Turning out more Democratic Voters in East Texas is critical for Dems to win statewide races

Help East TX Trio Turn Texas Blue: McKellar, Brannon & Layton

By Faith Chatham - May 10, 2018

Bill Brannon, Shirley Layton and Shirley McKellar are three Democrats who are building political infrastructure in part of the Lone Star State which had been abandoned to the Republicans for decades. The poverty rate has escalated during the tenures of multi-term small government Tea Party Republicans incumbent to the point that currently at least 30% of the households in this region live below the poverty line.

It takes hard work, persistence, and rebuilding to change out these seats. It takes hard core dedicated Democratic candidates on the campaign trail proclaiming common sense people focused messages. All three of these candidates have deep ties in their communities and are know for community services.

We cannot win statewide up ticket races without closing the gap between the number of Democratic and Republican voters in these hard to win districts.

The districts of these three Democratic Nominees are all located in the Piney Woods Region of East Texas. Dr Shirley McKellar is challenging Tea Party Freedom Caucus US Rep Louie Gohmert for the US TX 1st Seat in the US Congress.

Former Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Bill Brannon is challenging Republican Dan Flynn for the 2nd District Seat in the Texas State House of Representatives.

Former Angelina County Democratic Chair Shirley Layton is challenging Texas State Senator (Rep) Bob Nichols for the Texas State Senate 3rd District seat.

We cannot win top of the ticket statewide races without closing the gap more in our hardest to win Districts.

They need gasoline money to travel through their large districts They need money for flyers and phone banks to get our Democratic Message to people who have not been exposed to many Democrats on their ballots for much too long. They need help to continue building the political infrastructure necessary to attract Democratic voters.

These are warriors who are fighting against formidable opponents in a red part of the state. Every voter they are able to inspire gives our statewide ticket a greater opportunity of winning in November. We cannot win state wide races if we continue to refuse to support candidates who fight for us in the hardest to win areas.

Please give what you can afford to fill their gas tanks and to keep them stocked with push cards for volunteers to distribute to voters who have not heard our message.

Use this link to have your donation split between these three East Texas Candidates. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/etdem18

If you prefer to give everything to one and/or nothing to one and split it between the other two, you can use this link and click on the "Allocate my donation differently" link about the $amount on the form. 

Jan McDowell CPA is a better choice for North Texas than Marchant

By Faith Chatham - May 9, 2018

Jan brings her acumen as a CPA to the floor as she fights for every human being in this country.  About Taxes she says: “Taxes: Income is income. There should not be rules favoring capital gains income (typically earned by the wealthy) over ordinary income (your paycheck, or small business profit).”

She knows what we need.

On Social Security she says: “Social Security: It’s a safety net lifting 14.7 million elderly Americans out of poverty. Benefits are earned through a lifetime of work. While life expectancy has increased dramatically, the very people who are most dependent on Social Security benefits are also more likely to be working in occupations that make it difficult to continue working into their later years. So an increase in the retirement age is not the answer. Raising or eliminating the wage cap for the Social Security tax, as has been done for the Medicare tax, is what I would support. Also, applying the Social Security tax to income currently labeled “capital gains income” would net a huge inflow of funding into the program.”

She views immigration from both the economic and human perspective.

 “No human is illegal. Yes, it’s important to protect safety, which means deporting people convicted of felonies. But we are all immigrants, and the diverse tapestry of America is made better by the contributions of all. Our economy depends on the work being done by all. Our safety relies on people being confident that they can report information to law enforcement without fear for their own safety.”

She is forward thinking and knows the importance of addressing the changes in the international and domestic economy.

“It’s time for a new national goal: to become a nation powered by sustainable, renewable sources rather than by fossil fuels. In the 1800s, we strove to build the Transcontinental Railroad, and in the 1960s we took pride in a national effort to put a man on the moon. This new goal must be what we rally around in the 21st century.”

She knows we must prioritize creating new jobs and advancing new frontier to grow our national economy and give this and future generations jobs with a future.

Jan says: “As we encourage STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, our clean energy revolution will provide the millions of new jobs to put those STEM graduates into great careers.”

