of Criminal Appeals (David Schenck, Gina Parker, and Lee Finley) all won over their respective incumbents fairly handily.
The previously reported Gonzalez/Herrera runoff was the only Texas U.S. House race where the Republican incumbent was pulled into a runoff; all the others won with ease.
2022 saw Republican Monica De La Cruz beat Democrat Michelle Vallejo in U.S. House District 15, the only swing district in Texas after redistricting, by nine points. November is going to see a rematch between the two, as both won their primaries. Given the ongoing border crisis (TX15 runs down to Rio Grande Valley) and both Texas Republican and Trump inroads into Hispanic voters, I would not expect Vallejo to improve on her previous showing.
Harris County DA Kim Ogg lost her Democratic Party primary to the more radical, Soros-backed Sean Teare. “Although Ogg had financial support from billionaire donor and criminal justice reform activist George Soros during her first campaign in 2016, Soros did not assist Ogg in her 2020 re-election bid and threw his support to Teare this election cycle. The Soros-funded Texas Justice and Public Safety PAC spent over $1.5 million in the final weeks of the campaign to help Teare unseat Ogg.” Democrats also seethed that Ogg let investigations of corruption among Judge Lina Hidalgo’s staffers go forward. How dare she not treat Democrats as above the law? Teare will face Republican nominee Dan Simons, a former assistant district attorney and defense attorney, in November. Bonus: Ogg had trouble voting because her lesbian girlfriend already cast her ballot for her. As commentor Leland noted, does Harris County not follow Texas voter ID laws?
Travis County residents are evidently delighted with more rapes and murders, as they just voted to keep Jose Garza DA.
School choice was a big winner Tuesday.
The 2024 primary election was a major success for school choice advocates in Texas. Several opponents of education reform lost outright, others went to runoffs, and still more were electorally weakened.
Corey DeAngelis, a school choice advocate and head of the American Federation for Children Victory Fund, released a statement touting six wins and four forced runoffs in the 13 races where his PAC was engaged.
Throughout multiple called special sessions in 2023, the Republican-led House alternatively delayed and killed Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to create school choice in Texas. Ultimately, these efforts culminated with 21 Republicans voting for an amendment by John Raney (R-College Station) to strip school choice from an omnibus education measure.
Accounting for retirements and with the runoffs still to be decided, only a handful of incumbent Republicans who sided with the teachers’ unions to kill school choice during the legislative session will be returning to Austin in 2025.
As covered yesterday, anti-school choice incumbents defeated include Reggie Smith, Travis Clardy, Glenn Rogers, Ernest Bailes and Steve Allison, while those driven into run-offs include Justin Holland, John Kuempel, Gary VanDeaver and DeWayne Burns
Some State Board of Education news. “Pat Hardy, a former teacher and a veteran representing District 11, which covers parts of Fort Worth, lost her seat to challenger Brandon Hall, a youth pastor.” Also: “Another incumbent, Tom Maynard of District 10, which includes Williamson and Bell counties, will go into a May 28 runoff against Round Rock school board member Mary Bone, who describes herself as a conservative champion for Texas kids.” If Bone wins, she’ll probably make a good State Board of Education member, but Round Rock ISD desperately needs more conservatives on the board.
Williamson County primary results. I didn’t see any surprises there.
Things that make you go “Hmmmm”: “Potential Speaker Candidate Hired by Bank with Ties to Bonnen and Phelan.”
A lawmaker rumored to be eyeing the speakership in the Texas House is employed by a bank that has connections to current House Speaker Dade Phelan and disgraced former Speaker Dennis Bonnen.
State Rep. Cody Harris, a Republican from Palestine, was first elected to the House in 2018. At the time, he was a real estate broker for Liberty Land & Ranch LLC.
In August of 2021, however, Harris added a new item to his resumé—Vice President of Business Development for Third Coast Bank.
The career change is notable given the bank’s ties to the current and former speaker.
In late 2019, Third Coast Bank acquired Heritage Bank, where Bonnen had served as President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. He currently sits on Third Coast’s Board of Directors.
