Bio:
Ben Sherman is a junior at the University of Texas. Last year, Sherman was the Communications Coordinator for the Bill White gubernatorial campaign. From New York originally, Ben is excited to part of a dynamic Texas political scene.
On November 16th of last year, University of Texas College Republicans President Lauren Pierce tweeted about how President Obama deserves to be killed: "Y'all as tempting as it may be, don't shoot Obama. We need him to go down in history as the WORST president we've EVER had! #2012."
In doing so, she destroyed her own reputation, deeply injured that of the College Republicans, and shamed the university on the national stage. Now, we learn that there's a big cherry on top of Pierce's revolting cake: she was lying about being a UT student while she was president.
The Daily Texan reports that Pierce was not enrolled at UT last semester, and actively lied about her enrollment status to other students. Cesar Villarreal, the organization's former public relations director, told the newspaper that Pierce would discuss the classes she was in, the professors she had and what was going on in her life academically. The College Republicans discovered that Pierce was lying about her academic status when she was barred from registering the group for an event space on campus. Pierce has since had to leave the group.
Cassie Wright, Pierce's successor as president, gave an awful analysis of the implications of this discovery for Pierce's tweet: "It goes to show how much pressure she was under as a person," Wright said. So, Pierce was under pressure because she was lying to everyone about her academic status and as a result we should forgive her public racism? Nice try, Cassie. Actually, awful try. Pierce's decision to lie on a massive scale does not make her violent rhetoric against the president any less abhorrent, or lessen its impact. The public humiliation brought upon the College Republicans by Pierce is irrevocable, and was soon deepened by Wright's own vile excretion: "My president is black. He smokes a lot of crack. Holla. #2012 #Obama".
Sadly, it's no surprise at all that Pierce is a liar - or that Wright would continue to defend her predecessor months after the incident. The Republican Party is composed of bald-faced liars, from their nominee to their leaders on one of America's largest college campuses. Aside from lies, violent rhetoric is matched only by racist rhetoric as cornerstones of the GOP's anti-Obama playbook. The College Republicans cover the whole spectrum.
This article is part of a series of profiles on contested Democratic primaries around Austin and across the state of Texas. These articles do not constitute an endorsement. They are for informational purposes.
One of the more hotly contested local races in Travis County this year is for Precinct 3 Constable. Incumbent Richard McCain has represented the district -- located in western Travis County -- since 2005, when he defeated an incumbent Republican. McCain is facing a primary challenge from Sally Hernandez, chief investigator in the county District Attorney's office. A constable is a peace officer whose role is to serve civil process papers like subpoenas and warrants as well as to direct crime-fighting forces within their precinct.
Let's meet the candidates:
Sally Hernandez is a graduate of St. Edwards University who started her career in 1981 working at the Llano Sheriff's office. In 1988, she began working for the Precinct 3 Constable's Office for Constable Kevin Miskell. In 1992, Hernandez served as Sergeant Investigator in the Travis County District Attorney's office. In 2005, Hernandez became Chief of Investigations -- her current position -- under Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.
Hernandez has been endorsed by the vast majority of Democratic clubs, including the Austin Progressive Coalition, Capital Area Progressive Democrats, University Democrats, and the Austin Tejano Democrats. Hernandez says there's a broad base of support for a new constable in Precinct 3 from voters dissatisfied with McCain's "inability to work with others." Hernandez argues that this hurts citizens of Precinct 3 by hampering the effective communication of their community's law enforcement with surrounding communities. Hernandez describes herself as a cooperative, community-minded public servant who can bring a new focus to Precinct 3. "I have mentored a number of women who have gotten out of prison and have successfully transitioned back into our community," Hernandez told BOR. She is also committed to helping more women find careers in law enforcement, claiming that McCain only hires women during elections. Hernandez is very pleased with her level of support thus far in the campaign. "I've been overwhelmed by the number of people who have become part of the campaign. It's very humbling to have people devote their time and resources," she said.
"Constable is a service position," Constable Richard McCain told BOR. "It's about serving the community with law enforcement that needs to be fair and unbiased to keep the corruption out." McCain touts a record of increasing patrols for neighborhoods, fingerprinting more than twenty thousand children in Travis County for the Missing and Exploited Children Identification Program, and decreasing civil process response times.
