Lina Hidalgo

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,706]

She won as Harris County's top elected official at age 27 over a relatively admired, 3-term Republican. Basically Harris County had enough with the Republican Party in 2018 so out he went and an unknown Lina took over. The diff was 1.5%. Close race.

Hidalgo has done a good job but not perfect. On the bad side, the county has been slow to act in catching up on trials since Harvey and that should have been made a priority. Whether in getting facilities back online faster and hiring more attorneys. However I know enough in the private sector that it's easier said than done to hire competent staff in any industry right now.

Mealer, the GOP candidate surprisingly won the Chronicle's endorsement this year. Her main talking point is the rise in crime.  Predictably she's overinflating the problem but crime is the main concern of citizens. Smart of her. 

Harris County could see a slight fall back to the right given state and national politics. The race is definitely even money.

[Js1 86,926]

4 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

On the bad side, the county has been slow to act in catching up on trials since Harvey and that should have been made a priority. Whether in getting facilities back online faster and hiring more attorneys. However I know enough in the private sector that it's easier said than done to hire competent staff in any industry right now.

Mealer, the GOP candidate surprisingly won the Chronicle's endorsement this year. Her main talking point is the rise in crime.  Predictably she's overinflating the problem but crime is the main concern of citizens. Smart of her. 

None of which the county judge has control over.  Take it up with the lege who won’t create new courts in the county. 

The developers hate Lina because of her attempts to actually mitigate flooding in the county.  Mealer is backed by developers and Mattress MAGA. 

The GOP commissioners are trying to sink her by negotiating the new budget in bad faith, lying and then not showing for work

Mealer will get nothing of substance done on “crime.” In fact, the HC endorsement even says so! She blanketed the county with her green signs bc she doesn’t want to be associates with the GOP brand (red) 

[elfenix 34,658]

we've had 1 new criminal district court in 20+ years. 

mealer also will help gut education to whatever extent she can:

https://www.chron.com/politics/article/lina-hidalgo-texas-alexandra-mealer-17507623.php

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/24/politics/texas-far-right-politics-invs/index.html

 

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,706]

6 minutes ago, elfenix said:

we've had 1 new criminal district court in 20+ years. 

mealer also will help gut education to whatever extent she can:

https://www.chron.com/politics/article/lina-hidalgo-texas-alexandra-mealer-17507623.php

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/24/politics/texas-far-right-politics-invs/index.html

 

 

Has the Texas govt. done anything to specifically help Harris County/Houston since the 90s except when necessary to help other counties?

Honesty, it probably helps Harris County a tiny bit to have Harris County GOP leadership so that Abbott or Patrick will take the phone call when the county judge calls.

Still straight Dem ticket voter here.

[smuggs 9,394]

Lina's grown her awesome curly hair out and it get's my motor running.

 

[elfenix 34,658]

13 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Has the Texas govt. done anything to specifically help Harris County/Houston since the 90s except when necessary to help other counties?

Honesty, it probably helps Harris County a tiny bit to have Harris County GOP leadership so that Abbott or Patrick will take the phone call when the county judge calls.

Still straight Dem ticket voter here.

george p bush distributing $0 in hurricane relief money to harris county because doing so would hurt flood control efforts and therefore the party in power (democrats) wouldn't have happened if ed and co were still in the hot seat, true.  but the fact that the GOP runs this state like putin's russia is no reason to vote for republicans. 

[wildcat09 29,556]

Lina is cool and good. Mealer likes to hang out with guys who harass children at libraries, among other lunatics. This is not a tough choice.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,706]

5 minutes ago, elfenix said:

george p bush distributing $0 in hurricane relief money to harris county because doing so would hurt flood control efforts and therefore the party in power (democrats) wouldn't have happened if ed and co were still in the hot seat, true.  but the fact that the GOP runs this state like putin's russia is no reason to vote for republicans. 

my favorite is when Texas passes laws that only apply restrictions with counties greater 1m population. 

[Dnaguy 12,572]

23 minutes ago, smuggs said:

Lina's grown her awesome curly hair out and it get's my motor running.

