Alert the Prog Blog Squad, We're In for 2020

Greenings, y'all! Sorry it's been a while since I last had time just to sit & blog. There has been plenty to keep me busy lately, between health issues, computer issues, & occasional gigs. Amid all that, I am trying to get my candidate muscles working again, starting a campaign for US Senate from Texas in 2020. This is the seat that John Corny currently occupies.

Consider this a soft opening for the campaign. We'll have a louder opening soon, after dbcgreentx.org undergoes some refurbishment.

Please Understand the Following

1. I need to submit 5,000 petition signatures or $5,000 by 9 December, the deadline for candidate filing.
2. I don't have $5,000. Sometimes even $5 is hard to come up with.
3. I'm not good at asking people for money. If you are, I could use some help in that department. But I'd rather get on the ballot via petition.
4. Very important: Those who sign the petition will be ineligible to vote in the big-party primaries or be delegates to any other party's conventions. That's the law. They also may not sign petitions for any other Green candidates for Senate.
5. About 70% of registered voters in Texas typically don't vote in primaries anyway. The trick is finding them.
6. If a stronger Green candidate emerges between now and December, I will end my campaign & help that candidate instead. There's no reason to try collecting 10,000 or more valid signatures for the same office.
7. If Sema Hernández wins the Democratic nomination in March 2020, I do not plan to campaign against her, but will instead use my position as Green nominee to campaign for Instant Runoff Voting in Texas.

Regarding #7, I am positioning myself as a backup for Progressives in the event that Sema does not garner a nomination. Due to Texas's Primary Screenout law, which HB 2504 did not change, Sema's supporters who actually intend to vote for her in the March primary should not sign my petition. Signing any Green petition (or any other non-major party) would render them ineligible to vote in any other party's primary or conventions. I'm not gonna be the one to tell Sema's fans that she's not likely to win, and thus they should sign for me—not after her 25% showing in March 2018. The Sema-philes I know are pretty passionate about their candidate.

If You Collect Signatures, Know the Rules
I will soon post a PDF of the Petition in Lieu of Filing Fee for the general Texan public to download and print.. At the moment, I am having difficulty in migrating data between my old, tired MacBook and this snazzy refurbished one that I just purchased (on credit), primarily to make job hunting less stressful.

Essential facts about ballot access petitioning:

1. ​You must print petition sheets on legal-size paper only.
2. You must have all petition sheets notarized; do not sign them at the bottom without a Notary Public present to witness and stamp them.
3. The instructions for proper completion of petition sheets are included in the document, but it's helpful to know that signatories need not supply their VUID (Voter ID). Date of Birth is sufficient for determining the validity of a signature.
4. Signatories must be registered to vote in Texas, regardless of county or district, since this US Senator a statewide office.
5. Signatories must provide their complete registration street addresses. PO Boxes won't do. If they don't know their ZIP codes, you can look those up. With the exception of the Signature, all the other information must be legible for someone who does not reader doctors' or middle schoolers' handwriting for a living.
6. As noted above, the due date for filing is Monday 9 December. Please plan to have notarized petition sheets in my hands by Friday 6 December.