Phelan’s brother Lan Phelan was a director of Third Coast from 2013 until at least 2016, according to filings with the secretary of state. A 2021 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that the bank’s Beaumont location was leased from Phelan’s family investment firm.
Additionally, the most recent personal financial statement from Dade Phelan shows that he owns shares in Third Coast.
Tags:2024 Election, 2024 Presidential Race, 2024 Texas Senate Race, Brandon Hall, Cody Harris, Corey DeAngelis, Dade Phelan, Dan Simons, David Schenck, Democrats, Dennis Bonnen, DeWayne Burns, Donald Trump, Elections, Ernest Bailes, Frank Lozada, Gary VanDeaver, Gina Parker, Glenn Rogers, Joe Biden, John Kuempel, John Raney, Jose Garza, Justin Holland, Ken Paxton, Kim Ogg, King County, Lan Phelan, Lee Finley, Lina Hidalgo, Loving County, Mary Bone, Michelle Vallejo, Monica De La Cruz, Pat Hardy, Reggie Smith, Republicans, Round Rock ISD, Sean Teare, State Board of Education, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas 15th Congressional District, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Third Coast Bank, Tom Maynard, Travis Clardy, Travis County
Posted in Elections, Global Warming, Texas | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, February 28th, 2024
I hadn’t intended to use so much of this week talking about Texas elections, but a lot of news is dropping and the primary looms next week, so let’s tuck in:
Vegas bets on Dade Phelan.
After mainly remaining on the sidelines ahead of the primary, casino companies seeking to turn Texas into a piggy bank are spending big to back the current House Speaker and his allies.
Chief among these out-of-state interlopers is Las Vegas Sands, giving through its “Texas” Sands PAC. The largest beneficiary of Sands’ money in the latest filing period is embattled House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont).
The casino outfit gave $200,000 to the Speaker, his second-largest donation in the latest filing period. Another gambling behemoth, Penn Entertainment Inc., gave Phelan $20,000. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma donated $10,000.
Gambling special interests have long targeted Texas but have been rebuffed for decades following failed promises of the Texas Lottery. During the 2023 legislative session, the Texas House advanced gambling measures that the Texas Senate ignored.
In this latest period, Sands gave $1.8 million to Texas politicians. This money went exclusively to members of the Texas House, with Republicans taking $1.34 million and Democrats $457,500. This is potentially a preview of a deluge of money that big gambling may spend in the lead-up to the 2025 legislative session.
State Rep. John Kuempel (R-Seguin), a key proponent of growing the gambling footprint in Texas, received the second-highest total from Sands at $110,000. Like Phelan, Keumpel finds himself up against a field of challengers, including Alan Schoolcraft who enjoys the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott and heavy financial backing.
Speaking of Phelan, it seems that a state agency paid millions in above-market rates for real estate rental to Phelan’s company.
Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi says the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has paid a company House Speaker Dade Phelan manages three times the market value.
On February 16, 2023, an exclusive Texas Scorecard investigative report examined a lease between HHSC and 3105 Executive, LLC—a company Phelan and members of the Phelan family manage and direct. From December 2017 to December 2023, state taxpayers paid this company $2.3 million through HHSC. The original lease ran from January 2014 to December 2023 but has been extended to August 2029. Phelan was first elected to the Texas House in 2014 and began serving in 2015. He was elected Speaker by fellow House members in 2021.
On February 17, Rinaldi took to social media platform X, noting that the 2023 rent HHSC paid Phelan is three times the market value.
“This looks like a $268,000 windfall to the Speaker’s business paid for money appropriated by the House, which is a big deal,” he wrote. “My next question would be how many other income streams are there like this one?”
President Trump just endorsed a bunch more Texas candidates.
