The Toughest Race For A District Flip I've Seen So Far

In 2018 an old friend of mine from the music business, Dayna Steele, ran for Congress in east Texas. She ran a really good campaign and raised $878,940 with no help on any kind from the DCCC. Many people see TX-36 as a hopelessly red district. Hillary only got 25.2% of the vote and the PVI is a daunting R+26. Dayna-- despite being an admired and popular Houston area celebrity-- didn't do much better than Hillary: 27.4%. The district includes all or part of 9 counties. The only one where Dayna made any inroads was Harris but in the backward rural hell-holes like Hardin, Tyler, Jasper, Chambers and Orange, she might as well not have been on the ballot. These are the percentages Hillary got in those 5 counties:

• Chambers- 17.6%
• Hardin- 12.2%
• Jasper- 19.3%
• Orange- 18.9%
• Tyler- 15.6%

Can you imagine what it must be like living among those people? Yeah... they couldn't imagine living among us either, believe me. That said, I want to tell you a little something about Brandon Rashad Lewis, a former Jasper city councilman and this year's Democratic Party candidate for the TX-36 seat. First the good news: although his website isn't rich in policy, his campaign spokesperson tells me he "believes in environmental stewardship, so he supports the Green New Deal." He also said that "access to healthcare is a challenge in the rural parts of our district, so Rashad has made healthcare a top campaign issue (Medicare-for-all is a component). Rashad believes in the right to privacy, personal freedom, and bodily integrity (Pro-choice)."

I asked his campaign spokesperson some questions and got some detailed responses. I asked about a plan with a pathway to victory-- or even just a plan to expand on Steele's 27%. These were the main points:

Expanding the vote with voter registration drives in low-propensity voting parts of the district beginning in June, as well as by campaigning with other candidates on the ballot, reaching the quarter of the district that is Latino with campaign literature in Spanish, especially in Harris County.

Engaging Republican voters disillusioned with Babin ("Many voters in the area are looking for pragmatic solutions to local issues. Rashad seeks to improve the quality of life in the district with sensible policies. [Flood/Disaster Relief, Access to healthcare [rural emphasis], and economic development.] These are areas where Babin has voted Nay or neglected action.

Building coalitions with local groups and candidates (neighboring districts) that will increase confidence and recognition. "Harris County is where we can build our base and Rashad has built a network of support in his hometown and the nearby surrounding region (Jasper County). Moreover, Rashad is well known in the timber industry. He is reputable and is respected by GOP and Democratic voters. Rashad travels the district frequently for work and is recognized as the working man that is facing Babin."

"Rashad won his city council seat via write-in. He was left off the ballot, so he ran an aggressive campaign to get people to write his name in place of his opponent. Another intangible is Rashad’s grasp of social media. He has focused on building his Campaign Instagram account and now has over 11K followers. We are working to build his Facebook and Twitter to reflect those numbers."

"Rashad is able to connect with voters. He has great oratory skills and is able to capture the attention of a crowd. In Baytown, he received a standing ovation. This is the type of intangible that Babin does not possess and which will improve our chances. We hope to engage Babin in the district in several of the non-partisan forums held in the district."

I noted that there wasn't an FEC report for the 4th quarter so I asked if they had a fundraising plan. They do. "We have a fundraising consultant that is working with us. We are shooting for $1.3M. We also have a budget plan that emphasizes new media. Additionally, Rashad was a latecomer. He filed with the FEC in October and in December with the state party. Though he has fundraised under $5,000; the campaign has remained focused on its infrastructure. We anticipate 70% of donated funds will come within 90 days of the election. Because of that, we are currently working to accept working capital that will help fund us until then." If you want to contribute, you can do it by clicking this link.

Who Remembers Steve Stockman (R-TX)?

GOP congressional crooks Hunter and Stockman

We were sorry to see our pal Dayna Steele lose her race in TX-36 on Tuesday but proud of how strongly she and her team fought in her R+26 district where few Democrats would even try. She won just over a quarter of the votes there-- 60,486 (27.4%)-- her efforts turning out voters for Beto and other Democrats as well. In 2016 no one had run against Brian Babin at all and Hillary only took 25.2% to Trump's 72.0%. In 2014, the last time a Democrat did run there, Michael Cole got 22.0% of the vote and in 2012, Democrat Max Martin took 26.6%. Martin, though, wasn't running against Babin, but his predecessor, Steve Stockman. Remember Stockman at all? He was first elected to Congress in 1994, beating the dean of the Texas delegation, conservative Democrat Jack Brooks in a district that stretched from Galveston to Beaumont, including much of the southern part of what today is TX-36. He was defeated for re-election in 1996 having distinguished himself as Congress' foremost conspiracy theorist. He had claimed, for example, that the Waco siege had been orchestrated by the Clinton administration in order to prove the need for a ban on "so-called assault weapons."

After he left Congress, he ran for any electoral job he could find-- losing-- and finally got back into Congress again in 2012 in the brand new 36th district. Even though he had been driven into bankruptcy by caring for his father while he had Alzheimer's (and abandoning his father to die in a veteran's home) he still voted against the Affordable Care Act. After the Sandy Hook massacre he introduced a bill to repeal gun-free school zones, a subject so dear to him that he threatened to introduce articles impeachment against Obama over it. You get the picture, right?

Last year, he was arrested for the same old GOP trick that has Duncan Hunter in trouble now-- raising money-- in this case $350,000-- for a charity and then stealing it for himself. A couple of Stockman's staffers pleaded guilty to funneling even more money from from charitable foundations into Stockman's campaigns and personal bank account (at his direction).

On March 28, 2017, a federal grand jury issued an indictment that included 24 counts against Stockman, accusing him of obtaining $1.25 million under false pretenses and using the funds for his political campaigns-- 11 counts of money laundering, 8 counts of mail and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to make "conduit contributions" and false statements (conspiracy to conceal the real source of the contributions by false attribution), 2 counts of making false statements to the FEC, one count of making excessive contributions, and one count of willfully filing a false 2013 Federal income tax return by not reporting some of his income. Broke by then, he was assigned a court-appointed attorney for a trial that began last January.

In April, he was convicted on 23 of the 24 felony counts against him, judged to be a flight risk, and remanded into custody pending sentencing, which happened yesterday, the day after the election. Congressman Stockman was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to the Department of Justice, Stockman "used a series of sham nonprofit organizations and dozens of bank accounts" to launder the money. The government proved to the jury that Stockman ran his campaign and fraudulent charities to simply enrich himself. U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern District of Texas wrote in a press release that "this type of corruption by public officials gives our entire democratic system a black eye."

The day before, Republicans in CA-50 re-elected Duncan Hunter, Jr., a severe untreated alcoholic, indicted for almost the identical crimes Stockman is now in prison for. Hunter, the same kind of right-wing conspiracy theorist crackpot as Stockman, won reelection with 82,379 votes (54.3%), having smeared his Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, as a Muslim terrorist-- he is neither a Muslim nor a terrorist-- who was trying to "infiltrate Congress" as part of a terrorist plot. The GOP plan was to keep Campa-Najjar out of the seat and then replace Hunter when he is forced to resign from Congress, with Darrell Issa, another crooked Republican thief. What a party!

