Three-Point Shots, Vol. 2, No. 1: February 16, 2024
March Primary Madness, Murder on the Dance Floor, Springer Agonistes, and the Little Grocer That Could. As a special bonus, I cover four topics in today’s Three-Point Shots. But don't get used to it.
Welcome to my Life Its Ownself newsletter. Please support us by 1) hitting the Like button at the bottom of this installment, 2) subscribing to this newsletter, and 3) recommending it to others. Also, feel free to comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
But first, your moment of Zen … the setting sun kisses the Del Norte Mountains outside of Marathon on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2024.
Friday, February 16, 2024, 11:00 a.m.
Get Out and Vote!
This spring’s primaries – early voting begins next Tuesday – are your chance to prove that the adage “all politics is local” still matters, even in a political culture where every election is nationalized. You want to be a city councilmember? – what is your position on immigration? You want to be a library board member? – what is your position on Taylor Swift?
There’s not much statewide drama in the March 5 primary ballot. There’s no meaningful presidential primary in either party. None of the key statewide offices – governor, lite guv, A.G. – are up this year.
The most contested statewide primaries on the Republican side are for three seats on the Court of Criminal Appeals, a result of Disgraced Attorney General Ken Paxton’s vendetta against CCA justices who ruled, correctly, that he does not have authority to prosecute voter fraud cases without the approval of local D.A.s.
Among the Democrats, the most visible statewide primary is for the nomination to the US Senate seat currently held by the wildly popular Ted Cruz. The two leading Democratic candidates are US Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas and State Senator Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio. The Texas Standard radio news journal has done brief interviews with Allred here and Gutierrez here. There are other candidates for the Senate seat, but these two seem to have gobbled up most of the attention – and money.
It gets more interesting, though, with the local state House and Senate races. On the GOP side, the main storyline is the efforts by Governor Greg Abbott and the aforementioned disgrace Ken Paxton to punish their political enemies by intervening with endorsements and money in their primaries. And, for good measure, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has endorsed a slew of other challengers to incumbent GOP House members, an astonishing breach of how things used to work.
(Phelan, Abbott, Paxton and Patrick -- would you buy a used car from any of these men?)
Their #1 target is House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont, where Dan Patrick is airing a TV ad touting his endorsement (and Donald Trump’s) for Phelan challenger David Covey.
It’s getting spicy. Last night, former Governor Rick Perry headlined a big rally for Phelan in Beaumont. Perry defended Phelan’s practice of appointing committee chairs of both parties, a tradition at least a generation old and one practiced, Perry noted, by Dan Patrick himself. For his part, Phelan defended the House’s impeachment of Ken Paxton, saying, “He can do what he wants to do but when you have one-party rule for three decades, you’ve got to hold each other accountable.”
There’s also some action on the Democratic side. House veteran Victoria Neave Criado is taking on Senator Nathan Johnson for a Dallas-area seat, and there are numerous House seats, both open and with an incumbent, that are contested. For a review of those matchup, check out Michelle H. Davis’s Lone Star Left newsletter on Substack.
There are also local elections – city councils, school boards, judges and J.P.s – so check your local information and vote like it’s YOUR country – because it is!
It's a Murder on the Dance Floor, But You Better Not Kill the Groove
I’ve written about a scenario where Abbott, Patrick, or both end up in Washington upon the Restoration of the Orange Mad King. I believe the scenario is very unlikely, which begs the question: what if Abbott and Patrick both try to eliminate Phelan, and fail?
The general rule used to be that Lieutenant Governors stayed out of House races and Speakers stayed out of Senate races. The Governor supported his or her party’s nominees, but largely stayed out of primaries.
But 30 years of one-party rule in Texas have dimmed memories and erased the rules carved on the walls of the Capitol.
Over the past year, relationships among the Big Three were as bad as they’ve been in living memory. What if – as is most likely the case, IMHO – Abbott, Patrick and Phelan are all in the same roles next January when the Lege meets? As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, paraphrasing Machiavelli’s The Prince, “When you strike at a king, you must kill him.” But Phelan is likely to still be the Speaker next session.
