After a shocking Democratic victory in Alabama, Texas Leftist is also left to wonder if something similar could happen for the Lone Star State. What lessons, if any, can be learned by the Doug Jones campaign, and could they apply to Texas? Here’s Part 1 of that question, with some surprising observations.
Doug Jones’ victory over Roy Moore was made possible by the surge of African American voters in Alabama, a trend Democrats in Texas and across the country would be wise to duplicate, blogs PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.
And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.
Better Texas Blog reminds you that if you were affected by Hurricane Harvey, your deadline to enroll in an Obamacare insurance plan is December 31.
The Current gives you the heavy metal Christmas playlist you’ve been waiting for.
Nonsequiteuse warns of Republican dirty tricks in HD134.
Grits for Breakfast looks at the police union contract that was rejected by Austin City Council.
Gregory L. Fenves and Danny J. Anderson, presidents of UT-Austin and Trinity University, explain how the Republican tax plan will hurt higher education in Texas.
Nancy Sims eulogizes former Houston City Council member and longtime urban planner Peter Brown.
As Texas Leftist slowly makes an effort to get back in the saddle for 2018, he’s thankful for the incredible work of all of his blogging colleagues. Before we leap into next year’s political hopefuls, it’s worth note that a former Texas elected official made a big move this week. Get ready to see and hear more from Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker in 2018.
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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.
Chuck Smith breaks down the Colorado bake shop/same sex marriage case that was argued at SCOTUS.
The Bloggess is once again spearheading a grassroots effort to help people in need for the holidays.
Dwight Silverman has some advice for people who are looking for gifts for their techie friends and family.
Better Texas Blog explains how the Republican tax cut bill threatens local and state public services.
Dos Centavos is looking forward to the 2018 Democratic primary.
Off in the distance, there’s a big blue stampede starting in Texas. If you can’t hear it yet, just wait until February and March.
For years now, Texas Democrats have been trapped in something of an electoral feedback loop. Save for a few gerrymandered districts, the party has been unable to gain traction across the state, with virtually no hope of taking a statewide office or gaining a legislative majority anywhere outside of the city hall or county courthouse. The loop basically works like this… in order to recruit down-ballot candidates to run, Democrats first need to find an inspiring top-ticket candidate. But the only way to find a top-ticket candidate was for them to rise up from a crop of good down-ballot candidates.
But, as all things seem to be in 2017, new rules abound. As Ashley Lopez of KUT Austin reports, Texas Democrats are done sitting on the sidelines, and ready to run next year…
In deep-red Texas, Republicans will have to fight for every congressional seat in next year’s midterm elections. For the first time in 25 years, Democrats are running in all of Texas’ 36 congressional districts, according to documents filed with the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
Mark Jones, political science fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute, says those filings set a record for the number of Democratic challengers in an era of Republican dominance, and are a departure from 2016 – when eight Republican-held congressional seats went uncontested by Democrats.
“We are seeing a groundswell of unusually high support and mobilization among progressive Democrats who are really angered by the Trump administration,” Jones said.
But, Democrats aren’t just gunning for congressional seats. According to preliminary numbers from the Texas Democratic Party, Democrats are running in 89 percent of the seats in the Texas House and 88 percent of the seats in the Texas Senate. Both are the highest percentages the party has mustered since at least 1992.
Though the Secretary of State’s office is still awaiting final certification from the Parties, you can view the impressive list of candidate filings here. If you’re not yet registered to VOTE in the March 6th Primary Election, you can get that info atVoteTexas.gov.
Call it anger, inspiration, education… call it what you what. As 2018 approaches, Texas Democrats seem to have found “it” again. Finally a blue stampede is on for the Lone Star State. But whether all of that motivation can finally turn into some results remains to be seen. But like the big blue skies of a Texas Winter or the bluebonnets of a Texas Spring, hope springs eternal.