Conservative Newspapers Are Endorsing Progressive Democrats Faster Than The DCCC Is

A few days ago, we saw the Des Moines Register give the nod to J.D. Scholten over Steve King in Iowa. Even the very very conservative Weekly Standard seems to be urging their readers in Iowa-- at the very least-- to not voted for King: Steve King: America’s Most Deplorable Congressman: "He’s an embarrassment to the GOP and to America," wrote Adam Rubinstein, who pointed out that King is animated by "race-based identity-politics that consumes the alt-right. King’s focus on race and ethnicity is so consuming that it has become the core of his politics... Why King is taking sides in foreign elections in the first place remains a mystery. But the bigger mystery is why he still has a seat in Congress."

Almost as surprising has been the conservative Houston Chronicles' endorsements for progressive Democrats. Earlier this week, the editors tossed Michael McCaul overboard, after endorsing him in every election for two decades-- and urged their readers to vote for Mike Siegel instead. And now they've also backed another progressive, Dayna Steele over another right-wing GOP incumbent, Brian Babin. Why? NOT because Steele in doing a DCCC-scenerio which calls on candidate in districts like hers to run on Republican-lite platforms. Not at all. The Chronicle explained they are backing her because she's running on a string platform New Deal type platform: "The main issue for Steele, 59, is Medicare-for-all because too many people can’t afford the care they need, especially in the rural stretches and small towns of this district... She also wants a $15 per hour minimum wage, free community college and job training, expanded Internet availability for rural Texas and immigration laws that provide a path to citizenship. 'I believe government’s job is to make people’s lives better. Everything goes back to health care-- you can’t do anything if you’re not healthy,' she told us."

The DCCC is ignoring her race... and Mike Siegel's race. Both are better off without their heavy-handed and lame interference in their races. And if she-- and Mike-- get into Congress, they won't have to take any bullshit from Pelosi and Hoyer and will owe nothing to anyone but their Texas constituents. The Chronicle:

Singers David Crosby and Melissa Etheridge aren’t your typical fixtures in political campaigns for this sprawling congressional district, but Dayna Steele isn’t your typical candidate.

A longtime DJ for 101 KLOL-- they call her the First Lady of Rock and Roll-- she later became a motivational speaker and prolific writer, and also a successful business woman as the owner of an online store for space memorabilia and NASA merchandise. After the 2016 election and taking part in the national Women’s March, Steele decided to step up and run for the 36th congressional district, which drops down from Lake Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend in East Texas and the Louisiana border to Galveston Bay, the Houston Ship Channel and Johnson Space Center.

Steele has a contagious energy, impressive fundraising and undeniable communication skills that has some political observers looking at this typically deep-red district with renewed interest. She also has the ability to get Crosby and Etheridge to show up for campaign concerts, which has classic rock fans paying attention.

She’s running against two-term incumbent Brian Babin, who has thorough experience in local government, including time as mayor of Woodville. He’s a dentist for his day job. In Congress he chairs the Space Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and in that role is getting more money for manned space flight, the Johnson Space Center’s specialty.

...[W]e like Steele’s policy proposals and her focus on how the government can and should help people who don’t live in major economic centers. It’s a reminder of why New Deal Democrats were popular in Texas for so many years.

The main issue for Steele, 59, is Medicare-for-all because too many people can’t afford the care they need, especially in the rural stretches and small towns of this district.

“I believe government’s job is to make people’s lives better. Everything goes back to health care-- you can’t do anything if you’re not healthy,” she told us.

She also wants a $15 per hour minimum wage, free community college and job training, expanded Internet availability for rural Texas and immigration laws that provide a path to citizenship.

Steele is a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood and women’s right to choose, and she thinks the Environmental Protection Agency needs to be strengthened, not weakened as we’re seeing under Trump. That’s a particularly important concern for this refinery-heavy district.

Babin, on the other hand, believes the EPA “has threatened our petrochemical and agricultural interests with excessive regulation,” according to his campaign website. The League of Conservation Voters gives him a zero rating on environmental legislation.

Babin’s campaign reads like a Republican dream-- he favors tax cuts, less regulation, unfettered gun ownership, a border wall, a stronger military and space supremacy while opposing abortion. He supports Social Security and Medicare for the elderly, but forget about Obamacare and a universal health care system. He expressed real animus for both when he met with the Houston Chronicle editorial board.

Once in a blue moon, the DCCC get it right. They did in Maine this cycle, where they actually are helping Jared Golden win his race. He's one of the only progressive who they are helping and have spent a modest $1,089,947 on his race. Yesterday the Bangor Daily News endorsed Golden, a full on progressive Democrat, over conservative incumbent Bruce Poliquin, a Trump enabler. The editors exploded Poliquin's dishonest talking points about healthcare, the #1 issue in Maine: "Last year, Rep. Bruce Poliquin voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with an inferior plan with weaker protections for those with pre-existing conditions that would have led to more than 23 million Americans losing their health insurance by 2026. The House bill that he supported would have been especially harmful to rural areas, like Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.

The district deserves a representative who better reflects its needs and values. Jared Golden, a Marine Corps veteran and legislative leader, would be that representative.

On health care, which voters have identified as their top concern in this election, Golden would be a vote in Congress to protect and improve the Affordable Care Act while working toward a more permanent solution to extend health insurance to more Americans while also reducing costs. He supports allowing people between the ages of 55 and 65 to buy into Medicare as a step toward universal health care. Contrary to Poliquin’s scary claims, this is not radical and it will not end Medicare coverage for senior. It would simply allow more Americans to participate in a health insurance program that works-- more efficiently than most privately run insurance plans.

These are reasonable, concrete steps compared with Poliquin’s promises of more consumer choices and more competition to lower prices.

Poliquin, who dodges debate questions, the media and his constituents, has been a reliable vote for much of the GOP agenda in Congress, including tax cuts, ACA repeal and “welfare reform.” Golden has a record of working with both Democrats and Republicans in the Maine House to pass a diverse array of legislation. He has done this at a time when Democrats control the House, but Republicans control the Maine Senate and governor’s office.

Successful bills Golden has sponsored will expand mental health care options for veterans, make it easier for returning veterans to use their military credentials to obtain state professional licenses needed for their civilian employment and direct schools to develop suicide prevention protocols.

Golden is not a cookie-cutter Democrat or, as Poliquin calls him, “a radical socialist.” Having worked for Sen. Susan Collins on the Homeland Security Committee, he understands the need for border security but also the need to welcome and help asylum seekers and other immigrants. He voted against the impeachment of Gov. Paul LePage and has said he would not vote to elect Nancy Pelosi to another term as Speaker of the House if Democrats gain control of that chamber... Golden should be 2nd District voters’ first choice for a more thoughtful, accessible and pragmatic representative in Congress.

