#TXLEGE: NOT BORRIS MILES!!!

"It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness,
For a throne is established by righteousness."
Proverbs 16:12

Obviously, much ado yesterday about the ballot harvesting allegations in Harris County. A lot remains to be seen, and until that happens we don't have much to add. But this detail made us lol:

During my investigation, a core group of names continued to surface regarding the organization and operation of the voter fraud scheme. Witnesses have stated to me that Precinct 1 Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and District 13 Texas State Senator Borris Miles are leading the illegal ballot harvesting operation in Harris County, Texas.

You don't say.

Borris Miles, for those of you who don't remember, is this guy. He's also this guy. He's also this guy.

Obviously, yesterday's disclosures were allegations. They will get a response. So don't jump to conclusions.

Still, for Borris Miles' name to be featured so prominently among the allegation is both a) Not surprising, and b) Kinda funny.

Bottom Line: Smoke, fire, etc....

#TXLEGE: Miles/Murphy remain likely to get away with EVERYTHING

"It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness,
For a throne is established by righteousness."
Proverbs 16:12

Back in February, we wrote the following:

#TXLEGE: Borris Miles, Jim Murphy and Bi-Partisan POLITICAL MALPRACTICE

The gist of the piece was that, in both parties, you had legislators enmeshed in serious scandals (financial in Murphy's case, sexual in Miles' case). Yet neither party was even attempting to make an issue out the other guy's stumbles. Gift horses, mouths, etc.

Well, here we are seven month later, and...nothing's changed.

Both Borris Miles and Jim Murphy are looking at a 95%(+) liklihood of being re-elected.

But the craziest part isn't they're both likely to be re-elected, it's that in neither case did anyone even attempt to embarrass them.

Bottom Line: If you want to understand the depressing reality of why government in this state is the way that it is, this is a pretty good place to start.

#TXLEGE: Borris Miles, Jim Murphy and Bi-Partisan POLITICAL MALPRACTICE

"It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness,
For a throne is established by righteousness."
Proverbs 16:12

We've been back on the Jim Murphy hobbyhorse ever since leadership put him in charge of cleaning up this mess at the Teacher Retirement System.  We've also discussed how hammering this issue could be advantageous to the opposition party.  Finally, we've discussed how strange we find said opposition party squandering said opportunity.

So we were prepared to rip on the Democrats for their failure to make Jim Murphy a household name.  But we can't.  At least not alone.  Because, truth be told, Republicans are looking just as big of a gift horse in the mouth.

Because Borris Miles is also running around like nothing ever happened.

It's kinda astonishing.

On the one hand, you have a Democrat who, at best, has been on the receiving end of horrifying allegations of sexual misconduct.  On the other hand, you have a Republican who has been documented to be engaging in serious financial corruption.  Yet, neither party is inclined to exploit the respective gifts they've received.

Some might argue this is a form of mutually assured political destruction.  Maybe.  But we're not convinced.  See why here.

Bottom Line: The opportunity is there...if either party wants to take advantage.

#TXLEGE, #TXSEN: Royce West, Borris Miles, and a test of oppo research

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
1 Corinthians 15:33

[Note: Just for fun, imagine the reaction if any Republican candidate in a similar situation had secured an endorsement from Charles Schwertner.] 

Texas Tribune, Thursday:

[Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Royce] West has suggested he is optimistic that he can be more than just a Dallas-centric candidate by tapping into his legislative relationships throughout the state. He wasted little time proving that after his announcement as he earned endorsements from state Sens. Carol Alvarado and Borris Miles, both from Houston. And state Sens. Jose Menendez of San Antonio and Jose Rodriguez of El Paso attended the announcement itself.

[Note: Emphasis added.]

We remarked shortly thereafter:



It's now been two full days, and nobody has commented.

In case you've forgotten why an endorsement from Borris frickin' Miles might be considered a big deal:

Lauren*, a Texas legislative intern, was standing underneath the bright blue-and-red neon sign of The Continental Club, a famed Austin bar frequented by schmoozing politicians, lobbyists, and reporters.

That week in May 2013 was filled to the brim with end-of-session (“sine die”) parties, and Lauren was with a group of other interns on South Congress when Democratic state Rep. Borris Miles pulled up.

According to Lauren, Miles leaned out of the carriage he was riding in and pulled out a large roll of money. He handed “maybe $500” to an intern and then looked at Lauren.

“You know how you have the roll of hundreds that you see on TV? It was like that,” Lauren told The Daily Beast.

“I said, ‘Hi Representative, how are you?’ Then he slowly looked me up and down, counted out more money, reached out his hand and said, ‘Bitch, you want to fuck with me tonight?’

“I said ‘No, thank you’ and physically stepped back,” Lauren recalled. “I didn’t want to be rude to him. I remember his intern pacifying him and saying, ‘It’s time to go.’

“Everyone was just shocked that he said that—that he cussed at me and that he was offering me money. It was outrageous,” she continued. “I just remember thinking, ‘I need to go, and I need to not be here anymore.’”

And this:

One time, Chris said, he “witnessed [Miles] catcalling women in Downtown Austin on the way back from a Spurs game, and there had to have been at least 15 or 16 other members that were there because it was a member event.”

The Spurs had played the Lakers that April, and the lawmakers went together to San Antonio to watch one of the games. “As we’re driving back towards the W, he’s hanging out of the open door of the bus and shouting at women,” said Chris.

Chris could not recall the catcalls specifically but said, “It was not something that I would want shouted at anyone.”

Chris’ chief of staff confirmed to The Daily Beast that he heard about the alleged catcalling the next morning.

And this:

Ben*, a former staffer who recently worked in the Capitol and “spent a lot of time with Miles,” said he witnessed the then-state representative “forcibly kiss” at least one woman at the W Hotel.

“He offered to buy her a drink, kept trying to kiss her, and she kept trying to push him away,” said Ben. “He kept laughing about it.

“It was so creepy, and he had this big smile,” said Ben. “Borris loves the W Hotel, and he has a tendency to force himself upon women at bars and kiss them or grope them. He’ll tell them that he is a higher elected official than he actually is.”

....

“He also has a tendency to call women out of their name when they turn him down,” he said. “‘Bitch,’ ‘ho,’ ‘whore.’ He doesn’t like being told ‘no.’

And this:

When Heather* first covered the Texas Legislature as a journalist in 2011, she was repeatedly targeted by Miles, she told The Daily Beast in a story published last month.

Late one night when the legislature was in session, Heather was reporting on HB 400, which would have scrapped Texas’ law mandating class size ratio. Miles famously used a point of order to defeat the bill, landing him the title of Star of the 2011 Legislative Session by the Texas Classroom Teachers Association.

