Rep. Cuellar Proposes Amendment To Homeland Sec. Bill To Remove Funding For Border Wall [#TXPolitics 24/7]

Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) offered an amendment to the fiscal year 2019 Homeland Security Appropriations bill during full a committee markup to end funding for a border wall. The bill failed during a vote of the House Appropriations Committee, which is composed of a majority of Republicans.

The south Texas congressman's amendment would have completely removed the $5 billion in funding for Pres. Trump's border wall, and required it be spent for other items, including increased personnel, technology, and equipment, according to a news release from his office.

Ironically, perhaps, his bill would have also required Mexico to pay for any construction of the border wall, a call echoing Pres. Trump during the 2016 campaign, and often since.

Cuellar has been a vocal critic of Pres. Trump's proposal to build a wall or fence along the border. His district (map here) skirts the US/Mexico border, and includes Rio Grande City in the south, Cuellar's hometown, Laredo, as well as Encinal. It twists its way northward to the eastern outskirts of San Antonio.

The six-term congressman serves as member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. He will face no Republican challenger this November, but Libertarian  Arthur Thomas IV will appear on the General Election ballot.

Democratic Congressional Candidates Outraising Republicans [#TXPolitics 24/7]

Candidates for Congress recently filed their second-quarter fundraising reports. In most districts, Democratic candidates raised more than double what the Republican incumbents reported, which has caused some concern o.j. Republican circles.

The Texas Tribute reports that since last week, when U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, revealed that he had raised a stunning $10.4 million between April and June in his bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a wave of Texas Democrats running for U.S. House seats similarly blasted out their own unusually strong fundraising numbers.

Incumbent 31st District congressman John Carter's fundraising with anemic in the second filing period, raising just over $267,000, compared with his Democratic Challenger, MJ Hegar, who raised $1.1 million in the same period.

Lizzie Pannell Fletcher is also dramatically out raising 7th District incumbent Congressman John Culberson, $1 million to just over $480,000 for the Republican.

Similarly, in the 23rd Congressional district race, Republican incumbent Will Hurd was outraised by his Democratic opponent, Gina Ortiz Jones. Hurd raised nearly $684,000, with Ortiz Jones raising $1.2 million.

The Tribune says that while some Republicans are beginning to hear alarm bells ringing, others are reassured that in many of these races, Republican candidates still have a huge "cash on hand" advantage.

Democratic Challenger To 7th Cong. Dist. GOP Incumbent Raised Over $1 million In 2nd Quarter Filing [#TXPolitics 24/7]

Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, Democratic challenger in the Seventh Congressional district, has raised more than $1 million in the second fundraising quarter of 2018, entering July with nearly $800,000 cash on hand.

Fletcher is running against GOP Rep. John Culberson in the Houston district. Culberson, who was first elected to Congress in 2000 and gas served on the House Appropriations Committee, has not yet released his second-quarter campaign financial report


Her campaign website reports that in the second quarter of 2018, more than 75% of Fletcher's funds came from within Texas, with more than 68% coming from Houston-area residents. She has raised more than $2 million since she entered the race.

The Seventh District is highly competitive - Hillary Clinton carried it by 49% in 2016, but she was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the district since 1968. Fletcher has been endorsed by EMILY’s List, a leading national organization dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women to office, NARAL, a nationwide abortion rights group, and is designated a "Red to Blue" candidate by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, meaning they have high hopes of flipping this district in November.

Lizzie is the first woman partner at AZA, a Houston law firm. She co-founded Planned Parenthood Young Leaders, and currently serves on the boards of directors for Writers in the Schools (WITS) and Open Dance Project.

[More reporting: Dallas Morning News; Houston Chronicle]

Congressional Candidate Claims The US Is "Targeting" Women & Minorities; Was Forced To Keep Sexuality A Secret From College, Air Force [#TXPolitics 24/7]

Twenty-third Congressional District Democratic candidate Gina Ortiz Jones believes the US is "Targeting women and minorities," and called the 2016 was an "emotional event" for her in a recent interview with a Boston University newspaper.

In an interview with BU Today, the newspaper of Boston University, from which she graduated in 2003, Ortiz Jones said the country is in a Constitutional crisis because of the 2016 election, which has caused her to take action and run for office.

"I think the election was such a significant emotional event for me because I’ve seen what it looks like in other countries when women and minorities are targeted. I’ve seen what it looks like when a government disregards conflict of interest, and hollows out the middle class, and ultimately their democracy."

She reacted just as strongly to the pictures of children of illegal immigrants who have been pictured held in detention facilities, a practice she called "egregious" and "atrocious."