Dayna Steele Rocks The 36th

You know how gung-ho we've been about the Houston-area race pitting progressive Dayna Steele against right-wing ideologue Brian Babin. He's a Freedom Caucus extremist. Dayna's someone who wants to make life better from people in southeast Texas. Big difference. Anyway, Imagination Worldwide has been working on a document-series for Amazon-Prime and Google Play that will premiere September 4, with a new episode airing every 2 weeks until election day. Above you can watch the trailer for the first episode. As you can see, it features appearances by Joan Jett, David Crosby, Gary Pihl from the band Boston, Melissa Etheridge and... people who live in TX-36.

Proud Pony International and Imagination Worldwide have been following Dayna's campaign around the sprawling 36th district since the day she announced. Speaking of "36," it was 36 years ago that Dayna Steele signed on to Rock 101 KLOL, Texas' premiere rock station, for the first time. It's because of KLOL that I first met her because as president of a record company we needed people to hear our artists' songs so we could sell them Houston and so they could go there and play concerts. She was in a male-dominated-- some would say "macho"-- industry, but she kicked ass and rose to the top. For many people, the first time they ever heard, for example, a great song by Eric Clapton, one of our artists, is was because Dayna was playing it for them. I spoke with producer Michelle Mower, who is also CEO of Imagination Worldwide. She told me has been totally excited to work with Dayna. "What a dynamic human being! Texas would be lucky to have her as part of the delegation representing the state in the House. Just as with the fight to end fascism in Europe, we must attack tyranny in America from many fronts. We hope our docu-series will open eyes and hearts so that those who are being swayed by fear and hatred will see the truth-- we are all Americans who love this country. We are stronger when we respect each other’s differences. Dayna is a perfect example of this, America."

Now she's in another rough and tumble macho industry-- Texas electoral politics. And-- you guessed it-- she's kicking ass again, standing right up and talking to people who may have never spoken about politics with a Democrat before, about Medicare-For-All, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, gun violence prevention, the right to choice for women, passing a clean DREAM Act and not building Trump's ridiculous wall, equality for the LGBTQ community, and support for the EPA. The woman who introduced them to The Who and Pink Floyd for the first time... at least they're going to listen to what she has to say, whether they agree or disagree.

Marijuana Legalization And the 2018 Elections

The Oklahoma Republican Party knew that putting Question 788 on the general election ballot could be very bad for them. It was expected to turn out an inordinately large number of people who don't usually vote-- and those people would not be conservatives. So they put Question 788 on the primary ballot on June 26. And, sure enough, primary election polling places were swamped with votes, quadruple the number who normally vote, in some cases 10 times the number! We're talking about Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative. And it passed-- 507,582 to 385,176. Yeah, one of the reddest states in America... with a PVI of R+20! Trump won every county. More people voted for Question 788 than had voted for Hillary, who only got 420,375 votes (28.9%).

The GOP had opposed Question 788. They were gobsmacked by all that support for it-- not that that's stopping them from screwing around with it behind the scenes now, much the same way the GOP had done in Florida, after their marijuana initiative had passed overwhelmingly. They're doing it through the Board of Health, which was tasked with drawing of implementation guidelines. They're not doing so in good faith.

The board, which oversees the Oklahoma State Department of Health, voted Tuesday morning on 75 pages of rules creating a rough framework for patients, physicians, caretakers and business owners interested in medical marijuana. It also added two new rules that a coalition of health groups had pushed: the ban on smoking products and a requirement that dispensaries hire a pharmacist.

...Julie Ezell, the Health Department’s general counsel, cautioned board members that the two new rules they added to the proposed rules might not be allowed under State Question 788, which legalized medical marijuana. That could invite a court challenge, she said.

Dr. Jean Hausheer, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association [and a deranged right-wing anti-marijuana fanatic], praised the vote.

“We are pleased with the rules adopted today by the Oklahoma State Department of Health and look forward to working with them to promote public health throughout the state,” she said in a news release.

Few others said they were pleased.

Hausheer wants to severely restrict the number a dispensaries and claims Oklahoma voters "didn't understand" Question 788 when they voted for it. How Republican is that? And Oklahoma isn't the only state where right-winger officials are trying to fight a losing battle with their own citizens against marijuana legalization. Half a dozen states have ballot initiatives coming up in November, initiatives that are going to hurt Republicans.

Two measures are already scheduled to appear on November ballots: Michigan voters will decide whether to become the ninth state to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, while the electorate in Utah will choose whether to join 22 other states by legalizing pot for medical use.

In Missouri, as many as three separate measures could make the ballot. Supporters have submitted signatures for both medical and recreational regimes that will now be inspected by the secretary of state’s office.

Oklahoma, which voted last month to legalize medical marijuana, could see a ballot measure to approve a recreational scheme as well. Legalization measures are also circulating in Arizona, Nebraska and North Dakota. Supporters in Ohio are trying for a second time to qualify for the ballot, in 2019.

Supporters say they will focus on the benefits of creating a regulatory and taxation system for a market that would otherwise be controlled by cartels and street dealers.

“We’re careful to talk about it as creating a regulatory framework,” said Martin Hamburger, a Democratic strategist who has crafted campaign advertisements for previous marijuana measures and who will work this year on the efforts in Michigan and Missouri. “Regulate it and tax it. And that frame of creating regulation so it can be used responsibly by adults 21 and over is pretty important.”

Hamburger said legalization campaigns have also made inroads among minority communities by talking about decriminalizing marijuana sales, something that resonates in areas where authorities prosecute people on minor possession charges.

“We often find that there’s sort of a social justice message there,” Hamburger said. “One arrest for marijuana can ruin your life and give you a felony, and it’s on your mark forever. A stupid mistake as a 19-year-old shouldn’t mess up your life.”

Marijuana legalization has also meant a business boom for companies that are able to enter the market soon after regulatory schemes are enacted. Opponents of legalization have cast those businesses as Big Marijuana-- a boogeyman as threatening to public health, especially children’s health, as Big Tobacco in earlier times.

Increasing access to marijuana products, especially edibles like candies and chocolates, that might tempt children is something that can move voters away from legalization, said Kevin Sabet, who runs Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group that opposes legalization.

“Most voters don’t understand that legalization actually means commercializing edibles, pot candies, pot concentrates that are 99 percent THC,” Sabet said, referring to the main psychoactive component of marijuana. “What voters think it’s about, and what the pro-legalization side has been good about framing, is going to jail for a joint.”

Casting marijuana as a get-rich-quick business for Wall Street hedge funds helped the legalization opponents notch their most notable win at the ballot box: Voters in Ohio three years ago resoundingly rejected a legalization measure, by an almost 2-to-1 margin. Even proponents of legalization grimaced at that campaign, where backers rolled out an ill-advised mascot named Buddie to greet voters.