Heather said she had been trying to get details about the bill negotiations, when that night, around midnight, Miles cornered her in a hallway and forcibly kissed her outside the House chamber.

“It happened quickly,” Heather said, noting that Miles laughed afterward. “I think he thought it was hilarious.”

“He’d said several times already, ‘If you go out to dinner with me, I’d be happy to give you the details,’ and I’d sort of laugh it off but it was weird and obviously gross.”

You can read the full report here.

So, yeah, that guy made an endorsement in the current U.S. Senate race.

Yet neither MJ Hegar nor John Cornyn seem to care.

Odd.

Obviously, this is a longstanding beef for this author.

Last election cycle, we discovered that Beto O'Rourke likewise did a campaign event with Borris Miles.  In addition to writing a blog post, we also passed that information along to both the Cruz campaign and the RPT chairman.  Unfortunately, neither did anything with that information.

This time around, the difference is that this author doesn't particularly care who wins the U.S. Senate race.  So we're not going to tell any campaigns.  But we mentioned them by name, so they'll get the Google alerts.

Bottom Line: Any campaign that allows an opponent to get away with touting an endorsement from someone with Borris Miles' "alleged" record is completely incompetent and deserves to lose....

#TXLEGE: The Texas Senate needs to STOP giving the Austin Chronicle easy material

"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
John 4:24

Longtime readers know there is no media outlet this author despises more than the Austin Chronicle; which is why it kills us that they got this one 100% correct:

Sex and the Senate
What will it take to curb sexual harassment at the Texas State Capitol?
BY MARY TUMA, FRI., JAN. 25, 2019

Not more than two days into the 86th Texas Legislature, the 150-member House of Representatives approved a new, stronger reporting process to secure justice for victims of sexual harassment at the Capitol. The unprecedented (at least in recent history) move comes in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which ousted abusive male figures from their perches in politics, journalism, and Hollywood. And it follows a string of shocking media reports from last session that alleged harassment in the halls of the Capitol building from Democrats and Republicans alike over several years. Those reports ignited conversation within both legislative chambers on how best to respond to inappropriate behavior moving forward.

However, one body is noticeably working more steadfastly – and openly – on the issue than the other.

The House Committee on Administration acted quickly, proposing a first draft in December 2017 that was seen as a solid start that needed more work. Former Speaker Joe Straus then created a working group in May 2018 to examine the Texas House's sexual harassment policy and recommend ways to improve it. The 10-member group, led by Reps. Donna Howard, D-Austin, and Linda Koop, R-Dallas (who lost her re-election bid in November), was tasked with researching best practices in other states to "prevent and eradicate" misconduct in the Legislature. The latest iteration, approved as a resolution by a unanimous vote of the House on Jan. 9 after months of review, moves misconduct complaints to a House investigating committee with subpoena power, adding real teeth to a once-feeble policy.

Meanwhile, the Senate – recently encumbered by allegations of lewd behavior against one of its most powerful members, Georgetown Republican Charles Schwertner, has taken a slower approach. While the Senate elaborated its misconduct policy from one to six pages some five months after the House released its first draft, it has no plans to hold hearings or take a formal vote as the House did. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, never as engaged on the issue as Straus, also opted not to conduct a Senate investigation into Schwertner, instead taking the wait-and-see route as a University of Texas investigation played out. Both the Senate's weaker policy and its inaction in the Schwertner case have drawn criticism on the state's editorial pages, including a piece penned by former Sen. Wendy Davis.

During the few months of the current regular session, the Senate has the power to strengthen and codify its rules, but will it? Or does the upper chamber hope the issue of sexual misconduct – and public complaints against its members – gradually falls by the wayside?

The article goes on to discuss everything we already know.  We recommend reading the whole thing, but you already know  the names.  Carlos Uresti, Borris Miles, Craig Estes, Charles Schwertner....

The Chronicle then contrasts the reaction between the two chambers.  While we think they give both Joe Straus and the house more credit than they deserve, at least the House is trying.  The Senate, meanwhile, hasn't done anything meaningful.

The Texas Senate's political opponents have noticed.

Unfortunately, they're not wrong.

It gets better:

The Senate's inaction prompted Wendy Davis, who served two terms in the chamber representing Ft. Worth, to pen a critical editorial in the Statesman earlier this month demanding that the upper house get its act together. Among her chief complaints: There remains no legitimate recourse for people who are sexually harassed by legislators; there is no independent, third-party investigator to whom such complaints can be made; the Senate policy fails to define consequences for violations and has not extended its subpoena power, which could have compelled Schwertner (or others) to testify or provide information.

"What happened after the credible allegations against Sen. Schwertner – and also Sens. Miles and Uresti – starkly highlights how broken the system is," Davis told us. "I found myself feeling very upset and frustrated after reading the UT report. I was angry on behalf of the young woman and on behalf of many others who have endured sexual harassment at the Capitol. It's disappointing that the Senate appears disinterested in further investigating the incident."

....

Davis slams the policy as "a little more than window dressing, but not a whole lot more." She notes the "glaring differences" between Straus' leadership and Patrick's. "Straus supported the effort in an authentic and sincere way, with an open process and a work group," said Davis. "On the Senate side, there is more of an appearance of a process, but without any real desire to hear from experts and people who may have been on the receiving end of sexual harassment at the Capitol. To me, the process looked more like a kangaroo court."

There appears to be a "greater interest in protecting the body than in protecting young women working at the Capitol," says Davis. "It's often part and parcel of the way elected bodies function – if you protect your members, you gain their loyalty." Sexual misconduct at the Capitol is an open secret among members, she says, and she had her own brush with harassment as a freshman senator. During a social, UT-affiliated event, a House member, clearly inebriated, touched her inappropriately. She says it took that member three years to apologize; she never reported the incident because the Senate's policy did not make clear where or who to report to. Even if there had been a direct path, there was no hope that anything would come of it because there were no defined consequences, she says.

"We need to apply continued pressure on the Senate," said Davis. "We cannot give them a pass on this."

You know the situation is bad when you're getting hammered by Wendy Friggin' Davis...and she's completely right.

It's pathetic.

Bottom Line: You can't blame the other team for swinging the bat when you're the one lobbing softballs down the middle of the plate....

