Texas primaries 2022: A few thoughts from up on the Red

Updated with TRULY strange new information.

In House District 68, incumbent David Spiller is being challenged by blooming permacandidate Craig Carter, and some smaller ones. But? That's likely changing soon, at least as far as a viable challenge. Carter was recently arrested on the north end of Fort Worth. Charge? A biggie. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Sadly, it doesn't stop there. Not even close. Carter now claims there's a criminal conspiracy behind the arrest. AND, it doesn't stop THERE. In that same piece, he ALSO claims that said criminal conspiracy is behind the serious accident a year ago that killed his daughter and mother-in-law and seriously injured his son-in-law.

Here's the actuality of that accident. Here's the reality of who caused it and how. I don't know if his claims above are some weird throw-off of mourning, or just worse.

Craig Carter needs a LOT of psychiatric help, it's clear. Sadly, this might make him more attractive to some voters in this area.

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And now, the original post.

Presuming he wins the general as well as the primary, it will be relatively nice to be represented by Michael Burgess rather than Ronny Jackson. Burgess has five primary challengers. Had to go snoop around to find that. Texas SoS as of Wednesday had no info on CD 26, or CD 25, for that matter. Burgess had a general election challenger two years ago in a contested Dem primary; no L or G challengers.

Drew Springer appears to have no opposition in his run in SD 30, period. Democrats list one candidate, but status is "rejected." No idea on Libertarians, and surely no Greens.

That said, remember when Libertarians once boasted of candidates in every state Senate district? They didn't have one in the SD 30 special election. Nor have they ever primaried every Congressional District. They never primaried Mac Thornberry when he had CD 13. Jackson, as a newcomer, would have seemed an easier target, but nobody jumped in there, either.

So, you may be bigger than Greens, Texas Libertarians, but that doesn't say a lot and you're slipping backward, by that token.

Cooke County actually has a Dem running for county judge. That's better than neighboring Grayson County to the west, over 100K and theoretically getting more trickle-up from the Metromess, where no donkey could be troubled to run.

The most interesting race in chess board terms is, of course, the GOP's AG primary. I'll give 50 percent odds it goes to a runoff, but no more than that. I'll also give 50 percent odds that Eva Guzman, with her "clean campaign" attempt, is NOT one of the two in that runoff, unless she changes up her race. Especially with Gohmert Pyle now in the mess, most of the oxygen is being sucked out unless she creates some of her own.

It used to be easier to nose around GOP and Dem state websites for this info. Not today. I couldn't even find "filed candidates" links or menus. The Greens do post candidates as straight news on the website. The Libertarians don't. 

And, thank doorknobs it does! Because now I know already NOT TO VOTE for Green gubernatorial candidate Delilah Barrios, at least as of this moment. I have little love lost myself for Robert Francis O'Rourke, but if part of why she doesn't like Beto is "Attacks on 2nd Amendment rights," then I want nothing to do with her. First, even though he said he's not repudiating his "we're going to take your AK-47," he surely doesn't mean that 100 percent literally.

And, what if he did? I still believe in a "corporate" interpretation of the Second Amendment, with the "well regulated militia" clause governing. So did the Supreme Court, before Heller. And, an AK-47, at least on full auto, has zero non-military purpose. And, I don't give a fuck for what SCOTUS has said from Heller onward.

I Tweeted her Wednesday night to ask exactly what she means. If I have it before this goes live, you'll get it. And, as of late Thursday night, as I finished this up, she hadn't responded, though a liberal Democrat friend had retweeted it. That said, if David Bruce Collins is part of her campaign staff, I would think he saw the tweet, or else, this one:

Oh for fuck sake.

While I have not a lot of love lost for Beto, if Texas Greens' gubernatorial candidate Delilah Barrios dislikes him because "Attacks on 2nd Amendment rights," I sure as hell ain't voting for her .@TXGreens #GunControlNowhttps://t.co/e9MRWUV2vs

— Crushes Xi Jinping Thought Kool-Aid peddlers 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) December 16, 2021

And, it's meant. And, her platform makes this more clear. Yet elsewhere, she says she wants more restrictions on the gun purchasing process and that she supports the buyback of assault weapons. So, we're in the land of either actually foolish inconsistency, or one of hypocrisy.

And, update Dec. 23, it looks like Barrios is also an antivaxxer or fellow traveler, as well as a gun nut of fellow traveler.

Green Party Assembles Circular Firing Squad With its Support of Mandated COVID-19 Jabs https://t.co/hY9mKQU8pJ via @CovertActionMag

— DelilahForTexas💚☮🌻🌎 (@DelilahforTexas) December 21, 2021

Having seen other dissident Greens spew scads of misinformation over this issue, I suspect she does, too. The link she posts is full of other nuttery, with claims that the likes of COINTELPRO infiltrated the GP's Steering Committee. 

(Other "dissident Greens" are touting, of course, ivermectin and HCQ, and of course, even more stereotypical Green claims like vitamins and herbs.) With Barrios being a health care professional, though exactly in what capacity (a CNA can be a "health care professional") if she's in agreement with this quackery, it's worse yet.

And, no, vax mandates aren't racist. Hours of operation may not be perfect, but when Walmart and your local grocery story have been offering vaccines for a year, Blacks and Browns have had opportunity. As for the "indemnified pharmaceutical industry"? That saved it from being bankrupted by autism-pseudoscience antivaxxers.

And, with these addenda, I smell a separate blog post about just Barrios coming up after the new year.

That's especially as I see a "third strike" on the "she says" link ... that's transgender vs transsexual, and how that all plays out in various ways.

So far, I know that the Greens are running Barrios for governor and emerging perma-candidate, youth division, Hunter Crow for the RRC. Update that: Alfred Molison is listed as running for land commish.

So, "congrats," Texas Greens, or rather, congrats Molison, so I can vote for somebody running for statewide office.

As far as the gov race in general, 2018 Green of convenience is the only Dem I recognize off the top of my head in that primary besides Beto. And, Texas Libertarians' top candidate is "Taxation is theft" Dum Fuq Dan Behrman. As I said above? Texas Libertarians, you're moving backward.

But, Behrman isn't even the looniest candidate in the local election mix.