She recognizes that we all live together and depend upon our planet. Jan McDowell is a realist She recognizes the pitfalls of deregulation or self-regulation.

 “Protections safeguarding our planet have a higher priority than the ability of a corporation to make ever bigger profits.”

She values fairness and equality.

“ALL citizens of our country deserve protection and equal treatment in all areas of life. If non-discrimination laws do not adequately identify a particular group to be protected, then the designation must be broadened to cover them. Regardless of Age, Gender, Ethnicity, Religion, Sexuality, ALL means ALL.”

Jan McDowell will be good for District 24 and she will be good for all Texans. In Congress, her vote will benefit all Americans.

Help send a common-sense, compassionate CPA who will weigh the impact of legislation before she votes to Congress.

Women Nominees in 11 of the 15 most competitive Texas House Districts

By Faith Chatham - May 5, 2018
Women won the Democratic Party's nomination for Texas House in 11 out of the 15 districts where GOP incumbents are the most vulnerable. The nominees in two of these districts (47 and 23) will be decided in the Democratic Primary Run-off on May 22nd. Both run-off candidates in each of these districts are women.

House District 105 ranks as No. 1. Attorney, Civil Rights activist Terry Meza won the nomination and will face the state's most vulnerable Republican Incumbent (Rodney Anderson) in November. Meza is a former public school teacher, and will fight to fix the state's broken public education financing.

Texas slashed the public school budget several sessions ago.  Many teaching positions were slashed and more students were crammed into the classroom. The state does not adequately fund the Teacher's Retirement and only contributes a meager $75 a month toward the escalating health care medical insurance premium. Deductibles have escalated rapidly and many teachers cannot afford to use their health insurance. The State Legislature continues to "kick the can down the road" instead of addressing the tough questions of how to revamp the State's tax code to give equitable tax relief to residential property owners and adequately fund public education. The Lt. Governor and Freedom Caucus demand that school choice (tax credits for private school tuition) is a a prerequisite for considering the complexities of school financing.


Meza prioritizes education, and will help offset the stranglehold of the Freedom Caucus.   Contribute to Meza's campaign  /

 House District 134 - R. Incumbent Sarah. Davis is ranked as the second most vulnerable Republican incumbent. She will face Democratic Nominee  Allison Lami Sawyer in November. This district ranks as the 6th most Democratic on the Partisan Index. It led the state in having the most voters for Hillary Clinton in 2016.  The Houston Chronicle Editorial Board wrote: "Democrats in this race have a qualified and impressive alternative in Allison Lami Sawyer."

"Sawyer says Davis voted for the big state school funding cuts that have caused property taxes to soar and was a sponsor last session for SB4 — the so-called "show me your papers" bill — as well as the Blue Tarp bill, which made it harder to receive just compensation from insurance companies after Hurricane Harvey." 

Sawyer is a business woman who earned her MBA from Rice. She runs an international business which uses "Optics to detect gas leaks at oil and gas installations in the USA and abroad."  The 134th  district includes Rice University and the Texas Medical Center 

 To donate to Allison: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/134sawyer

House District 102 - R - Incumbent Koop is ranked as the 3rd most vulnerable GOP Incumbent in the Texas House. This district is ranked 2th in Partisan Index (most Democratic) and is 4th as the Republican district having the lowest number votes cast for Donald Trump in 2016.  Ana-Maria Ramos is the Democratic Nominee.

Ana-Maria is an attorney, professor and strong advocate for school safety and public education. She prioritizes the safety of school children and denounces the intrusion of the NRA into school politics. She pledges not to place loyalty to the NRA above the safety of our school children.

The Texas Legislature has cut back on school funding and placed the future of this generation in peril. The current House refuses to address the tough questions and find equitable ways to fund public education. Ana-Maria will prioritize education, affordable health care.  Her son is a public school student and her daughter is a Science Teacher who teaches in the Dallas Independent School District. She will be a good match for this North Dallas district which is bounded on the South by LBJ and which also includes Garland, Addison and Richardson.