Trump endorsed the following House candidates:
- Brent Money for House District 2, a seat only recently filled by Jill Dutton in a special election
- Joanne Shofner, who is challenging State Rep. Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches) for House District 11
- Steve Toth (R–Conroe), who is the current representative for House District 15
- Janis Holt, who is challenging State Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd) for House District 18
- Gary Gates (R–Richmond), who is the current representative for House District 28
- Wes Virdell for House District 53, which is an open seat following the retirement of State Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction)
- Hillary Hickland, who is challenging State Rep. Hugh Shine (R-Temple) for House District 55
- Stormy Bradley, who is challenging State Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) for House District 72
- Don McLaughlin for House District 80, which is an open seat following the retirement of Tracy King (D-Uvalde)
- John Smithee (R–Amarillo), who is the current representative for House District 86
- Caroline Fairly for House District 87, which is an open seat following the retirement of Four Price (R-Amarillo)
- Barry Wernick, who is challenging State Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) for House District 108
Bailes, Darby, Shine, and Meyer all voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton—a close ally of Trump. Gates also voted for impeachment but later apologized and contributed $15,000 to Paxton’s campaign fund.
Bailes, Darby, Clardy, and Shine all voted against Gov. Greg Abbott’s school choice program. Abbott has endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.
Money, Virdell, Hickland, and Bradley have also been endorsed by Gun Owners of America.
A consensus is forming among a broad front of Republicans (Trump, Abbott, Patrick and Paxton) on who to vote for on Tuesday, and Phalen’s pals ain’t it.
And Paxton is out on the campaign trail supporting challengers to the Phelan-aligned reps who voted for his impeachment.
“State Rep. Gary VanDeaver Faces Stiff Challenge One Decade After Ousting Previous Incumbent.”
Ten years into his career in the Texas House, state Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston) now faces the very same challenge he mounted a decade ago — a newcomer hoping to unseat an incumbent.
VanDeaver faces two challengers — the Gov. Greg Abbott-backed Chris Spencer and Attorney General Ken Paxton-backed Dale Huls — in his bid for a sixth term in the Legislature.
He is one of 15 House Republicans seeking re-election who voted both for Paxton’s impeachment last May and to strip education savings accounts (ESA) from the House education omnibus bill last November, and for those he’s become a top target. Abbott and the pro-school choice groups wading into Texas House races have an eye toward flipping the seat, and Paxton is bent on exacting retribution.
Snip.
VanDeaver is in a dogfight, primarily against Spencer, the former chairman of the Sulphur Springs River Authority who loaned himself $300,000 at the campaign’s outset and is benefitting greatly from outside money.
According to ad buy data provided to The Texan from Medium Buying, a national GOP placement agency, Spencer and the groups backing him have reserved $116,000 of ad space on cable and broadcast television from Monday through the election next week. That dwarfs the $12,000 spent by VanDeaver’s camp during the same period.
Most of Spencer’s ad space was purchased either by Abbott’s campaign or the School Freedom Fund, a PAC affiliated with the national group Club for Growth.
As of the eight-day reporting period, VanDeaver has $450,000 cash-on-hand after raising $684,000 from January 26 through February 24. During that same period, Spencer raised $257,000 and has $166,000 left on hand. Huls is far behind the other two with $16,000 raised and $7,000 remaining in the bank.
A brief look at Republican ballot propositions.
Tags:2024 Election, Alan Schoolcraft, Andrew Murr, Barry Wernick, Brent Money, Caroline Fairly, Choctaw, Chris Spencer, Dade Phelan, Dale Huls, Don McLaughlin, Donald Trump, Drew Darby, Endorsements, Ernest Bailes, gambling, Gary Gates, Gary VanDeaver, Greg Abbott, Hillary Hickland, Hugh Shine, Janis Holt, Jill Dutton, Joanne Shofner, John Kuempel, John Smithee, Ken Paxton, Las Vegas Sands, Morgan Meyer, Penn Entertainment Inc., Republicans, Steve Toth, Stormy Bradley, Texas, Texas House District 108, Texas House District 11, Texas House District 15, Texas House District 18, Texas House District 2, Texas House District 53, Texas House District 72, Texas House District 80, Texas House District 86, Texas House District 87, Tracy King, Travis Clardy, Wes Virdell
Posted in Democrats, Regulation, Republicans, Texas, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2024
Naturally, the day after I put up my guide to Texas House Republican primary races, President Trump drops a bunch more endorsements.
As early voting begins in the Republican primary election in Texas, former President Donald Trump has issued a series of endorsements of candidates running for the Texas Legislature.
In a series of posts on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump revealed the endorsements, which included four challengers to incumbent members he called “RINOs” (Republicans in Name Only).
