Here's the LA Times article, and here's the complete vote count. Two 40-something Democrats will face off in the second round on 6 June. The two top vote-getters combined—Jimmy Gomez and Robert Lee Ahn—did not receive 50% of the total votes cast in this light-turnout special election.
This morning I am kicking myself (gently) because I had not taken much interest in this race, having just assumed that maybe a handful of Democrats had lined up for it, only to find out in the afterglow that there were twenty. Yesterday I mentioned that CA-34 was a heavily Democratic district, but wow. Apart from the lone Green Party candidate Kenneth Mejia, the Republicans and Libertarians each put forth one candidate. There was one independent candidate, Mark Padilla, labeled NPP for No Party Preference. On 4/4, it's hard for Progressive types to escape the reminders of the anniversaries.
The Texas Progressive Alliance has a story it wants to tell you in this week's roundup, and it doesn't require a guarantee of immunity for that. In reference to the reference to this blog (toward the bottom), I did not subscribe to Cruz's weekly newsletter intentionally, but most likely because of a CREDO citizen letter. I stick with it for blogging purposes...and in case I decide to run again in 2018.
============== Off the Kuff looks at the Beto O'Rourke for Senate campaign and how it might be successful, and jobsanger also feels encouraged by O'Rourke's candidacy. SocraticGadfly looks at Texas Senate Democrats all voting FOR Dan Patrick's budget, and the ugh "fear the police" bill from Whitmire-West, and for those who want to #resist, suggests another voting option. A couple of somewhat dubious sources reported that Michael Flynn's offer to flip had Trump thinking about resigning the presidency. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has lots of corn ready to pop just in case. Neil at All People Have Value continues to attend weekly protests outside the Houston office of wrongdoing U.S. Senator from Texas John Cornyn. Never let up against Bannon/trump and all the wicked servants of Bannon/trump. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com. Before leaving on a month-long fishing trip, CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme points to the McAllen Monitor's op-ed accusing Texas legislators of using religion to discriminate. That's not what Jesus would have done. Lewisville ISD's handling of a sexual assault allegation by a student requires some improvement, editorializes the Lewisville Texan Journal. Alex Kotch at Rewire reports on the political action committees of three law firms, one trade association, and eight other companies that signed the letter against SB 6 (the bathroom bill) that have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the campaigns of Republican state senators who sponsored the bill. And Texas Vox highlights Rep. Rafael Anchia's resolution committing the state to lead the way in ratifying an amendment to the US Constitution that overturns Citizens United. ============== More news of interest from across Texas, focusing on the legislative session ... Texas Freedom Network takes note of SB522, which allows county clerks to exercise religious discrimination against virtually anyone. Better Texas Blog reviews where we are in the state budget process, and Raise Your Hand Texas tells the truth about vouchers and school district costs. Conservative state legislator Jason Villalba lines up with Equality Texas -- and not Dan Patrick -- on the bathroom bill, and Scott Braddock reminds us that where there is bigotry and hatred in Texas politics, there's Steve Hotze. The Texas Election Law Blog answers your questions about the redistricting ruling, and Michael Li examines how CD35 could be changed by it. Grits for Breakfast wonders if the Trump administration's pivot on the opioid crisis might spur Greg Abbott to change his position on 'Good Samaritan' legislation in the Lege, which he vetoed in 2015. Maggie Gordon documents the efforts of Ted Cruz's constituents to find him doing his job, and DBC Green Blog reads some of Cruz's weekly email blasts and wonders why he subscribed to them in the first place. Therese Odell has a Monday morning wrap-up of the Trumpcare debacle, and Paradise in Hell takes a guess at how low Dear Leader Trump's approval rating can go. And Zachery Taylor has the Walmart crime report from March. What was I thinking when I decided to keep receiving Senator Ted Cruz's weekly email blasts? I had hoped to blog about his activities, or at least the ones he feels comfortable about reporting to his human constituents. However, I find it hard enough to read the damn things without clenching from head to toe. On the plus side, Cruz and his staff have the discipline to limit their communiqués to one per week. In yesterday's message, after praising #45's executive orders to effectively un-regulate the energy industry and the Judiciary Committee's vote to move Judge Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court nomination to the next level, the Tedster goes into his usual spiel about meeting with active or reserve military folks and the industrial lobbies who fill his campaign coffers. Throughout the week, I also had the pleasure of visiting with members of the Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, American Loggers Council, Texas Restaurant Association, and Texas AIPAC where I discussed my priorities for the 115th Congress. I remain excited and optimistic about the opportunities before us to repeal Obamacare, implement fundamental tax reform and regulatory reform, and confirm Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. (emphasis mine) It would be too easy to conclude from paragraphs like that, and the rest of the message, that Cruz does not give a tinker's damn about flesh-and-blood, air breathing people, rather than corporate or "pre-born" persons. It would be too easy to forget that he is not unique in that regard; plenty of other Congresscritters have similar sympathies or lack thereof. What continuously amazes and appalls me about Cruz and his ilk is the unmitigated glee with which he attacks federal regulations on everything. Apparently, homeboy truly believes that, absent these regulations designed to prevent needless death, maiming, chronic illness, and environmental devastations, corporations will behave altruistically, giving everybody a good-paying job and a pony.
As you read this press release about the latest fusillade of executive orders, you could nod along and say, "Oh yeah, that makes sense. We need jobs in this country, and regulation of greenhouse gas emissions is a job-killer." Or you could remember that the world's climate scientists have warned repeatedly for decades that not only is such regulation necessary for the survival of the world as we know it, but by this time we need to move toward limiting fossil fuel production and consumption to zero. It's not just Al Gore and those gol-durn lib'ruls at 350.org who say so. You might also remember that both parties have held open the exit gates for American manufacturing jobs for the past 40-plus years, and that "job-creators" have fought every effort to require living wages and adequate benefits for health and education. Sorry for not providing an April Foolish blog entry today. Far too many of my compatriots have been most dreadfully and chronically fooled already. |
Blogging Sporadically since 2014Here you will find political campaign-related entries, as well as some about my literature, Houston underground arts, peace & justice, urban cycling, soccer, alt-religion, and other topics. Categories
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