Post Election Thoughts
Well, I for one was not happy with the outcome of the Houston election, but that’s the way it goes. What is more insulting is an article stating that because there are more Spanish-surnamed members on Council that somehow there is more Latino representation. Hardly.
One of those elected (Julian Ramirez) has right-wing leanings and supporters, though, he doesn’t necessarily run away from his background. Still any poll of Latino voters will find us to be in favor of health care access, equal opportunity, public education, civil rights, voting rights, etc. Is Ramirez one of those voters?
I find it disappointing that local groups think an extra brown-skinned person makes it better for us just on optics alone, especially when some of these groups fight for civil rights. Houston had an opportunity to elect Richard Cantu, someone who has represented all of Harris County, and dropped the ball by failing to vote in larger numbers. Thankfully, voters defeated Orlando Sanchez, despite a push from some of the same local Latino groups who favor optics over good policy.
That said, it does seem that City Council took more of a right turn adding a right-winger to the horseshoe, and with a “conservative independent” or whatever he told republinuts he was, it would seem that any hot-button issue would have the incoming Mayor as the deciding vote. There are some issues, such as bringing Abbott’s DPS to “attack crime” in the city without any local oversight, of which Dems should be worried. I’m sure having a right-wing, anti-LGBTQ+ preacher makes other nervous, too, since he could easily add things to Council’s agenda with the help of a right-wing colleague, now. Just something to think about. While others feel it, the warm and fuzzies are far from being felt by this bloguero.
Thoughts on the 2024 Dem Primary
Kudos to those precinct chairs who called out Kim Ogg for being a bad Democrat and a bad DA. She has abused her office by going after good Democrats for her own political again, while failing to prosecute and indict bad killer cops. Her endorsement of a right-winger for city council didn’t help Richard Cantu, either. We need change in that office, and this was a good first step. I look forward to the next steps, which include her electoral defeat.
What is worrisome is that there are a few incumbent civil and family district judges who are being challenged. Are their opponents funded by sore loser lawyers in those courts? Or are they just playing that old game to achieve demographic-based victory? I’m not saying no one should run against incumbents. We do have a democracy, right? But there are plenty of judges who could have been challenged. Why these judges? I hope there is an actual discussion because I’m not convinced Dems should get rid of these incumbent judges just because they can. Silly me, I’m just one of those voters who don’t vote for Latinos just because they’re Latinos.
We’ll have a busy race for Tax Assessor-Collector with some familiar names–some former office holders, others former candidates. Some had plans to run prior to the retirement announcement of Ann Bennett, which means they wanted to challenge her? Well, that doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzies since Ann is a friend of the DC family. So, I’m listening to all in the running.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez will have some challengers, but I’m pretty sure he can overcome them handily. Still, the GOPers are set to go after him and I hope he knocks them out in November.
I’m still smarting from being gerrymandered into SD15 when I was being represented perfectly fine by SD13. Well, with the current State Senator switching offices on Jan. 1, there will be a busy primary that includes some familiar names, including the previous challenger, Molly Cook. Molly has been working all along and did great in the 2022 primary, as well as helping lead on fighting the I-45 expansion and the recent Prop B campaign. We’ll just have to see what the others offer.
More on the Primary later. Especially the US Senate race!
The COVID Report
Apparently, there was a slight drop in the viral load of the wastewater to 161%. That’s not much of a drop and it does not include the first week of holiday parties of which I have seen plenty of close-quarter selfies. Either way, there are a lot of sick people around.
But COVID isn’t the only disease going around. The Flu, RSV, pneumonia, and other airborne diseases are going around. You know a good way to stop it is WEARING A PINCHE MASK! That’s right, the masks that kept infections down during the pandemic (they sure have kept me unCOVIDed) can help avoid other respiratory diseases.
Healing Thoughts for Joshua Ray Walker
Over the last year, I’ve become a fan of singer/songwriter Joshua Ray Walker. Over the last year, he’s toured the world, he performed at the Grand Ol’ Opry, on CBS This Morning and Jimmy Fallon, and has achieved critical acclaim. He’s not your typical performer, but he is quite the guitarist and musician, offering up good and sometimes pain-driven tunes about everyday problems we all face and then some. He released this new tune this week, Thank You For Listening, dedicated to his fans for supporting him. The tune has a different meaning as he faces a colon cancer diagnosis which will keep him off the road for the next few months. Thanks to Joshua Ray Walker for the music and get well soon!