Shelia Jackson Lee, Harris County D's, Need to Answer VERY Serious Questions

"He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy."
Proverbs 28:13

ICYMI, late last week:

WASHINGTON — A former staffer for Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee claims in a new lawsuit that the lawmaker retaliated against her and fired her because she was planning to pursue legal action over an alleged rape by a former employee of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

The woman, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleges she was raped in October 2015, when she was a 19-year-old intern for the CBCF, by the foundation’s intern coordinator at the time, Damien Jones. The woman said she reported the alleged rape to police and told several people, including Rep. Terri Sewell, her former boss and a distant relative of her mother’s, but did not pursue legal action at the time.

Several years later, when Jane Doe was working for Jackson Lee, the woman decided she did want to pursue legal action, and told Jackson Lee’s chief of staff Glenn Rushing in early March 2018. The woman alleges that she asked to speak with Jackson Lee about it, but a meeting never happened, and several weeks later she was fired. Jackson Lee is chair of the board for the CBCF.

Jones did not return requests for comment. After leaving the CBCF in late 2015, he continued to work in Democratic politics and recently served as the regional political director for former representative Beto O’Rourke’s Senate campaign. Chris Evans, a spokesperson for the O’Rourke campaign, said in an email to BuzzFeed News, “The Beto for Texas campaign was absolutely not aware of these allegations until today and no longer has a relationship with Damien Jones.”

Rushing told BuzzFeed News in a phone call that “We had nothing to do with any of the actions that have been cited and the person was not wrongfully terminated.” He declined to answer additional questions.

Jackson Lee's office later released a statement pointing to the congresswoman's record on civil rights and non-discrimination measures, and saying that the office "adamantly denies the allegations that it retaliated against, or otherwise improperly treated, the plaintiff. It is against office policy to discuss specific details about internal personnel matters."

"Although the Congresswoman is eager to respond substantively, she will do so only at the appropriate time, as the court docket dictates. The Congresswoman is confident that, once all of the facts come to light, her Office will be exonerated of any retaliatory or otherwise improper conduct and this matter will be put to rest," Jackson Lee's office said. "While we still deny the allegations, we are especially concerned about Ms. Doe and only want the best for her and the many, many young people that the Congressional office has supported, encouraged, and provided opportunities for over 20 years."

Marc Banks, a spokesperson for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview that he did not know whether there had been any communication between the foundation and Jackson Lee's office about the rape allegation against Jones or Jane Doe's plan to sue the foundation. But he said that a decision to fire a congressional staffer was "outside the purview of the foundation."

"We would have no reason to harm the former intern," Banks said.

Banks said that the foundation took "immediate and swift action" to fire Jones after investigating Jane Doe's allegations, but he was "not privy" to what the foundation learned in the course of that review.

....

In late 2017, Jane Doe took a job in Jackson Lee’s congressional office. Soon after she was hired, according to the lawsuit, Jane Doe learned that Jones might be hired in Jackson Lee’s office, and she told Rushing that she had a “prior situation” with Jones and would not be comfortable working together. Rushing allegedly told her that he understood and didn’t end up hiring Jones “because he had a situation with CBCF and they could not have him working in the office as a result.”

In early March 2018, Jane Doe told Rushing that she had learned “more about her case involving Mr. Jones and CBCF” and was planning to go forward with legal action, according to the complaint. Jane Doe said she asked to speak with Jackson Lee, and Rushing agreed, but no meeting took place. On March 29, she said she was told she was being fired because of budget issues.

Jane Doe’s lawsuit describes times she said she spent driving Jackson Lee in her personal car she and alleges she was pressured by Jackson Lee and Rushing to get a new car after her car was damaged in an accident. When she was fired, she said that in addition to being told it was because of budget issues, that Rushing also told her, “It didn’t help that you lied about the car.” It was not immediately clear from court filings what that was a reference to.

Jane Doe alleges that the budget-related explanation was a pretext and that Jackson Lee retaliated against her for planning to take action against the CBCF related to the alleged rape.

Over the weekend:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is refusing demands to step down as leader of the Congressional Black Caucus’ nonprofit arm amid claims she fired one of her congressional staffers over rape allegations.

Jackson Lee was told by the CBC Foundation’s board to resign during a lengthy call on Thursday night, according to two sources with knowledge of the conversation. Jackson Lee resisted those demands, and the call abruptly ended as other board members were trying to figure out how to continue the conversation without the Texas Democrat.

Jackson Lee has also been pressured by leadership within the CBC to step down from her position with the foundation, according to one of the sources. The foundation’s board was expected to have another emergency call Friday night to assess the situation.

....

Following Jackson Lee’s refusal to step aside, at least one board member stepped down, and sources with knowledge of the situation say more are expected to follow if Lee remains. Cathy Hughes, a media executive and entrepreneur, resigned from the board, according to the two sources. Hughes, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Wow.

This looks like a very serious situation.  Obviously, we don't know all the facts.  But some early questions are unavoidable.

 Among them:

• What was the nature of the alleged "budget issue" that caused Shelia Jackson Lee to fire Jane Doe?!?

• Why the heck would Sheila Jackson Lee hire someone with this much baggage in the first place?!?

• Did Shelia Jackson Lee ever inform the O'Rourke campaign about the accusations against Damien Jones?!?

That last question is especially relevant given that Damien Jones is accused of raping a young woman who was his direct professional subordinate.

The best case scenario is grotesque negligence mixed with an awfully big coincidence.  Not impossible...but the odds seem long.  Possibilities get worse from there.

-------

O'Rourke:

National conservative media outlets are trying to make this about O'Rourke.  That's a mistake.  While things could change, we believe Shelia Jackson Lee bears significantly more culpability than O'Rourke.  It was Lee's responsibility to inform O'Rourke, not vice versa.

Except...for Borris Miles.

During the campaign, we made a big deal out of the fact that O'Rourke held a campaign event with Borris Miles [Note: THIS Borris Miles].  We didn't remark upon it at the time, but Shelia Jackson Lee was the third elected official at that event.  Given what we've just learned about Damien Jones being the link between O'Rourke and Shelia Jackson Lee, to also include Borris Miles at that event seems...newly significant.

The Texas Observer has more:

At a block-walk event on Houston’s South Side earlier that day, Damien Jones, Beto’s political director for the Houston area, laid out the stakes. “Two years ago,” Jones pronounced in his red Chucks and a black-and-white “BETO” trucker hat, “many of us had many regrets about what happened — that we didn’t do enough. This is the time to leave it all on the field. We can’t have any regrets this time.”

O’Rourke has assembled perhaps the most impressive ground game of any statewide Democrat in a generation — and the campaign is trying to reach deep into black communities.

In other words, the O'Rourke campaign was trying to "reach deep into black communities" by hiring Damien Jones to work with Borris Friggin' Miles.