McCain has been constable since 2005, and has a total of 16 years in law enforcement. He describes himself as an able community-focused public servant who isn't distracted by local politics. He argues that Hernandez has swept the local Democratic club endorsements because "the same fifty people belong to all the clubs; it's the façade of politics, not the real thing." He also rejects Hernandez's implication that he only hires women at election times. "Sally Hernandez is the only one who has made that claim...Half of my staff is women." He also explained that he couldn't possibly hire women only during elections because of the high cost of background checks, and points out that he is a single parent of a daughter to whom he has dedicated his life.
McCain's core argument is that he has been the humble constable Travis County needs, and they can see that in his results. Hernandez argues that there is an unmistakable dissatisfaction with McCain's ability to cooperate with other county law enforcement agencies, and Precinct 3 needs a change in constable leadership. This is an intense race, and it's ultimately the voter's judgment call into whose corner they fall.
This article is part of a series of profiles on contested Democratic primaries around Austin and across the state of Texas. These articles do not constitute an endorsement. They are for informational purposes.
As we approach the May 29 elections (less than three weeks away!), Travis County Democrats have a duty to evaluate the local races that affect their lives, whether the candidates are vying for the U.S. Congress or a constable's office. There are several Democratic constable primaries, with often stark differences between our options.
A constable is a peace officer whose role is to serve civil process papers like subpoenas and warrants as well as to direct crime-fighting forces within their precinct. Voters who live in northwestern Travis County neighborhoods like Jonestown have been under Precinct 2 Constable Adan Ballesteros' leadership since 2009. Ballesteros faces two Democratic challengers, Paul Labuda and Michael Cargill, who want to bring change to the office.
Adan Ballesteros has served as constable for three years and has been with the constable's office for 14 years. He boasts 32 total years of law enforcement experience and has been awarded Constable of the Year by the Central Texas Justice of the Peace and Constables Association. Ballesteros told BOR that since being elected, his office has exceeded expectations of revenue from civil process papers by 7%. "I attribute that success to our deputies and their work ethic that I impose. We do a great job in the civil process," Ballesteros told BOR. If re-elected, Ballesteros says he will keep his focus on "making the office more effective and efficient." Ballesteros also believes that the office needs to develop a focus on the youth in the community to ensure they have necessary support. He founded the Constable's Outreach Program in which he goes out into the community and teaches at-risk youth about their opportunities and challenges, and the means for improving their circumstances.
Michael Cargill is challenging the incumbent despite his own lack of law enforcement experience. His campaign seems to center on his CHL training business and general opposition to gun control. He operates a concealed handgun license training facility in South Austin where he teaches area residents about gun safety and self-protection. Cargill boasts that he's taught "a majority of attorneys and prosecutors for the last 5 years the Texas penal code on the concealed handgun." If elected, Cargill promises to continue running safety courses in his capacity as constable and pledges to give free pepper spray (paid for by Cargill himself) to all women who attend.
Cargill's undying dedication to guns is not be underestimated. He has publicly advocated for Ron Paul's gun positions, including (1) forcing the FAA to allow commercial airline pilots to carry guns, (2) repealing the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, and (3) repealing the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (which instituted federal background checks). Cargill has also publicly stated that he voted for extremist Republican Debra Medina in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary. Cargill is heavily involved in Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, and his campaign manager/treasurer is the head of that group. Cargill talks about his business incessantly, blurring the line between his role as a candidate and a businessman promoting his CHL training course business.
The candidate has accused Constable Ballesteros of getting fired from the Department of Public Safety fifteen years ago for allegedly "allowing over 200kg of cocaine to enter the U.S." Ballesteros counters that he was never formally charged, and that, though he was fired by DPS, the Texas Workforce Commission later found no evidence that he committed any of these crimes. The race heated up when Ballesteros sued Cargill for defamation in an attempt to get him to stop making these cocaine allegations. The Statesman reports that "[a]ccording to the lawsuit, Cargill and his associates have attended Ballesteros' speaking engagements and placed placards calling him 'the cocaine constable' on people's cars, and have posted Tweets saying Ballesteros has allowed the importation of drugs into the country."
