O'Hare Caves Under Pressure, Tables Vote
Polling cuts survive another month, but not without a fight.
There was an awful lot that happened today at Tarrant County Commissioners’ Court. Somewhere in the middle of the day, I had to stop and take a kid school shopping. And big election results are happening in other parts of the country tonight (not Texas). Y’all probably already know I’m rooting for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Cori Bush in Missouri.
At the end of the seven-hour Commissioners’ Court meeting, Judge O’Hare decided that he “wasn’t comfortable with how many polling locations were being cut,” and tabled the motion to reduce polling locations. That doesn’t mean the fight is over, but it does mean it’s over for this month. Republicans may try to bring it back up again and vote on it again next month, which will be their last opportunity before the cutoff date to make changes before the elections. So, I wouldn’t call us in the clear yet.
And it wasn’t an easy day.
One of the most shocking moments was when O’Hare ordered the arrest of 73-year-old former State House Representative Lon Burnam for picking up the mic to display an ADA requirement that was previously denied to a former speaker.
Democratic candidates fighting for our votes in Tarrant County also showed up.
Candidate for Lt. Governor Vikki Goodwin
Candidate for Attorney General Nathan Johnson
Candidate for TX06 Danny Minton
Candidate for TX24 Kevin Burge
Candidate for HD96 Ebony Turner
Candidate for Tarrant County District Attorney Tiffany Burks
Candidate for Tarrant County Commissioners’ Court District 4 Nydia Cardenas
(You have to turn the volume way up for this video ⬆️. Sorry I didn’t fix that.)
The Democrats in Tarrant County and running statewide are ready, actually, to fight back for the people. Everyone is sick and tired of the far-right’s authoritarian agenda.
It’s important that we all know and understand what “authoritarianism” is 😈, and I’ll get to why in a minute. But, by definition, authoritarian governments concentrate power in the hands of the elite (oligarchs) and are not responsible to the people. When they take away the means and ability for millions of people to vote, they are not responsible to the people. By the very definition, that is authoritarianism. Stick a pin in that.
Commissioner Simmons also deserves her flowers, as she does at other Commissioners’ hearings. She was the sole Commissioner who brought light to the fact that there were four more jail deaths in Tarrant County jails, again last month. That’s four more families whose loved ones aren’t going to come home.
In fact, the general opening is the only time this subject is even allowed to be talked about. And Bill Waybourn? Why would he be there to answer for this shocking new wave of deaths? Does the Republican majority even care?
Judge O’Hare had a hard time with his emotions today.
Besides having Lon Burnam arrested, he tried to get EJ Carrion with the 817 Podcast thrown out after he was already leaving.
Then, when a speaker compared the Court to Russia, O’Hare went straight Putin and had the entire court cleared.
But through all of that chaos, the most absurd thing that happened today was when Commissioner Matt Krause channeled the ghost of Joe McCarthy and laid out a resolution about fighting the “socialist, communist, authoritarian, fascist.”
Yes, he said that sentence. And those words. In that order.
Which is funny, because Matt Krause is the VERY PERSON who created the long list of library books, which included civil rights books, and investigated libraries for these books, then tried to have them removed from school under the guise of “critical race theory.”
One might call such actions “fascist.” Merriam-Webster sure would.
Republicans are just very silly, at this point.
Like Greg Abbott dropped his initiative to keep Texas affordable today.
I haven’t had an electric bill under $300 since 2021. Beef has been over the cost of minimum wage for almost six months. Texas has been in a housing crisis since COVID. The GOP doesn’t live on planet Earth. But let them scare you about “socialist, communist, authoritarian, fascist,” while your kid’s teacher is driving for Uber in the evenings. You’re keeping your air conditioning at 78° during the day, so the grid doesn’t fail. And they’re cutting polling locations to keep people from voting them out.
Come hell or high water, this year, we’re going to vote them out anyway.
Please support Alisa Simmons if you aren’t already. Flipping Tarrant County is one of the biggest tasks this year. Her website.
91 days until the November election!
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Thank you, Michelle! Shared this on bsky earlier. Let's all help Alisa Simmons!