Given a once-in-a-lifetime $32 billion surplus, the Lege badly underperformed last session. They did not pass vouchers, Abbott’s signature issue. They passed some bad, and possibly unconstitutional, bills on immigration. And that’s about it. How much worse will the 2025 regular session be?
Drew Springer Has a Moment of Conscience, Stands Up for Accountability
Some of you may remember the, in hindsight, totally predictable outcome of Ken Paxton’s impeachment last September: he was acquitted by the lockstep votes of 18 GOP senators, helped along by a $3 million payment to the trial’s presiding officer, Dan Patrick. Now one of them, having decided to retire in the meantime, thinks they should re-open the case.
Drew Springer represents a district that stretches from the northern D-FW suburbs to Wichita Palls. A House member before he was a senator, he’s a reliably conservative vote on every issue. And he voted with the majority of his colleagues to acquit Paxton on each and every one of the 16 impeachment charges.
Paxton, you recall, in a desperate bid to avoid being deposed in the whistleblower case against him, announced to the court last month that he was no longer contesting any of the terrible things they said about him – which were the basis for the impeachment charges. He asked the court to enter judgment against him and cancel the deposition.
The thing is, it just bothers him. It’s stuck in his craw, as they say. How’s that supposed to work? asked Springer. If he’s essentially pleading guilty to all the impeachment charges, shouldn’t we re-open the trial?
At this stage, and the point of this letter, I am asking the Senate whether there is a legal mechanism to reopen the impeachment proceedings. Failure to at least consider this possibility runs the risk of AG Paxton making a mockery of the Texas Senate.
(The sad irony of Springer’s position is that, according to reports of the internal deliberations among the senators, they had 20 votes to convict on at least one charge – but not the magic 21 votes needed. A Springer vote to convict might could have made all the difference.)
Paxton, liberated by the Senate verdict from having to give a damn what anyone thinks, was his usual statesmanlike self in response to Springer’s letter: “Springer has to leave the senate because he was such a bad senator, wasn’t going to get re-elected, and needed a job," Paxton said. "Why should anyone listen to his sour grapes?"
This is the problem with corruption. First you ignore it. Then, you excuse it. Then you have it rubbed in your face by the corrupt but seemingly untouchable official.
Meanwhile, Paxton’s deposition is on hold at least until the end of the month, thanks to the Texas Supreme Court. But the trial court judge still wants him deposed, reasoning that “Paxton and his agency had not admitted guilt in the case and therefore could not be subject to a judgment that would include monetary damages and lawyer fees.”
And here we see yet another problem with corruption. Absent a justification for its actions, the Texas Supreme Court – all of whose members are Republicans – cannot defend itself from the charge that it takes orders from Donald Trump and his loathsome ilk. This undermines respect for and confidence in the judicial institutions of our state.
Unfortunately, in Texas, that’s just the way it is.
Save the French Co. Grocer! Save the World!
Faithful readers of this Substack know that I spend as much time as I can in the idyllic town of Marathon, Texas, and recently bought a house there. One of the anchors of our community is the French Co. Grocer.
Started in 1900 by William French, the store has had multiple incarnations. But when Sam Stavinoha bought the business in 2019, he took it up several notches. He expanded the store’s inventory of food, camping gear and other necessities. He brought in fresh produce and significantly increased the menu of sandwiches, tacos, burritos, coffees and other goodies prepared in-house. Most importantly, he turned the place into the community’s hub, creating a picnic area in the back and sponsoring weekly Burger Nights, monthly Gospel brunches, and special events like movie premieres and an annual John Prine tribute concert.
(The community gathers at a Burger Night last summer.)
Now the lease on the property is expiring and Sam is leading an effort to move the iconic business to another location in Marathon. Life Its Ownself is not about raising money for causes, even good ones, but I ask you to go to their GoFundMe page and contribute if you can.
Your weekend reading:
… Texas Monthly has this profile of GOP megadonor and MAGA-adjacent Dark Lord Tim Dunn.
… Nikki Haley is on the GOP ballot in Texas on March 5 – and she’s hoping lightning strikes in the Lone Star State.
Springer's do-over request brings to mind the fellow who tells a friend, "Wish I'd a known you was moving. My truck and I are available...Well, perhaps next time."
Wonderful!!!