"Reach deep into" indeed.

-------

Other Harris County Democrats (especially Sylvester Turner):

As the de facto leader of the Democrats in Harris County, Mayor Turner could clean up this activity if he wanted.

Instead, from Friday night:

Earlier Today:

In other words, in light of what we learned last week, the de facto leader of the Democrats chose to attend 2 events with Shelia Jackson Lee (one of which also included Borris Miles).

Furthermore, consider that in the picture with O'Rourke shown above, Rodney Ellis is the third person in the photo.

So you've got Rodney Ellis hanging out with Damien Jones at the same time you've got Sylvester Turner doing events with Shelia Jackson Lee and Borris Miles.

With this much smoke, imagine the fire.

-------

Bottom Line: There seem to be an awfully high number of awfully big coincidences surrounding this story.  Most, though certainly not all, seem to surround Shelia Jackson Lee.  She's certainly the best place to start....

#TXLEGE: Initial Thoughts on Senate Committee Assignments

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

Senate Committee assignments are out:

86th #TXLEGE Senate Committees by Cahnman on Scribd

Thoughts:

• Kolkhorst OUT at admin -- Given her disgraceful neglect (at best) of the Texas Senate's very real problem with sexual misbehavior, this is a welcome development.

• Schwertner out, Kolkhorst in, at HHS -- Given what we just said, to see Lois Kolkhorst take over for Charles Schwertner is...to put it mildly...ironic.
  
  Beyond that aspect, however, this is a strange assignment.  Kolkhorst's background is in Oil and Gas, not health care.  Why her?!?  Why here?!?
  
  It's not like there's a shortage of Doctors in the Texas Senate.

• That being said, good precedent on Schwertner -- We've been arguing for over a year that loss of committee chairs was the most important sanction we could impose on legislators who engage in funny business.  However bizarre that route it took to get to this place might have been, that precedent is now established.
   
• Seliger to chair new Ag. committee -- Tough to know what to make of this one.  On the one hand, it's easy to view it as a demotion.  On the other hand, it's also easy to see how this is a good fit with Seliger's district.
  
  Only time will tell.
  
  If it is a demotion, however, beware the wrath of Seliger down the line.

• Solid Conservatives on Education

• Creighton in at Higher Ed. -- Ummmmmm?!?
  
  We've never known Brandon Creighton to have any particular interest in Higher ed. issues.  So this is...odd.  On the one hand, Creighton has historically tended to vote solidly.  On the other hand, he's not somebody who likes to upset the apple cart.
  
  Tough to know how that breaks on Higher Ed. issues.
  
  Longhorn.

• Buckingham in at Nominations -- This could be interesting.
  
  Last session, Dawn Buckingham was the only Senator who even showed a pulse during the UT regent confirmation process.  We have no idea if they will be, but Regent confirmations should be an even bigger issue this session.  None of them are great, but Buckingham's record on this subject is less bad that most of the others.
  
  That being said, if Buckingham puts down her foot on regent confirmations, Watson, Seliger, and Alvarado will go BALLISTIC.  We have no idea how that plays out.  But it would be really entertaining to watch.  If nothing else, it would be a healthy debate to have in public.
  
  We've also signed onto the coalition letter related to the Sec'y of State confirmation.

• Plum assignments for Flores

• Business as usual for Borris Miles -- Obviously, he doesn't have a chairmanship to lose but Economic Development and HHS are...not bad.

Bottom Line: No obvious roadblocks on any major issues.  Couple interesting personnel moves.  We shall see.

UH's, Applewhite's, Chickens Come Home to Roost; Kendal "White Women" Briles gets golden parachute

"Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall."
Proverbs 16:18

Reading the Athletic's analysis (Note: Subscription Required) of the UH coaching vacancy, this stands out:

When November began, Houston had a 7-1 record and was No. 17 in the AP poll, and quarterback D’Eriq King was among the most prolific players in the country. Things were rolling.

Less than two months later, Houston fired head coach Major Applewhite after finishing 8-5 with a 70-14 loss to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl. Things change quickly.

This isn't surprising when you consider the arrogance and greed UH has shown in the past year.

--------

Kendal "White Women" Briles:

Under Major Applewhite, UH hired an offensive coordinator with more sexual assault baggage than any other active coach in the country.

In case you have forgotten Kendal Briles' CV:

Former Baylor offensive coordinator Kendal Briles allegedly used sex to sell the football program according to a new lawsuit against the university obtained by the Dallas Morning News.

The lawsuit, filed by a woman identified as Elizabeth Doe who reports being gang raped by two former football players, alleges that Baylor "used sex to sell" the football program to recruits. One Dallas-area high school recruit said Briles once asked him, "Do you like white women? Because we have a lot of them at Baylor and they love football players."

Briles, the son of fired Baylor head coach Art Briles, is now the offensive coordinator at FAU.

The lawsuit is another bombshell in the long-lasting Baylor sexual assault scandal. The investigation by lawyers identified at least 52 "acts of rape" by 31 football players from 2011 to 2014. This included five gang rapes, at least two of which were committed by 10 or more players at one time, according to the lawsuit. These numbers are significantly higher than previously disclosed by Baylor's regents.

Yikes.

Meanwhile, UH's rationalization for hiring Briles was that he was some sort of alleged genius as an offensive coordinator.

 Yet, from an on-field perspective, Briles' offense only managed 14 points...against Army.

It's fitting.

-------

UH's stonewalling re: Kendall "White Women" Briles:

[Note: Keep in mind that, throughout all this, UH was tooting their own horn in the local media about their post #MeToo handling of sexual assault.]

But, even though he doesn't deserve it,  let's give Kendal Briles the benefit of the doubt.  Let's assume, for the sake of discussion, that the Baylor Truthers are right.  Let's assume that Art and Kendal Briles were scapegoats.

If all of the above were true, then UH hiring Kendal Briles might have been a worthwhile act of forgiveness.

If, however, the above were true...then one would think UH would be extra-transparent about how they vetted Kendal Briles.

UH did the opposite:

University of Houston President and Chancellor Renu Khator assured faculty on Tuesday that the university conducted additional review "above and beyond" typical hiring practices when it added ex-Baylor University football assistant coaches Kendal Briles and Randy Clements to its football program.

Both Briles and Clements were employed by Baylor during a sexual assault scandal. UH announced the hires earlier this month.

Khator, who wrote to faculty in an email Tuesday, said the university also required coaching staff to receive additional training about the law, UH policies "as well as about our culture of reporting."

