July 15, 2021

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Photo Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune

Faced with a number of extremist bills including the revived voter suppression bills HB 3/SB 1, Texas Democrats did the only thing they could do when both bills cleared committee along a party-line vote: they walked out. Monday morning at least 58 Democratic State House and Senate members left Austin for Washington, DC to prevent votes on these bills that were scheduled to take place as early as Tuesday of this week.

Over the weekend, hundreds of Texans from all over the state came to the Capitol to testify against these bills. Staying until the very early morning hours, Texans, including Beto O'Rourke, spoke one after another against provisions that are designed to deny Texans, especially Texans of color and hourly workers, the ability to cast their vote. House and Senate Republicans ignored the testimony of fellow Texans and passed the bills out of committee anyway.

At that point, there was very little else for House Democrats to do to stop the passage of this bill. When those bills come to the floor for a vote, they will pass on a party-line vote. The only thing left to do was to break quorum to buy time.

“We are doing our job. We were elected to represent our constituents and fight for our constituents' interests. We aren’t going to sit in Austin in the house chamber and watch the Republican majority steamroll the voting rights of our constituents.”

– Texas House Democratic Caucus Leader Chris Turner

Governor Abbott has been blustering about arresting them (he can't) and calling repeated special sessions until the Democratic members are forced to return. That he could do. But Texas Dems are in DC and lobbying Congress hard to find a way to pass the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, federal legislation that would supersede any state legislation that restricts voting. Public support for our State Reps, including from Beto's Powered by People organization, has raised several hundred thousand dollars that will enable them to hold out for weeks or even longer. Meanwhile, State Republicans are left to fume and fluster in a half-empty Capitol.

Read More:

Texas House Democrats flee the state in move that could block voting restrictions bill, bring Legislature to a halt (Texas Tribune)

Texas House Republicans Vote to Track Down Absent Democrats and Arrest Them If Necessary (Texas Observer)

IS HB 3 (VOTER SUPPRESSION BILL) REALLY THAT BAD?

Photo: Kevin Dietsch, Staff / Getty Images

Yes. Yes, it is.

House and Senate Republicans tailor-made their respective bills to target voters in the state's largest counties, particularly Harris County. The wide-ranging bills:

• Ban the sort of drive-thru voting offered by Harris County last year by requiring voting to occur inside a building. Drive-thru voting was very popular in Harris County, with one in 10 early voters using it.
• Eliminate 24-hour voting, also used extensively by Harris County in 2020. The House wants to establish a new voting window of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. while the Senate would cut off voting at 9 p.m.
• Both bills prohibit local election officials from sending unsolicited applications to request a mail-in ballot, with the House version making it a state jail felony. Harris County officials sent mail-in ballot applications to every registered voter in the county.
• The bills would set new ID requirements so voters using vote by mail must provide their driver’s license number, or if they don’t have one, the last four digits of their Social Security number on applications for those ballots. This will make it easier to throw out mailed ballots that don't precisely meet the new requirements.
• The Senate bill requires monthly reviews of the state’s voter rolls to identify noncitizens - similar to the botched 2019 review that purged tens of thousands of citizens based on old data from the DPS.
• Provide for much more freedom of movement for partisan poll watchers, and increase penalties for election workers who interfere with them.

Read More:

What's in the new voting restriction legislation introduced in the Texas House and Senate (Texas Tribune)

TURNING COLLIN BLUE IN '22

The REGISTER COLLIN campaign heads to McKinney this weekend to canvass for new voters in our county seat!

Sign up below for dates on Saturday and Sunday, July 17 and 18. If you're new, we'll train you, and you'll be paired with an experienced canvasser regardless. Come on out and help us flip Collin County #Blue2022!

If you'd rather phone bank, you can do that too! Sign up below.

Learn about the REGISTER COLLIN campaign.

Want to know when we'll be registering voters where you are? Check out the schedule on collindemocrats.org!

#Blue2022 #RegisterCollin

Commissioners Court: The Sheriff’s Department released 41 minutes of the 5-hour long video of the time Marvin Scott III spent in the Collin County Detention Center. The parts of the video I saw were deeply disturbing, not only because I knew I was watching a man being killed but also because of how unnecessary it all was. Plenty of us in the mental health profession deal with people suffering from schizophrenic episodes and no one gets hurt or killed. There are ways to handle such occurrences but those aren’t what’s seen on the video. As a psychologist, I find it so damn frustrating that, even after this, no one associated with the sheriff’s department is calling for mental health professionals to be utilized. It makes you wonder if they just don’t care. 

School Board Drama: Although this doesn’t have anything to do with any official school boards, it does have to do with what we can expect from upcoming conservative candidates. Last week, Plano School Board member, realtor Cody Weaver, spoke about Critical Race Theory (CRT) at a meeting put on by Mike Draper at Redemption Point Alliance Church in McKinney. The audience of about 100 people seemed to be mostly from Frisco. This makes sense as Mike Draper is a Frisco parent as is Stephanie Elad, another speaker at the meeting. She may be running for Frisco School Board. So a Plano School Board member spoke at a meeting in McKinney for mostly Frisco people? This guy must be working for Hydra because he seems to have tentacles everywhere. Or he’s running for a higher office.

Weaver took great care to mention that while Plano ISD Board policy doesn’t prevent him from speaking at such a meeting, he wasn’t speaking on behalf of the Board. That’s good to know but it’s still deeply problematic. I suspect the reason so many people came to hear him speak is that he’s a school board member. In the publicity for the event, Weaver was billed as a Community Leader. As far as I can tell, he has no public service accomplishments other than being on the school board. How many people will make the distinction that he’s speaking purely as a citizen? I also wonder about the ethics of a current school board member encouraging parents to not only complain about teachers but also refuse to allow their child to complete a given project. This seems unwise. (Read more)

CCDP SPONSORS BACK-TO-SCHOOL BASH!

