Good morning!

Yesterday we asked about the simmering question of “closing” Texas’ partisan primaries so only those who declare their party affiliation in advance of the election can vote in it. Readers definitely had opinions… 

You’ll find a sampling of those at the conclusion of today’s Texas Minute for this Wednesday, May 11, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott Announces Support For ‘School Choice’ And ‘Fully Funded’ Schools

• In response to mounting criticism of mismanagement and left-wing indoctrination in Texas’ public schools, Gov. Greg Abbott this week endorsed school choice efforts in the 2023 legislative session. Brandon Waltens has the details. 
       
• School choice has been a long-standing priority of the Republican Party of Texas. In the last legislative session, the issue was soundly quashed by legislators in the Texas House – including a majority of Republican members.
      
• “Empowering parents means giving them the choice to send their children to any public school, charter school, or private school with state funding following the student.” – Greg Abbott
       
• Abbott’s words on school choice, however, run in contrast to some of his recent actions. His endorsements have aligned with candidates largely supported by liberal teacher unions that have long opposed school choice and other forms of education reform.
      
• In the same speech on school choice, the governor stressed his commitment to “fully funding” public schools. “No governor has devoted more resources to public education than I have,” said Abbott.
      
• The Democrats’ gubernatorial candidate, Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, tweeted: “Abbott is for defunding our public schools. I'm for fully funding our kids’ classrooms and fully supporting parents, teachers, and students.”
     

• BOLD! A rich white guy who went to an exclusive private school doesn’t want poor minority kids to have the same choices. Of course, O’Rourke also likes having black babies butchered by Planned Parenthood… So, you do the math.

Runoff Preview: Harris and McGuinness In House District 52

• The redrawn House District 52 covers a portion of Williamson County and is currently held by State Rep. James Talarico (D–Round Rock). Due to changes made during the redistricting process, HD 52 is now more favorable to a Republican candidate and Talarico is vacating the seat. The open-seat GOP primary resulted in a runoff. Sydnie Henry reviews the two candidates vying to be the GOP nominee.
     
• Caroline Harris has spent the last seven years working for Republicans in the Texas Legislature, most recently for an East Texas state senator, Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola). Harris has raised more than $150,000, with Hughes being her largest donor ($55,000). She has been endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Right to Life, Texas Values Action, Texas Home School Coalition, Texas Farm Bureau, and the Texas Association of Realtors.
      
• Patrick McGuinness is an engineer who has been active in local politics for years and founded the North Austin Republican Club. He has mostly self-funded his campaign, which currently has nearly $225,000 cash on hand. He has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Young Conservatives of Texas, Defend Texas Liberty PAC, and the Texas Eagle Forum.
       
• Check out the article to see where McGuinness and Harris stand on various issues.
     
• The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democrat Luis Echegaray in November. Runoff Election Day is Tuesday, May 24. Early voting begins May 16.

Parents Are Waking Up

• Last Saturday’s election results sent shockwaves across Texas. Parents woke up and kicked out a ton of liberal school board members around the state. In the latest edition of his show, Luke Macias unpacks what this means for the Lone Star State.

Broken Trust

• Public schools broke faith with the public, writes Brent Lawson in a new commentary, by taking a defensive posture when obscene books were uncovered in school libraries.
   
• “School officials bristled at the idea of being held to account by parents and concerned citizens,” writes Lawson. “Our public educators should first relate to the children and the community being served, not the public education system or their colleagues.”

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Y’All Answered

Under current law, Texans do not declare a party at the time they register to vote. Any Texan can vote in either (though only one) party primary, and anyone who hasn’t voted in any primary is eligible to vote in the runoffs of any party.

Some have suggested “closing” the party primaries – that is, requiring voters to declare which primary they will participate in during the voter registration period leading up to the party primaries. In response, 65.7 percent of readers said they wanted to close the primaries – compared to the 34.3 percent who want to keep the system as it is.

Here’s a sampling of what came in the inbox…

• “Primary elections are the place for parties to select their candidates.  Allowing the opposing party to sabotage the process is just insane. Much like the majority party putting minority party members in leadership positions.  Both need to stop.” – Fran Rhodes
     
• “Open primaries allow candidates to attract ‘uncommitted’ voters to vote in the Republican primary. I don't want to slam the door in the face of a prospective Republican.” – Greg Ripps
       
• “Keep the Texas primary system as it is. Most people do not make up their minds until close to the time of voting.” – LaFawn Thompson
     
• “The law should be modified to prohibit voting in a runoff if you did not vote in the primary.” – Toby Hall
      
• “I came here from a state with closed primaries and was politically active there and am now here. I far prefer that system. Less expensive for a candidate and less shenanigans with voters trying to pick the worst candidate of another party. Rather than electing the best, if that strategy is effective, you risk electing the worst. It didn't stop anyone from voting in the other primary. You just had to affirmatively change parties a certain amount of time; in our case 50 days, prior to the election.” – Carol Spencer

      

• “It’s not government’s business which primary I vote in. And if I want to vote Democrat one time and Republican another, that’s my business. Why should government restrict which primaries I vote in? Enough government interference in elections!” – Cheryl Alexander
      

• “Open primaries is likely a major reason that Texas is in the shape it’s in now. ... Open primaries only give the Democrats and establishment Republicans another way to stack the deck in their favor.” – Michael Kinzie
     
• “Why would anyone invite the fox into the hen house!?” – Bill Hussey
      
• “Leave the primaries as they are. We want Democrats to become Republicans, let's not make it more difficult for them.” – Jerry Harben
     
• “With the way the left is reacting to anything they do not like (with no repercussions), we need to close the primary. The left will stop at nothing to socialize our nation.” – Jo Locke
       
• “A closed primary system would not have allowed Operation Chaos, championed by Rush Limbaugh, to be possible in 2008 and then again in 2020.” – Hanslin Peterson
     
• “One of the reasons we get candidates who do not support the GOP grassroots priorities is that we allow the Democrats and the uninvolved/uninformed to choose our candidates.” – Scott Jones
      
• “I am not Republican.  I am a liberty-minded individual.  The parties serve the purpose of providing a united front on key issues and provide a mechanism for expressing one's views in a way that can ultimately lead to legislation by beginning meaningful debate close to home. But in recent years, the parties have created an environment of divisiveness. … I also think it may suppress the vote in primaries because it is simply too much trouble to change registration for what is likely  perceived as one voting cycle.  That leaves more control in the hands of the establishment.” – Roger Taylor
     
• “Requiring prior commitment for party affiliation will not disenfranchise voters from voting in the general elections, but it will require them to make a positive stand in the selection of party representation.  Maybe some people will actually read the platforms adopted by the parties to determine which line to get in?” – Arthur Potter
     
• “Five years ago, I would have said leave them open. But as the election judge in our small precinct, I watched many Democrats come vote for a member of their community who was running on the Republican ticket because that is (currently) what it takes to win a local race.” – Pat Wiggins
     
• “Once told many years ago by a Democrat attorney in Tarrant County she voted in the Republican primaries to promote the (more liberal) candidates she preferred. As an attorney, she was most interested in promoting more liberal Republican judges. Though legal, I did not think that was then, nor now, a proper way to participate in a representative government.” – Michele Ward

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.