House District 136 ties with District 113 for the 4th most likely district to go blue. R incumbent Dale will face Democratic Nominee John H. Bucy III in November in a district which is ranked the 4th most Democratic district of districts with GvOP incumbents and as 7th with the lowest number of voters for Donald Trump in '16.

House District 113 - An Open Seat (R Burkett) iis ranked as tied with District 52 for the 5th most likely seat for a Democrat to claim in 2018.  Rhetta Andrews Bowers is the Democratic Nominee. This district is ranked as 3rd on the Partisan Index (3rd most Democratic) and was ranked 11th in the seats controlled by Republicans with the fewest voters for Trump.

House District 52 - An open district which was represented by R. Gonzales is tied with District 113   as the 5th most likely district to go blue. The Democratic Nominee is James Talarico. This district is the 7th most Democratic on the Partisan Index and ranked 8th in the lowest number of voters for Trump in '16/

House District 114 is an open district and is ranked  as the 6rh Most Vulnerable Texas State House District for a GOP Candidate to win., The Democratic nominee is John Turner. This district ranks had the third fewest vote for Trump in '16 and ranks as the 13th most Democratic out of the top 15 Republican controlled Texas House Seats.

House District 115 - R Incumbent Rinaldi is ranked as the Republican incumbent who is the 7th most likely to lose his seat to his Democratic opponent in November. The Democratic Nominee is Julie Johnson.

 It is surprising to see Carrollton included in a district where the Republican incumbent is ranked as vulnerable. Multi-term GOP incumbent Rinaldi is ranked as the 7th most vulnerable Republican in the Texas House of Representatives.

In 2016, this district ranked 5th in having the fewest votes cast for Donald Trump and  is currently ranked as the 9th most Democratic district in the Texas House on the partisan index. The Democratic Nominee is Carrollton attorney Julie Johnson.  Julie is a solid pro-public education advocate and is needed in Austin to help break the stranglehold of the Freedom Caucus.  To learn more about Julie Johnson: https://www.juliejohnsonfortexas.com/

House District 43 - Four term R Incumbent Lozano is ranked as the 9th most vulnerable Republican in the Texas House. He will face Democratic Nominee  Dee Ann Torres Miller in the General Election. This district ranks as the second most Democratic on the Partisan Index, Torres is an attorney who practices law in partnership with her brother in Corpus Christi.

House District 47 - This is a central Texas Austin area swing district which was drawn to favor conservative candidates. This year R incumbent Workman is ranked as the 10th most vulnerable Republican in the Texas House. Democratic business woman Vikki Goodwin faces Elaina Fowler in a May 22nd Run-off for the Democratic Nomination. This district ranked 9th in having the fewest votes cast for Trump and is the 11th most Democratic on the partisan index. To donate to Vikki Goodwin https://secure.actblue.com/donate/47goodwin

House District 112 - R incumbent Chen Button is ranked as the 11th most vulnerable Republican in the Texas House. This district ranks as the 12th most Democratic on the Partisan Index and was tenth in having the most votes cast against Donald Trump. Button will face Democratic Nominee Brandy K. Chambers in the General Election

House District 108 - R Meyer is ranked as the 12th most vulnerable member of the GOP delegation the Texas House. This district ranked 6th in having the fewest votes cast for Donald Trump. The Democratic Nominee is Joanna Cattanach.

House District 23 - An open district (R- Faircloth) is ranked as the 13th most likely Republican seat to go Blue in 2018. The Democratic Nominee is Amanda Jamrok. This district is the 10th most Democratic on the partisan index.

House District 45 - An open district (R- (Isaac) is ranked as the 14th most likely red seat to go blue in 2018.  It is the 8th most Democratic on the Partisan Index. Rebecca Bell-Metereau faces Erin Zwiener in the May 22nd Democratic Primary Run-off for the Democratic Nomination.

House District 138 - Incumbent Bohc is ranked as the 15th most vulnerable Republican in the Texas House. The district was 12th in having the least votes cast for Donald Trump. The Democratic Nominee is Adam Milasincic.