Khator did not mention Briles and Clements by name or by their former affiliation with Baylor in the email, but a university spokesman confirmed that the two were the subject of the notice. Khator also said that the "new staff members" had morality clauses in their contracts, which Briles and Clements did.

aka: "Trust us."

We didn't trust UH.

Shortly after UH hired Kendal Briles, this author sent an open records request about how Kendal Briles was vetted.  UH's response left more questions than answers.  But what little we did learn undermined the official story.

Specifically, based on information UH released in response to an open records request from this author, we learned:

• Baylor raised red flags about Kendal Briles.

• Major Applewhite remains in contact with Art Briles.

• Applewhite was more concerned about the Kendal Briles hire leaking early than we was about any of the Baylor stuff.

That's not good.

In response, we sent several rounds of follow up open records requests.  We got nothing.  As in, UH literally didn't respond to our requests.  Keep in mind, they're obligated by law to at least respond.

The situation got so bad that we filed an official complaint with the Attorney General's office.

While the Attorney General's office resolved the immediate issue, none of the above inspires confidence in how UH originally vetted Kendal Briles.

-------

Major Applewhite's 'extra-cirriculars':

Then there's this:

A lawsuit by former Texas women’s track coach Bev Kearney against the school is probing how administrators in the offices that investigate campus sexual misconduct handled former football assistant Major Applewhite’s 2009 relationship with a student trainer on a bowl trip.

Kearney, who is black, was forced out in 2013 after the school learned she had a relationship with one of her athletes a decade earlier. She has alleged race and sex discrimination, noting that Applewhite, who is white, was allowed to keep his job and was later promoted after his incident was discovered. Applewhite, a former quarterback at Texas, stayed on staff through 2013 and is now the head coach at Houston.

[Note: We said our piece about this lawsuit from the Longhorn perspective at the time.]

By itself, this incident doesn't reveal much.  Obviously, it's not good.  But Major Applewhite shouldn't be crucified for doing something irresponsible on a night when everyone was partying.

That being said, in the context of the Kendal Briles hire, a pattern of arrogance as it relates to sexual matters begins to emerge.

We've also always found it interesting that this story emerged during the same week UH was stonewalling over Briles.

Finally, one can only wonder if Major Applewhite is hiding other skeletons.

-------

Borris Miles:

Then there's this:

So Tillman Fertitta, UH's Board Chairman [Note: Yes, THAT Tilmann Fertitta], had Borris FRIGGIN' Miles as an honored guest at a UH football game.

Yes, THAT Borris Miles.

In fairness to Tilman Fertitta, UH is located in Miles' state senate district.  So a case can be made that including Miles is politics as usual.  But, with all due respect to Tilman Fertitta, we don't think politics as usual applies with Borris Miles.

A toxic culture starts at the top.

-------

Kendal "White Women" Briles' Golden Parachute at Florida State:

Despite all that:

Kendal Briles has been hired to be Florida State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, head coach Willie Taggart announced Sunday.

“I’m excited about the addition of Kendal to our staff,” Taggart said.

“He brings play-calling experience and familiarity with the type of scheme and tempo we will run, which is similar to the offenses he has coordinated. His ability to recruit, manage an offensive staff, develop quarterbacks and make in-game adjustments will be beneficial to us as we evolve in our offense. Kendal has success at the Power 5 level and has also shown his adaptability to personnel and situations that occur during a season. He had multiple opportunities following the 2018 season and we feel the fit here will be a good one.”

Briles, who will have primary play-calling duties, comes to FSU having served as an offensive coordinator at Baylor during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Florida Atlantic in 2017 and Houston in 2018.

Obviously, we're appalled.  But he's not Texas' problem any longer.  Florida can have him.

Also, for the record: Florida State is Jameis Winston's alma mater.

-------

Bottom Line: As UH assesses what went wrong this season, they'd be wise to do a deeper self-examination....

#TXLEGE: Is Schwertner in Deep Doo Doo?!?

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."
Ephesians 5:11

Hoo Boy:

AUSTIN — The University of Texas completed its investigation on Tuesday into whether State Sen. Charles Schwertner sent sexually explicit messages — including photos of his genitals — to a student, issuing a report that neither fully incriminates nor clears the Georgetown Republican of wrongdoing.

The same afternoon, responding to a public record request, the university released the offensive text messages and LinkedIn messages that led to the probe. Schwertner told a UT investigator that the texts came from his accounts, but were sent by a person he knows and shared his user information with, but refused to identify.

Schwertner and his attorneys said the report served as vindication for their claims that he was innocent.

"I do not condone sexual misconduct of any kind. The University of Texas has closed their investigation because I did not send the offensive text messages in question," Schwertner said in a prepared statement.

The university reported it could not prove Schwertner sent the offensive messages, and a forensic investigation found that they did not come from his phone. However, the messages did come from Schwertner's Hushed account, a privacy app that allows people to send messages from separate phone numbers, and his LinkedIn account.

The UT investigation also described Schwertner as uncooperative and unwilling to be interviewed or answer questions about whether he had other electronic devices where the messages could have originated.

Schwertner's attorneys said in a statement that they prevented him from being interviewed by the university because they considered the school's investigative process unfair.

An attorney purporting to represent a mysterious third party, whose identity was never revealed to the investigators, at some point claimed responsibility for sending the messages. Schwertner told investigators he knew this unidentified person, and shared his user name and passwords with the individual, but refused to reveal their identity in the investigation.

The university investigative report acknowledged that the unnamed person might not exist.

"We recognize that it is plausible that the Respondent [Schwertner] sent the text messages and photograph from a device other than his personal cell phone and the third person claiming responsibility is being untruthful or does not exist, but we have no evidence to support those possibilities," the investigation summary reads.

[Note: Emphasis added.]

Yikes; this story looks worse every time we re-read it.

Two possibilities exist.  Either Schwertner is lying.  Or, he could be telling the truth.  Neither is good.

If Schwertner is lying, then a 48 year old male elected official sent lewd photographs to a female college student seeking professional advice.

That would be awful.

But consider what it would mean if Schwertner's telling the truth:

• Schwertner engages in enough encrypted communication with an unnamed third party that he gave the unnamed third party access to his encryption account.
  
• Who does that?!?

• Schwertner also gave the unnamed third party access to his LinkedIn account.

• Again, who does that?!?

• The third party in question had a motive to burn Schwertner in the most publicly humiliating way possible.
  
• What, as yet unknown, behavior on Schwertner's part could have produced such a motive?!?

• Even after having been burned in the most publicly humiliating way possible, Schwertner still refuses to identify the third party.

Pick your poison; neither one is good.

