2018 Florida Governor's Debate

The race between Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) has been ugly from the start, with DeSantis wasting no time going low and deploying racist tactics against the first African American nominee for governor of the Sunshine State. 

Well, it shouldn't be a surprise since DeSantis has been swimming in the white supremacist sewers.

Early voting is now taking place in Florida as you read this, so if you live in the Sunshine State, handle you business. If you didn't see the October 21 debate that was broadcast on CNN, as a TransGriot public service, here's the debate video

Historic Election Night In Florida!

When the votes were counted after the polls closed in the Florida primary election last night, Black history was made in the Sunshine State.

Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum was the surprise winner of the Democratic Party gubernatorial primary when the votes were all counted.  Gwen Graham, the daughter of former Florida governor Bob Graham,  had been considered the frontrunner for the nomination.

Gillum never led in any on the polls conducted prior to Election Night, and was consistently third in every one of them.   But he prevailed in the only poll that mattered, the one at the ballot box. 

The FAMU alum becomes the first African American to capture a major party nomination for governor in Florida

He goes on to face in the general election Rep. Ron DeRacist  DeSantis, who wrapped himself around Dolt 45, and wasted no time injecting race baiting rhetoric into the gubernatorial campaign and getting called on it.

Also making this night a historic one in the Sunshine State is state Rep Sean Shaw (D-Tampa)/  He won his Democratic Party attorney general primary race in his bid to become the first Black attorney general in the state's history.

These dual wins combined with Ron DeRacist's 'monkey this up' comment dissing Gillum less than 24 hours after he'd made history will no doubt juice African-American turnout in Florida for the general election, and that will have down ballot implications for other Florida Democratic candidates.

The other wild card in this Florida race is the 100,000 Puerto Ricans who have moved to Florida after being displaced from the island in the wake of the piss poor response to Hurricane Maria by the Trump misadministration

Think they are going to be inclined to vote for Republicans after the Trump misadministration's 'fantatsic job' they did in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria?

We'll see on November 6

Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams are Trans United Fund’s Choice for New York

The New York primary election is rapidly approaching on September 13, and as a Board Member of Trans United Fund, I’m proud to exclusively announce that we’re endorsing Cynthia Nixon for Governor and Jumaane Williams for Lieutenant Governor of New York because we believe they will be champions for the needs of trans and nonbinary people.
The current governor has had several opportunities since 2011 to use his power to help our community, especially when it comes to getting GENDA passed and to his desk, and failed to decisively act to legislatively advance our rights in New York .

Trans communities don’t need lip service-we need action.

There’s been a lot of talk in these races, and many who are not a part of our communities have attacked Cynthia and Jumaane as if they were speaking on behalf of trans and queer people.

Let us be very clear: we speak for ourselves, and what we’re saying is: Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams are our choice for New York.

Trans people of color throughout New York deserve a Lieutenant Governor like Jumaane Williams who has tirelessly fought against racist Stop and Frisk policies that target our communities for violence and criminalization. Our communities deserve a Lt. Governor like Jumaane who has organized to provide more beds for homeless youth throughout New York, where almost half of homeless youth are LGBTQ; who, in a time of widespread attacks on trans communities’ right to simply exist in public, stood firm and helped pass a bill that protected our rights to using public facilities. That is what championing our communities looks like: taking real action, even when it wasn’t popular, even when it wasn’t election season.

Trans and nonbinary people throughout New York deserve a Governor like Cynthia Nixon, who won’t make backroom deals with fake Democrats, but will actually champion GENDA and make sure trans, nonbinary, and LGBQ people are protected from discrimination. Our communities deserve a Governor like Cynthia who is herself a queer woman, and the supportive mother of a trans child, because for her, this isn’t an election slogan: this is personal, this is family. Trans and nonbinary communities of color deserve a Governor like Cynthia who is making fighting criminalization one of her top priorities: from ending cash bail, closing Rikers, ending the process of trying children as adults, to re-investing funds that have historically gone to incarceration into education and community initiatives that actually build up our communities and keep us safe.

Trans and nonbinary communities need real champions, not election-season lip service. It’s my belief, and the belief of Trans United Fund, that Cynthia and Jumaane are those champions, and we’re proud to endorse them for Governor and Lt. Governor.