Those candidates include:
Mike Olcott, challenging State Rep. Glenn Rogers (R–Staford) in House District 60
Helen Kerwin, challenging State Rep. DeWayne Burns (R–Cleburne) in House District 58
Alan Schoolcraft, challenging State Rep. John Kuempel (R–Seguin) in House District 44
Liz Case, challenging State Rep. Stan Lambert (R–Abilene) in House District 61 [Note: This is typo. Case is running in District 71. — LP]
Trump gave his “complete and total endorsement” to each candidate, citing their opponents’ votes to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton and opposition to school choice as reasons for doing so.
Additionally, Trump endorsed Brent Hagenbuch for the open Senate District 30 being vacated by retiring State Sen. Drew Springer (R–Muenster).
After I post this, I’m going to go back and add the Trump endorsements to yesterday’s roundup.
Tags:2024 Election, Alan Schoolcraft, Brent Hagenbuch, DeWayne Burns, Drew Springer, Glenn Rogers, Helen Kerwin, John Kuempel, Liz Case, Mike Olcott, Republicans, Stan Lambert, Texas, Texas House District 44, Texas House District 58, Texas House District 60, Texas House District 61
Posted in ObamaCare, Supreme Court, Texas, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, February 20th, 2024
Today marked the start of early primary voting, so here’s a roundup on Republican state house races.
I’ve posted several times on the need to primary and defeat every one of the Dade Phelan toadies who voted to kill school choice or who voted to impeach Ken Paxton. Every candidate who voted to kill school choiceretired or draw a primary challenger.
So here is a list of every contested Republican state House race, whether the incumbent voted to kill school choice or impeach Paxton, and who their challengers are:
District 1: Gary VanDeaver:
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Dale Huls
Chris Spencer
District 2: Jill Dutton
Dutton is listed as the incumbent because she won the special election for the seat of the expelled and disgraced Bryan Slaton. But she wasn’t in office to vote for or against school choice or the Paxton impeachment.
Challenger:
Brent Money
District 3: Keith Bell
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Joshua Feuerstein
District 5: Cole Hefner:
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Dewey Collier
Jeff Fletcher
District 7: Jay Dean
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Bonnie Walters
Joe McDaniel
District 8: Cody Harris
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Jaye Curtis
District 9: Trent Ashby
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Paulette Carson
District 11: Travis Clardy
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Joanne Shofner
District 12: No incumbent (Kyle Kacal retiring)
Challengers:
Ben Bius
John Slocum
Trey Wharton
District 14: No incumbent (John Raney retiring)
Challengers:
Rick Davis
Paul Dyson
District 15: Steve Toth
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Skeeter Hubert
District 17: Stan Gerdes
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Tom Glass
District 18: Ernest Bailes
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Janis Holt
Stephen Missick
District 19: Ellen Troxclair
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Kyle Biedermann
Manny Campos
District 20: Terry Wilson
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Elva Janine Chapa
District 21: Dade Phalen
As Speaker of the House, Phalen voted Present on the school choice gutting and Paxton impeachment votes, but is known to be the motivating factor behind both.
Challengers:
David Covey (Endorsed by President Trump.)
Alicia Davis
District 24: Greg Bonnen
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Larissa Ramirez
District 26: Jacey Jetton
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Jessica Rose Huang
Matt Morgan
District 28: Gary Gates
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Dan Matthews
District 29: No incumbent (Ed Thompson retiring)
Challengers:
Jeff Barry
Alex Kamkar
Edgar Pacheco Jr.
