Back in 2015 Bill King narrowly lost in a December runoff to current mayor Sylvester Turner in large part because ethnically diverse Houston, and especially the Black and Latinx parts of it ain't feeling Republicans right now.
Our city hasn't elected a Republican to sit in our mayor's chair in over 40 years, so in this run, looks like King is deploying deception and racism in his attempt to knock Turner out the mayors chair at The Horseshoe.
He has already been called out for his dog whistle racist signs that are still up in many parts of town that say 'Clean Up City Hall', as if to imply there is rampant corruption going on with the Black mayor in charge.
Since our Houston municipal elections are theoretically nonpartisan, to imply that his Republican behind has bipartisan support, a mailer has appeared targeting the predominately suburban white Kingwood area in Northeast Houston that lists some Democratic precinct chairs and makes the claim they support him.
Only problem is that many of those Democratic precinct chairs listed in the mailers DON'T support King, and were majorly pissed to find out their names appeared in his campaign literature without their knowledge. Those Democratic precinct chairs want their names removed from King's campaign literature ASAP.
King apologized on August 7, then three days later sent out another mailer targeting the predominately white Clear Lake area in suburban southeast Houston replicating the same tactic.
This statement appeared on the Harris County Democratic Party's website expressing support for their party precinct chairs outraged at the unauthorized use of their names or that they implicitly supported the King campaign.
The Harris County Democratic Party has been made aware that Bill King, Candidate for Houston Mayor, recently mailed a political advertisement that identified as supporters, among others, Democratic Precinct Chairs.
Our Precinct Chairs have unequivocally stated that at no time did they express support for Mr. King’s campaign or otherwise give their consent to be listed as supporters of his campaign.
“We take the concerns of our Precinct Chairs very seriously, we always have their backs,” said Lillie Schechter, HCDP Party Chair
We stand behind these chairs in asking that all candidates conduct their campaigns with the utmost integrity and obtain consent before listing any HCDP Precinct Chair as a supporter.
Why am I not surprised that King would do what Republicans always do when they run for office? Lie and do whatever shady crap they have to do to win.
Looks like the peeps who want the bigoted status quo to stay intact in Pearland are having a hard time dealing with the reality that their once sleepy little suburban town is a multicultural city of over 130,000 people.
With the city evolving to become a diverse metropolis, the political leadership of it at city hall and the school board need to reflect that reality.
Daniel Abdullah Hernandez is running for the Pearland ISD school board's Position 4 against incumbent Sean Murphy. That board is close to flipping to liberal-progressive control if the conservative faction controlling it now lose one or two more seats.
If that happens, PISD's homophobic and transphobic superintendent Dr. John Kelly is probably going to be one of the casualties since he is a polarizing figure there.
Hernandez has not only been critical of Pearland ISD's treatment of trans kid Kai Shappley, he has also been critical about the district's racial and fiscal problems.
Hernandez would also be the first Latinx person amd Muslim elected to the PISD board should he be successful in winning his race on May 5. Hernandez is also the imam at the Pearland Islamic Center.
Dalia Kasseb, who ran for the Pearland City Council last year, is making another run at a Pearland City Council seat. You'll remember that anti-Muslim rhetoric was deployed in her race last year in which she led all candidates in her race by getting 41% of the ballots cast.
Unfortunately that wasn't enough for her to win the seat outright on Election Day. Kasseb was forced into a runoff for that Position 7 seat that she unfortunately lost.
She does have two other challengers for the Position 4 seat in Sonny Atkins and Adrian Hernandez, and was endorsed by the Texas Democratic Party. Here's hoping that Kasseb is successful this time in making history, capturing the seat on the Pearland City Council that eluded her last year and does so in 2018 without a runoff.
If she does accomplish that feat, she would become the first Muslim to win a political race in Brazoria County in addition to becoming the first to win a Pearland city council seat.
But there are some peeps in Pearland who aren't liking the fact that since 2000, the town has grown more diverse. It is now 47% Anglo, 25% Latinx, 17% African American and 9% Asian.
While it's denied by city leaders, there is an increasing divide between the longtime conservative leaning residents and the more liberal progressive ones in the newer, more ethnically diverse suburbs west of FM 518. It's starting to play out in the city's politics.
A hidden camera recently caught an elderly white woman tearing down a Daniel Hernandez campaign sign. There was YouTube video of it happening, but of course it has been taken down in an attempt to protect the guilty party who didn't know she was on camera when she performed her nefarious deed.
Stealing, defacing, mutilating or willfully destroying a political yard sign on private property is a misdemeanor crime in Texas punishable by a $2500 fine, a year in jail or both.
The same thing is reportedly happening to Kasseb's yard signs according to one of my Pearland TransGriot readers.
Good luck to both Daniel Hernandez and Dalia Kasseb as they both seek to make electoral history in Pearland. Shame on the folks who are engaging in thuggish political behavior.
Early voting starts on April 23, so Pearland peeps, make your voices heard and beat back the election bigotry that is occuring once again in this city.
The bottom line is that Pearland is getting diverse, and the people who are seeing public office there will only continue to be more representative of the entire community, not less so
It must be hard to be a McCain supporter these days. Your candidate is losing badly to horror of horrors, an educated biracial Black man.
Your so called $150,000 designer clothed 'hockey mom' VP candidate has been relentlessly lampooned on Saturday Night Live and is considered seriously unqualified by a majority of the American people, including members of your own party and the previous Secretary of State, Colin Powell.
To top it off your usual slimy race baiting attacks aren't working.
Well, in a shades of Susan Smith moment, a young McCain supporter, College Republican and volunteer named Ashley Todd from Aggieland (AKA College Station, TX) claims that around 9 PM EDT she was beat up and robbed at a Pittsburgh ATM by a large Black man and had a backwards 'B' carved into her face because she was a McPalin supporter.
Predictably Faux News, Matt Drudge, the right wing blogosphere, and right wing talk radio jumped on this as 'evidence' of left wing 'hatred'. It neatly plays into the well worn conservative race baiting theme of white women being attacked by Black criminals. It even prompted statements from the McPalin and Obama campaigns.
Hold up, flag on the play.
Like Susan Smith's over a decade ago, the story started falling apart. I was suspicious when it was noted she was from College Station. Texas A&M is home to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. Translation, she's conservative.
The College Republicans chiming in only cemented the impression for me that this story smelled worse than a sewage treatment plant.
Details of this story also didn't pass the smell test. The 'B' on her face was carved backwards and was too neat. If she was struggling against a larger, stronger attacker the 'B' carving to her face would have been more uneven. In addition, an angry attacker would have left far more bruises and serious injuries than what she is shown in her picture to have suffered.
Since she was attacked at an ATM, the surveillance tape video would have showed this attacker, right? Wrong. When the Citizens' Bank ATM security tape was checked at the time she claimed the alleged assault happened, no large Black man in the tape.
Her bank card info also shows no account activity at that time or the location where she claimed she was robbed.
Surprise, surprise.
The Pittsburgh police noted the inconsistencies as well, She amended her story to add a sexual assault and claiming she'd been hit and blacked out. They gave her a lie detector test which she failed.
She later confessed to faking the story and will be charged with filing a false report
But once again, the McPalin forces and the GOP will do anything to win. The only thing they have left is race baiting. It's getting dangerously close to inciting violence for real.
The Harris County Democratic Party has been made aware that Bill King, Candidate for Houston Mayor, recently mailed a political advertisement that identified as supporters, among others, Democratic Precinct Chairs.