“We won in Ohio by a 2-to-1 margin because the singular message was about the marijuana monopoly, not whether marijuana is bad or good,” Sabet said.

As campaigns for and against marijuana legalization have become more sophisticated, costs have risen, too. Supporters have outspent opponents; in California, $25 million poured into the campaign in favor of legalization, while opponents spent $2 million. In Massachusetts, supporters outspent opponents by a margin of $6.8 million to $3 million. And in Maine, where a legalization initiative passed by 4,000 votes, backers outspent opponents more than 10-to-1.

This year, supporters in Michigan had raised $1.6 million to back their measure, through last week. Opponents had pulled in $280,000, though Sabet said he expected the opposition campaign to have a seven-figure budget.

The shifting battlefield, away from liberal coastal states and into more traditionally swing and red states like Michigan, Ohio and Oklahoma, illustrates the unusual coalitions of support on which each side relies. Far from the traditional conservative-liberal split that divides modern politics, older men and younger progressives tend to favor legalization, while women with children-- typically guaranteed Democratic voters-- tend to harbor doubts.

“Democrats and progressive women with children are our swings,” Hamburger said. “They’re the ones we can lose. So a lot of our messaging are about regulations, how to prevent kids from getting it.”

“The swing voters are basically 35- to 55-year-old women,” Sabet said. “That is going to be key for us. We know that we’re not going to get a majority of 18- to 34-year-olds.”

“It’s really going to be those moms” who decide whether legalization passes or fails, he added.

Both sides are already exploring another new way to appeal to that swing demographic: the opioid crisis. Supporters hope to convince voters in states hit hard by opioids, including heroin and fentanyl, that marijuana can act as a substitute, something to ease pain that might otherwise only be stopped by a powerful pill. Opponents say marijuana is a gateway drug that can lead to more serious addictions.

Conservative politicians have a knee jerk anti-marijuana posture. That's opened the door of younger and more progressive politicians to use marijuana decriminalization and legalization as part of their platforms. That's working out badly for the GOP. West Virginia progressive, Kendra Fershee released that above video and this morning she told me that "The GOP is also fighting legalization at the federal level, which is making it hard for states to implement (even weak) cannabis laws. Banking is difficult, federal enforcement looms, and anti-cannabis state legislators can point to the federal laws as an excuse to fight cannabis legalization. It's time to elect pro-cannabis candidates to Congress to get the fed out of the way."

Similarly, Alan Grayson, the Orlando Democrat trying to win his seat back from conservative backbencher Darren Soto, told us that "This represents a new coalition in American politics: Democrats allied with the 'let’s mind our own business'/libertarian vote.  We’ve seen something similar on marriage equality, and I think that we will on abortion."

As so many people do, when talking about medical marijuana, Dayna Steele, who is running for a congressional seat east of Houston, spoke about it from a personal perspective. "My sweet, wonderful mother," she told us, "became so depressed and violent in her last year of Alzheimer's. I often wished marijuana was legal in Texas while she was going through this. I sincerely thought at the time it would make a huge difference for her. And us. Now, recent studies show marijuana could be instrumental in helping those diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It is also helping veterans with PTSD, children with epilepsy, and so much more. It is time to legalize marijuana and bring this industry AND relief to Texas."

Tom Guild is a longtime local activist in Oklahoma City running for Congress-- and in a tough Democratic Party primary runnoff. But he took the time just now to explain how he sees. the marijuama situation in his state:

The actions of elitist politicians and the unelected governing board of the Oklahoma State Department of Health are hijacking the medical marijuana initiative that passed overwhelmingly in the June 26 Oklahoma primary. The board was warned by its in-house counsel that the actions of the health department will likely lead to litigation. As George Harrison sang in the "Sue Me Sue You Blues"-- you get your lawyer and I’ll get mine. We’ll get together and have a bad time. The political ruling class isn’t too concerned about litigation because the money to defend their actions in court will come from taxpayer funds. They have weighted the state tax system to burden working people, the middle class, and the working poor, so that’s who will pay for litigation induced by the health department’s miscalculations. When citizens were circulating a petition to raise the minimum wage in Oklahoma City, the political class rushed through a new law making it illegal for cities to raise the wage. When Stillwater was taking action to regulate fracking in its city limits, the state legislature made that illegal, too. What happened to that old Republican favorite-- local control? Now it’s implementation of medical marijuana in Oklahoma that the ruling class is working overtime to thwart, overriding the overwhelming will of the people of Oklahoma. You get your lawyer and I’ll get mine. We’ll get together and have a bad time. Hopefully this time the good guys and democracy will prevail over Oklahoma’s elitists-those with God’s unlisted phone number. What has the political ruling class been smoking, anyway?

Authenticity Counts-- A Guest Post By Dayna Steele

Everyone at Blue America thought that the longest long shot we were taking this cycle was backing Alexandria Ocasio. "That's impossible," people told us. "If you couldn't take a nobody like Dan Lipinsky down, how you going to take down Joe Crowley?!?!" Well, to start, we didn't take down Joe Crowley. Alexandria did. The voters in the southwest Bronx and north Queens saw the contrast between the two candidates and made the easy choice. Alexandria and her team worked hard and worked smart. Our efforts were negligible in comparison. In fact it wasn't 'til we saw how smart and how tireless they are that we decided to back her. That Bernie platform she was running on... lots of people run on that-- and don't get nearly as far as Alexandria did. She has the authenticity-- and the secret sauce-- that makes it all come together in the minds of voters.

And now that she's won, who's the next biggest long shot? Old friend, Dayna Steele from Houston, running in a deep red district with an R+26 PVI, where Trump beat Hillary 72.0% to 25.2%. In 2016, the folks in TX-36 were not interested in even considering what the hallmark of the status quo was peddling. Dayna Steele has nothing to do with the status quo. Earlier today she wrote a guest post for us explaining how she's beating GOP extreme right backbencher Brian Babin in a district as red as her's is. She won her primary in a landslide... and the DCCC has ignored her ever since. Read what she has to say below and if you want to give her a hand... that's what the brand new 2018 "Abandoned by the DCCC" thermometer on the right is for. (Do you have any friends that might be interested too? This thing is getting close now-- and a lot is at stake.)

Trying To Be Republican-Lite Is A Losing Strategy
by Dayna Steele

If you listen to the "experts" and the "political pundits," I am in a very red district and they don't give me much of a chance of winning Texas Congressional District 36. If I listened to these so-called experts and political pundits, I would not have even bothered to run in the first place. But here I am, the first Democratic woman ever to run for Congress in this Southeast Texas district. I won the primary with 72% of the vote and just crossed $500,000 raised for this campaign. That is nearly 100 times more than any previous Democratic candidate in the district. In fact, I just had the best fundraising quarter of any TX-36 Democrat since the district was drawn.

 When I first started to run, the advice was fast and furious:

"Don't ever talk about guns."

