In my 45 years of involvement in politics, Anna Eastman is truly one of the best elected officials I have ever worked with. Smart. Articulate. Ethical. Focused. Honest. Thoughtful. Hard working. I could go on and on and on.
It has been an honor to be Anna Eastman’s political consultant. And her friend.
We met in the late summer of 2009 when I signed on to consult on her campaign. She had a small band of friends and supporters who volunteered on her campaign and went door-to-door on her behalf, stood with her at the Early Voting locations, and handed out her push cards at the polls on Election Day. We took on the political establishment at the time and won.
She has been an outstanding school board member. On tough ethics measures, Anna has been the leading force. On anti-discrimination policies, she has been the champion. It has been all about the kids for Anna.
From Kuffer today:
Anna Eastman has served two terms as HISD Trustee in District I, which is where I live. She has been a leading advocate for having strong accountability measures in place for schools, she was a frequent critic of former Superintendent Terry Grier, and she was the most outspoken Trustee for passing the recapture referendum, both the one that failed in November and the one that passed on Saturday. Her term expires this year, and she has decided that she will not run for a third term. As I did with her predecessor Natasha Kamrani, Eastman wanted to do one last interview to talk about what has happened while she was in office, where things are now and where they are headed going forward. I was happy to oblige, so here’s what we talked about.
(Note: we were interrupted twice by the Eastman dogs barking. I paused the recorder till we could restore order, so if there are a couple of places where it sounds a little weird, that would be why.)
Kuffer interviews Anna today here: http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=80538.
Good luck, Anna!
Check this tweet:
Jake KaplanVerified account@jakemkaplan 11h11 hours ago
The Astros’ 24-11 record is their best through the first 35 games of a season in club history.
We won our 24th game on May 11? When did we win our 24th game last season?
Totally expected from NBC News last night:
The White House has abandoned the idea of President Trump visiting FBI headquarters after being told he would not be greeted warmly, administration officials told NBC News.
Commentary said this last week:
Commentary is not going to say anything about the FBI Director’s testimony yesterday. He cemented his legacy last October as the fella who injected the FBI into a presidential election. Sorry, pal! That’s how you will be remembered for like ever.
The FBI Director’s firing on Tuesday obviously adds to his legacy. So there you have it.
Donald Trump, his son-in-law and others aren’t happy with their press operation. Huh? It is tough to spin lie after lie after lie.
Hector de Leon and Commentary have an issue with this. See this tweet:
Texas Tribune Retweeted
Tim TaliaferroVerified account@timtaliaferro 2h2 hours ago
Despite high expectations for 2016, no surge in Texas Hispanic voter turnout https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/11/hispanic-turnout-2016-election/?utm_campaign=trib-social-buttons&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social … via @TexasTribune
Here is from the Trib piece:
There were high hopes that this would be the year.
Amid Donald Trump’s disparaging remarks about Hispanics and on-the-ground voter engagement efforts, election watchers prognosticated that 2016 could usher in a surge of Hispanic voters in Texas.
But now that the excitement around the 2016 election has quieted, the surge appears to have been more of a trickle.
Turnout among Texas Hispanics eligible to vote — citizens 18 and older — in 2016 slightly improved, increasing to 40.5 percent from 38.8 percent during the 2012 presidential election, according to U.S. Census data released Wednesday. The small increase is a discouraging sign for those who expected a spike in Hispanic turnout.
Instead, turnout among Hispanic Texans during presidential elections continued its slow, steady increase since 2008, mostly in line with population growth and possibly more Hispanic Texans turning of age to vote. But last year’s turnout is still lower than turnout in the 2004 presidential election.
Here is the entire article: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/11/hispanic-turnout-2016-election/?utm_campaign=trib-social-buttons&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social.
Here is what Hector says:
The Census report use as a basis for the Texas Tribune story about Hispanic voter turnout in the 2016 election is not accurate. It suggests that the Hispanic vote was only up by 48,000. A simple surname query using a Census list of Spanish surnames of over twelve-thousand surnames indicates that an estimated 250,011 Spanish-surnamed voters cast ballots in the 2016 election in Harris County. In the 2012 election, using the same list of surnames shows that an estimated 179,000 voted. That is an increase of 71,000 just in Harris County. Even when conducting the query with a more conservative list, the Census’ list titled the 639 Most Frequently Occurring Heavily Hispanic Surnames, it totals 210,040 Spanish-surnamed voters in 2016. That is compared to 149,528 using the same list in 2012 election. That is an increase of over 60,000 just in Harris County.
Regardless of the Spanish-surname list utilized, the queries suggest the Hispanic voter turnout was up about 40 percent in Harris County in 2016. There is no way the vote in this county would not be reflected statewide.
That Census report merits 4 Pinocchios for not true.
Regards -hdl.
I have to agree with Hector. There is no way we have that big of a win in Harris County for Dems unless there is a dramatic increase in Latino voter turnout. It happened.
Last season we won our 24th game on May 31 of course.
Instead of watching the debacle over at Toyota, I watched Jake Marisnick gun down Jacoby Ellsbury to end the game. As soon as Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez singled to Marisnick, I had the feeling this would be a game ender if Ellsbury tried to score the tying run. That is how much confidence I have in Marisnick’s arm. Nice!
Oh, yeah, we have a seven game lead!
Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Camposcommunications' Blog 