Trent Perez
District 30: No incumbent (Geanie W. Morrison retiring)
Challengers:
Bret Baldwin
Jeff Bauknight
Vanessa Hicks-Callaway
A.J. Louderback
District 33: Justin Holland
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Dennis London
Katrina Pierson
District 44: John Kuempel
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Greg Switzer
David Freimarck
Alan Schoolcraft (Endorsed by President Trump)
District 53: No incumbent (Andrew S. Murr retiring)
Challengers:
Hatch Smith
Wesley Virdell
District 55: Hugh Shine
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Jorge Estrada
Davis Ford
Hillary Hickland
District 56: No incumbent (Charles “Doc” Anderson retiring)
Challengers:
Pat Curry
Devvie Duke
District 58: DeWayne Burns
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Helen Kerwin (Endorsed by President Trump)
Lyndon Laird
District 60: Glenn Rogers
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Mike Olcott (Endorsed by President Trump)
District 61: Frederick Frazier
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Chuck Branch
Keresa Richardson
District 62: Reggie Smith
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Shelley Luther
District 63: Ben Bumgarner
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Carlos Andino Jr. (website shows as expired)
Vincent Gallo
District 64: Lynn Stucky
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Elaine Hays
Andy Hopper
District 65: Kronda Thimesch
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Mitch Little
District 66: Matt Shaheen
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Wayne Richard
District 67: Jeff Leach
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Daren Meis
District 68: David Spiller
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Kerri Kingsbery
District 70: Incumbent Democrat Mihaela Plesa
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Republican Challengers:
Joe Collins
Steven Kinard
District 71: Stan Lambert
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Charles Byrn
Liz Case (Endorsed by President Trump)
District 72: Drew Darby
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Stormy Bradley
District 74: Incumbent Democrat Eddie Morales Jr.
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Republican Challengers:
Robert Garza
John McLeon
District 76: Incumbent Democrat Suleman Lalani
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Republican Challengers:
Dayo David
Summara Kanwal
Lea Simmons
District 80: No incumbent (Democrat Tracy King retiring)
Republican Challengers:
Don McLaughlin
Clint Powell
JR Ramirez
District 83: Dustin Burrows
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Wade Cowen
District 85: Stan Kitzman
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Tim Greeson
District 86: John Smithee
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? No
Challenger:
Jamie Haynes
District 87: No incumbent (John Four Price retiring)
Challengers:
Richard Beyea
Cindi Bulla
Caroline Fairly
Jesse Quackenbush
District 88: Ken King
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Karen Post
District 89: Candy Noble
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Abraham George
District 91: Stephanie Klick
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Teresa Ramirez Gonzalez
David Lowe
District 97: No incumbent (Craig Goldman retired to run for U.S. Congress)
Challengers:
Cheryl Bean
John McQueeney
Leslie Robnett
District 98: Giovanni Capriglione
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Brad Schofield
District 99: Charlie Geren
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Jack Reynolds
District 108: Morgan Meyer
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Barry Wernick
District 112: Angie Chen Button
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Chad Carnahan
District 119: Incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Campos
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Republican Challengers:
Brandon Grable
Dan Sawatzki
District 121: Steve Allison
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Marc LaHood
Michael Champion
District 128: Briscoe Cain
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Bianca Gracia
District 133: Mano Deayala
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
John Perez
District 138: Lacey Hull
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Jared Woodfill
Sources:
List of Texas state house races
School choice vote role call
Paxton impeachment vote roll call
Ballot information for the 2024 election.
I’m still missing a few candidate websites, so if you note any errors or omissions, let me know in the comments below.