"The pictures we’ve seen! With 40 percent of the border in the district, I think we see this issue just a little bit differently than the rest of the country. But frankly, as Americans, we all know that seeing a young child, a toddler, crying as they’re being held in a cage like an animal—that’s not the right thing to do. It’s so far from American, it’s unbelievable."

If the former Air Force intelligence officer beats two-term Republican incumbent Will Hurd in November, she'll become the first woman to represent her district. She will also be the first Filipina American and the first lesbian to hold a US House seat from Texas.

She opened up about her sexuality to the paper, saying she kept it a secret while attending BU on an ROTC scholarship, and throughout her career in the Air Force, which occurred during the time the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was still in effect. She said she was forced to keep being a lesbian a "very deep secret."

"I could not be as open as I would have liked, because I needed that scholarship to stay at BU. I knew what I had to do. And when I served in the Air Force, that policy applied to me too. If someone is ready and willing to serve their country, there shouldn't be any policies - especially policies rooted in bigotry - that would prevent that."

Cook Political Report Moves Rep. Carter's Seat from "Solid Republican: to "Likely Republican" [#TXPolitics 24/7]

The respected Cook Political Report has moved Rep. John Carter's 31st Congressional Seat from being "Solid Republican" to "Likely Republican."

The news (behind paywall, here) is likely to rattle the campaign of the 8-term Republican, along with local GOPers who are already concerned about the impact of his Democratic opponent M.J. Hegar's slick campaign video, which is generating excitement among Democrats across the nation, including in Hollywood, where it's rumored that Angelina Jolie is set to play the heroic fighter pilot's life story in a film.

Of course, the campaign of the retired Air Force pilot and national Democrats are actively using the video to raise funds. Hegar had raised just shy of $500k with $117k on hand at the start of May. Carter had raised nearly $749k and his coffers had $350k on hand.

While the seat does remain comfortably Republican (it was won by Pres. Trump by 53% in 2016) it's trending Bluer, with Romney taking 60% in 2012, the Report notes.

The search-and-rescue pilot won a Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross for valor after her helicopter was shot down and ambushed in Afghanistan in 2009. She wrote a book about her exploits, "Shoot Like a Girl," which hit the bestseller list. The video features her struggle to overturn a rule barring women from serving in combat positions, and Carter's alleged failure to help her when she reached out as a visitor to Washington, D.C.

The Cook Report says she will likely emphasize to voters that she grew up the 31st CD and was a Republican in her youth. We'll add that while Republicans will avoid attacking (or even mentioning) her exemplary military record, they're already quietly pointing out that she has only recently moved back to the district. Democrats may also emphasize Carter's lack of military service, which might sway the many personnel and veterans living near Fort Hood, which is located in the district.

The Report throws some doubt on whether Carter, now 77, will be prepared for the upcoming vigors of the race. The GOP primary had him facing an unknown opponent who mustered over 35% of the vote and spent less than $60k.

Dem Congressional Candidate MJ #Hegar Releases Hard-Hitting Ad Targeting Opponent Carter [TXPolitics 24/7 blog]

A campaign ad with high production values that has been released by the campaign of Democratic congressional candidate M.J. Hegar is drawing nationwide attention to her campaign.

The Round Rock fighter pilot is challenging eight-term Republican Rep. John Carter in November in the heavily Republican 31st District, and it was a fateful incident with his congressional office that propelled the political novice into politics. As Mashable relates:

A former military pilot injured in the line of duty, Hegar's ad (soundtracked by a "Gimme Shelter"-esque tune) traces her life and the battles she faced after her injury, including successfully suing the Pentagon to lift their ban on women in combat. Part of her journey was the inability to get a meeting with her representative, Rep. John Carter (R), a member of the Tea Party because she wasn't a donor. Now, she's made Carter her opponent.

Ad Week magazine calls the use of doors in the ad, "a compelling symbol for the challenges she’s faced along the path to her candidacy."

Watch the ad below:

Martin Luecke Launches Indie Congressional Bid For #TX25, To Save Humanity From Climate Change, Extinction [TXPolitics 24/7 blog]

A self-described Austin "handyman" has jumped into the US House district 25 race this week in an attempt to "save humanity" from climate change and ultimate extinction.

The single-issue campaign, if it gains enough signatures to get on the ballot, will take on sitting Republican Congressman Roger Williams, Democrat Julie Oliver and Libertarian Desarae Lindsey in November.

The Austin Chronicle, in a brief interview with Luecke, 56, reported that he believes that neither party is adequately responding to the global warming crisis – the imminent threat of "abrupt climate change." He said, "The number one priority is to make people aware of the real danger: planetary extinction."

He called a letter he wrote to the Chronicle last September - in which he defended 9/11 conspiracy theories - as "indefensible and goofy."

Luecke's website is at http://www.luecke4congress.org.