Historic times call for historic activities. Along with a bigger-then-ever TLCQ 2018 series, Texas Leftist will also be working to report on select races as they unfold. Keep your eyes and ears ready.
With Gene Green’s retirement, Congressional District 29 has an opportunity to move left. How far to the left is the question, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has an answer.
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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.
The Rivard Report offers some tips on avoiding cybercrime.
The TSTA Blog wants us to stop taking educators’ votes for granted.
Scott Braddock ponders Greg Abbott’s attack on Sarah Davis.
Nonsequiteuse says the way to fight gentrification is to buy local.
Juanita has the bumper stickers you’re looking for.
The Lunch Tray has some suggestions for helping kids in need.
You gotta hand it to politicians… if there’s one thing they know how to do, it’s getting reelected. Part of the reason I suppose you could say the same for any politician halfway worth their salt.
Those elections are certainly how Texas perseveres as a reliably “Red State” even as our demographics have shifted so dramatically that many folks are puzzled as to how there are so few competitive races in this Republican dominated state.
But for those that have been paying attention, the answer to that conundrum is clear… illegal redistricting. As James Barragan with the Dallas Morning News reports, one Federal Court is sending state leaders a clear message…
Texas statehouse districts drawn by the Republican-led legislature in 2011 intentionally diluted the votes of minorities, violating the U.S. Constitution and parts of the Voting Rights Act, a federal court ruled Thursday.
In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel in San Antonio found that the maps gave Republicans an advantage in elections and weakened the voting strength of minority voters. House Districts in Dallas and Tarrant counties were among those in which the judges ruled minority voters had seen their clout weakened.
The ruling is yet another blow to the state in its six-year legal battle over the redrawing of the maps. Last month, the same court found that the state’s congressional maps were drawn with intent to discriminate against minority voters and invalidated three congressional districts. And last week, a federal judge ruled that the state’s voter ID law was written with intent to discriminate.
“The evidence of the mapdrawing process supports the conclusion that mapdrawers were motivated in part by an intent to dilute minority voting strength,” U.S. District Judges Xavier Rodriguez and Orlando Garcia wrote in the 171-page ruling. “Discussions among mapdrawers demonstrated a hostility to creating any new minority districts as those were seen to be a loss of Republican seats, despite the massive minority population growth statewide.”
Redistricting is a very complicated process, but here are the basics. After each Federal Census (every 10 years), the Texas Legislature is required to divide the state by election districts which most closely match the shifts that have occurred.
It’s definitely no secret that the state of Texas grew from 2000 to 2010, as was reflected in the 2010 Census. But what many folks may not know is that growth was overwhelmingly led by one group: the Latino community. Of the 4.2 million residents Texas gained between 2000 and 2010, nearly 2.8 million of them were Latino. That is 65 percent.. a clear majority of population within the state.
Texas Latino Growth
We also know that much of this growth occurred in occurred the state’s largest metropolitan areas. So Texas didn’t just grow in population, it also became more urban and more suburban.
As a result of Texas’ enormous growth, the state was allotted 4 additional seats in the United States House of Representatives, increasing our overall representation in the House to 36 members.
Yet when creating new Congressional Districts, the communities holding the population gains were last in line to be ensured representation. Two ways Texas Republicans used to achieve this dilution? Cracking and Packing.
With Cracking, you dilute an area’s voting power by slicing up its Congressional Representation. Urban residents in Austin certainly share some common concerns in Austin, but they are cracked between 5 different members of Congress.
Gerrymandering 101: Cracking
With Packing, you take certain groups and shove them all together in the same district them together in a way which undermines to their voting power. District 35 is a great example of this, where the minority communities of Austin and San Antonio are cracked, then knit together in something of an awkward dumbbell.
Gerrymandering 101: Packing
Cracking and packing often work in tandem. As an example, both Austin and San Antonio have sizable Latino populations. But if they’re in different cities, what would they have to do with each other? Under Texas’ redistricting scheme one chunk of the Latino population from San Antonio is packed in with minorities in East Austin, while other district residents are connected by a small sliver along Interstate 35.