Tags:2024 Election, A.J. Louderback, Abraham George, Alan Schoolcraft, Alex Kamkar, Alicia Davis, Andy Hopper, Angie Chen Button, Barry Wernick, Ben Bius, Ben Bumgarner, Bianca Gracia, Bonnie Walters, Brad Schofield, Brandon Grable, Brent Money, Bret Baldwin, Briscoe Cain, Candy Noble, Carlos Andino Jr., Caroline Fairly, Chad Carnahan, Charles Byrn, Charlie Geren, Cheryl Bean, Chris Spencer, Cindi Bulla, Clint Powell, Cody Harris, Cole Hefner, Dade Phelan, Dale Huls, Dan Matthews, Dan Sawatzki, Daren Meis, David Covey, David Freimarck, David Lowe, David Spiller, Davis Ford, Dayo David, Dennis London, Devvie Duke, DeWayne Burns, Dewey Collier, Don McLaughlin, Drew Darby, Dustin Burrows, Eddie Morales Jr., Edgar Pacheco Jr., Elaine Hays, Elections, Elizabeth Campos, Ellen Troxclair, Elva Janine Chapa, Ernest Bailes, Frederick Frazier, Gary Gates, Gary VanDeaver, Giovanni Capriglione, Greg Bonnen, Greg Switzer, Hatch Smith, Helen Kerwin, Hillary Hickland, Hugh Shine, Jacey Jetton, Jack Reynolds, Jamie Haynes, Janis Holt, Jared Woodfill, Jay Dean, Jaye Curtis, Jeff Barry, Jeff Bauknight, Jeff Fletcher, Jeff Leach, Jesse Quackenbush, Jessica Rose Huang, Jill Dutton, Joanne Shofner, Joe Collins, Joe McDaniel, John Kuempel, John McLeon, John McQueeney, John Perez, John Slocum, John Smithee, Jorge Estrada, Joshua Feuerstein, JR Ramirez, Justin Holland, Karen Post, Katrina Pierson, Keith Bell, Ken King, Keresa Richardson, Kerri Kingsbery, Kronda Thimesch, Kyle Biedermann, Lacey Hull, Larissa Ramirez, Lea Simmons, Leslie Robnett, Liz Case, Lyndon Laird, Lynn Stucky, Manny Campos, Mano Deayala, Marc LaHood, Matt Morgan, Matt Shaheen, Michael Champion, Mihaela Plesa, Mike Olcott, Mitch Little, Morgan Meyer, Pat Curry, Paul Dyson, Paulette Carson, Reggie Smith, Republicans, Richard Beyea, Rick Davis, Robert Garza, Shelley Luther, Skeeter Hubert, Stan Gerdes, Stan Kitzman, Stan Lambert, Stephanie Klick, Stephen Missick, Steve Allison, Steve Toth, Steven Kinard, Stormy Bradley, Suleman Lalani, Summara Kanwal, Teresa Ramirez Gonzalez, Terry Wilson, Texas, Texas House District 1, Texas House District 108, Texas House District 11, Texas House District 111, Texas House District 119, Texas House District 12, Texas House District 121, Texas House District 133, Texas House District 138, Texas House District 14, Texas House District 15, Texas House District 17, Texas House District 18, Texas House District 19, Texas House District 2, Texas House District 20, Texas House District 21, Texas House District 24, Texas House District 26, Texas House District 28, Texas House District 29, Texas House District 3, Texas House District 30, Texas House District 33, Texas House District 44, Texas House District 5, Texas House District 53, Texas House District 55, Texas House District 56, Texas House District 58, Texas House District 60, Texas House District 61, Texas House District 62, Texas House District 63, Texas House District 64, Texas House District 65, Texas House District 66, Texas House District 67, Texas House District 68, Texas House District 7, Texas House District 70, Texas House District 71, Texas House District 72, Texas House District 74, Texas House District 76, Texas House District 8, Texas House District 80, Texas House District 83, Texas House District 85, Texas House District 86, Texas House District 87, Texas House District 88, Texas House District 89, Texas House District 9, Texas House District 91, Texas House District 97, Texas House District 98, Texas House District 99, Tim Greeson, Tom Glass, Travis Clardy, Trent Ashby, Trent Perez, Trey Wharton, Vanessa Hicks-Callaway, Vincent Gallo, Wade Cowen, Wayne Richard, Wesley Virdell
Posted in Democrats, Regulation, Republicans, Texas, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, December 13th, 2023
Over the last month, I’ve posted several times on the need to primary and defeat every one of the Dade Phelan toadies who voted to kill school choice. It looks like we’re off to a good start, as the close of the filing period saw every one of them retire or draw a primary challenger.
Every Republican who opposed school choice in the Texas House now finds themselves facing a challenger in the upcoming Republican primary.
Despite being a priority of the Republican Party of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott, last month 21 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to remove a school choice program from a school spending proposal.
Now each of those 21 members are either leaving the legislature or facing intraparty opposition.
