Dear John,
Hello from Galveston, Texas.
This morning I took a nice run from my hotel to the eastern end of the
island at the old Fort San Jacinto. Cloudy and misty but the sun peeked
through every now and then.
Looking out over the Inner Bar Channel, with the seagulls calling out to
each other, and stray cats slinking around the rocks and seawall, I
watched a massive container ship cruise into the bay on its way to
Seabrook where it will unload and reload at the Bayport Container
Terminal.
We visited Bayport yesterday, getting a chance to meet and listen to the
longshoremen and women who literally keep our economy going. The ports
along the Houston Ship Channel handle hundreds of millions of tons of
cargo and the men and women who work them help make this region the leader
in exports nationally. This is how so much of what we manufacture and
produce in Texas reaches the rest of the world.
[ [link removed] ]Beto meeting longshoremen and women
Bayport
Prior to that, I had a chance to meet with Houston entrepreneurs about how
we can make it easier for people to start and grow their businesses and
create more high-paying jobs in Texas. In Fort Bend, I met with health
care professionals and small business owners about the high price we’ve
paid over the course of this pandemic — and how we can be prepared for the
next one.
[ [link removed] ]Beto listens at small business roundtable
Houston
I also talked with area educators about improving the quality of education
at our schools so that more young Texans are ready to work the jobs and
start the businesses that will allow us to really grow an economy that
works for everyone. We talked about class size, special education, the
bureaucracy of public schools, high stakes tests, student-to-counselor
ratios as well as salary and working conditions — all factors in producing
better outcomes in our classrooms.
Before I left Houston I had a chance to connect with some of Texas’
foremost innovators in climate technology at Greentown Labs. It made me
confident that we can continue to be the energy capital of the world —
building on a proud tradition of oil and gas and quickly expanding into
renewable technologies like geothermal, hydrogen, battery storage, and
others that will allow us to create more jobs and meet our obligations to
each other and the future of this planet.
[ [link removed] ]Beto at Greentown Labs
Houston
And those are just some of the meetings we’ve had in the Gulf Coast!
Over the last ten days, we’ve also met with military retirees and veterans
in Harker Heights and Killeen; we’ve met with law enforcement in
Rosenberg; we rallied with Opal Lee in Fort Worth; we listened to oil and
gas leaders in Midland; and we spent time in communities where you might
not expect to see a Democrat.
[ [link removed] ]Beto with a veteran in Harker Heights
Harker Heights
In Stamford, for example, we met with the extraordinary mayor of this
small town in Jones County and learned about his community’s many
successes in the face of some pretty tough challenges. Half the county
doesn’t have access to broadband. The water system needs a major overhaul.
Two of the county’s hospitals have closed down. And a city that had more
than 6,000 residents in 1960 now only has 3,000.
But Mayor Decker isn’t letting any of that deter him. He’s fiercely
focused on the future of Stamford — on making the investments that will
attract and retain young people in the community, on improving the quality
of life for his constituents, and on making sure that we get past the
culture war BS that dominates so much of our state’s politics today and
get back to doing the big work in front of us. He’s looking for a partner
in state government, and I told him that whether it’s expanding Medicaid,
investing in Stamford’s infrastructure, or rolling out broadband to all of
rural Texas, I will have his back.
[ [link removed] ]Beto with Mayor Decker
Stamford
Last night we had a chance to meet with supporters and volunteers here in
downtown Galveston. We talked about the unique opportunity we have to come
together and get the job done for everyone — school teachers,
longshoremen, veterans and law enforcement, small towns, big cities,
business owners and employees, energy workers and environmentalists — all
of us.
[ [link removed] ]Beto holding a rally in Galveston
Galveston
But it will take all of us doing our part right now to make it possible.
[ [link removed] ]As I head off to Beaumont, Nacogdoches, Marshall, and Texarkana to
continue meeting with our fellow Texans, I hope you’ll make a donation to
keep us going and on the road.
[ [link removed] ]Contribute $3
I’m grateful to you and grateful to be doing this work with you!
Beto
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Pol. Adv. Paid for by Beto for Texas.