Then multiple school shootings happened and a host of parents and sensible people joined me in talking about common sense gun legislation.

 Medicare For All is too socialist, just say healthcare."

Announcing I am 100% in support of Medicare For All gets the loudest cheer everywhere I speak.

"Stop saying you support Planned Parenthood."

No.

"Everyone has Internet these days."

A vast majority of my district has little to no Internet access. Those who do, outside of the Houston and Baytown metropolitan areas, usually have one provider, high prices, and slow speeds.

It is as if the established political operatives wanted me (and still want me) to run as a "Republican lite." After spending over a year on the ground, listening, shaking hands, talking to people, and traveling the district, I can tell you there are a lot more people interested in the same issues as our campaign than these political operatives would lead you to believe. There are MANY of us and we are growing stronger and louder.

My opponent Brian Babin is one of two Republicans who quit the Freedom Caucus because they "weren't conservative enough." He voted for the tax cuts for the wealthy, voted repeatedly to repeal the ACA, and said, "Sometimes a lady needs to be told when she is being nasty." He doesn't hold town halls, most of his offices are "by appointment only." and he rarely meets with anyone that is not a big donor. He takes money from corporate PACs and appears to be now getting funding from the Koch brothers.

The blue voters are coming out of the shadows in Southeast Texas. Our team has given them a safe haven and the knowledge that they are not alone. No one even bothered to run as a Democrat against Babin in the 2016 race. Why? Because Democrats have been sold a bill of goods that we are a "red state." We are not, we are a "do not get out and vote state." And, it's not because we are lazy or have given up, it is because Democrats have been bullied in this state. The more I learned about that, the more I knew I had to take a stand and run. To give people a voice in this state.

In the past and still today, if you run as a Democrat or anyone knows you vote Democrat, especially in the rural areas, your kids are bullied at school, your business is avoided, eventually driving you out of business, you are ostracized at church, insults are hurled your way. Well, that stops on my watch.

Let's be very clear here-- I am not running to be a politician. I am running for what is good and what is right. I am running for healthcare, education and jobs. I am running to make sure that Internet is accessible by everyone, that we continue to look at job training for the future, harnessing of solar and wind power in Texas. And, I run to help those still trying to rebuild not only from Hurricane Harvey but also from Ike, Rita, and several floods.

We are doing this. We are doing this with the grassroots support of people like you and we can only continue to do this if that support grows. The national party doesn't believe; the state party is overwhelmed. That's okay, we aren't doing this for the party. We are doing this for the people and we need their support, your support. We the People. Stand with me and Rock the 36th!

With The DCCC Ignoring Her District Dayna Steele Can Make History By Beating Brian Babin In Texas

If Dayna Steele, who won her primary, 72% to 28%, and will now move on to face far right incumbent, Brian Babin, was just another garden variety Democrat there would be little reason to talk about their November contest. But she isn't. Dayna is an icon in the district, once the music director for KLOL, Houston's top rock station. Everyone knows her as the person who introduced them to their favorite artists. She starts with a bigger name recognition, at least in the Houston part of the district, than the backbencher incumbent.

TX-36 has a prohibitive R+26 PVI, a district Trump won with 72%. But because they already know-- and like-- Dayna, voters in the sprawling east Texas district are willing to hear her out. When she talks to the voters about Medicare-For-All, making community college and career training free, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, fighting for sensible gun reform, the right to choice, equal pay, protection from sexual harassment, and equal opportunity, passing the DREAM Act and rejecting Trump's Wall, progressive issues start making sense to people who have listened to too much Fox News for their own good. She told me that following the March primary, an election judge in her district reached out to say, "I've never seen so many Republicans walk into our polling place and ask how to vote for a Democrat, specifically Dayna Steele."

Dayna sees hope where other Democrats have been too scared to try. In 2016 the Democrats didn't even run a candidate against Babin. "Not only are we seeing a growing Blue Wave in Texas," she told us, "we are also seeing a growing concern for our very Democracy among honest, hard-working Americans. So much so, that independents, undecideds, and even many Republicans are coming to our campaign to say 'I will vote for you. I will work for you. I will donate to you.' Why are these unlikely groups reaching out specifically to our campaign? Because we all agree that this administration is being careless with our security, careless with our money, careless with our healthcare, careless with our education, and careless with our people. And, you shouldn’t be in government if you don't care about the people."

We need to be a nation that invests in healthcare, education, jobs, and people - not corporate insurance and big pharma, low wages, and division. The United States is risking its prosperity AND its Democracy by leaving so many Americans behind.

Many now see that Medicare For All would cost us less and create a stronger workforce. Internet access as a part of the public infrastructure would create countless opportunities for everyone. More emphasis on jobs that will carry us into the future such as wind and solar power, computer programming and even medical marijuana would grow the economy.

At the same time, there is so much more that ALL Americans are concerned about including immigrant children being held in detention centers, rampant racism, for profit prisons, foreign intervention in our elections, and the untruths we all know must be called out.

These are the reasons many people, not just Democrats, are coming to and supporting our campaign. Then, there is the really big reason at the top. My husband aka Wonder Husband has always told our kids, "No one is totally worthless. They can always serve as a bad example." That's Trump everyday and this week he sent even more voters our way with his "I can pardon myself" tweet.

As a motivational speaker and author, I’ve spent years teaching audiences and readers that “the more you do to make someone else successful, the more successful you will become.”  A lot of that comes from the way I was brought up by my pee wee league football coach father. He always taught me that you are “only as strong as your weakest team member” and to “do what it takes to bring that weakest member up.”

I plan to set a good example for and serve ALL Americans.

Dayna's campaign is in the reddest district that Blue America has ever been involved in. If she wins in November it will be an indication that Americans are coming together everywhere to "just say no" to Trumpism and to congressional Republican enablers, like Babin, who are aiding and abetting. Please consider helping her by clicking on the Turning Texas Blue thermometer above. And if you know anyone in the suburbs east of Houston-- like Sheldon, Deerpark, Crosby, Channelview-- and towns like Seabrook, La Porte, Baytown, Liberty, Livingston, Lumberton, Silsbee, Kirbyville, Vidor, Jasper, Browndell and all the way to Bon Wier and Orange on the Louisiana border, please let them know that Dayna is running in their district and that they have a real alternative in November.

TX-36 Could Well Be The Reddest District In America To Flip In November

Dayna with... well, you know

When Jon-Marc McDonald resigned as campaign manager for right-wing bigot Brian Babin in 1998, he wrote that "There comes a time when your convictions take precedence over your job, your title and your status," claiming that Babin thought "homosexuals should be shot." Babin's response was a snarky "I hope he gets the help he needs, and I wish him the best." Yesterday, McDonald endorsed Babin's 2018 rival, Dayna Steele:

I rarely endorse a candidate but, in recent months, I have gotten to know Dayna Steele and her family. Beyond her incredible experience, Dayna’s values and vision are true. She brings integrity to the ballot and will take Texas values with her to Washington.