It through techniques like Cracking and Packing that Texas Republicans were able to do what is called Gerrymandering… they drew districts which are manipulated to enhance the strength of rural and suburban (mostly) white voters, while undermining the rapidly growing (mostly) minority vote.
In the present political era, it’s tough to tell how such rulings would be enforced by Attorney General Sessions. But whatever accountability may be lacking in the Federal Government, we can take notice and make legislators pay the consequences in 2018 and 2020.
Sure, it’s a popular mantra among Democrats since his failed run for President, but for everyday Texans on both sides of the political spectrum “You Cruz You Lose” is suddenly sounding with a much deeper resonance.
As Katherine Blunt of the Houston Chronicle reports, Ted Cruz may be well known in Washington, but in his home state of Texas, the distinguished Senator is essentially M.I.A…
Ted Cruz is still missing.
The U.S. senator from Texas didn’t appear at a town hall meeting Saturday, much to the dismay of several organizations that have for months tried to corner him during his trips to Houston. Hundreds of constituents appeared in the hope of peppering him with questions before he returns to Washington, D.C., but they were forced instead to address a panel of speakers assembled in his absence.
Cruz isn’t really missing, of course. His spokesman noted that the senator took questions from 200 employees at a NASA subcontractor in Stafford last week.
But he has for months declined requests from left-leaning groups including Indivisible Houston, Pantsuit Republic Houston and others to attend town hall meetings with local voters concerned about education, health care, immigration and other issues that became particularly contentious when President Donald Trump took office. With Congress in recess until Friday, the groups raised $5,000 to host the event in a Texas Southern University auditorium regardless of whether Cruz showed up.
“We are legitimately concerned about things happening in Texas,” said Lauren Summerville, an organizer with Pantsuit Republic. “The people have a lot of questions.”
If you’re struggling to keep track, this now marks the Second Congressional Recess in a row that Senator Cruz has REFUSED to hold an official public Town Hall. This being the case while several of Cruz’s colleagues are doing their civic duty as elected officials, even if it isn’t always easy.
So what could be the reason that the Texas Senator can’t seem to muster the courage to meet his own constituents face to face?? I suppose Texans could understand if the expense of having to fly back and forth from Washington placed an undue burden on Cruz’s paltry salary of$174,000per year (multiply that by 6 years in office, and you’ve hit over $1 million that Cruz has been compensated by the very Taxpayers he seems to ignore), but luckily for Senators, flights to and from the Capitol are are covered by… well, us.
Granted, this has been Cruz’s first term in office. Hosting Constituent questions in a Town Hall can be of great challenge to even the most experienced elected official. I guess that could be an excuse, if not for all of those Town Halls, Teleconference Sessions, Open Forum Debates that Cruz seemed to master during his 2015-2016 Presidential Campaign. From the looks of it, Senator Cruz seems to have spent more time listening to the concerns of Iowa and New Hampshire residents than those who sent him to Congress in the first place. Not a good statistic for a politician rapidly approaching reelection.
And in case you’re wondering… at least one opponent for Ted Cruz’s seat is having no problem facing the public. Just last week, Congressman Beto O’Rourke held another Town Hall in El Paso, facing tough questions from his constituents concerned his bid to challenge Cruz would detract from important work for the people of his district. O’Rourke is now 4 for 4 on his promise to host monthly Town Halls, even after the launch of an ambitious Senate campaign.
Sounds like the current Senator could take a couple of cues from his rival. In any event, he better do something. Like the warming temperatures, this campaign won’t stay cool much longer. Let’s hope Texas finds its Senator soon.
