Wow!  We have never seen the grassroots this mad! 

Have you scrolled through Twitter?  Whew!  I sure wouldn't want to be a State Rep who voted for the impeachment of Paxton.  They are being eviscerated by you... as they should be!

Let me back up and give a replay for those who haven't been following...and I'm gonna start at the very beginning, so buckle up...

• Dade Phelan was elected Speaker of the House by 147 State Reps.  Only Tinderholt, Slaton, and Schatzline voted against him.  Phelan had made it clear he had no interest in Republican priorities, but those who voted for him promised our priorities would be passed. 
• The House dragged its feet all session.  Committee chairs were announced late.  They voted for multiple 5-day weekends.  Hearings were delayed.  Multiple frivolous or even left-leaning bills were passed, while the stated priorities of the Republican Party were left to die.
• An uproar was made over Slaton's affair with a young staffer.  In spite of the fact that he willingly stepped down, the House still decided to take time on a public vote to have him removed.  The same people who voted to have Slaton removed had literally cheered a female State Rep after audio of her affair with a married State Rep was released.  No consequences whatsoever.  I mention this because it gives a clue to the bias in the House regarding how "punishments" and "grace" are doled out. I agree we should have high standards... and we should have them for EVERYONE.
• Soon after that, a recording of Phelan slurring his words while conducting business on the House floor went viral.  Phelan did not offer any explanation.  Then a 2nd video came out -- a montage of 6 minutes showing other times Phelan has been drunk on the floor.  State Reps started making excuses for him, suggesting maybe he was sick.  But as I mentioned in a previous email, there was no medical time off, no apology, no explanation, etc.  Nobody honestly believes he was sick.  One Rep put out a message saying we're all human and to just forgive him.
• Attorney General Ken Paxton called for Phelan to resign and initiated an investigation into his drunken behavior.
• Two hours later, Phelan called for investigation into Paxton and asked the House to vote on impeaching him.
• At the 11th hour on a holiday weekend, with only 4 hours to review the case, the Republican House voted to impeach the Republican Attorney General.  I'll add a personal note here: Paxton is arguably the most active AG in the nation fighting back against Biden, big pharma, and corporate overreach.  I did not vote for him in the Primary (I chose Gohmert due to integrity issues), and I don't know the truth about any of the charges against him, but I do know that people with power have been desperate to stop Paxton for years and failed.  If there was solid evidence against him, it would have been used already.  Somehow the House was able to make a determination in 4 hours about details others have spent years poring over?
• Paxton was impeached by the House.  Here are the votes:

• Let me pause right here to point out a key factor.  I read somewhere that the house spent a total of 35 hours on this impeachment sham. They wanted it done, they jumped into action, and they made it happened in just over one day.  Why can't they do that with our legislative priorities... which they claim to support?  Why do they tell us over and over again that they ran out of time???  Here's a list of some bills they didn't address:
  • • Texas Border Protection Unit
      
    • Declaration of Invasion
      
    • End In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens
      
    • Mandate E-Verify
      
    • Finish the Texas Border Wall
      
    • Ban Foreign Land Ownership
      
    • End DEI on college campuses
    • Add 10 Commandments to classrooms
    • Ban CRT
    • End Covid vaccine mandates
    • Help detransitioners
    • End taxpayer-funder lobbying
    • Passed Education freedom
    • Refocused energy market on reliable sources
    • Limited executive powers
    • Eliminated property taxes
• BUT...they did manage to pass THE LARGEST BUDGET INCREASE IN TEXAS HISTORY.  When your rep comes home and campaigns on "the most conservative session ever," be sure to correct it to "the most expensive session ever."  (They will also try to tell you it's a huge property tax refund to homeowners, but they've done some fancy footwork and the real numbers don't match what they are touting.  But I'm getting sidetracked.) Back to the Phelan story...
• Immediately after the vote, we started seeing letters on official letterhead from those who voted to impeach.  Obviously they'd been drafted before the hearing had even begun, so it's hard to believe it was a fair and unbiased vote!
• Every letter from the State Reps defending their votes said the same thing.  "I didn't want to have to vote against him, but I have to make hard decisions so you don't have to."  "I wanted the chance for the Senate to hold a trial."  It was really nauseating how much they were in lock-step.  They didn't even try to hide it.  Oh, and then when they started claiming, "I had to pray really hard about it," I pretty much lost it.  Such martyrs they are!  On the bright side, it was super fun to watch thousands of patriots lay into them on social media for their bad choices.
• For those wondering, apparently the Asst AG Brent Webster will now fill in while the Texas Senate holds a trial on the impeachment.  You will want to contact your Senator about how you expect him/her to vote.  Senators say they are not allowed to indicate their stance, but that doesn't mean you can't share your opinion.