Historic 2018 LGBT Slate Of Gubernatorial Candidates

With the historic win of Christine Hallquist last night, it not only points out the building Rainbow wave in this upcoming 2018 election cycle, but also completed an interesting political footnote.

For the first time ever, we have candidates representing different parts of the LGBT acronym running in the same election cycle for governor in their respective states.

In my home state of Texas, we're proudly providing the 'L' in Lupe Valdez, the former longtime Dallas County sheriff who is running for governor against the incumbent Greg Abbott (R).

We go to Colorado for the 'G' in Jared Polis, the current US congressman representing Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, who is running to succeed Democratic governor John Hickenlooper.

The 'B' is Oregon's incumbent governor Kate Brown, who is fighting off a challenge from Republican gubernatorial nominee Knute Buehler.

And as you're aware of by now, the 'T' is provided by Vermont's Christine Hallquist, who is challenging incumbent Republican governor Phil Scott.

This is a year in which we have had over 400 LGBT candidates run for office and who were motivated in large part because of Republican legislative attacks on the TBLGQ community.

There are according to the Victory Fund, 500 LGBT elected officials in the US, and that's only .01 % of the total number of elected officials nationwide, so there is much room for growth. 

Yes, it's clear by the GOP attacks on LGBT rights people from this community must be represented in the halls of governmental power at every level of government, and the sooner, the better. 

Having members of our community wielding the power of the gubernatorial pen to sign executive orders, approve good legislation or veto bad bills is now more than ever even more crucial to our ability as a community to defend ourselves against legislation hostile to us.

The Democratic Party gubernatorial nominations are only the first step in the process. In order to see them sworn in as governors of Colorado, Oregon, Texas and Vermont in January, we're going to have to bumrush the polls and vote for them on November 6.
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Paulette Jordan Wins Idaho Democratic Governor's Race Primary

We have never had in the history of the United States a Native American governor of a state.

38 year old Paulette Jordan is seeking to change that.   She's a member of Idaho's Coeur d'Alene people, a member of its Tribal Council and an Idaho state representative.    You can also call her a trailblazer. 

Jordan beat in a landslide the candidate much of the Idaho business community and the Idaho Democratic Party backed in A.J. Balukoff, who had previously run for Idaho governor in 2014. 

While Balukoff was campaigning as a pro-business candidate, he was also dogged by his controversial donations to Mitt Romney's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns and ties to business groups. 

Jordan was the favorite candidate of progressive groups, ran a populist campaign and called out his and the Idaho Republican Party's ties to big business groups. 

She blew out Balukoff by nearly 20 points on May 15 to become the Democratic nominee for governor, but now faces the task of winning in a deep red state that Dolt 45 won by 30 points two years ago as she challenges Idaho Lt. Governor Brad Little (R) to replace the retiring Gov. Brad Otter (R). 

If a Medicaid expansion gets placed on the ballot, it might help Jordan's chances of pulling off that upset.

 If she does, she would become not only the first ever Native American governor of any US state, she would also become the first female governor of Idaho.

Another interesting race that will be on my radar this November 6, and definitely hope it goes Jordan's way. 

Lupe Valdez Is Running For Texas Governor!

We finally have a major Texas Democratic Party player running for governor in 2018!  That person is former Dallas County sheriff Lupe Valdez.

She's the former sheriff because she resigned a position that she's held since 2004 to run for the governor's chair.   She'll continue to serve as the Dallas County sheriff until the Dallas County Commissioners meet to select her replacement on December 19.

It's a crowded field on the Democratic side to see who will take on the incumbent governor  Greg Abbott.    She also a trailblazer as the first openly gay Latina sheriff in the United States.

Will be interesting to see how this campaign shakes out.

I'm also looking forward to voting for her when the primary election happens in March.

Down Goes The NC Gubernatorial Transphobe!

Doing the happy dance here in H-town after hearing that transphobic NC Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) after stalling for over a month, finally conceded that he lost the North Carolina governor's race to  his Democratic challenger in NC Atty. General Roy Cooper.

McCrory made history by becoming the first North Carolina governor to lose a reelection bid.

Roll that beautiful footage.



It was well deserved after pushing the unjust HB 2 that caused $500 million (and counting) of economic damage to his state and saw sporting events, jobs, concerts and conventions leave the state.