-------

That being said, this political cheap shot from the Democrats is cute:

On Tuesday evening, Texas Democrats jumped on the results of the report.

"These are not the actions of an innocent man," said Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Crystal Perkins. "Sen. Charles Schwertner is a liar and clearly unfit to serve in elected office."

Shut up.

You people haven't done a damn thing about Borris Miles.  You didn't lift a damn finger about Carlos Uresti until after a separate criminal conviction.  Yet, now you want to lecture the rest of us on sexual propriety?!?  Puh-leeze.

In a just world, Borris Miles and Charles Schwertner should probably both go.

In the real world, now that they're the political equivalent of "mutually assured destruction," Miles and Schwertner probably get away with everything.  We don't like it.  But that's reality.

-------

Bottom Line: You know it's a bad situation when you can't tell whether lying or telling the truth is worse....

About Ted Cruz's act of Political MALPRACTICE

"If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."
1 Corinthians 3:15

Yesterday, we said that Ted Cruz's failures this cycle "deserve their own blog post;" consider this that.

Cruz's campaign was godawful.  While there were structural national/presidential factors that would have made this race closer than what Texans have grown used to, Cruz's unforced errors made those problems infinitely worse.  Or, at least, 2.5% worse.

Where to begin?!?

-------

Presidential Campaign Baggage:

Let's start with the biggie: Lots of people, including lots of Texas voters, first paid attention to Cruz during the presidential campaign.

They did not like what they saw.

Cruz's primary problem, before any others, is that he's been all over the map on Trump: First he was for him.  Then he was against him.  Then he dissed him at the convention.  Then he caved on the convention diss.  Then he spent the past two years getting as close to Trump as possible.

That doesn't look good.

Those decisions made sense at the time.  But they've combined to create a bad impression (especially among those who don't follow politics closely).  That's reality.

If you're a member of the original #CruzCrew, you have to understand most of the public never met the Ted Cruz you got to know in 2012.  In all likelihood, they've never met Ted.  If you've known the junior U.S. Senator from Texas long enough that you call him by his first name, you're not a typical voter.

And the whole convention diss/cave has proven disastrous.  If you're going to do something like that, stick with it.  If you're not going to stick with it, don't do it in the first place.

-------

Bad non-verbal communication:

This is another one that people who interact with Ted Cruz personally have trouble grasping: He doesn't come across well on TV or in a large group setting.

A lot of the time, Ted Cruz is physically tense.  HE'S LITERALLY A STIFF.  It's just part of who he is, but it's a big problem.

It's why he gives so many people (who've never met him) the heebie-jeebies.

Against a candidate like O'Rourke who, whatever his other flaws, is clearly comfortable in his own skin, this was almost fatal.

-------

An arrogant, insular, campaign:

Who gets into a two week argument with your strongest supporters over yard signs?!?

The 2018 Ted Cruz re-election campaign, that's who!!!

It would be impossible to list the number of complaints we've heard from core, longstanding, supporters over the past year.  These are the people who will bring voters to the polls on your behalf on their own time and dime.  Ted Cruz has plenty of them in Texas.

And the Cruz campaign forced them to waste time arguing with them.

-------

Failure to effectively define O'Rourke:

The Cruz campaign defined O'Rourke as an "open borders socialist."  That's not wrong.  But to the average person, it's a bunch of buzzwords.

Furthermore, those type of buzzwords only strengthened O'Rourke's connection with his own supporters.

During this campaign, we pointed out over and over and over again that O'Rourke has been nothing more than a typical Texas politician throughout his career.

Had the Cruz campaign pushed this narrative, it could have shattered the idea that O'Rourke was anything "fresh" or "new" or "post-partisan."

While Cruz's campaign did use the El Paso eminent domain story, it did so with a fraction of the effectiveness that could have been.  Imagine the wedge issue this could have been with O'Rourke's younger supporters.  O'Rourke literally used the power of government to take the houses of poor/middle income Hispanics to give to his rich Daddy-in-law.

Speaking of O'Rourke's daddy-in-law, how come we only found out that guy's worth $20 BILLION from Glenn Beck less than a week before election day?!?

It was the worst failure at defining your opponent since McCain and Obama.

-------

Borris FRIGGIN' Miles:

Obviously, this one's a personal pet peeve; it combines the insularity of the campaign with their failure to effectively define O'Rourke.

On September 24, this website discovered that O'Rourke had recently held a campaign event with Borris Miles.  Yes, THIS BORRIS MILES.  For those unaware, Borris Miles is one of the best known skeezballs in the Texas legislature (see previous hyperlink).

This was another opportunity to drive a wedge between O'Rourke and his younger supporters.  We told the Cruz campaign.  They did nothing.

Most infuriating: Ted Cruz was asked a direct question about the #MeToo movement during the final debate.

-------

Health Care Freedom:

Over the past year and a half, we have pointed out over, and over, and over, and over, and over again that Cruz was missing opportunities on health care.

When he discusses it, Ted Cruz is one of the GOP's best spokespeople on health care.

At any point during the presidential campaign, last year's Congressional debate, or this year's re-elect campaign...if Ted Cruz has put together a "health care freedom" plan, we wouldn't be in the mess we currently find ourselves.

-------

We've seen and heard (*) talk about shortcomings of various campaign staff.  There's probably some truth to some of it.  It's probably also true that a lot of is score-settling by consultants looking for future business.  Regardless, all final decisions on a campaign rest with the candidate.

* -- And EXPERIENCED (see previous section on Borris Miles).

-------

Barring some sort outside event that changes public perceptions, Ted Cruz is DONE as a presidential candidate.

-------

Bottom Line: This DISASTER was completely preventable....

#TXSen, #TexasDebate: Three Missed Opportunities for Cruz

"He who despises the word will be destroyed,
But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded."
Proverbs 13:13

Last night's debate was a bad sequel.   Both candidates regressed to stale talking points.  Following a solid opening act, the (likely) final debate was a depressing example of two people talking past each other.  Both get a "C."

Of course, a debate where the candidates hold serve benefits the status quo.  Obviously, Cruz is winning.  In that sense, Cruz accomplished everything he had to accomplish.

Still, Cruz missed several opportunities to turn this race into a blowout:

• Debt -- Perhaps the funniest part of the debate was Bobby Francis pretending to care about the national debt.  Apparently, for Bobby Francis, the national debt justifies an inefficient tax code.  Bobby Francis repeatedly cited the national debt as a reason to oppose the modest tax code streamlining that Congress passed last year.
  