 

Rude

[gmr548 16,681]

I've been wanting to see polls on this race. I really have no idea what to make of it. Harris County was Biden +13 and Hegar +8.5 in 2020. Even taking the latter as the true partisan baseline - which I think is probably accurate given that Trump was on the top of the ballot - that feels like it should be almost impossible for the GOP to win a countywide election. There's absolutely more vocal Maeler support than there was Trump or Cornyn, though that could just be that it's more socially acceptable to throw up a green Maeler sign than a very polarizing Trump sign. And I imagine the crime messaging will have an impact, even if a lot of it is disinformation as has been pointed out above (and by the Chronicle in their own endorsement lol).

[elfenix 34,658]

12 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

my favorite is when Texas passes laws that only apply restrictions with counties greater 1m population. 

trying to read through the property code provisions controlling home owners association powers is like a bad logic problem.  "if you're a county with between 150,000 people and 250,000 people with a contiguous boundary with a county with 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 people then X"

[SydneyCarton 49,323]

Big Lina fan. I expect mealer to win by 5+

[Js1 86,926]

Just now, gmr548 said:

I've been wanting to see polls on this race. I really have no idea what to make of it. Harris County was Biden +13 and Hegar +8.5 in 2020. Even taking the latter as the true partisan baseline - which I think is probably accurate given that Trump was on the top of the ballot - that feels like it should be almost impossible for the GOP to win a countywide election. There's absolutely more vocal Maeler support than there was Trump or Cornyn, though that could just be that it's more socially acceptable to throw up a green Maeler sign than a very polarizing Trump sign. And I imagine the crime messaging will have an impact, even if a lot of it is disinformation as has been pointed out above (and by the Chronicle in their own endorsement lol).

FYI - I believe Mealer got a sizable donation to print her signs and put them everywhere.

There's been very few polling done on this race.  September's UH/TSU poll was 52-42 Lina (48-47 in July).  A partisan PAC poll (Defend Texas Liberty PAC) had it 48-44 Mealer, but partisan polling like that isn't very good.   Texas doesn't do registration by party, but that poll had it 38 D, 34 R, 28 I.  Which is...I dunno.

[WBT 20,879]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Mattress MAGA

Lulz. 

It was quite jolting when he started running ads for Mealer.  I don't remember him ever doing anything political.  I guess he's old and rich enough and thinks he has enough goodwill to not give af anymore about the impact on his bottom line.  His new crimestopper ads, some of them with crypt-keeper-like Dave Ward, are strange too.  And all of them are filmed in the store so that they start out looking like a regular old GF ad.

Edited October 18, 2022 by WBT

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,706]

Just now, WBT said:

Lulz. 

It was quite jolting when he started running ads for Mealer.  I don't remember him ever doing anything political.  I guess he's old and rich enough and thinks he has enough goodwill to not give af anymore about the impact on his bottom line.  His new crimestopper ads, some of them with crypt-keeper like Dave Ward, are strange too.  And all of them are filmed in the store so that they start out looking like a regular old GF ad.

One of the Mealer ads has Mack and Dave Ward. As you said, Dave Ward isn't looking the best. He's wearing an Astro TV shirt under a jacket. There is an onscreen warning that the viewer should not consider that an Astros endorsement of Mealer. 

Mack has taken a considerable turn to the right in recent years. 

[SydneyCarton 49,323]

9 minutes ago, WBT said:

Lulz. 

It was quite jolting when he started running ads for Mealer.  I don't remember him ever doing anything political.  I guess he's old and rich enough and thinks he has enough goodwill to not give af anymore about the impact on his bottom line.  His new crimestopper ads, some of them with crypt-keeper-like Dave Ward, are strange too.  And all of them are filmed in the store so that they start out looking like a regular old GF ad.

As Eddie said, MAGA isn't a stretch and he has been quite political since Trump. 

[wildcat09 29,556]

16 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

I've been wanting to see polls on this race. I really have no idea what to make of it. Harris County was Biden +13 and Hegar +8.5 in 2020. Even taking the latter as the true partisan baseline - which I think is probably accurate given that Trump was on the top of the ballot - that feels like it should be almost impossible for the GOP to win a countywide election. There's absolutely more vocal Maeler support than there was Trump or Cornyn, though that could just be that it's more socially acceptable to throw up a green Maeler sign than a very polarizing Trump sign. And I imagine the crime messaging will have an impact, even if a lot of it is disinformation as has been pointed out above (and by the Chronicle in their own endorsement lol).