And that leads us to today.  Today my email and Facebook and Twitter and phone are all blowing up with people wanting to know how we vote those bums in the House out.  It's a good question, and I'm serious when I say we've never seen the grassroots this mad!  The Reps certainly need to be replaced.  Here's what I posted on Twitter in that regard:

You can see the whole thread here.  Twitter has been a blast, so you might want to get on there just for the entertainment!  Many (including me!) have been pretty snarky replying to all the Reps as they post their pathetic letters. 

So... ARE we ready to vote 'em all out?  I will say that the new follows on social media and new subscriptions to our emails and the many requests for info on our meetings is through the roof!  We are definitely building the army.

What will we do next?  Well, we need to find challengers to run.  And this gets a little tricky.  Guys, all I can do is shoot straight with you.  I'm not gonna hold your hand or give false hope.  Winning an election against a well-funded incumbent is no easy task, and we simply cannot start endorsing every Johnny Come Lately that suddenly fancies himself State Rep material.  Here are some qualities to look for...

• • • • Name recognition - like it or not, elections are a popularity contest.  A candidate needs to have built a reputation.  Maybe they've held office at the local level.  Maybe they are socialites with a big following.  Maybe they run a well-known business.  Name recognition can be purchased of course (with tv ads, bill boards, radio, mailers, and social media), but it is quite expensive.
      • Money - if a candidate has no money and no resources to raise money, forget it.  Yes, I know you will all now tell me that we will outwork them, and you'll remind me of the rare examples of times the underdog has won.  Sure, it happens.  But don't count on it.  We must have money to win elections.  Thankfully there are some PACs that can help if other things fall into place.
      • Values/Beliefs - Is the candidate really one of us? Do we have examples of him/her standing strong under great pressure?  Is there a history of servant leadership? You may want to ask about religious beliefs as well. 
      • Knowledge of the System - This can't be their first rodeo.  How many candidates have come to me saying, "So and so did such and such.  That was my wake-up call, and so God told me to run."  They have no understanding of how campaigns work, how the House is run, etc.  Guess who will take them under their wings if they win?  The GOPe and the lobbyists, that's who.
      • Volunteers - Does the candidate have a following?  Many, many hands will be needed to pull this off.  Blockwalkers, phone bankers, donors, poll workers.  When a candidate considers running, everyone says they will help... but very few follow through.  And it takes dozens.
      • Time - running for State Rep is a full-time job.  What about a paid job? What about family time?  These things must all be considered.  For sure the family better be on board because the candidate will be gone... a lot.

I don't say all this to discourage anyone from running.  I say all this to encourage you to take this seriously.  If we put up a bunch of weak candidates and they all lose, what does that tell those crooks in Austin?  It tells them they can do whatever they want without consequence.  Be wise.  Be discerning. Be creative. Be looking. The right candidates ARE out there.  They usually have to be convinced.  They probably don't believe they are the right person.  Your job is to find them, pray with them, convince them, and then get them elected. 

Filing to run for office does not happen until November, but most people will make their intentions known sometime between now and early Fall.  If you have a candidate, please send them our way.  They don't have to be perfect and match that above description perfectly, but let's put our best chances forward.

For Texas,
Julie McCarty, CEO

PS.  This shenanigans is like a gift.  Don't waste it!  Voters are mad, and we can capitalize on that.