Election – The Other Side Dallas

May 2, 2021May 2, 2021

Keep Dallas Safe Unable To Protect Eric Johnson

Keep Dallas Safe (KDS) failed in spectacular fashion at protecting the political strength of Eric Johnson as polls closed on the Dallas City Council election.

While not directly linked, observers noted that KDS was pushing candidates supportive of Eric Johnson’s agenda including pushing out current city council incumbents Jaime Resensez (D5), Adam Bazaldua (D7), and Paula Blackmon (D9).

They sent multiple mailers which some described as “klanlike” and direct from “MAGA World” – a reference to previous support for Donald Trump.

In District 5, Mayor Johnson supported Yolanda Williams who came in third missing the run off, and in District 7 he supported Donald Parish Jr., who also had the endorsements of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson and State Senator Royce West.

(West has ties to a prominent Trump financial backer and was pushed by potential opponent John Cornyn in his runoff with MJ Hegar.)

Keep Dallas Safe – Another North Dallas Astroturf Operation?

Earlier this year, Dallas Observer noted Daniel Taylor was linked to a similar astroturf operation in New Orleans where actors were paid to attend public meetings.

In the Dallas City Council elections, Keep Dallas Safe also opposed Paula Blackmon who easily cruised to re-election against two opponents avoiding a run off in Elections 2021. They also chose to attack Jaynie Schultz in D11.

It is unclear how active KDS will be involved with run offs in District 7 and District 11. The other major winner was Chad West who also won his re-election easily.

One campaign staff member stated they were already gearing up for his mayoral run in two years. West has been increasingly outspoken including taking exception with staff over COVID19 vaccine rollouts. Given Johnson’s recent record, there are rumors he may not run for re-election.

November 11, 2020November 11, 2020

Did “We Did It”?

“We Did It” was the message of the Dallas County Democratic Party, but local election results are not as clear. The Dallas party seems to be claiming wins that do not exist.

The winning message came out just hours after US House Candidate Candace Valenzuela conceded defeat in her run for Congress (TX24) and local results were not much better.

As noted last week, it took hours for the circular firing squad to begin as to why Joanna Cattanach and Brandy Chambers won their guaranteed races. Additionally, while Texas Democrats said they would be putting Texas in play for Joe Biden, one of their designates for the Electoral College is former tax fraud felon Terri Hodge.

“We Did It” In TX24 Doesn’t Get Across Finish Line

After days of tallying votes across three counties, Democrat Candace Valenzuela has conceded the race for Texas’ 24th Congressional District.

In a concession speech posted on YouTube, Valenzuela said she is ending her campaign “after a thorough count of the votes.” She thanked supporters for helping to build momentum around her campaign, which came close to flipping this historically red district.

“Most importantly, we have forced the gatekeepers of the political process to reimagine who belongs at the table,” Valenzuela said.

November 4, 2020November 4, 2020

Dallas Democrat Insiders Start Circular Firing Squad

Democrat insiders response to Dallas County election 2020 results were fast and the response was painful.

As noted in July there were several obstacles to flipping Texas blue, but the biggest obstacle per some Dallas County Democrats is party leasdership.

Local Congressional Democrats won their races easily, including first term Rep. Colin Allred who is facing an ethics inquiry and Rep. Marc Veasey who withstood an independent challenge from his left by Carlos Quintanilla, but state house races expected to flip the state house blue never materialized.

Hope MJ Hegar would help flip Texas blue also ended quickly election night, but many point to state senator Royce West’s unwillingness to publicly support his runoff opponent until too late in the process.

Democrat Insiders Blame Candidates and Carol Donovan

Carol Donovan was the focus of one East Dallas Precinct Chair’s ire.

“Donovan continues to promote certain candidates which have been tried and tested and failed,” said the precinct chair.

“She does not know how to get our of her own way and get a serious ground game organized” the precinct chair continued.

These references were not obligque though. Both this precinct chair and another in Dallas called out the party focus on Joanna Cattanach and Brandy Chambers as examples of where the party had gone wrong.

The two candidates have combined for five races with zero victories outside the primary cycle.

Per Dallas County Elections, Cattanach has lost the 2020 race to Morgan Meyer her three time opponent. She underperformed Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 race locally and the margin of loss grew again in 2020 when Democratic turnout was higher than ever.

As recently as a month ago, one precinct leader noted that Cattanach had returned campaign contributions to a Democratic fundraiser because he had worked for a primary opponent previously despite being in a race which would be close.

In Garland, Brandy Chambers second race has narrowed to what will be a 200 vote loss to Angie Chen Button out of nearly 69,000 votes cast.

Chambers meanwhile was described as a “lazy, day drinker” by a former field staffer. Her campaign team was seeking a primary opponent against her prior to the December 2019 primary filing deadline per another source.

July 20, 2020July 20, 2020

School Election Equity or School Election Lies?

The school election coming up for the Dallas ISD bond is sure to be a major issue on the November ballot. Dallas ISD leadership is sparing no expense to make sure they come out on top of a shaky financial vote.

Dallas ISD’s Racial Equity Office (REO) recently tweeted and put up a page saying they want to “ensure the district’s Bond 2020 plan includes help for neighborhoods most impacted by poverty and economic disinvestment.” If this sounds familiar, it should. It is the same old tune they play every time they come to taxpayers for money.

School Election Upcoming Includes Call For New Bond

Dallas ISD’s Racial Equity Office team is conducting a series of community conversations to collect input from neighborhood residents on the design of four student and family resource centers, i.e. they are selling a product that voters are not even funding yet in hopes of getting your credit card number in the November election.

If voters approve, the resource centers will be constructed with a portion of the district’s proposed Bond 2020 funds. They would be located in neighborhoods served by H. Grady Spruce, Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and L.G. Pinkston high schools–four areas of the city long affected by historical redlining, segregation and economic disinvestment.

Residents are urged to attend the meetings to suggest ideas and offer input about the resource centers. They are also asked to discuss potential social services that might be offered.

Dallas ISD claims their goal is to improve student academic achievement and increase opportunities for student success – but that would seem to start in the classroom which is getting short changed by this bond. Additionally, Dallas ISD has previously not fulfilled its previous bond packages in the same way advertised.

As we wrote last week, Dallas ISD is full speed ahead on Bond 2020 and a financial package that may be very hard to support with unknown state resources and a local impact of COVID19 not fully realized. There are also no clear answers to questions raised by the former Dallas ISD Chief Internal Auditor about previous bond questions.

School Election

The Dallas ISD Calendar includes a call for the local election on November 3, 2020. It was originally scheduled for May 22, but was delayed due to COVID19.

Voters will have the chance to vote on Trustees in Districts 2, 6, and 8.

Citizens can register to vote or check their registration status through Dallas County Elections.