The Chronicle’s endorsement was one of the weirdest things I’ve read in a long time. They basically entirely debunked their reasons for supporting her while endorsing her.

[Js1 86,926]

Just now, wildcat09 said:

The Chronicle’s endorsement was one of the weirdest things I’ve read in a long time. They basically entirely debunked their reasons for supporting her while endorsing her.

It made no sense at all! 

[HRSchenker 2,331]

Does the chronicle endorsement have any weight? They endorsed the Republican in 2018 and Lina squeezed out the win thanks to the Libertarian getting 2%

[wildcat09 29,556]

4 minutes ago, HRSchenker said:

Does the chronicle endorsement have any weight? They endorsed the Republican in 2018 and Lina squeezed out the win thanks to the Libertarian getting 2%

No idea. It seems to me it might with moderate white women who hate the GOP because of Roe but get overly scared about "crime," but I don't know if any of that crowd really pays attention to newspaper endorsements any more. Mealer having signs fucking everywhere probably sways them more than a Chronicle endorsement.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,706]

The Chronicle endorsement could give some liberal votes pause to at least want to know more about Mealer. IMO. 

it’s not a positive for Hidalgo that mealer has the endorsement. 

[kevwun 16,269]

Dave Ward looks like he doesn't know where he's at in the ad with Mack.

[Js1 86,926]

5 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

The Chronicle endorsement could give some liberal votes pause to at least want to know more about Mealer. IMO. 

it’s not a positive for Hidalgo that mealer has the endorsement. 

They also endorsed Dan Crenshaw a cycle or two back, so clearly HC is ass, my dude.

They have such a hardon for "moderate" "normal" Republicans. 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Js1

[WBT 20,879]

Here's the endorsement for those that haven't seen it

Spoiler

It was the first time they’d been in the same room debating the issues and during one particularly tense exchange in their interview before the editorial board, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo turned to her Republican challenger, Alexandra del Moral Mealer, and told her sternly, “if you want to be county judge, you need to be able to listen.”

It’s true that Mealer, a West Point graduate and a former Army captain who commanded hundreds in Afghanistan — not to mention a mom of two toddlers — can come off as combative, talking over others and, during our 90-minute screening, interjecting numerous times as Hidalgo responded to questions. But where it counts, particularly on the issue of crime, Mealer seems to be listening to many in our community who otherwise feel unheard: crime victims and their families.

Hidalgo would do well to follow her own advice.

We have always appreciated the dynamic mix of wonkishness and progressive optimism of Harris County’s first Latina judge. She’s an inspiration to many and, if given the choice, we’d rather live in Hidalgo’s vision of Harris County, where government is inclusive, transparent and ethical, policy isn’t tainted by politics, the air is cleaner, the streets are safer, more children can attend pre-K, and climate change is treated with the urgency it deserves.

But vision isn’t always reality.

On some of these issues, Hidalgo has made good on her promises, including fairness in distributing Harvey funding on a “worst-first” basis and investments in badly needed air monitors in polluted neighborhoods and early childhood education. She put the lives of residents first during the pandemic, standing up to bullying state leaders to implement mask requirements and other COVID-19 protocols. She handled disasters imperfectly but with poise and a clear head, calling Winter Storm Uri for what it was — “a Category 5 hurricane” — long before state leaders acknowledged its potential magnitude. She counts among her bipartisan accomplishments working with Land Commissioner George P. Bush to secure $750 million in Harvey funding after an initial snub.

“I didn’t sign up to be a wartime county judge,” Hidalgo told us. “But I’ve dealt with flood, fire, pandemic, winter storm, now monkeypox. I’m very proud of the way I’ve steered the county through that.”

In other areas, Hidalgo has disappointed. The woman who campaigned on high ethical standards had three staffers indicted for allegedly steering an $11 million contract toward a Democratic operative. Hidalgo says the indictments are meritless and politically motivated but some evidence is compelling and one of the indicted staffers still sits behind her at Commissioners Court meetings. She has supported hiring unqualified Democrats for key positions, including the elections administrator, Isabel Longoria, who botched the primaries with delays and 10,000 uncounted mail-in ballots — mostly belonging to Democrats. To her credit, Hidalgo promptly called for Longoria’s resignation but why was someone so lacking in election experience ever trusted with the newly created, high-stakes position?