Retiring reps are:
Kyle Kacal
Andrew Murr
Four Price
John Raney
Ed Thompson
Reps who have drawn primary opponents, and the opponents they’ve drawn (plus the opponent’s campaign website, where known), are:
Steve Allison: Marc LaHood, Michael Champion
Ernest Bailes: Janis Holt, Stephen Missick
Keith Bell: Joshua Feuerstein
DeWayne Burns: Helen Kerwin, Lyndon Laird
Travis Clardy: Joanne Shofner
Drew Darby: Stormy Bradley
Jay Dean: Bonnie Walters, Joe McDaniel
Charlie Geren: Jack Reynolds
Justin Holland: Dennis London, Katrina Pierson
Ken King: Karen Post
John Kuempel: Greg Switzer, David Freimarck, Alan Schoolcraft
Stan Lambert: Charles Byrn, Liz Case
Glenn Rogers: Mike Olcott
Hugh Shine: Hillary Hickland, David Ford
Reggie Smith: Shelley Luther
Gary VanDeaver: Dale Huls, Chris Spencer
If you’re a Texas conservative in a position to donate to campaigns (a tough ask for some here in the Biden Recession), now would be a good time to check out these candidates and help defeat some of Dade’s toadies.
Tags:2024 Election, 88th Texas Legislative Session, Alan Schoolcraft, Andrew Murr, Bonnie Walters, Charles Byrn, Charlie Geren, Chris Spencer, Dade Phelan, Dale Huls, David Ford, David Freimarck, Dennis London, DeWayne Burns, Drew Darby, Ed Thompson, Ernest Bailes, Four Price, Gary VanDeaver, Glenn Rogers, Greg Switzer, Helen Kerwin, Hugh Shine, Jack Reynolds, Janis Holt, Jay Dean, Joanne Shofner, Joe McDaniel, John Kuempel, John Raney, Joshua Feuerstein, Justin Holland, Karen Post, Katrina Pierson, Keith Bell, Ken King, Kyle Kacal, Liz Case, Lyndon Laird, Marc LaHood, Michael Champion, Mike Olcott, Reggie Smith, Republicans, Shelley Luther, Stan Lambert, Stephen Missick, Steve Allison, Stormy Bradley, Texas, Travis Clardy
Posted in Regulation, Republicans, Texas | 4 Comments »
Saturday, November 18th, 2023
If you were wondering if the left-leaning cabal behind Dade Phelan would ever let any form of school choice pass the Texas house, now you know.
Following a year of anticipation and four special sessions, the hopes of school choice being passed on the floor of the Texas House have been dashed after an amendment stripped education savings accounts (ESAs) from this special session’s education omnibus bill.
The amendment offered by Rep. John Raney (R-College Station) was initially signed by 16 other members before being passed by a vote of 84 to 63.
Members then voted to lock that change in and prevent the removal from being reconsidered at a later time, a motion which passed by the same margin as Raney’s amendment.
Of the 85 Republicans in the House, those voting in favor of the ESA removal amendment included:
Rep. Steve Allison (R-San Antonio)
Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd)
Rep. Keith Bell (R-Forney)
Rep. DeWayne Burns (R-Cleburne)
Rep. Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches)
Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo)
Rep. Jay Dean (R-Longview)
Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)
Rep. Justin Holland (R-Rockwall)
Rep. Kyle Kacal (R-College Station)
Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian)
Rep. John Kuempel (R-Seguin)
Rep. Stan Lambert (R-Abilene)
Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction)
Rep. Four Price (R-Amarillo)
Rep. John Raney (R-College Station)
Rep. Glenn Rogers (R-Graford)
Rep. Hugh Shine (R-Temple)
Rep. Reggie Smith (R-Sherman)
Rep. Ed Thompson (R-Pearland)
Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston)
The ESA removal amendment was supported by all 64 House Democrats.
The names of some of those Republicans voting against school choice should be familiar, as they’ve thwarted Republican priorities in the past:
Allison, Kacel, King, Kuempel, Lambert, Price and Raney all voted to create a “Office of Health Equity Policy” in the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Allison, Bailes, Clardy, Kacel, King, Lambert, Raney and VanDeaver all voted against banning taxpayer-funded lobbying.
Geren was Joe Straus’ righthand man for years, and once had an aide file a false child protective services act against his primary opponent, and was one of the main instigators of the vendetta against Ken Paxton.
All of them except Clardy, Price and Thompson voted in favor of the Paxton impeachment.
Primarying everyone on that list (and, of course, Phelan) would be a good start.
