Tomorrow is the official voting day for the primary election in Texas, the election in which both Republicans and Democrats in Texas choose the candidates who will be running for statewide and for local offices in the fall of this year. This election is important because I never want to be placed in the position I was in 2016 when I had to choose to vote for a third-party candidate in the presidential election. I could not in good conscience give my vote to either the Democrat or the Republican presidential candidate, so I was effectively disenfranchised in that political race. I would prefer to help choose good candidates so that I can vote for someone even if Idon’t agree with all of his or her positions on the issues.
I feel I have no real political home anymore. I cannot support most of what our president says, and I can only support a small portion of his actions. Yet, he leads the Republican party, and Republican candidates must at least pay lip service to him and to his agenda (if they can understand what “agenda” President Trump even supports from one day to the next as it changes and morphs), or they risk losing the support of the party apparatus and of the millions who follow Mr. Trump, blindly, no matter what he says or does.
On the other hand, I cannot support much, if any, of what the Democratic Party and its elected officials support: abortion on demand paid for by our taxes and health insurance premiums, indiscriminate gun control, takeover of the health care system by the federal government, the silencing of those who disagree with them on gay and transgender issues, and the suppression of religious and moral conservatives, relegating them to a back corner where they are to be “seen and not heard.” So, I am caught between a rock and a hard place.
At any rate, after some research and prayer, these are the candidates I plan to vote for in the Republican primary tomorrow. I will vote in the Republican primary, not because I consider myself to be a Republican anymore, but because I feel I can exercise more influence there than I can in the Democratic Party primary. I can never vote for a Democrat unless that Democrat decides to go against his own party and become a pro-life conservative. I don’t know any Democrat in Texas who is even trying to do that.
U.S. Senator: Ted Cruz Sometimes Mr. Cruz goes off in directions that are way too extreme for me, and I still haven’t forgiven him for getting himself into the predicament of having to endorse Donald Trump. But I think Mr. Cruz generally does a good job for Texas and for the nation.
Governor: Greg Abbott I also don’t like Mr Abbott’s close ties to the president and endorsement of his candidacy, and like Cruz, Abbott gets shrill and unreasonable about the whole issue of immigration. But Mr. Abbott is pro-life, and he works hard to make Texas prosperous and safe. His judicial and commission appointments have been good, and he is trying to get honest pro-life and fiscally conservative people elected to the Texas legislature. So, yeah.
General Land Office Commissioner: Jerry Patterson Texas Homeschool Coalition (THSC) is endorsing Mr. Patterson, and Donald Trump is asking me to vote for George P Bush. “Bush not only endorsed Trump in 2016 but campaigned for him around the state as chairman of Texas Victory.” I’ll go with THSC and Patterson.
Commissioner of Agriculture: Sid Miller Endorsed by Texas Right to Life (TRTL), THSC, and other conservative groups.
Railroad Commissioner: Christi Craddick Endorsed by TRTL, THSC, C-Club, and others.
Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals: Sharon Keller
Court of Criminal Appeals Judge, Place 8: Michelle Slaughter Endorsed by THSC, TRTL, and other conservative groups.
1st District Court of Appeals Judge: Katy Boatman. Endorsed by THSC, TRTL. The other guy, Terry Yates, seems to be well-respected, too.
185th District Judge: Stacey Bond.
189th District Judge: Erin Elizabeth Lunceford
263rd District Judge: Charles Johnson. Endorsed by THSC, TRTL.
295th District Judge: Richard Risinger. Endorsed by TRTL and others.
257th Family District Judge: Melanie Flowers. Endorsed by THSC, TRTL, and others.
280th Family District Judge: Angelina D.A. Gooden. Endorsed by Houston Chronicle and others.
County Criminal Court-at-Law Judge No.8: Jay Karahan. Endorsed by C-Club, Houston Chronicle and others. (He’s accused of “performing gay marriages”. He does do weddings, and since so-called gay marriage is legal, I assume he does those. I’m not sure why a criminal court judge is making time to do weddings, but if that’s how he wants to spend his time, then have at it.)
County Criminal Court-at-Law Judge No.11: Aaron Burdette. He seems to have more experience than his opponent.
County Civil Court at Law, No.2: Erin Swanson. Endorsed by THSC, TRTL, C-Club, and others.
County Civil Court at Law, No.4: Sophia Mafrige. Endorsed by C-Club, TRTL, THSC, and many others.
Harris County Republican Party Chairman: Paul Simpson. I’m not impressed with Mr. Simpson’s opponent, and it seems that Mr. Simpson has done a good job in a very difficult position.
Here are some links for you to help you make up your own mind, if you live in Texas and if you haven’t already voted in the primary:
Big Jolly Endorsement Slate Tracker for the 2018 Harris County Republican Primary. This chart shows who’s endorsing whom for all of the contested races in the Harris County Texas Republican Primary election.
I can certainly relate to your feeling that you don’t have a political home anymore. It was interesting to read this post and get a perspective “from the inside” on the election in Texas. Most of these candidates aren’t known to me, but I really appreciated Cruz’s principled stands in 2016, as well as his articulateness.