Our gravest concerns, though, involve Hidalgo’s failure to respond with urgency to Harris County’s crime wave. In a county where more than two-thirds of likely voters list public safety as the most important issue in this race, it weighed heavily on our decision.

Even for those of us whose neighborhoods aren’t aglow in flashing police lights, the seemingly infinite ticker tape of suspect mug shots on the 10 o’clock news has us looking over our shoulders and praying that the next road rage incident won’t target our families.

While Harris County is far from the most dangerous place in the country, as Republican hyperbole would have it, it has seen a surge in violent crime and particularly in homicides, which totaled 632 last year. The county jail is in crisis, overflowing with more than 10,000 inmates, with frequent spasms of violence, reported deaths, rapes and other assaults leaving inmates and jail staff alike fearing for their lives.

Mercifully, violent crime is currently declining and even at its peak, criminologists ranked Houston’s murder rate in the middle of the pack among major cities. Last year’s rate in unincorporated Harris County stayed flat at about 5 killings per 100,000 people.

Statistics, of course, mean little to those such as Paul Castro, a middle school principal who was thrust into the spotlight and into the role of criminal justice watchdog after his son David, a 17-year-old National Merit Scholar and Altuve devotee, was gunned down by a repeat violent offender during a road rage incident on their way home from an Astros game.

Castro, who calls himself a “cast-in-the-wool Democrat,” says he made the tough decision to split his ticket this year, voting against Republicans on the state level and against Hidalgo locally, largely due to her insufficient action on crime.

“We need solutions, not platitudes right now. I don’t see Hidalgo working with the community to resolve that problem,” Castro told the editorial board this week. “I don’t think she’s a bad person. I just don’t think she deserves to be a leader in this position in 2022.”

He says Mealer invited him for coffee before the primary and she seemed earnest but his decision to endorse her came only recently, when Hidalgo and her staff failed to follow-up as promised after an in-person meeting more than a month ago.

“People took notes, wrote things down in their fancy notebooks, but no one ever followed up. Not an email, not a phone call. Nothing,” he said. “I think part of it is they don’t have an answer.”

We concur with Castro’s biggest criticism of Hidalgo’s record on crime: she hasn’t prioritized clearing the courthouse backlog dating back to Harvey, which is the single biggest threat to public safety because it delays trials — and justice — sometimes for years in thousands of cases, including those involving repeat violent offenders, who often remain free while their cases slog through the system. Even strong cases become harder to prosecute as evidence ages and memories fade.

Hidalgo didn’t cause the backlog, which was exacerbated by the pandemic. Her title is “judge” but she has no control over courtroom decisions on bail that have made headlines. She certainly isn’t to blame for the provision in the Texas Constitution that guarantees virtually every defendant, even those with violent criminal records, an initial right to bail. This board believes pre-trial detention decisions should be based on a defendant’s risk to the community, not on ability to pay cash bail, but only state lawmakers could initiate that kind of reform — not Hidalgo. As the county’s executive, her power rests in her control of county purse strings.

While Hidalgo and her fellow Democrats point toward investments in visiting judges and funds for the district attorney’s office, it clearly hasn’t been enough to get things moving.

Why not use some of the one-time federal COVID funds to pay overtime, clear clogs in processing forensics, analyzing body-cam footage or bringing in even more visiting judges to handle emergency dockets, perhaps on nights or weekends?

For Castro, Mealer isn’t a perfect choice, either. He wishes she’d oppose open carry and that she’d “do a better job of outlining a positive vision for Harris County.” But in the end, he believes her background in data and analytics will help her get crime under control and most especially, that her heart for victims and their families will guide her budgeting priorities.

For us, this race is a tough one. This editorial board struggled mightily and debated for hours before reaching a decision.

In the Republican primary, we initially backed another candidate, citing Mealer’s lack of experience in governing, but endorsed her in the run-off. We’ve been impressed with her ability to build support, including from nearly every law enforcement organization in the county, and her commitment to what surely seemed a long-shot bid. Mealer says she was asked to leave her job as vice president in investment banking at Wells Fargo Securities if she wanted to make the high-profile run and left in December.

But should voters trust an untested, first-time candidate who may have experience overseeing troops in a theater of war but no experience in the thorny theater of partisan politics?