Note to my Texas GOP idiots.  Don't go down that road.  

Congrats to all the people in North Carolina who worked hard to oust him from the governor's mansion and giving Democrats and the TBLGQ community something to cheer. in Governor -elect Roy Cooper who will become the 75th governor of the state..  

Hey Caitlyn, You Still Supporting Trump and the Transphobic GOP?

As y'all know, after giving Caitlyn Jenner time after her transition to try and fail to find a voice we could be proud of in our community as an advocate, I finally had enough of the numerous faux pas and ridiculous statements and called her out.

One of the statements out of her mouth that was ridiculous on its face was initially claiming that Republicans were leaders when it came to trans human rights at a time when they were legislatively attacking us in South Dakota and North Carolina and several other GOP controlled states.

She also claimed back in June that Donald Trump is a champion for women and LGBT people.  Yeah, right.  Donald's a champion groper and pervert

Oh the Republicans are leaders all right.  Leaders when it comes to oppressing trans people.  

See my lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Caitlyn's fave senator Ted Cruz and right wing state and federal judges like Reed O'Connor for concrete example of being trans oppressors instead of trans human rights trailblazers like President Obama and soon to be POTUS Hillary Clinton.

Well, the reason I'm bringing Caitlyn's comments up again is that the North Carolina gubernatorial debate was held Monday night, and guess whose name came up in the debate discussion about Hate Bill 2?

And who said on stage that you needed to use the men's bathroom?   It sure wasn't Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for governor and the one who refused to defend as North Carolina's attorney general that unjust law.

It was that trans oppressor Gov Pat McCrory (R)



And what has been Caitlyn's response so far?

I hope you are waking up from the pink fog you're in and realizing that the party you wanted to be a 'trans ambassador' for has enshrined hatred of trans people in their 2016 platform.

I still have to ask since woke transpeople don't let friends vote GOP, if you are still supporting the anti-trans GOP presidential ticket and anti-trans Republicans?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

Texas Governor's Debate: Round Two

This second debate between Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott last night in Dallas got a little more contentious than the first debate in the Valley.  

Many statewide media pundits in the post debate aftermath consider Wendy to have won this one, and I concur with that assessment. 

To be honest, They really needed to do one in a town hall format, but Abbott didn't want that for obvious reasons.

For those of you who didn't get to see it live last night or who didn't see the livestream of it, as a TransGriot public service, your favorite blogger will make it easy for you to check it out.

Wendy vs Greg: Round Two

The final Texas gubernatorial debate between Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott is taking place later tonight in Dallas, and I'm hoping to see a lot more fireworks in this one. 

But since both candidates are playing not to make the game changing mistake that can swing the election, it's probably going to be just as close to the vest as this one.

Frankly, I would have rather seen a couple of town hall ones in which both candidates have to take questions from the audience, and would have loved those town halls to have been in The Valley and on the TSU campus in Houston for starters..  

But for you political junkies, the debate starts at 8 PM.  I've been invited to a debate watch party later tonight with a group of Wendy Davis supporters gathering at Nikki Araguz Loyd's house (yep, that Nikki).   KXAS-TV (NBC5), KXTX-TV (Telemundo 39), The Dallas Morning News, Texas Association of Broadcasters are the sponsors of it with the moderator for tonight's political fun being KERA managing editor Shelley Kofler. 

The questions will come from panelists Brian Curtis, NBC5; Peggy Fikac, San Antonio Express-News/Houston Chronicle; Norma García, Telemundo 39; and Gromer Jeffers Jr., The Dallas Morning News.  

If you don't live in the Lone Star State, the debate is being livestreamed, and it may end up being broadcast on C-SPAN like the first debate was.

Texas Governor's Debate

For those of y'all who don't live in the Lone Star State, the first debate between Texas state Senator Wendy Davis and Attorney General Greg Abbott happened Friday night in Edinburg, TX down in the Rio Grande Valley. 

Both were going after the Valley's Latino voters, and Davis was on the offensive from the opening bell.

But I don't need to tell you that.  here's the video so you can check it out and see for yourself who won.

What's Missing In This Greg Abbott Press Conference On Women's Health?

Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott decided to have a press conference at St. Joseph's Women's Medical Center here in H-town yesterday to talk about women's health issues.

Can you spot what's missing in this photo?

