Good morning, 

A priority for all of us at Texas Scorecard is to provide a platform from which citizens can make their voices heard.

In today's Texas Minute, I’ll review some of the commentaries that were submitted in 2020.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, December 30, 2020
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• But first, a bit of federal news...
   
• In a statement, U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Terrell) says he will object to the certification of the Electoral College results on Jan.6.  He has joined other Texas congressmen Brian Babin (R-Woodville), Randy Weber (R-Pearland), and Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler) in saying they want a congressional investigation into claims of voter fraud ahead of certifying the results.
   
• Gooden has sent a letter to the state’s U.S. senators – John Cornyn and Ted Cruz – urging them to do likewise. (The senators’ office phone numbers are noted below.)
     
• “It is our duty to ensure the integrity of our election is unwavering, and the American people deserve to feel confident their vote counts.” — U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden

• Let’s talk commentaries... 
   
• One of the writers you’ll see regularly submitting commentaries is data analyst Jim Ellis. He writes informatively about the nuances of polling, election returns, and redistricting.  For example, his October commentary on the hits and misses of the Trafalgar Group’s polling over the last four years was also one of the most read and shared commentaries we published this year.

• Staying with polling, another popular commentary from 2020 was by Luke Macias. He looked at the results of a poll demonstrating the more closely churchgoers held to orthodox religious views, the more likely they were to support Donald Trump’s re-election.
   
• (Of course, Luke is also the host of the Luke Macias Show – a podcast sponsored by Texas Scorecard.)

• Most of the commentaries we post are from citizens speaking out on issues affecting them and their neighbors.
   
• For example, Tarrant County businessman Buddy Saunders wrote this spring about the travails of small businesses in the economic shutdown ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott.
   
• Saunders took direct aim at the “non-essential” label applied to businesses which provide valuable services to their customers... and jobs for their employees.
     
• Throughout the year, attorney and former State Rep. Matt Rinaldi wrote several commentaries on the ethics and legality of various mandates imposed on Texans under the excuse of the coronavirus. His most recent focused on the “sinister effect” of the mask mandates.

• We also published commentaries in 2020 from folks like Rich DeOtte of Southlake, Chris Putnam of Colleyville, Fran Rhodes of Keller, and Chris Fails of Hollywood Park.
   
• They covered a variety of topics, meaningful to them and others — and sometimes issues we simply wouldn’t be able to cover in the normal course of things.
   
• In all, more than 120 commentaries were published by Texas Scorecard in 2020!

• Submitting a commentary for publication in Texas Scorecard is super-easy. Simply send it to [email protected].

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