Hello Citizen Advocates!

For the entire month of August, we have been focusing on the Speaker's race in the Texas House.  We've asked that you make calls and send messages to House members and prospective members about the Contract with Texas, the vote for a speaker who will not appoint democrat chairs, and asking them to sign their caucus ballot. And you've delivered in a big way!  THANK YOU!

Well I'm happy to report that it seems to be working!  We don't want to count chickens before hatching, but it is looking like more and more people are on our side in this issue.  Grassroots efforts are working!

In his latest podcast, Luke Macias talks about the current outlook for Dade Phelan as speaker of the 89th House and it's not looking good.  Of course things could change in the next few months, but it's clear that Mr. Phelan is facing a crisis.

On the flip side of this opinion is an article by Brad Johnson in The Texan.news called The Toomey of it All.  Speaker Phelan recently hired a new Chief of Staff, Mike Toomey, who is known in political circles as a "fixer".  The article suggests that Mr. Phelan is signaling that he is not giving up, and will not go quietly into the night.

Another article in The Texan.news, reports that Speaker Phelan has announced that his now in support of school choice, and conservative priorities, and wants to work with Gov Abbott and LG Patrick.  The article indicates that he is now willing to "play nice" with other members of state leadership, following a long standing feud with LG Patrick, AG Paxton, and to some extent, Governor Abbott. 

On the other hand, a Texas Scorecard article reports that the new chief of staff has a record of donations to Democrat Candidates, which doesn't bode well for new and improved attitudes from the Speaker's office. 

No matter who ends up being Speaker of House in 2025, the most important take-away from all of this is that grassroots activism is working!  At the end of Luke's podcast, he talks about how the situation in Texas politics isn't like it used to be 8 or 10 years ago.  Things are different now because of YOU!  Grassroots activists are stepping up and speaking up, and our elected representatives can no longer hide from us. Even Brad Johnson's articles indicate that Phelan is having at least the appearance of a change of heart, which can also be attributed to grassroots pressure.

I know that sometimes it's hard to stand up, speak up and show up, but remember that we have God's protection when we are doing the right thing for His people. 

We often talk about putting on the full armor of God from the book of Ephisians- we've heard it all our life.  But there's so much more to it.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  (Ephesians 6:10-17)

So I say to YOU, Citizen Advocates, "put on the full armor of God"  Take up your belt of truth, your breastplate of righteousness, your feet fitted with readiness, your shield of faith, your helmet of salvation, and your sword of the Spirit.  Be fully prepared to step out and tackle the evil that sometimes permeates our government entities.  You are a warrior in the TTP army, and we have not yet won the war, but we are winning battles.

It really is working, so don't take your foot off the gas!

Stay Joyfully Engaged!

Fran Rhodes, President