Paul Labuda is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and currently a police officer in Florence, Texas, who ran for the office in 2008. "I intend to use my qualifications as a certified crime prevention specialist to increase the safety of the residents of northern Travis County," Labuda told BOR. He argues that there has been "too much of a focus placed on law enforcement functions and not enough on crime prevention" in the last few years. Labuda says aside from serving civil process papers and warrants for the courts, he would not conduct investigations into specific civil process cases that he says are a waste of the constable's time. "I will focus instead on improving lives through crime prevention and community policing," he said. "I would like to get grants to resume truancy enforcement," Labuda said of his plans to make sure more kids stay enrolled in school. Truancy money has been taken away from the constable's office in recent years. In Florence, Labuda goes out and talks to youth about the dangers of alcohol abuse. Labuda is also a very active Democrat here in Austin: he has also been the president of the North by Northwest Democrats since 2010 and is deeply engaged with local activists.
If Precinct 2 voters are happy with the direction of their local civil law enforcement, they have an incumbent intent of continuing to serve. If they are dissatisfied with Ballesteros or concerned about the criminal allegations that continue to dog him on the campaign trail, they have to weigh Cargill's gun-centric approach and background against LaBuda's community-based vision for the office as well as his background.
Last night in Houston, all six major candidates came together on stage to face off. The format was less of a debate than a big interview of all of the candidates.
When Cruz was asked about the Dewhurst campaign's radio ad claiming that he stood up for Chinese copyright infringers, he came out strong: "The reason that he's lying," he said, "is because conservatives all over this state are uniting behind our campaign."
Calling another candidate a liar is no small act. With his gain in the most recent poll at his back, Cruz isn't (and shouldn't be) handling Dewhurst with kid gloves. With nutjobs like Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn now in his corner, Cruz's confidence is clearly increasing.
Dewhurst didn't respond to Cruz's charge, instead touting the "Texas model" for the rest of the nation. This week, the Texas Tribune published an extensive piece on Dewhurst's legacy and its core question - is he a skilled politician or a pushover? Democrats point out that whenever extremists want to push Dewhurst around in the Senate, he's caved. Dewhurst's advocates say he has a more subtle approach that has its success reflected in the dozens of influentially insane bills passed under Dewhurst.
Leppert and James gave their usual corporatist boilerplate. James made one particularly dumb, sellout suggestion: make the corporate tax rate 0 percent so we have manufacturers "running back to the country, setting up shop" and, of course, the U.S. goes bankrupt and slides into the third world. But in James' world, a few people would profit off of that, and that's just dandy.
Democrat Sean Hubbard emphasized his regular-guy-ness. "I am the only candidate in this race that understands how legislation and cuts affect average people, because I am the only one who is an average person," he said. Hubbard also talked about being older than Joe Biden when he first ran for Senate, in response to a question about his age. Sadler focused on education, criticizing the drastic underfunding of education under Republican leadership: "You have to be concerned with what's happening with funding in education in Texas, unless you've just been asleep," he said. "For the first time in the known history of our state, we're not covering enrollment growth."
The four Republican candidates do what children do: cover their ears and make nonsense noises. The Democrats are the only ones who take Texas seriously; not just as a profit machine for the 1% but as a place that deserves respect, planning, and honest representation. This contrast could not be more clear. If that clarity is reflected at the voting booth, it'll be a joyous day for our state.
Ed.: This article has been amended to include a quote from Sean Hubbard.
Tonight, there's a pretty excellent event going on in Houston. Democratic candidates Sean Hubbard and Paul Sadler will face off against the Republican candidates in a "Conversations with the Candidates" event hosted by the University of Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership, and Houston Public Media.
Here's hoping Hubbard and Sadler show their claimed gumption and take these corporatist Republicans on directly. We can assume that the candidates will be mostly focused on drawing contrasts with their primary opponents, but there should be some notable cross-party arguing as well.
Here's Sadler's email to supporters about the debate:
The campaign has swung into full gear this week with stops in Lubbock, Dallas and now Houston. Thanks to your support, the campaign is distributing yard signs and handouts across the state.