Mealer’s proposal of hiring 1,000 new law enforcement officers, spread across the sheriff’s office, constables, and county jail, is simplistic at this point. Each would cost $100,000, coming to roughly 5 percent of the county’s $2.2 billion budget. She says she’d fund it by cutting back on overtime, reducing administrative overhead, and yes, by defunding new programs that are well-intended but aren’t essential, such as pre-K investments that serve a relatively few number of kids.

“How do you start a new service when the basics aren’t working?” she told us. “Everything in county government should be ‘how can you help the most people as quickly as possible.’”

The number of new officers comes close to matching previous requests by Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, but, as we’ve written, the numbers are less important than the function they’d serve. Mealer agrees and says once elected, she’d have access to data that would help her determine whether money should go to patrol officers, for instance, or investigators who actually solve crimes. She also acknowledges that positions mean nothing if you don’t offer the competitive pay to fill them.

We asked Mealer about another budgeting headache imposed by state lawmakers: how can the county boost law enforcement funding now, knowing that it can never be decreased due to the Legislature’s ban on “defunding the police?” Add the state-imposed revenue cap to the equation, and you’re at risk of eventually crowding out everything from flood control to the hospital district just to fund police.

“I’ve thought about this a lot,” Mealer says, explaining that if funding is needed in other critical areas, “I don’t have a problem going on the record and saying ‘voters, I’m asking to get taxes raised.’”

For Hidalgo’s part, it’s true that she boasts a proposed budget that would have increased funding for law enforcement. No matter what Republicans in Austin claim, Hidalgo never tried to “defund” police. Her plan would boost law enforcement funding $97 million more than the previous fiscal year, including pay raises for some “frontline deputies” although it falls far short of the DA’s and sheriff’s needs.

Here’s another truth: those increases are in limbo because of the utter dysfunction on Commissioners Court under Hidalgo’s leadership that has led the two Republicans to boycott meetings, preventing a budget from even getting passed.

Yes, the Republicans are playing their own politics as their party desperately tries to reclaim control, but would they have tapped the nuclear option had earnest attempts been made to listen to their concerns and broker compromise?

No doubt, the well was poisoned early on with Democrats’ attempt to ram through a large increase in spending, which prompted the Republicans’ first boycott, and we can’t imagine it helped restore trust and camaraderie when the Democrats attempted to gerrymander one Republican commissioner, Jack Cagle, out of his seat through redistricting.

For someone who says she’s not motivated by partisanship, Hidalgo didn’t even try to deny it was at play, telling us: “I don't like gerrymandering. I'm not for it. But at some point if one side does it and the other one doesn't, you’re just a sap and we have to be able to fund our hospital district.”

While commissioners bicker, county needs are unmet. Something has to change.

We do have bones to pick with Mealer’s platform. In the primary, she frequently blamed misdemeanor bail reform for the spike in violent crime when every rigorous analysis has shown no evidence of that and even now on the stump, she says she wants to rescind the O’Donnell consent decree that governs misdemeanor bail reform, leading some to fear she wants to bring back Harris County’s old unconstitutional system of jailing low-level offenders simply because they can’t afford bail.

That would be a deal-breaker for us. But Mealer says it’s not the case. She calls poverty jailing “horrible” and told us unequivocally: “People should only be in pre-trial detention if there’s a public safety risk.” She said she favors the federal system, which is based on risk and not money bail — a stance that candidates beholden to the bail/bond industry would never take.

Subsequent conversations with Mealer leave us confident that, while her understanding of the system may be incomplete and in some cases even flawed, her main goals are ones we share: better funding of pretrial services and interventions, accountability for the accused, protect judicial discretion and rely on individualized risk assessments, which factor in such things as violent criminal history and gang affiliations in determining someone’s likeliness to reoffend while on bail.

And while she’d have no direct authority over courtroom decisions, we like her idea to spur productivity and increase the number of trials by making more detailed data on judges’ performance, including if possible attendance records, publicly available.

On the environment, Mealer told us point-blank it’s not a top priority: “Certainly, we want to prosecute polluters but it’s not first and foremost,” she said. And while she’s worked on energy transition in her corporate life, and is a big fan of geothermal energy, her website states: “County is not the appropriate entity to solve Climate Change - let’s fix potholes first.”