If you said women, you'd be correct.

Yep, as a foot soldier in the GOP War on Women, he has been as our state's attorney general defending the draconian HB2 law that if enforced, would result in the shutdown of all but 5 abortion clinics in the entire state.

Last Friday federal Judge Lee Yeakel (GW Bush appointee) struck down the provision in HB 2 that requires every abortion clinic meet the state's standards for the building, equipment and staffing for hospital-style surgery centers.  Yeakel also reinstated the block of another odious provision of HB 2 that requires providers to have admitting privileges in a hospital no more than 30 miles from the facility for two clinics located in El Paso and McAllen.

The rule "is unconstitutional because it imposes an undue burden on the right of women throughout Texas to seek a pre-viability abortion," Judge Yeakel wrote.  

Over all, he concluded, with the new closings that would have been forced by the surgery-center rule, many more women would be hours from a clinic. "Even if the remaining clinics could meet the demand," he wrote, the impact, between long travel times and other practical impediments many women face, would be as drastic as "a complete ban on abortion."

Judge Yeakel wrote, "The great weight of the evidence demonstrates that, before the act's passage, abortion in Texas was extremely safe, with particularly low rates of serious complications and virtually no deaths."

But back to the jacked up photo-op.   Greg was probably trying to deflect from the fact he has been diligently working to keep HB 2 in place, withdrew from a scheduled September 30 debate with Wendy Davis and after taking heat for it, agreed to two debates in Dallas and McAllen.  

Greg just keeps causing more problems for himself.  If you wonder why I call Abbott's campaign 'Clayton Williams 2.0', now you know.

New Virginia Governor Signs Exec Order Banning TBLG Discrimination

The inauguration of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) happened Saturday during a sometimes rain soaked ceremony on the capitol steps in Richmond.

Despite the rain, it heralded a joyous day for liberal progressives and Democrats in the state because this was the first time since 1989 that the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general spots were held by Democrats.

And as McAuliffe promised during his campaign, one of his first acts as the 72nd governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia was signing an executive order banning discrimination against state employees based on sexual orientation and for the first time ever, gender identity.

Word to the wise 2014 midterm voter:  This is why elections matter.   The Republican governors would rescind the executive orders the Democratic governors issued once they got into office.

It's about time that happened, and hopefully before Gov. McAuliffe's term ends, maybe they can pass a law that adds gender identity and sexual orientation language to the categories of persons protected in their state nondiscrimination laws.

Wendy's OFFICIALLY Running For Texas Governor!

Saturday was the first official day that candidates could file their paperwork in Austin to get on the March party primary ballots in the Lone Star State. 

Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis filed her paperwork in the first step to becoming Texas' 48th governor and attempt to become the third woman and first Democrat to do so since Ann Richards in 1990.

After filing, she came out swinging against the person widely expected to get the Teapublican nomination for governor in Greg Abbott.

Without mentioning him by name, she said, “It’s time for a governor who believes that you don’t have to buy a place in Texas’ future – inside deals, special interest tax breaks, favors for political cronies. That’s not how we ought to be doing business in Texas. Instead, it’s time to give all Texans a voice in their futureand a place in Texas’ future.”

At a recent UT-Brownsville event she redefined the GOP pet talking point that they are 'pro-life' and said she was as well

"I am pro-life," Sen. Davis said. "I care about the life of every child: every child that goes to bed hungry, every child that goes to bed without a proper education, every child that goes to bed without being able to be a part of the Texas dream, every woman and man who worry about their children's future and their ability to provide for that future." 


That redefinition sent the Teapublicans into a foaming at the mouth conservafrenzy, but she has a point.  The GOP is not pro-life, they are pro-birth.   They don't give a rat's anus about any life that doesn't look like them or isn't in their tax bracket.

And to make the GOP even more nervous that their stranglehold on the Governor's Mansion may be coming to an end, Davis is not only proving to be a formidable fundraiser, she's now trailing Abbott by 6 points in a recent poll.   That means they are already cranking up the smear machine full volume, and this governor's race will be the nastiest one since the Ann Richards-GW Bush one in 1994. 

But we still have a long way to go until November 2014.

Wendy's First Campaign Web Ad

I'm definitely down with wanting to see Sen. Wendy Davis (D) become the Lone Star State's third female governor.