As Brian Babin’s former campaign manager, I can see he has not changed much. Babin is serving only a select few of his constituents, leaving out most of the people who live in our district. He is not concerned with what is important to working families in Southeast Texas. He is more concerned with what people in Washington D.C. think of him. His slow response after Hurricane Harvey should be enough to end his career in Congress.

Dayna brings the Texas spirit of honor, decency, and honest talk that is so needed in politics today. I know Dayna will never take her constituents for granted. She is the type of person who will show up every day for the people of Southeast Texas. The best thing Brian Babin can do for Texas is return to being a dentist. He should let someone who will represent the 36th with dignity and honor take over. Dayna Steele is that someone.

That's heavy. Campaign managers get to know politicians a lot better than the public does and McDonald has valuable and unique insight into what kind of a character Babin is.

TX-36 is a tough district but in a wave cycle where Republicans are falling in special elections with gigantic swings away from Trump, anything is possible. In Dayna's own words: "It’s clear that we can win this race, and that the odds are shrinking every day. Democrats are energized, independents want real change, and even many Republicans are unhappy with what’s coming out of the White House and the Congress."

Half the voters in the district live in eastern Harris county in the Houston suburbs and exurbs from Deer Park, Channelview and Sheldon east through La Porte and Baytown to where the other half of the voters live, rural areas all the way to the Louisiana border and north through Lumberton, Livingston, Woodville and Jasper. The PVI is a daunting R+26, a district that gave Obama and Hillary just slightly over 25% of the vote.

It seems like an unlikely district for a strongly progressive woman like Dayna to be running, but hers is one of the most trusted voices in TX-36, having been the dominant radio personality first on KRBE from 1979 to 1981 and later on the dominant radio station, KLOL, all through the '80s and into the 1990's as southeast Texas' "First Lady of Rock ‘n Roll." Hers was the voice who first introduced people Dire Straits, U2, Pink Floyd, Ratt, Melissa Etheridge, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, The Police, Van Halen, Queen, Bon Jovi, The Cars, The Eagles, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Kiss, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis. Imagine, for example, associating Dayna Steele with the first time you heard "Born in the U.S.A" and "Born to Run," with "London Calling," "Back in Black," "Highway to Hell," "Another Brick in the Wall" and "Rebel Yell." Compare that to what Brian Babin has ever done for anyone! If you'd like to make a bet on one of the toughest winnable races in the country please click on the Turning Texas Blue thermometer on the right and contribute what you can to Dayna's campaign.

The Toughest House Race In Texas

The Texas primaries are less than a month away-- March 6. And the races are crowded. Or at least the seats that look the most flippable are crowded, even after lots of candidates have dropped out. Texas has 36 congressional districts. The very last one, TX-36, southeast Texas in the Houston area, is so red, that the DCCC isn't even contesting it. But two Democrats are-- Dayna Steele and Jon Powell. The PVI is R+26. Obama lost in 2008 with 30% and in 2012 with 26% and last year Trump beat Hillary 72.0% to 25.2%. Lunatic fringe Republican Steve Stockman-- the guy tangled up with the Oklahoma City bombers-- used to represent the district.

The Republican in office now is a little known, right-wing backbencher, Brian Babin, a dentist and former mayor of Woodville. Both Dems running are good but where Powell would likely do as poorly in the general election as all the other Democrats who have tried running there-- the Dems didn't have a candidate in 2016; their candidate in 2014 (the ex-Libertarian from 2012) got 22.1% and their candidate in 2012 got 26.6%)-- Dayna Steele is a respected, even beloved, local celebrity because of her long run as Houston's "Queen of Rock'n'Roll" as music director and on-air personality on KLOL, the biggest music station in the area. She's the Blue America-endorsed candidate and she's expected to win handily next month. Here's the interview a Houston Chronicle commentator did with her a couple of weeks ago:



Friday, the Chronicle endorsed award-winning cancer researcher and doctor Jason Westin in the Houston district viewed as the most flippable, TX-07. The district is on the other side of the Houston metro, west Houston and the suburbs as far as Barker Reservoir and the Houston National Gold Club. "Westin's professional credentials alone, "wrote the Chronicle editors, "are impressive enough; he says his peers elected him to lead the largest clinical trial team in the nation seeking new treatments for aggressive cancers. But don't think for a second this doctor is a one-trick-pony running on a health care platform. He's impressed crowds at community forums with his conspicuously thoughtful command of a wide variety of issues. Westin launched his candidacy with the help of a nationwide group that's trying to get more scientists to run for office. When he says he's bothered by 'disrespect of facts and science,' he speaks with a quiet passion that seems to be winning over a growing number of supporters."

And over the weekend the Chronicle's Kevin Diaz reported on the 7 Democrats hoping to get into the May 22 runoff that will determine which of them get to face Republican John Culberson in November. Hillary didn't campaign in Houston and didn't put any resources into the area but she beat Trump 48.5% to 47.1%. As of the December 31 FEC reporting deadline, 4 of the Democrats had each raised over a quarter million dollars. Together they've raised nearly 3 times what Culberson has raised. They note that the establishment fave, Alex Triantaphyllis, calls himself-- like Hillary did-- a "practical progressive," the latest way to identify yourself as a conservative and shill for the status quo without turning off the energized Democratic base. Mr. T worked for Goldman Sachs and he isn't fooling anyone.

The other establishment candidate is Lizzie Fletcher, the EMILY's List candidate and another conservative-leaning Democrat, who is being savaged by organized labor because of the vicious anti-union work her law form does. She emphasizes her support from EMILY's List, noting that "They get into races and back candidates where they think they can actually win the general election," neglecting to note that EMILY's List has been for several years the kiss of death for the campaigns they actively taken over, like hers. The candidates they run (rather than passively endorse) always lose, primarily because EMILY's List gives them bad advise, just as they're currently giving Fletcher.



The DCCC is less interested in the 2 progressives in the race, Laura Moser and Jason Westin. This quote is hard to resist:

As a doctor, Westin also believes that he is uniquely qualified to carry a potent message on access to health care, a top Democratic issue. For many Democrats that means defending Obama's Affordable Care Act from GOP repeal efforts.

But for Westin, it also means pushing for a "Medicare-for-all" single-payer national health system, a view he shares with Moser and Sanchez.

That does not mean a "radical government takeover of the medical system," he says. "As a cancer doctor, I know that health care is a right, and that denying facts is wrong."

Westin's position has won him an endorsement from 314 Action, a nationally-focused political action committee that backs candidates with backgrounds in the hard sciences, math, engineering or technology. It is sometimes referred to as the "science lobby" or an Emily's List for doctors.

Westin has received a more high profile endorsement from the Blue America PAC, founded by music producer and liberal provocateur Howie Klein, who went negative in a recent blog post calling Triantaphyllis "another DCCC talking point robot."