Our campaign to return honesty, integrity and a powerful Democratic voice to Washington, D.C. has already been endorsed by dozens of respected Democratic leaders across our state, and now we've received another major endorsement!
That's right, the Dallas Morning News editorial board endorsed our campaign this week. Paul is honored that they said it's time for Democrats to suport a candidate who is "smart, experienced and independent." With endorsements like this - and with your support - we'll take Paul's record of strong Democratic values and real accomplishments for our state to the U.S. Capitol.
But that's not the only exciting development in our campaign. Tonight - for the very first time - you can watch Paul take on David Dewhurst, Ted Cruz, Tom Leppert and Craig James, all at once. Paul's ready to tell these failed Republicans the truth about the harm they've done to our state, and why they're pitiful records are wrong for the United States Senate.
You can watch the debate starting at 7 PM central time tonight. You can visit www.texastribune.org and watch a live video. We hope you will tune in and watch for yourself.
Sincerely,
Team Sadler
A statement about the debate from the Hubbard campaign could not be found as of posting time.
This article is part of a series of profiles on contested Democratic primaries around Austin and across the state of Texas. These articles do not constitute an endorsement. They are for informational purposes.
Voters who live in southern Travis County neighborhoods like Mustang Ridge, Creedmoor and Garfield have been under Precinct 4 Constable Maria Canchola's leadership since 2001. A constable is a peace officer whose role is to serve civil process papers like subpoenas and warrants as well as to direct crime-fighting forces within their precinct.
Maria Canchola has served as Constable in Precinct 4 since 2001. Canchola points to her approach as her main asset and the source of her success. "I'm not heavy-handed with the public," Canchola told BOR in an interview. "My office treats everyone with respect." She presents her office as economically efficient, pointing to reaching 112% of their expected revenue from civil process papers last year, and being at 119% of expected revenue three months into this year. Canchola says that in addition to crime-fighting and executing warrants, it is the unique role of the constable to be an educational force in the precinct. Once a week, Canchola tutors immigrant parents at Travis High School, answering questions about civil courts, tickets, going to jail. "I try to teach them the American way," Canchola said.
Canchola's challenger is Ernest Pedraza, an army veteran and a police officer who has served in the Austin Police Department since 1985. Pedraza also served as vice president of the Austin Police Association as well as on two public safety task forces for the city. Pedraza told BOR that he's been planning to run for constable since 2009, claiming that Canchola told him she wasn't planning to run again. Even though he says he doesn't consider himself to be "running against" Canchola, he says the office needs a change of leadership. "There have been over twenty-seven employees in and out of that office in eleven years - three chief deputies in past three years - and this high turnover rate has concerned many people," Pedraza states.
Aside from more consistency, Pedraza says he plans to bring more policing to the precinct, arguing that too many warrants have been sent to other precincts for execution during Canchola's tenure. He conveys himself as a law enforcer who will bring that emphasis and experience to the office while engaging the community by building working relationships with local neighborhood associations and reaching out to youth. Canchola also believes the role of the constable is nuanced: "I believe that law enforcement should be 50% social work and 50% crime-fighting," she told BOR. Pedraza sees Canchola's tenure as ultimately ineffective constable leadership, and pledges to bring new energy to the office if elected.
It's up to the voters to decide whether it's time to turn over the constable's office or whether they like its current direction. To do that, they will need to weigh Pedraza's background against Canchola's record, since their philosophies both emphasize a combination of policing and community engagement.
Ed.: After Ernest Pedraza clarified his position, the final paragraph of this post has been changed.
This article is part of a series of profiles on contested Democratic primaries around Austin and across the state of Texas. These articles do not constitute an endorsement. They are for informational purposes.
There's a seriously contested primary in Eastern Travis County to represent Precinct 1 on the commissioner's court. Before we introduce the candidates, it's worth explaining what a county commissioner does. The county court primarily deals with roads, jails, and courts, and handles land-use decisions for unincorporated areas of a county. Additionally, they allocate the entire county budget, and are thus responsible for overseeing the entire county government. Incumbent Commissioner Ron Davis is up for re-election, and is facing a challenge from three Democratic candidates: Richard Franklin, Arthur Sampson, and Victor Gonzales.