Following the vote, Governor Greg Abbot declared that “the small minority of pro-union Republicans in the Texas House who voted with the Democrats will not derail the outcome that their voters demand,” but it remains unclear how he can move his school choice agenda after this gutting.
Abbott has said he’ll veto and education bills without ESAs. He’s also threatened to keep holding special sessions until school choice passes. We’ll see if he follows through.
Tags:2024 Election, Andrew Murr, Charlie Geren, Dade Phelan, DeWayne Burns, Drew Darby, Ed Thompson, education, Ernest Bailes, Four Price, Gary VanDeaver, Glenn Rogers, Greg Abbott, Hugh Shine, Jay Dean, John Kuempel, John Raney, Justin Holland, Keith Bell, Ken King, Ken Paxton, Kyle Kacal, Reggie Smith, Republicans, school choice, Stan Lambert, Steve Allison, Texas, Travis Clardy
Posted in Republicans, Texas, unions | 12 Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2021
This is thoroughly infuriating news:
The Texas Department of State Health Services is using close to $45 million to create the Office of Health Equity Policy and Performance. Purportedly, the office will work with state and local public health entities to address disparities in health outcomes in various demographics.
“Equity” is the CRTspeak tipoff here, because equality and color-bind policies don’t give the hard left enough opportunities to stick their noses into other people’s business to promote their racist theories.
If this sounds familiar, it is because Democrat State Rep. Garnet Coleman (Houston) authored a bill during the 87th Legislative Session that would have created the Office of Health Equity within the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, which is an entity of the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The bill was included in the healthcare legislative priorities of Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan as a part of his “Healthy Families, Healthy Texas” legislative package announced in early April.
The bill passed the Texas House of Representatives on May 5 by a vote of 77-51 and included 16 Republicans.
Those Republicans were State Reps. Steve Allison (San Antonio), Brad Buckley (Salado), Gary Gates (Rosenberg), Dan Huberty (Humble), Todd Hunter (Corpus Christi), Kyle Kacal (College Station), Ken King (Canadian), Stephanie Klick (Ft. Worth), John Kuempel (Seguin), Stan Lambert (Abilene), Morgan Meyer (Dallas), Geanie Morrison (Victoria), Chris Paddie (Marshall), Four Price (Amarillo), John Raney (Bryan), and Jim Murphy (Houston).
Murphy is also the House Republican Caucus chairman.
When the bill arrived in the Texas Senate, it was never even referred to a committee and granted a hearing, sealing its fate—or so you would have thought.
Snip.
When the news broke that the Texas Department of State Health Services was creating this office of its own accord, former State Rep. Matt Rinaldi, a current candidate for the Republican Party of Texas chairman, took to Twitter to ask, “Why is the Texas executive branch using $45 million of taxpayer money to create an agency that will implement critical race theory in health policy after the Legislature defunded the agency in 2017 and the [S]enate blocked its implementation this year?
When Coleman’s bill was being deliberated in the House of Representatives, State Rep. Jeff Cason (R–Bedford) spoke out against the bill on the House floor and said, “Today, we gather here voting on legislation that assumes our healthcare system is institutionally racist and that certain people are oppressed when receiving health care due to their gender or color of their skin.” He continued, “No one in America is turned away from a hospital. Healthcare has been open to all who seek it.”
Absolutely nothing good can come of catering to radical Critical Race Theory proponents, no matter how much proponents might swear up and down that their version of “Equity” somehow won’t be used to carry water for the radical left. You can’t let the camel’s nose in the tent.
Governor Abbott should put a stop to this nonsense, or explain to Republican voters why he won’t.
Tags:87th Texas Legislature, Brad Buckley, Chris Paddie, Dade Phelan, Dan Huberty, Four Price, Garnet Coleman, Gary Gates, Geanie Morrison, Greg Abbott, Jim Murphy, John Kuempel, John Raney, Ken King, Kyle Kacal, Matt Rinaldi, Morgan Meyer, Social Justice Warriors, Stan Lambert, Stephanie Klick, Steve Allison, Texas, Texas Department of State Health Services, Todd Hunter
Posted in Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 3 Comments »