Westin disavows any connection to Klein's post, which some see as the first direct attack of the primary.

But he's also scored what might be the first celebrity endorsement: Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in Star Wars (and the veteran of a Twitter war with Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz over net neutrality) recently tweeted his support for Westin with the hashtag, #MayTheFactsBeWithYou.

One more Houston race, one that isn't getting much national attention. TX-29 is a very blue district. Whomever win the primary or runoff will be the next congressmember. Hillary won the district 71.1% to 25.4%. The PVI is D+19 and the ship channel district covering East Houston/Pasadena area is over 76% Latino and one of the poorest districts in the country (412 out of 435). When conservative Gene Green finally announced his retirement, Hector Morales had already been campaigning for months. Since then 7 Democrats have jumped into the race, including conservative Tahir Javed who's may have no community support but does have a fat checkbook and is trying to buy the seat with $400,000 worth of self funding (so far). The Texas Tribune reported that state Senator Sylvia Garcia, Green's handpicked candidate to succeed him, was favored to win-- until Javed, a carpetbagger, jumped in with his open checkbook. Blue America has endorsed progressive school teacher Hector Morales. All of the candidates endorsed by Blue America can be accessed by clicking on the Texas thermometer on the right.

OK, let's move west-- to the gerrymandered Austin/San Antonio district that crazy Lamar Smith is giving up. The Blue America candidate is (emphatically) Derrick Crowe. You know how good Ted Lieu, Pramila Jayapal and Jamie Raskin have turned out in Congress? That's how good we expect Derrick to be too. Over the weekend the Austin American-Statesman did a rundown of the race which pits Derrick and 2 other progressives, Elliott McFadden and Mary Wilson, against conservative "ex"-Republican Joseph Kopser. There are also 18 Republicans in the race. The establishment Democrats and DC media types are, of course, attracted to Kosper's Republican-lite perspective and push him. Elliott McFadden's critique of the DCCC sound's like what grassroots Dems are saying all across the country:

“What we’re seeing is the national Democratic Party trying to dictate who our nominee is,” said McFadden, a former executive director of the Travis County Democratic Party who is CEO of Austin B-cycle, a nonprofit bike-sharing program. “They shouldn’t be bringing in national donors to influence this race. It should be up to the Democratic voters in this district to decide.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, McFadden said, “needs to butt out of this election.”

McFadden, 43, believes Kopser is emblematic of a misbegotten strategy by many party leaders.

“In partisan races, particularly federal races, people are hyperpartisan today, so, you know when Joseph says, `I’m going to go up there and be reasonable,’ well, the Republicans aren’t going to let him stand up there and do that all by himself,” McFadden said. “They are going to call him a crazy liberal that’s going to take away your guns and all these other things, so you’re not going to be able to get away with standing there and being a moderate.”

Even on its own terms, McFadden said Kopser’s strategy can’t succeed.

“There’s not enough of those voters in this district to win this district,” McFadden said. “When we look at the best the Democrats have done so far in this district (Hillary Clinton vs. Trump in 2016), that’s about a 20,000-vote margin that you still have to overcome.”

“If you can’t win with what the electorate is, you have to change the electorate,” McFadden said. “We need to close that 20,000-vote margin by drawing some of the 60,000 Hillary Clinton voters in the district that would typically not vote in a midterm election.”

“You do not win crossover voters,” said Dean Rindy, a political consultant who is volunteering for McFadden’s campaign. “There are very few truly independent voters anymore.”

...Rindy, McFadden’s consultant, said that if Kopser prevails, it will prove a Pyrrhic victory for Democrats.

“You could elect people like Kopser in 20 districts around the country, but, in the long run, you’d be hurting the party,” he said, burdening Democrats with more “nibble around the edges” members in Congress, offering “more of the same pablum,” when, he said, what the country needs and what voters, including Texas voters, desperately want is “fundamental structural reform.”

McFadden acknowledges that on the primary campaign trail, Kopser is sounding progressive themes, but said that Kopser remains a onetime Republican and admirer of President Ronald Reagan who sits on the board of the Texas Association of Business, “which bills itself as the most conservative business advocacy group in the state. They’ve endorsed Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, Dan Patrick. They’ve opposed increasing the minimum wage, paid sick leave and in the last session opposed women getting 3-D mammograms through their insurance companies.”

If elected, McFadden said, “which Joseph are we going to get?”

But Kopser, 47, said he helped steer the Texas Association of Business to its signal opposition to last year’s legislation to restrict transgender bathroom use.

He is confident he can draw some Republican support because, “my goodness, it’s my family.”

“My family were Ronald Reagan Republicans when I was younger, and my dad now considers himself an independent,” said Kopser, who grew up in Lexington, Ky.

“These are people who have moved away from the Republican Party, but many haven’t landed comfortably in the Democratic Party,” he said. But, he said, they could support someone like himself who is “rational, full of compromise and civility, but will always be moving the ball forward and never think about going backward on the progress we made.”

Kopser wonders “why my peers in his race, why their followers, cannot offer the same open hand that they extend to an immigrant who comes from a different country to an immigrant who comes from a different ideology?”

“I love pointing out to them how I might be a Democrat today who came from the land of Republicans, but if you cannot accept me in your party, then how can you consistently say, without hypocrisy, that you are accepting immigrants from other countries?” Kopser said. “It’s the same thing. Those people left their country for a better opportunity. I left the Republican Party for a better opportunity.”

“I understand my opponents are clinging to this idea that independents and moderate Republicans will never vote for a Democrat, and I just couldn’t disagree more,” Kopser said.

In an analysis worth reading, Jack Craver made the point that "Trump’s narrower 2016 margin in Texas was most likely the result of new voters coming out for Hillary, not Republican voters deserting their nominee," as many had assumed after the election. "Indeed, Trump won Texas by a far slimmer margin than the three most recent GOP nominees despite the fact that he got more overall votes here than any presidential candidate in history."

It’s pretty simple. Trump got about what you’d expect a Republican candidate to get based on recent performances. In 2008, John McCain got 4.48 million votes. In 2012, Mitt Romney got 4.57 million, an increase of 90,000 votes. And in 2016, Trump got 4.68 million, an increase of 110,000.

In contrast, Hillary Clinton got 557,000 more votes than Obama.

Simply put, the Texans who died today were disproportionately Republican. Of those who turned 18, the great majority are Democrats.

If this trend continues, the GOP’s downfall in Texas isn’t likely, it’s assured. And without Texas, the national GOP is royally screwed.

The Lone Star State has provided the winning margin in the electoral college in the three most recent presidential contests that Republicans have won (2016, 2004, 2000). It now has 38 electoral votes, but it will likely get more in the coming years as its population continues to grow.

Just as important, the 25 GOP members of Congress from Texas are currently the difference between Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi being speaker of the House. Democrats will obviously never win all of those seats, but they will take over a fair number of them. The Republican gerrymandering will protect some GOP seats, but other Republican members of Congress will eventually find that the districts that were drawn to be solidly red for them in 2011 have since become much purpler.

