Good morning,

There's a propensity in politics for voters not to believe it when politicians show us who they really are. I end the week reflecting on a reason for that.

Here is the Texas Minute for Friday, Feb. 10, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

But First... I appreciate all the kind words for, and great response to, the new Texas Minute podcast! If you listen to podcasts, you can find it on Apple, Google, and Spotify, as well as our website.

Seven School Administrators Arrested... From One District

• Seven current and former administrators in City View ISD have been arrested for failing to report alleged sexual misconduct against students as required by law. Brandon Waltens has the details.

      
• According to the Wichita Falls Police Department, the arrests are part of an investigation focusing on “the persistent failures to report sexual misconduct by administrators at City View ISD of multiple incidents over an eight-year span.”
       
• At the center of the scandal are allegations of sexual misconduct by Bobby Morris, a basketball coach at City View's High School. Those allegations first emerged last June, and Morris committed suicide four days later.
        

• Police say their investigation has found that since 2014 there were four separate incidents of alleged sexual misconduct between Coach Morris and female students. While City View ISD officials conducted internal investigations, they did not report the allegations to law enforcement as required by law.

       

• Failure by the administration to report alleged abuse by a school employee is a state jail felony under the Texas Education Code.

Patrick Demands Election Redo In Harris County

• After the overwhelming incompetency of election officials in Harris County left polling places without ballots and disenfranchised voters, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is demanding a redo of the fall election. Emily Wilkerson has the details.
      

• Last month, a local news station in Houston discovered that the ballot shortage in Harris County was more widespread than the Elections Administration Office estimated. It is believed more than 100 polling places did not have ballots. 

      

• Patrick is joined by other lawmakers and candidates concerned with the election problems in Harris County, including Republican county judge candidate Alexandra del Moral Mealer, who has filed multiple lawsuits against the county to contest the election results.

      
• “How many people went to go vote that didn’t go back? We don’t know,” said Patrick during an event in Houston. “So, we do need to have a new election.”

Tarrant County Launches Election Integrity Task Force

• Delivering on campaign commitments to prioritize citizens’ concerns about the security of elections, Tarrant County's Republican officials launched an Election Integrity Task Force this week. Erin Anderson reports the task force is charged with investigating and prosecuting voter fraud and other election code violations.

       
• “We want everyone to know we take election integrity seriously in Tarrant County,” said County Judge Tim O’Hare.
      
• “We intend to pursue any complaint regarding election issues where there is evidence or probable cause that a crime has been committed,” explained Sheriff Bill Waybourn. “This is not a Democrat or Republican thing. It is making sure all the citizens are served well.”
      
• “During my campaign, I promised that this would be part of my administration,” said District Attorney Bill Sorrells. “I’m here to make good on that promise.”

📺 Watch Now: Texas Republican Chairman On First GOP Priority Being Ignored By Lawmakers

• On today's edition of The Headline with Brandon Waltens, Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi discusses the defeat of the party's legislative priority to ban Democrats from chairmanships in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
       
• Also on the show, State Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson (R-Galveston) talks about her efforts to reform public education.
      
• The Headline is available now on Texas Scorecard's video streaming apps for Roku and Apple TV. You can still watch each episode on our website, Rumble, or YouTube channels.

U.S. Rep. Gonzales Censured By Local Republicans

• The Medina County Republican Party voted to censure U.S. Rep Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio) for taking votes in violation of the Republican Party of Texas’ principles. Katy Drollinger has the details.

      
• The county party cited his votes with Democrats against GOP positions, such as his support of gay marriage. The party resolution highlighted the fact that Gonzales’ district encompasses 843 miles of the Texas-Mexico border and condemned him for not supporting RPT’s legislative priority to “secure the border and protect Texans.”
       

• The Medina County Republican Party called Gonzales a “poor representative for his Republican constituents.” They listed more than ten additional reasons for his censure, including failing to support additional border wall construction, voting to require women to register for the military draft, and joining Democrats to approve spending more than $40 billion funding Ukraine.

      
• “The censure of Tony Gonzales was a unanimous decision and deemed necessary by the Republicans of Medina County,” said Julie Clark, who chairs the Medina County Republican Party.

Friday Reflection: When Someone Shows You Who They Are...

It is fine to assume the best about people; in many ways, it is what allows civil society to function. I need to assume the teller at the bank isn’t pocketing my cash when I make a deposit! Sometimes, though, individuals tell us who they really are. When they do, we really should believe them.

There is an unfortunate trend in politics for voters not to believe who the incumbents really are. For better or worse, candidates are essentially products. Marketing blitzes with carefully scripted ads, right down to perfectly poised family Christmas cards, create a sense of personal intimacy without actual substance.

We don’t know them. We don’t know the person – so we vote for the product.

But that product is a big-ticket item, like a house or a car. Yet more so, because our vote is an investment in the future of ourselves, our children, our neighbors. We want to get it right.

Then the candidate becomes the officeholder. Then the candidate doesn’t deliver. Then the candidate proves themselves not to be the “fighter” claimed in the ads, but another cog in the wheel of the establishment cronies.

As you might imagine, no one ever campaigns as “cog for the cronies.” Yet they show us that by their actions.

Enter the cognitive dissonance, that disquieting realization that comes when confronted with two things that cannot be true at the same time. The candidate cannot be both the “fighter” and the “lackey.”

We made the decision to purchase that big-ticket item… we made a promise to protect our kids… we told our neighbors to embrace this person… We clam up.

This is why incumbency has such a hold. It’s not because of the money or power, but because we shackle ourselves to our own bad decisions. We shackle ourselves to the servant we hired on the basis of a fraudulent campaign.

We don’t want to admit we were wrong, and so we ignore those facts that run contrary to our first decision. We lash out at those who point to any inconvenient facts, and we even distort reality to match the outcome we wish had been achieved.

When it is a car, we say things like, “I think it is great that the back windows don’t roll down and the steering column doesn’t adjust – fewer things that can go wrong!” With a politician, we become fawning cheerleaders and embarrassing apologists. That’s a bad look.

As the hiring officers on the committee to save the republic, we should be something more. Citizens should treat the selection of our servants as less than a personal investment and more of a professional exercise. Rather than pridefully allow our losses to mount, we should be willing to move on.

When politicians show us who they really are, we should believe them, fire them, and then find someone who will actually deliver the outcomes we desire.