Guest Column – Michael Quinn Sullivan – Empower Texans

Friday, November 9, 2018

Guest Column – Michael Quinn Sullivan

Tickets for the Conservative Leaders Gala are on sale now.

One state house seat in Harris County remains undecided, with 49 votes separating the incumbent Republican from his Democrat challenger. With 100% of precincts reporting in, Gina Calanni was ahead with 32,678 votes to State Rep. Mike Schofield’s 32,629 (49.21% to 49.14%), but Charles Blain reports Schofield isn’t conceding until mail-in ballots are counted in the coming days.
   

·         Everyone knows disgraced House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio failed at moving anything resembling a policy agenda. His tenure was known only for blocking popular conservative reforms. We discovered Tuesday night just how big a failure Straus has been politically. He let a dozen Republican-held seats fall to the Democrats while hoarding $10 million in his campaign account. He has since gone and bragged to the George Soros-funded Texas Tribune about voting for Beto and other Democrats.
   

·         Most of Tuesday night’s Republican losses were in districts where the incumbent had reliably supported Straus. Proves yet again there is absolutely no honor among the cronies controlled by Democrat lobbyist Gordon Johnson.
     

·         We’re growing! Specifically, we are hiring for a Capitol Correspondent to report on the 86th Texas Legislature for Texas Scorecard. Interested and qualified applicants should send a resume, brief cover letter, writing samples, and list of references to Brandon Waltens at jobs@empowertexans.com.
 

One state house seat in Harris County remains undecided, with 49 votes separating the incumbent Republican from his Democrat challenger. With 100% of precincts reporting in, Gina Calanni was ahead with 32,678 votes to State Rep. Mike Schofield’s 32,629 (49.21% to 49.14%), but Charles Blain reports Schofield isn’t conceding until mail-in ballots are counted in the coming days.
   

·         Everyone knows disgraced House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio failed at moving anything resembling a policy agenda. His tenure was known only for blocking popular conservative reforms. We discovered Tuesday night just how big a failure Straus has been politically. He let a dozen Republican-held seats fall to the Democrats while hoarding $10 million in his campaign account. He has since gone and bragged to the George Soros-funded Texas Tribune about voting for Beto and other Democrats.
   

·         Most of Tuesday night’s Republican losses were in districts where the incumbent had reliably supported Straus. Proves yet again there is absolutely no honor among the cronies controlled by Democrat lobbyist Gordon Johnson.
     

·         We’re growing! Specifically, we are hiring for a Capitol Correspondent to report on the 86th Texas Legislature for Texas Scorecard. Interested and qualified applicants should send a resume, brief cover letter, writing samples, and list of references to Brandon Waltens at jobs@empowertexans.com.
 

·   

Voters across Texas weighed in on local bonds and collectively approved nearly $8 billion in bond debt. Charles Blain reports the debt was approved for school districts, cities, counties, and colleges. That number could go up as additional results come in from counties that have yet to post their results online.
 

·         Austinites are in the midst of an alarming affordability crisis, yet they readily chose to worsen it. Jacob Asmussen reports the average Austin homeowner is paying 80 percent more in property taxes to the city than they did just 10 years ago. Yet on Tuesday, Austin voters overwhelmingly decided to allow the city council to increase their debt by nearly $1 billion.
   

·         Those same voters rejected a proposal to audit the city finances. Keeping Austin weird…
   

·         That weird affinity for unchecked debt has spread into the Austin suburbs. Round Rock taxpayers could continue to see taxes rise and classroom needs go unmet after they passed the school district’s controversial bond. The total bond cost, with interest, could reach $700 million.
   

·         Miriam Cepeda reports Hidalgo County voters approved a $190 million bond proposition to address drainage issues. 
    

·         Ector County voters approved two separate tax-related measures, reports Matt Stringer. The county’s proposal for a special assistance district, levying a 1.25 percent sales tax on all areas outside the city jurisdictions, passed with 54 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Ector County ISD voters decided to increase the “maintenance and operations” property tax rate to the maximum allowed under state law. The district says the higher taxes will result in an additional $16 million in revenue to be used for teacher and staff pay raises, new buses, insurance deductibles on roofing damages, and increased security.