These statements are grating in a low-lying coastal community soaking in industrial emissions. If elected, Mealer must realize that caring about the environment is also about public safety and protecting people from premature death. Just ask the Fifth Ward residents living near an old railyard contaminated with cancer-causing dioxin.

While we find Mealer’s dismissiveness of Hidalgo’s investments in early childhood education short-sighted, we can’t argue with her point that the law doesn’t place it under the commissioners court’s purview and this is a time for triage - not extracurriculars.

Is Mealer as “extreme” as Hidalgo painted her in a recent campaign ad attempting to align her with Donald Trump and election-deniers? We don’t think so. In our screening, Mealer clearly stated “I have not seen any evidence of widespread, systemic-scale” voter fraud. Later, she clarified further: “Trump lost. Biden is president.”

Mealer boasts an endorsement from the Log Cabin Republicans, an affiliation that drew attacks during the primary from anti-gay segments of the GOP.

On abortion, Mealer indicated that in the county judge role, her only difference with Hidalgo is that she wouldn’t use taxpayer money to provide transportation for women seeking abortions in other states.

We don’t like that Mealer’s campaign, like Hidalgo’s, has pandered and stretched the truth in campaign ads. But frankly, we can see Mealer governing more like a technocrat, head down in a spreadsheet planning for impending economic turbulence or stocking flood control with qualified drainage engineers.

“Local government is about service,” she says. “It’s not national party politics.”

She envisions her governance style as something close to Hidalgo’s Republican predecessor Ed Emmett: “I don’t think people thought of him as a Republican or Democrat,” she said. “I think they thought of him as county judge.”

In a purple county where she’d be in the minority if Cagle loses to a Democrat, Mealer would have no choice but work across the aisle to get things done. We like that scenario; it’s best for the people she’d serve.

Ultimately, the decision of which candidate is best for Harris County in this moment rests on one question: do we prioritize an inspiring vision for tomorrow over addressing crime and governance issues today?

We found something Paul Castro said instructive: “If I have cancer and I’ve been stabbed and I’m overweight, I’m going to handle those in a certain order,” he said.

He’s right. Some call it triage. Maslow called it a ‘hierarchy of needs.’ Harris County must treat the stab wound: the murders and violent crimes being committed by repeat, violent offenders who are enabled by an underfunded criminal justice system that’s paralyzed by severe backlogs.

For that reason, we encourage Harris County voters to back Mealer in this race. We can only hope that once in office, she’d effectively address crime, tend to basic services and restore civility on the court by governing as a strong local leader, not a partisan. We’d also like to see her expand her vision to something more hopeful, ambitious and worthy of Harris County’s potential.

To accomplish all that, Mealer would do well to take at least one piece of advice from her Democratic adversary: listen.

 

[Voldemort86 2,259]

I don’t live in Harris county, but my understanding is a lot of Hidalgo’s problems stem from her inability to work with her democratic colleagues like Kim Ogg. They were supposedly never able to get on the same page.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Voldemort86

[Poe It Up 126]

Mealer looks like Haley Joel Osment. 

[tx 3 putt 78,464]

2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Has the Texas govt. done anything to specifically help Harris County/Houston since the 90s except when necessary to help other counties?

Honesty, it probably helps Harris County a tiny bit to have Harris County GOP leadership so that Abbott or Patrick will take the phone call when the county judge calls.

Still straight Dem ticket voter here.

abbott / Patrick has zero interest in helping Harris county 

[Js1 86,926]

3 minutes ago, Voldemort86 said:

I don’t live in Harris county, but my understanding is a lot of Hidalgo’s problems stem from her inability to work with her democratic colleagues like Kim Ogg. They were supposedly never able to get on the same page.

If Kim Ogg was up in 2022, she'd probably lose.  She's pissing people off left and right.  

She'll probably luck out if she survives a primary in 2024 by with presidential-level turnout in the general. 

[wildcat09 29,556]

20 minutes ago, Voldemort86 said:

I don’t live in Harris county, but my understanding is a lot of Hidalgo’s problems stem from her inability to work with her democratic colleagues like Kim Ogg. They were supposedly never able to get on the same page.

Nobody works well with Kim Ogg because Kim Ogg sucks.

