There wasn’t a lot of push back from the usual suspects yesterday after the Bill King press release on the latest endorsers to his campaign. I mean, what is there to slam.
Maybe the usual suspects were over the river and through the woods on their way grandmother’s house.
‘Stros skipper A.J. Hinch was runner-up for the AL Manager of the Year Award. The Baseball Writers of America first handed out the award in 1983. How many times has the NL Manager of the Year been awarded to a ‘Stros skipper?
Karla Cisneros’ opponent went negative yesterday in a mail piece. I guess he felt he didn’t have any other options.
Nowadays you have to have a subscription or pick up a hard copy to read the Chron E-Board takes. Today, the E-Board doesn’t think you can represent Fort Bend County in the Texas Legislature while living in Montgomery County. How do Fort Bend Dems feel about this? Here is the entire E-Board take:
Calling all candidates!
The last day to register to run in the 2016 elections is coming up fast – Monday, Dec. 14 – and an exciting opportunity has opened up in Missouri City. State Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Democrat who represents the region, was convicted of misdemeanor barratry. For those who aren’t lawyers, that means Reynolds illegally solicited clients as an attorney. A jury sentenced Reynolds to a year behind bars, though the state representative will likely appeal the case.
Fort Bend County is one of the fastest-growing, most diverse places in the entire nation, and it deserves representation by someone who can focus on fighting for his constituents instead of fighting allegations at the criminal courthouse. Yet even as he faces a year behind bars, Reynolds still hasn’t resigned from office.
The destiny of Texas’ representative government shouldn’t rest in the hands of a tarnished incumbent. Instead, it falls on citizens to step up and run against Reynolds in the party primary and general election.
In fact, those challengers have been a long time coming.
Reynolds has been dogged by allegations of ambulance chasing going back to 2012. And in 2011, he was taken to court by the state attorney general for failure to file campaign finance disclosures.
You would think that a candidate with such a messy record would have been easy pickings for a strong challenger. However, the Republican Party stumbled at that first step – find a strong challenger.
The general election for Reynolds’ seat last cycle had the odd distinction of featuring two candidates who faced trouble with the law – Reynolds for barratry and David Hamilton, a Republican, who was arrested in 2010 for disorderly conduct at a Kentucky abortion clinic.
Then again, it is easy to understand why Republicans wouldn’t expend effort trying to oust a legislator like Reynolds. State House District 27, which Reynolds represents, is a strong safe seat for any Democratic candidate. He won the 2014 race with 66 percent of the vote and won in 2012 with 69 percent.
Until Texas reforms the way we draw districts, the party primary will continue to be where the real election takes place.
Those primary results are even more depressing than the general election. Reynolds has faced no competitive party primaries since he was first elected in 2010.
Democrats could try to justify this sort of fealty to incumbency if Reynolds were an indispensable workhorse. But as Texas Monthly put it when they rated him one of the worst legislators of 2013, Reynolds was “destined for obscurity – until he began making the wrong kind of headlines.”
For example, going through the list of Reynolds’ bills that successfully became law last session, it looks like his only job was to create local management districts and issue empty commemorations. Did you know that April 20, 2015 was Missouri City Day at the State Capitol?
Political players often suffer from the delusion that incumbents are somehow uniquely qualified to perform their representative duty. But in a dynamic place like Fort Bend County, we have faith that there are smart and engaged Democrats and Republicans who are more than capable of meeting and even exceeding Reynolds’ performance in Austin – just as long as they aren’t busy fighting barratry charges.
What is the betting line on Fort Bend Dems giving Rep. Reynolds a free ride this time around?
Hal Lanier (1986) and Larry Dierker (1998) of course have won the NL Skipper of the Year Award.
The ‘Stros will host the Brewers for two at The Yard to end next season’s Spring Training schedule.
Hey, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends. I will try to check back on Friday.
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