  Cruz responded by talking about the relationship between economic growth and federal revenue.  Specifically, he discussed how a more efficient tax code leads to more revenue.  He's not wrong.  But it's still a complicated argument the average voter doesn't understand.
  
  Imagine, instead, if Cruz said the following: "The reason we have a $21 Trillion debt is not because the American people are taxed too little.  The reason we have a $21 Trillion national debt is because the Federal Government SPENDS TOO MUCH.  As a United States Senator, NOBODY has fought to curtail federal spending harder than I have.  Unfortunately, too many of my colleagues (in both parties) see it differently.  While that is an unfortunate reality, nothing good can come from turning a United States Senate seat over to a Congressman who never met a spending bill he didn't like."
  
  From a policy perspective, such an answer would also account for the fact that government spending stifles economic growth.

• Health Care -- Cruz did an acceptable job pointing out the shortcomings of Bobby Francis' positions, but he continues to underperform on this issue.
  
  Bobby Francis supports government run health care.  Cruz correctly discussed the cost and inevitable rationing of such folly.  Cruz even, correctly, brought up the British National Health Service.  But imagine what could have happened if Cruz had forced Bobby Francis to defend what the British NHS did to Baby Alfie.
  
  Finally, Cruz would have been wise to contrast the opportunities offered by free-market health care vs. Bobby Francis' socialist nightmare.

• #MeToo -- How many times do we have to repeat it?!?  BOBBY.  FRANCIS.  O'ROURKE.  HELD.  A.  CAMPAIGN.  EVENT.  WITH.  BORRIS.  MILES.
  
  Yes, this Borris Miles.
  
  Imagine if, in addition to the answer he gave, Cruz had contrasted how the Texas GOP dealt with Barton/Farenthold with how the D's (incl. Bobby Francis) dealt with Miles/Uresti.  Cruz's answer was fine, but this could have been a knockout blow.  Missed opportunity.
  
  The worst part is that he was asked a direct question.

Bottom Line: It was fine, but it could have been much more.

Government Official Bullies Private Citizen Exercising Their Free Speech Right

"My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent."
Proverbs 1:10

Ahem?!?

A campaign sign in Central Texas this week drew the scorn of an elected state official — and then it was confiscated by police.

At issue in the small community of Hamilton was a homemade yard sign featuring an elephant decorated in red, white and blue with its trunk up the skirt of a female saying the word “Help.” The sign said “Your vote matters.”

Other signs promoting Democrats from U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke to Agriculture Commissioner candidate Kim Olson were in the background.

This “is supposed to be Judge Kavanaugh’s young daughter,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller posted along with the photos on Facebook this week. “The Democrat sleaze knows NO bounds!”

....

Miller’s Facebook post drew attention to Stanford and her sign, prompting countless reactions, including those that called for her to be arrested.

Police did show up at her home.

Some say she was told to remove the sign or it would be confiscated. City officials said police visited Stanford’s home and she asked them to take the sign, the Dallas Morning News reported.

....

Miller posted again on Facebook that he’s happy with the result.

“I’m glad that I called out this offensive campaign sign and am pleased that hundreds of others did so as well,” he said. “It’s vulgar and just plain wrong and it had no place in someone’s yard visible from the street.

[Note: Emphasis added.]

 Miller's Original Facebook post:



Obviously, we don't agree with her characterization.  The Republican Party of Texas has the best record of any state-level party in the country at dealing with this garbage.  Ms. Stanford might want to research the fate of former Congressman Blake Farenthold and soon-to-be former Congressman Joe Barton.  She also might want to contrast RPT's record with how the Texas Democrats have handled Carlos Uresti and Borris Miles.

But, that being said, Ms. Stanford is a private citizen.  Sid Miller is a statewide elected official.  This is an obvious, clear-cut, case of constitutionally protected free speech.

To review, Sid Miller:

• Posted a picture of a private citizen's yard to a Facebook page with over 700k followers.

• Lied about the content in the picture.

• Ginned up an angry mob against a private citizen; said mob subsequently called cops on a afore mentioned private citizen.

• Tried to dictate what kind of political speech private citizens can display on private property.
• [Note: Do you even property rights, Sid Miller?!?]

This is outrageous.  It's no different than what Maxine Waters and Sheila Jackson Lee are doing nationally.  If anything, it's worse because Miller is calling for the mob to go after a private citizen.

We didn't vote for him in March and, after this, we doubt we're voting for him in November.

Bottom Line: Private citizens have free speech rights.  Private citizens also have private property rights.  Sid Miller doesn't get to direct how those rights are exercised.

#TXSEN: People who live in Glass Houses shouldn't Throw Stones

"Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."
Matthew 7:5

Took less than 5 seconds on Google.

Shot, from Friday night:

“Dr. Ford’s allegations should be investigated by the FBI. Full stop,” O’Rourke said. “There is precedent for that,” he said, referring to Anita Hill, who accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her when he was her boss at a federal agency.

Chaser, from August:

In other words: The guy going after Brett Kavanaugh over sexual misconduct allegations is doing campaign events with...BORRIS friggin' MILES?!?

We weren't the only one to notice:

Interesting decision by Beto O'Rourke to appear in Houston alongside state Sen. Borris Miles, who drew calls for his resignation last year over sexual misconduct allegations #txlege https://t.co/H7gF2b7k45

— Aman Batheja (@amanbatheja) August 11, 2018

In case you forgot:

Lauren*, a Texas legislative intern, was standing underneath the bright blue-and-red neon sign of The Continental Club, a famed Austin bar frequented by schmoozing politicians, lobbyists, and reporters.

That week in May 2013 was filled to the brim with end-of-session (“sine die”) parties, and Lauren was with a group of other interns on South Congress when Democratic state Rep. Borris Miles pulled up.

According to Lauren, Miles leaned out of the carriage he was riding in and pulled out a large roll of money. He handed “maybe $500” to an intern and then looked at Lauren.

“You know how you have the roll of hundreds that you see on TV? It was like that,” Lauren told The Daily Beast.

“I said, ‘Hi Representative, how are you?’ Then he slowly looked me up and down, counted out more money, reached out his hand and said, ‘Bitch, you want to fuck with me tonight?’

“I said ‘No, thank you’ and physically stepped back,” Lauren recalled. “I didn’t want to be rude to him. I remember his intern pacifying him and saying, ‘It’s time to go.’

“Everyone was just shocked that he said that—that he cussed at me and that he was offering me money. It was outrageous,” she continued. “I just remember thinking, ‘I need to go, and I need to not be here anymore.’”

And this:

One time, Chris said, he “witnessed [Miles] catcalling women in Downtown Austin on the way back from a Spurs game, and there had to have been at least 15 or 16 other members that were there because it was a member event.”