Calling all Collin County Democrats!  

Get your back to school mode on and join the Collin County Democratic Party for family, food and fun on Saturday, Aug. 7 from 11 - 1:00 at Finch Park, 301 W. Standifer Street, in McKinney. 

Finch Park sports plenty of shade and a splash pad for kids. There will be games, a dunk tank, snow cones, craft vendors and more! 

Come celebrate the last days of summer, meet your fellow Democrats from around the county, and enjoy some family time. 

Please bring a school supply that will be donated to the Love Life Foundation Back Pack Drive. 

Look for the pavilion marked CCDP with blue and gold balloons. The shady park also features a splash pad, so pack plenty of towels! Please RSVP below so we know how many to expect. We also need volunteers - sign up below! See you August 7.

When: Saturday, August 7, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Where: Finch Park, 301 W. Standifer, McKinney

JOE JAWORSKI FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL MEET AND GREET

McKinney, the hometown of Texas Attorney General (and felony-indicted) Ken Paxton, is ready to show him the door. Please join us to meet Joe Jaworski, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, and help rid Texas of Ken Paxton.

The event is sponsored by McKinney Area Democrats Club, and the Host Committee: Angie Bado, Mark Phariss, Cissy Oldner, Debbie O'Reilly, Carol Scarborough, and Manu and Jagreet Lail, Julie Holmer, Amanda Beller, Diane Bolak, Jeff Quiggle, Earl Nash, and Vickie Parker. The event is co-sponsored by other Collin County clubs including Allen Area Democrats, Frisco Democratic Club, Plano Area Democrats, and Women Organizing Women Democrats. Sponsoring or co-sponsoring this event does not indicate endorsement.

When: Sunday, July 18, 6 - 8 p.m.

Where: The Sanctuary, 6633 Virginia Pkwy #102, McKinney.

Wine and appetizers will be served.

Suggested Donation: $50 individual, $75 couple

Women Organizing Women Democrats July Meeting

Join WOW Dems for their first in-person meeting in over a year! The meeting will broadcast live on the WOW Dems Facebook page as well.

Guest Speaker Joanna Cattanach has dedicated her life to education in community colleges and at the university level before running for Texas House Representative in District 108.

Now Joanna is focused on registering voters across North Texas.

Building consistent voter turnout takes time and investment and includes both partisan and non-partisan races. GOTV Texas PAC invests in proven direct voter contact methods and invests in Democratic campaigns where turnout is key to win elections and expand Democratic outreach year-round.

WOW Dems will be collecting feminine hygiene products for Emily's Place. You can contribute by purchasing items through their Amazon wishlist OR you can bring the following items to our meeting: super absorbency tampons and pads, overnight pads.

When: Thursday, July 15, 7 p.m.

Where: Collin College Preston Ridge Campus Room C-105-S, 9700 Wade Blvd, Frisco

Plano Voter Registration Kickoff

Join Get Out the Vote Texas, Plano Dems, WOW Dems, and the Collin County Democratic Party for a voter registration summer social and Happy Hour! Find out how we're working to flip Texas blue one community at a time. Your investment goes directly to voter registration and voter outreach efforts.

Sponsorship levels:

• Texas Gold - $1000
• Texas Silver - $500
• Texas Bronze - $250
• Texas Star - $100
• Texas Friend - $50

All sponsors will be recognized at our Kickoff Happy Hour at Rodeo Goat. Appetizers will be provided. Vaccinated neighbors and friends are welcome to attend in person.

We're working together to help register voters and your financial support helps offset the costs for:

• Targeted digital voter registration efforts to apartments
• Targeted mapping of new community developments
• Continued voter identification and voter outreach
• Mobile outreach efforts and residential data

When: Thursday, July 22, 5 p.m.

Where: Rodeo Goat, 640 Powell Lane, Plano

Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the event.

emBOLDenHER

The Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at Texas Woman's University will be hosting campaign workshops on July 14 and July 31. They are free, virtual, and nonpartisan, with an emphasis on helping women run for office.

This free, virtual workshop series will help attendees with the basics on how to prepare and run for office in Texas. The two-afternoon series will feature workshops and speakers covering topics like getting started, selecting a treasurer, profiling a district, working with political parties, getting out the vote, precinct walking, messaging, fundraising, and more. We'll have workshops with consultants, Q&As with noted officeholders, and panels with women officeholders and candidates sharing their experiences running for office.

Sign up for one afternoon or sign up both! The events are virtual via Zoom. They are open to anyone in Texas. Our schedule of events includes:

Saturday, July 17, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Session 1: First Steps

Keynote + Q&A: Delilah Agho-Otoghile, Executive Director, Harris County Democratic Party

Session 2: Party Support and the Basics of Precinct Analysis

Panel Discussion: Voter outreach and meeting your voters

Saturday, July 31, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Keynote + Q&A: Justice Eva Guzman, Texas Supreme Court

Session 3: Messaging

Panel Discussion: Media, Social Media, and Messaging

Session 4: Fundraising

To register, please visit our Eventbrite.

The CCDP physical office is closed until further notice for safety. Our office staff are, however, working for you from home and available by telephone at 972-578-1483 or contact us on the web at collindemocrats.org.

Check our Online Events!

Collin County Democratic Party (CCDP) | 972-578-1483 | www.collindemocrats.org © 2021

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