Ron Davis was first elected to the commissioner's court in 1998, and says he's running again to keep moving the office forward. Davis pinpoints sustainable economic development, strengthening, streamlining transportation infrastructure, and water resources in the precinct as some of his most important projects that he wants to keep working on. He boasts that he enabled the precinct's first public swimming pool and successfully fought to bring 42% of the recent 2011 Travis County bond package to the precinct. He also paints himself as a fighter for the county, pointing out that he was the first elected official in 2003 to speak in front of the Legislature against redistricting. "You really need to know about county government is all about" to be an effective county commissioner, Davis says. In an interview with BOR, he pointed out that county government has limited power: it can't tell cities what to do, and can only enforce county laws and ordinances, and exercise powers specifically enumerated by state government. Davis says his know-how enables him to be the most practical and effective choice for his precinct's voters.
Richard Franklin, already an elected official on the del Valle ISD school board, is running to give new energy to the role of county commissioner. Franklin has spent the past several years running the Youth Unlimited group in Austin, a Christian youth organization that promotes civic engagement in teens and young people. Franklin is running because wants he more engaged representation for the eastern Travis County community. "I don't believe we are paying strong attention to the problems that that are facing eastern Travis County," Franklin told BOR before naming off issues like the juvenile justice system, land use development, and water issues. Franklin says Davis "doesn't have the energy to do the job again," and that he wants to be the "buffer" that Precinct 1 needs between, for example, harmful corporate interests and land use deals. Franklin claims that he personally block-walks for two hours each day in Precinct 1, and on the weekends he touts twenty-five blockwalkers who spread his message door-to-door. Franklin's face can be seen on his hundreds of signs throughout the precinct, which he credits with helping to make him a recognizable figure.
Arthur Sampson has an extensive history of working for Austin government. After serving in the Air Force and Texas Army National Guard, Sampson has spent thirty years in various roles in city and state government. A former Texas Peace Officer, Sampson has also served as a City of Austin Project Coordinator, Inspector, Reviewer and Estimator. If elected, Sampson pledges to eliminate wasteful spending, develop a maintenance program to upkeep the precinct's roads, improve law enforcement coordination, and balance environmental concerns with growth. Sampson turned down a phone interview for this article.
Victor Gonzales is a native of Pflugerville who boasts 39 years of experience in both the private and public sector. A graduate of the University of Texas, Gonzales has held many positions in local government. He is the current Mayor Pro Tem of Pflugerville, and has served on the Pflugerville City Council for six years. On his website, he states that his work to spur development along Highway 130 prepares him to further serve Precinct 1. The Gonzales campaign did not respond to a request for an interview, and does not list any of Gonzales' positions on his website.
The question for voters in Precinct 1 is whether they're satisfied with the incumbent, or think one of the challengers will do a better job. Davis has a strong knowledge of the intricacies of county government. His three challengers each pledge to have the right experience and momentum to carry the precinct forward. Can they do better? Is Davis's time done? It's up to the voters to decide.
Public Policy Polling came out with a new poll yesterday that suggests the Republican primary may be far from over. Dewhurst is at 38% to 26% for Ted Cruz, 8% for Tom Leppert, and 7% for Craig James. If no candidate receives more than 50%, the top two candidates will go into a runoff.
Two PPP polls ago, Cruz was at 12%. And here's another bit of good news for the "Cruz Crew": among voters familiar with Cruz, he leads Dewhurst 39-34. PPP concludes, "Dewhurst's superior name recognition is the main reason he continues to hold a lead of any size over Cruz." Cruz's favorability has increased from 15/14 to 31/17. Dewhurst's favorability is 47/22, Leppert's is 20/15, and James is least liked among GOP voters at 14/21.
This is not entirely surprising. Cruz is the anti-incumbent despite the fact that he and Dewhurst would be identically awful senators. Republicans have been feeling anti-incumbent since late 2008. It's what created the Tea Party wave in 2010 and continues to be a factor in the 2012 election; even Tea Party freshmen are facing Tea Party challengers.