[kevwun 16,269]

I'm 85% sure he's a troll.

[tx 3 putt 78,464]

I hope a beto surge pushes her to a victory. 

[Macanudo 13,252]

3 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

Big Lina fan. I expect mealer to win by 5+

Yeah, I think Mealer cruises to a win.

[Macklemore 2,945]

The only candidate I have ever contributed to is Mealer. Dora has lived down to the low expectations I had for her. Can’t wait to vote her out. She is a no-name carpetbagger with no ties to Harris County and won only because of the blue wave that year and people pissed that Emmett wanted to spend money to rehab the Dome. Those factors thankfully are not present this year.

[Fico 1,806]

If Icono is against it, then I am, without a doubt, for it.

[SydneyCarton 49,323]

20 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

The only candidate I have ever contributed to is Mealer. Dora has lived down to the low expectations I had for her. Can’t wait to vote her out. She is a no-name carpetbagger with no ties to Harris County and won only because of the blue wave that year and people pissed that Emmett wanted to spend money to rehab the Dome. Those factors thankfully are not present this year.

Oh, Carptebagger, eh? Tell us your strong feelings about Dan Patrick, Chip Roy then, please, sir. 

Hidalgo moved to Houston when she was 15 and she went to Katy Seven Lakes. Of course, the most likely thing here is you don't know what the fuck Carpetbagger means. Hint: It's not the used condoms you cleaned up off the carpet after getting high and wildly buttfucked with your Christian Nationalist buddies. 

[wildcat09 29,556]

I feel the need to be clear, when I said Mealer hangs out with guys who harass children at libraries, I wasn't talking about Icono. Icono probably also harasses children at libraries, of course, but that's merely a supposition on my part and not a statement of fact.

[Macklemore 2,945]

32 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Oh, Carptebagger, eh? Tell us your strong feelings about Dan Patrick, Chip Roy then, please, sir. 

Hidalgo moved to Houston when she was 15 and she went to Katy Seven Lakes. Of course, the most likely thing here is you don't know what the fuck Carpetbagger means. Hint: It's not the used condoms you cleaned up off the carpet after getting high and wildly buttfucked with your Christian Nationalist buddies. 

Most of her adult life was not spent in Houston and she did not know how county commissioners court worked and never attended a single meeting before being elected. Getting in trouble for alleged corruption and using tax dollars for a defense fund for illegals are feathers in her cap in your book but aren’t for the average Houstonian. I am confident that Dora will be sent packing on Election Day. Mealer checks off all the boxes - supported from law enforcement, business community, Latina and veteran. Lina is gonna lose.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Macklemore

[Macklemore 2,945]

3 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

I feel the need to be clear, when I said Mealer hangs out with guys who harass children at libraries, I wasn't talking about Icono. Icono probably also harasses children at libraries, of course, but that's merely a supposition on my part and not a statement of fact.

I thought he used to slam meth and fuck men in pnp sessions. What’s this shit about kids.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Macklemore

[Js1 86,926]

54 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

The only candidate I have ever contributed to is Mealer. Dora has lived down to the low expectations I had for her. Can’t wait to vote her out. She is a no-name carpetbagger with no ties to Harris County and won only because of the blue wave that year and people pissed that Emmett wanted to spend money to rehab the Dome. Those factors thankfully are not present this year.

She’s more accomplished than you’ll ever be and twice the human being you’ve ever been. You degenerate piece of shit 

Shes also not Mexican like Dora you stupid fucking racist. Negged for that

[SydneyCarton 49,323]

Just now, Macklemore said:

Most of her adult life was not spent in Houston and she did not know how county commissioner’s court worked and never attended a single meeting before being elected. Getting in trouble for alleged corruption and using tax dollars for a defense fund for illegals are feathers in her cap in your book but isn’t for the average Houstonian. I am confident that Dora will be sent packing on Election Day. Mealer checks off all the boxes - supported from law enforcement, business community Latina, and veteran. Lina is gonna lose.

That's all wonderful for you and your billowy asshole. But that had nothing to do with your original post, nor was it your original criticism, NOR did you comment on Dan Patrick and Chip Roy, et all, and the rest of the carpetbaggers who run Texas Politics and have for decades. You made a stupid post, someone asked questions you couldn't answer, so you attempted to obfuscate with other things you don't like about Hidalgo. 