But like the rest of the nation, many Texan eyes will be trying to read some political tea leaves after tonight’s Special Election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. As the first such contest since Donald Trump took power, many Progressives have pinned their hopes on Jon Ossoff, the top Democrat in the race. As Richard Fausset of the New York Times reports, this race is rife with implications for the nation’s thoughts on Trump and the overwhelmingly Republican, grossly under-performing Congress…
Voters in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District will have 18 candidates to choose from Tuesday when they decide who should fill the seat vacated by former Representative Tom Price, a Republican who was tapped to become President Trump’s health and human services secretary.
But none have earned more press, or raised more money, than Jon Ossoff, 30, a Democrat and documentary filmmaker who bills his campaign as a way to “Make Trump Furious.” Now, in one of the first political tests of the Trump presidency, the question is whether he can turn anti-Trump anger and energy into enough votes to send him to Congress from a wealthy suburban district that has not sent a Democrat to Washington in decades.
The Times also provides an excellent 2017 Elections timeline, so you can keep up with some other key races in the coming months. For an off-year cycle, there is plenty to watch.
We’ll hear plenty from tonight’s results, but ultimately that’s only one part of a much deeper story. The most important events from this special election actually happened during the campaign. As one of a precious few Millennials seeking federal office, Mr. Ossoff has had to endure the ire copious attack ads from Republican groups wishing to tarnish his credentials. No surprise there.
But as Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, the attacks they may have broad implications for virtually all aspiring Millennial leaders…
A Republican super PAC has unleashed a $1.1 million ad barrage against Jon Ossoff, a Democratic newcomer who is attracting national attention and a torrent of fundraising in his campaign to flip a conservative suburban Atlanta district.
[…]
The ad takes aim at Ossoff’s assertion that he worked for five years as a national security staffer who held top security clearances.
Ossoff and his campaign said he was granted those privileges working for Johnson after his 2006 election, while the super PAC depicts him as a college student “dressing up with his drinking buddies” for part of that time.
In a statement, Johnson called the ad “absurd.”
“Jon spent five years working on National Security issues for me, and he worked on such sensitive programs that he received a top secret security clearance from the Department of Defense,” said the DeKalb Democrat. “Washington political operatives are coming into Georgia to spread false personal attacks – it’s what the American people are sick and tired of.”
Instead of attacking Ossoff’s positions or his record directly, the PACs used old social media clips to paint him as an “irresponsible college student”, and make no mention of his career accomplishments since his 2009 graduation.
In essence, Mr. Ossoff is being punished in these ads because he is a Millennial. Take a look at the “attack ad” in question.
Anyone that is around and under the age of 35 is likely to have similar clips on social media from an earlier point in their life. A silly picture here, a politically incorrect comment there. It’s part of the young adult experience to capture the less serious moments of their lives. But if Ossoff’s race is any indication, these moments of past fun could wreak havoc for our nation’s next generation of leaders.
If by chance you’ve forgotten, folks like Ossoff are an anomaly. Forget even running for office… Millennials are still struggling to even go and vote, as waswell evidencedby the 2016 Presidential election. But if they don’t show up and vote for their peers, they are leaving electoral decisions to an older generation which may view ads like the one above as an actual problem.
A loss for Ossoff means a validation of this strategy where younger candidates are made to look like fools from Social Media posts, and left far more vulnerable to defeat than their likely older counterparts. In the years to come, who won or lost this race may be far less important than why behind.
So I’d like to hear your feedback in the comments. Should Millennial candidates like John Ossoff be punished for having a Social Media history? Let me know your thoughts.
UPDATE: A big congratlations to Mr. Ossoff, who was the top finisher in last night’a Congressional Primary. Though the Democrat fell just shy of the 50 percent of votes needed to avoid a run-off, he was still far and away the winner of the contest, earning a larger percentage of the vote than all of his Republican challengers COMBINED. It’s on to the final contest, where he will face where he will face former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel.
One can only hope that the conversation moves beyond the baseless attacks waged during the Primary Campaign. But in the era of Trump, don’t hold your breath.