The Spurs had played the Lakers that April, and the lawmakers went together to San Antonio to watch one of the games. “As we’re driving back towards the W, he’s hanging out of the open door of the bus and shouting at women,” said Chris.

Chris could not recall the catcalls specifically but said, “It was not something that I would want shouted at anyone.”

Chris’ chief of staff confirmed to The Daily Beast that he heard about the alleged catcalling the next morning.

And this:

Ben*, a former staffer who recently worked in the Capitol and “spent a lot of time with Miles,” said he witnessed the then-state representative “forcibly kiss” at least one woman at the W Hotel.

“He offered to buy her a drink, kept trying to kiss her, and she kept trying to push him away,” said Ben. “He kept laughing about it.

“It was so creepy, and he had this big smile,” said Ben. “Borris loves the W Hotel, and he has a tendency to force himself upon women at bars and kiss them or grope them. He’ll tell them that he is a higher elected official than he actually is.”

....

“He also has a tendency to call women out of their name when they turn him down,” he said. “‘Bitch,’ ‘ho,’ ‘whore.’ He doesn’t like being told ‘no.’

And this:

When Heather* first covered the Texas Legislature as a journalist in 2011, she was repeatedly targeted by Miles, she told The Daily Beast in a story published last month.

Late one night when the legislature was in session, Heather was reporting on HB 400, which would have scrapped Texas’ law mandating class size ratio. Miles famously used a point of order to defeat the bill, landing him the title of Star of the 2011 Legislative Session by the Texas Classroom Teachers Association.

Heather said she had been trying to get details about the bill negotiations, when that night, around midnight, Miles cornered her in a hallway and forcibly kissed her outside the House chamber.

“It happened quickly,” Heather said, noting that Miles laughed afterward. “I think he thought it was hilarious.”

“He’d said several times already, ‘If you go out to dinner with me, I’d be happy to give you the details,’ and I’d sort of laugh it off but it was weird and obviously gross.”

You can read the full Daily Beast report here.

There you have it.

Obviously, this is not to belittle the accusations against Brett Kavanaugh.  Those accusations are serious and should be investigated in the most judicious manner possible.  Unfortunately, we suspect that the atmosphere has been so poisoned that doing so might now be impossible.

That being said, however one feels about Kavanaugh, it's impossible to deny that the accusations against Miles have significantly better sourcing.

Anybody who knows this author knows there are few things we loathe more than when serious allegations of sexual misconduct are interpreted through the lens of mindless, rank, partisanship.  This website has called for politicians from across the political spectrum [Note: Including Borris Miles!!!] to resign over this garbage.  Thus, we have little patience for grandstanding U.S. Senate candidates who theatrically call for FBI investigations while they're holding campaign events with BORRIS friggin' MILES.

Finally, a political note: We wrote last week about how the Democrats' failure to do the right things with Carlos Uresti cost them his Senate seat.  It would be fitting for them to go through the same thing a second time.  What a STUPID, completely preventable, unforced error!!!

Bottom Line: There are two possibilities.  Bobby Francis didn't know.  Or he didn't care.  Neither one is good.

Farenthold (and Barton), Uresti, and why the Texas GOP now controls ALL their seats

"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."
John 15:2

[Note: You can read our call for Barton to go here.  You can read our call for Farenthold, Miles, and Uresti to ALL go here.]

By now you've heard:

Republican Pete Flores defeated Democrat Pete Gallego on Tuesday night in the special election runoff for Senate District 19, a major upset in a Democratic-friendly seat with implications for the balance of power in the upper chamber.

With all precincts reporting, Flores beat Gallego by 6 percentage points in the race to replace convicted former state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio. Flores had 53 percent of the vote and Gallego 47 percent in unofficial returns.

Gallego conceded to Flores around 9 p.m., according to both campaigns. With the victory, Flores will become the first Hispanic Republican to serve in the Texas Senate.

There's a lot that could be said.  Obviously, Pete Flores ran a flawless campaign.  Obviously, the Texas GOP did as well.

But there's another aspect: For the second time in three months, there was a special election to fill a seat vacated by an elected official amidst a cloud of VERY sketch sexual activity.  The GOP won both.  They're also expected to hold onto the seat being vacated by Joe Barton in November.

Why is that?!?

In late November, the public learned that soon-to-be former Congressman Joe Barton had been sending lewd photos of himself around the internet.  Barton was given a chance to defend himself.  When no defense was forthcoming, the County GOP, Republican elected officials, and prominent grassroots organizations all called for Barton to go.  Then, Barton was gone within 9 days.

Within a week, the Blake Farenthold saga kicked into gear.  Once again, Farenthold was given a chance to defend himself.  Instead, it got worse.  Farenthold announced his retirement within two weeks.  Eventually, in the special election for which Farenthold stuck taxpayers with the bill, the Republican candidate won.

By contrast, the first (recent) report about Carlos Uresti came out in early November (ie. two weeks BEFORE we heard anything about Barton).  The second report came out in early December.  This, of course, is on top of video evidence from 2015:



The Democrats chose to rally around Uresti.  Not a single Senator called on him to resign.  What makes this more astonishing is that Uresti was already up to his eyeballs in financial corruption charges.

So Uresti limped forward into his corruption trial.  During that trial, we learned there was yet another sleazy sexual component to Uresti's activity.  Eventually, Uresti was convicted.  It was only at that point that Democrats called on him to resign.

Uresti still held on until June.  Even then, he only left to lighten his sentence.  For those keeping track at home, that's eight months (or two years and eight months) between the first credible reports of misconduct on Uresti's part and when he left office.

Then the GOP won the special election.  The ironic this is that, had the Democrats cut Uresti loose when the first reports emerged, they wouldn't have been on the hook during his trial.  But they didn't.

The contrast speaks for itself.

This is not to say that the Texas GOP has been fully cleaned out.  More work remains.  But there's a different between persistent rumors and actionable evidence.  And the Texas GOP has the best record of any state level political party in the country of cleaning house once actionable evidence emerges.

While we're on the subject of the party contrast, let's not forget who else is still running around the legislature like nothing ever happened:

I'm in Austin today for a Natural Resources Committee hearing to fight for Houston's share of dollars to combat illegal dumping. I'm also seeking answers and solutions to the problems with the Blue Ridge Landfill in Fort Bend County. #txlege #sd13 #fortbend #houston pic.twitter.com/FPP7KZiGeb

— Borris Miles (@BorrisLMiles) September 5, 2018

Bottom Line: The contrast speaks for itself....