If Cruz can force a runoff, Dewhurst has good reason to be very afraid. High attention on a runoff would only increase Cruz's chances at victory. And here's another thought: if Dewhurst falls, who can claim that Texas Republicans want more Perry?
TL;DR: In the midst of Voter ID court proceedings, criminally clumsy Attorney General Greg Abbott released voter registration data that contained full social security numbers of over 13 million Texans. Lawyers working against the Voter ID bill saved millions of Texans' identities by bringing the release to the attention of the state.
The Lone Star Project broke the news this afternoon:
Abbott Exposes Millions of Texans' Social Security Numbers
AG releases file containing over 13 million Texas SS numbers.
Misuse avoided only by vigilance of opposing counsel.
A legal brief filed by opponents of the Texas Voter Photo ID law reveals that Attorney General Greg Abbott exposed millions of Texas voters' full Social Security numbers to possible theft and abuse.
The brief, filed Monday, April 23, 2012 states:
"... after vigorously fighting the production of data containing full Social Security numbers, Texas mistakenly produced to Intervenors data from the VR [voter registration] data base that contained full Social Security numbers." (Defendant-Intervenors' Motion for Clarification of the Trial Schedule, 4/23/12, page seven.)
Texas voters escaped public release of their Social Security numbers only because of the vigilance of conscientious lawyers working against the Voter Photo ID bill. Rather than attach the files to documents circulated to other attorneys or expose them to access by the general public, opposing counsel immediately notified the AG's office of the bungled release of private data. Abbott then, at the expense of Texas taxpayers, sent a courier to both New York and Washington, DC to retrieve the files. As the brief details:
"Intervenors immediately notified the State and, at the State's request, Intervenors ceased all review of the VR data that had been provided, with the State sending a representative from Texas to collect the VR data disks personally." (Defendant-Intervenors' Motion for Clarification of the Trial Schedule, 4/23/12, page seven.)
Abbott's negligence constitutes one of the largest risks of public identity theft in recent memory. Last year, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs received bitter criticism for releasing the Social Security numbers of 3.5 million Texans. In this most recent case, had the files not been handled carefully and responsibly by legal counsel opposing Abbott, as many as 13 million Texas voters' Social Security numbers could have been exposed to potential illegal misuse and identity theft.
Background For years, Greg Abbott has taken the lead among Texas Republicans in efforts to use discriminatory legislation and State law enforcement to harassment minority voters and suppress voter participation by minority citizens. The Lone Star Project has detailed Abbott's past vote suppression, and the LSP reports can be viewed here, here, here, and here.
Currently a bitter legal battle is underway in Washington, DC over the controversial Voter Photo ID law passed by Texas Republican leaders last year. The US Department of Justice has determined that the Texas Voter Photo ID law intentionally discriminates against minority voters in violation of the US Voting Rights Act. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is attempting to by-pass DOJ by gaining approval of the law by a three-judge Federal Court in Washington, DC.
Who is Fighting Greg Abbott? Texas citizens led by State Representative Marc Veasey (HD95 - Fort Worth) have intervened in the case and have joined with the Department of Justice arguing that the Texas Voter Photo ID bill violates the US Voting Rights Act. They have joined with others to formally oppose Abbott's efforts to gain approval of the discriminatory law.
In the 2012-2013 school year, 461,533 Texas students are borrowing money to pay for higher education. President Obama is taking an aggressive stance in favor of college students by capping federal student loan payments at 10% of monthly income and saving taxpayers billions through cutting out bank subsidies from federal student loan programs. This means that bankers will no longer get a cut of federal student loans, which increases loan rates, for doing absolutely nothing. President Obama's stance would save Texas college students an average of $950 per year.
Mitt Romney, intent on protecting his banker donors, advocates keeping the expensive middleman bankers involved in federal loans. Romney's policies would add to Texas students' loan debt by slashing the Pell Grant program and supporting the Ryan Plan to let interest rates on federal Stafford loans double.
Mitt Romney doesn't give a damn about college students because he's a depraved corporatist who wants wants to gut American social mobility so his banker butt-buddies can make an extra buck. President Obama is taking action to help college students, and he's got the American people behind him. The choice for Texas students is clear.