He singles out Culberson's Houston seat and predicts Ted Poe's (TX-02) which wraps around the north of the city, will follow the same trajectory. "12 House Republicans from Texas," he wrote, "represent districts that are less than 50 percent white." Look for Pete Olson (South Houston, Sugarland) and Will Hurd (South Texas) to be looking for new jobs soon and for TX-27 (Corpus Christi) to swing blue as well-- followed by Pete Sessions (north Dallas), Joe Barton (Arlington), Randy Weber (Galveston/Beaumont) and Kenny Marchant (Fort Worth suburbs). If the DCCC ever learns to encourage candidates attractive to the voters in the districts instead of to donors on K Street and Wall Street, this could happen faster than anyone has predicted.

For Dayna Steele's Campaign, As For All Houston Hurricane Harvey Was A Serious Interruption

Most people in the Houston area know Dayna Steele, former KLOL radio host, as "the First Lady of Rock'n'Roll." The first time they heard every great song and every great band-- from U2 , Nirvana, Joan Jett and The Police to Van Halen, Heart and Bon Jovi-- that jolted their lives-- in a way few politicians ever can-- it was intimately, just them, their radio... and Dayna. Otherwise her latest endeavor-- taking on right-wing kook Brian Babin in a beet-red district-- would seem... quixotic. TX-36 went for Trump over Hillary 72% to 25%. The PVI is R+26. No Democrat has ever won an R+26 district before. With not even a nod in her direction from the DCCC, Dayna is starting the process of making history. Or, rather, she was starting that process when Harvey intruded on her life and on the lives of the people in her district. TX-36 was one of the hardest hit districts from this hurricane, ironic when you consider that Babin is a lunatic fringe and very aggressive Climate Science denier. When Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, Dayna turned her congressional campaign into a relief and resources team. She's been working to help her neighbors ever since. Now it is our turn to lend a hand to Dayna. You can donate to her campaign to unseat Republican Brian Babin here.

We asked Dayna to write another guest post-- her first for us was here-- about the impact of the hurricane on her, her campaign and the folks in Houston-- and what can be learned from that.

A Plan
-by Dayna Steele,
candidate for Congress (TX-36)

A reporter for International Business Times asked me the other day what I thought of the federal government response to Hurricane Harvey. I really had to stop and think a minute. My answer? I don’t really recall seeing anyone from the federal government except for the one time I had to drive my campaign truck to a local grocery store and rescue two dogs, one very unhappy crated cat, and a lovely woman who had just escaped three feet of water in her house. Come to think of it, it was not the federal government that was there helping. It was the Texas-based grocery chain H.E.B. and the National Guard called up by Texas-- that the federal government took credit for when saying they sent “over 6,000 troops.” No, they did not. They sent about 1000 and we supplied the national guard.

What I did see were hundreds and hundreds of volunteers and neighbors in their own boats, using jet skis and kayaks, pool floats, and large coolers saving friends, family, strangers, and animals. What I did see was the immediate use of social media, including Team Dayna, working to identify people who needed to be saved-- immediately. While the federal government and FEMA were coming up with a plan, we were already working around the clock all over the area saving thousands and setting up make-shift shelters.

So, the question I’m getting now from reporters and followers? What would you have done differently? What will you do differently when you are elected to Congress?

I would act to insure there is a plan.

After we evacuated for Hurricane Rita in 2005, though it turned out to be a false alarm for our area, it was a wakeup call for what we needed as a family for a hurricane plan. During the ten hours it took us to drive to San Antonio, Texas (normally a three-hour drive), I took notes-- everything I wish we had, the things family members wished they had brought with them and not left behind for destruction: a favorite stuffed animal, the family recipe book, and more. I also made notes of the things we should have done before we left: turn off the breakers, bring the outdoor furniture inside, check the generator weeks before, fill the gas cans, and more there as well.

Overtime, I added to this list. When Mom went into assisted living for Alzheimer’s, she was added to the list as another responsibility: who would pick her up, when, what did she need.

As we fostered and adopted two dogs (foster fails) and a cat and eventually Mom’s rescue Chihuahua, they had to be added to the plan too-- crates, leashes, food, and food bowls.

The family hurricane plan became this: check and evaluate everything when hurricane season begins on June 1. If anything changes in our lives, add that to the plan-- a son moves to college, we gain another animal (I promised no, but you know things happen...), we add something outside, we add something valuable inside, etc. Mom has since passed away but I keep her on the list-- I just can’t hit that delete button. That, and I share the list with so many who are taking care of aging relatives.

When we got the call to evacuate for Hurricane Ike in 2008, our plan kicked into action and, for the most part, worked. That’s the thing about a plan, you should constantly evaluate and update a plan for it to work.

You get the point. We have a plan.

What I saw with Harvey were no plans. Attending a meeting at the local city hall as nearby homes were flooding, I saw eight people sitting around a table arguing their plan. Why wasn’t there one in place to begin with? We are surrounded by lakes and Galveston Bay. Odds are, we were going to have bad flood at some point. We saw it during Ike.

We live on the Texas Gulf Coast. Climate change-- global warming to call it what it really is and leave the Republican framing behind-- is real, it is happening, scientists have been warning us for years this could happen and would. It did. And there was no plan.

The Arkema plant in Crosby, Texas had emergency generators in case of a plant failure to keep the plant, and surrounding neighborhoods (i.e. neighbors/people) from exploding. The generators were on the ground and not twelve feet up because, well you know, that would cost money and would have cut into profits so the Republican Congress removed regulations otherwise known as protections for people. Now instead we have first responders with health issues because of the chemicals released from that plant. There was not a plan.

A picture of residents of a local nursing home started to circulate almost immediately on Facebook during Hurricane Harvey and the rains in the Houston area. These elderly people were shown sitting on couches and in their wheelchairs as the water rose around them. There was no plan in case of a catastrophic emergency. Volunteers took matters into their own hands, shared the horrifying image on Facebook, and strangers went into action, saving all the residents.

Then the water receded and we were faced with thousands of homes that needed to be mucked out. While officials including the incumbent I am running against had meetings to come up with a plan, volunteers sprang into action sharing information online, created Google docs, posting where help was needed and organizing work crews and supplies. The Texas Muck Map is a work of genius-- put together entirely by volunteers while the government was still organizing a plan.

The list of government agencies and businesses without a plan goes on and on and will be the stories/arguments you hear for years. Instead of arguing and pointing fingers, just take this as a lesson and come up with a plan moving forward. For your family, your business, your neighborhood, your community, your district, your state, your county. You know what you are in charge of, so be in charge.

Plans take time and cost money to implement. However, plans save time and money later as well as save lives.

We should not have to pass laws to get people to do the right thing but if that is what it takes, that is what I will do. I will demand a plan. A plan that puts priorities where they should be-- with and for we the people.