She's already started touring the state with campaign stops in Waxahachie and San Antonio, where she picked up the endorsement of San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro.

She also came out in favor of the recently passed San Antonio non-discrimination ordinance. 

“I hope that it becomes something that is commonplace,” Davis said. “I look forward to a Texas where we see that in every city in the state.” Later, speaking to reporters, Davis said it’s “important that people be treated equally in the workplace, plain and simple.”

She is not a 'one issue candidate' as the GOP idiots have tried to slime her as being.  In the 2011 legislative  session she filibustered to stop $5 billion in public education cuts the GOP wanted to happen.  It forced a special session in which they restored much of the money the GOP wanted to cut.

This is Sen. Davis' first web ad

Wendy's Running!

Earlier this afternoon Texas Sen.Wendy Davis finally said the words that we long suffering Texas Democrats (and the nation) have been waiting to hear.

"I have decided to run for governor of the great state of Texas.
As Texans, we believe that with hard work, determination, and a little old-fashioned common sense, we can build a better future for ourselves and our families.
We can make our communities safer, create jobs, and get Texas moving in the right direction.
I realize that we have a challenging road ahead. But after talking with my family, my friends, and my closest supporters -- I am convinced this is the right decision."

So are we and everyone who is on board with #TeamWendy.  I've already made a donation to her campaign because I'm that convinced she is the right person to lead our state. 

I remember the last time we had a female Democratic governor lead our state.  It's also the last time Texas had a budget surplus ($2.5 billion) a diverse leadership team and a governor who was admired and not laughed at.

I got the feeling that Ann Richards, Barbara Jordan and Molly Ivins were looking down from their heavenly perch and smiling a bit today.  

I want to be doing the same along with other liberal-progressive Texans tired of the GOP corporate dictatorship on November 4, 2014.

Wendy's running!  Now it's time to get busy and help her win.

Wendy Davis Making Big Political Announcement Today

At 4 PM CDT TX State Senator Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) will step to a podium in the same auditorium in Haltom City when she graduated from high school and announce whether she's going to attempt to become the third female governor of the Lone Star State.  

If she does make that call, she has the best shot at doing so since Ann Richards became in 1990 the last Texas Democrat to occupy the governor's chair.   Ann Richards started off her campaign in a 27 point hole against GOP nominee Clayton Williams but eventually won. 

It didn't hurt that Williams was pissing everyone off in the state with his rape joke and refusing to shake Richards' hand after a debate.  

If Wendy Davis jumps into this race, it's because she thinks she can win and even better, she's won seven consecutive political races including her runs for the Fort Worth City Council.   She's won two races in a Fort Worth area state senate district that leans Republican but is a microcosm of the state with large pockets of Latino, African-American and progressive voters.  She won twice in that state senate district that prior to her running and winning it in 2008 was a GOP bastion with a coalition of Democrats, independents and reality based Republicans. 

Because of her heightened name recognition in the wake of her 11 hour filibuster against the unjust and draconian abortion clinic bill she has raised over $1 million with the ability to raise more nationally. 

Davis is only trailing Greg Abbott, who has been in office 12 years as the Republican AG by single digits and has much better name recognition statewide than he does. Should she jump into the race she has plenty of time to make that deficit up and get her message out there.

I submit Davis' message will resonate with Texans tired of the conservafool social agenda coming up in every legislative session in Austin.

"What they care about is public education," she said in a recent interview. "Can their child go to college, is there a path for their child's future? Is there a path for them to have a good job, are they going to have adequate healthcare? These are things that really matter to people. Are we creating the type of climate to keep a healthy workforce and a vibrant economy, that's what people care about and that's what they want their leaders to be in the business of talking about.

So I think that we're going to see, if there is a statewide campaign, we'll see that the expression of that come out in many, many ways."

We have problems in this state that require adult leadership to solve.   In Wendy Davis we may have the right person to drive that message home.  It also doesn't hurt the last time Texas had a female Democratic governor in Austin she wiped out a $6 billion deficit piled up by Bill Clements (R) and turned it into a $2.5 billion surplus.  Ann Richards also had the most diverse cabinet in Texas history, in addition to us in the Lone Star State seeing many groundbreaking firsts under her leadership.

I'd like to see that happen for Texas again.