You want to hate on her for crime, or even being young, or corruption, have at it. It's why she'll probably get smoked. But you're like an insurrectionist showing up to bitch about law and order and backing the blue after you beat a capital guard near to death with a flag pole; you're full of shit. Carpetbagging isn't a problem. She returned to the city where she went to HS when in the United States after going to Stanford, and several other great jobs and educational programs across the fucking world. Most people call that varied experience. But when it's not someone who you approve of, it's a problem. I'm sure your ex wife knows how that feels, dealing with the ole' bait and switch. 

[Macanudo 13,252]

11 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Most of her adult life was not spent in Houston and she did not know how county commissioners court worked and never attended a single meeting before being elected. Getting in trouble for alleged corruption and using tax dollars for a defense fund for illegals are feathers in her cap in your book but aren’t for the average Houstonian. I am confident that Dora will be sent packing on Election Day. Mealer checks off all the boxes - supported from law enforcement, business community, Latina and veteran. Lina is gonna lose.

How about acting like an adult and not using pejoratives like Dora?

[wildcat09 29,556]

23 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

How about acting like an adult and not using pejoratives like Dora?

You know you're talking to Icono, right?

[Js1 86,926]

3 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

You know you're talking to Icono, right?

Or my mother 

[royiv 9,676]

31 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

How about acting like an adult and not using pejoratives like Dora?

He learned it from Daddy Trump.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,706]

Hidalgo fell into the role of county judge but she was a high achieving 27 year old, at the time. She ran unopposed in the dem primary in '18. I guess no other Dem thought they had a chance against Emmett so let the "young woman waste her time with a campaign." And then the City of Houston decided to toss out all Republicans.  All of a sudden she was county judge. 

Mealer is a few years older. West Point grad. Served in Afghanistan in ordinance disposal. Then graduated from Harvard. MBA and JD. His post Harvard experience was being an associate at Wells Fargo Securities for 3 years and then promoted to VP for 2. Then ran for office.

While I can't see that Mealer has any particular experience or skill to make her a good county leader, neither did Hidalgo in '18.

 

[wildcat09 29,556]

4 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Hidalgo fell into the role of county judge but she was a high achieving 27 year old, at the time. She ran unopposed in the dem primary in '18. I guess no other Dem thought they had a chance against Emmett so let the "young woman waste her time with a campaign." And then the City of Houston decided to toss out all Republicans.  All of a sudden she was county judge. 

Mealer is a few years older. West Point grad. Served in Afghanistan in ordinance disposal. Then graduated from Harvard. MBA and JD. His post Harvard experience was being an associate at Wells Fargo Securities for 3 years and then promoted to VP for 2. Then ran for office.

While I can't see that Mealer has any particular experience or skill to make her a good county leader, neither did Hidalgo in '18.

 

Mealer won a Republican primary in 2022. That's immediately disqualifying.

[Macklemore 2,945]

1 hour ago, Macanudo said:

How about acting like an adult and not using pejoratives like Dora?

That’s what we call her at my GOP precinct meetings. Same as Orange Man, Drumpf or any of the epithets thrown at 45.

[Macklemore 2,945]

2 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Mealer won a Republican primary in 2022. That's immediately disqualifying.

Lina is the one who is bringing the national political bs to county government. County and city government should be concerned with public safety, mass transit, courts, road repairs, etc. I have voted for Sylvester Turner since he is done a good job. No doubt he is a Democrat in a city council that is supposed to be officially non-partisan.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,706]

3 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Lina is the one who is bringing the national political bs to county government. County and city government should be concerned with public safety, mass transit, courts, road repairs, etc. I have voted for Sylvester Turner since he is done a good job. No doubt he is a Democrat in a city council that is supposed to be officially non-partisan.

What national politics is she bringing into county govt?

[elfenix 34,658]

5 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Lina is the one who is bringing the national political bs to county government. County and city government should be concerned with public safety, mass transit, courts, road repairs, etc. I have voted for Sylvester Turner since he is done a good job. No doubt he is a Democrat in a city council that is supposed to be officially non-partisan.

you're gonna be upset when you learn who mealer's political benefactors are and what their agenda is

(narrator: he won't because he's cool with that national poltiical bs)

Edited October 18, 2022 by elfenix