O'Rourke Website Edit Show Another Flip-Flop On AR-15s

[#TexasPolitics365]

Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke appears to have once again shifted his position on AR-15s. 

O'Rourke, who has sought to use the Uvalde, Texas school shooting to jumpstart his gubernatorial campaign, has repeatedly changed his gun control position during his various bids for office. 

Most recently, O'Rourke's campaign quietly edited his website's section on "gun safety," changing a call to "reduce" the number of AR-15s into a declaration that no civilian should own the weapon. 

(Full story HERE.)
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Police Response In Evalde School Shooting Investigated

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The actions — or more notably, the inaction — of a school district police chief and other law enforcement officers moved swiftly to the center of the investigation into this week’s shocking school shooting in Uvalde, Texas,

The delay in confronting the shooter — who was inside the school for more than an hour — could lead to discipline, lawsuits and even criminal charges against police.

(Full story HERE.)
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State Democratic Party Chairman Demands Special Session To Ban Guns

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In the wake of the tragic school shooting in South texas, which cost the lives of 21 students, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa has issued a call for a special session of the State legislature to ban assault rifles.

Hinojosa release the following statement on the Democratic party's website:

“Not one more child. Not one more teacher. Not one more Texan. We’re proud of our Democratic Leaders for standing up to Greg Abbott’s lies every chance they get, and the Texas Democratic Party joins their call for a special session to ban assault weapons and pass life-saving legislation to end gun violence in Texas.” 

Since the attack on Robb Elementary School, Democrats have thought to use the tragedy to attack Republicans for "doing nothing." Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke interrupted a news conference being held by Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other officials to demand "action."

(Full story HERE
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Left-Wing Podcaster "Jokingly" Suggests Bombing Houston NRA Conference

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A popular left-wing podcaster called for violence against the NRA meeting in Houston on a YouTube video, but immediately laughed it off with his co-host.

The video of the H3 Podcast, titled "Ethan's great NRA meeting idea," which was taken down by YouTube, who suspended Ethan Klein for a week as a result, features the co-host Sabrina Alonso, stating that a had "no hope" and that "literally don't know what to do and I feel hopeless" following the school shooting in Evalde, Texas this past week.

Klein responded immediately with speculation about the NRA conference being held in Houston this weekend, "Do we have any insight as to what they were talking about inside that meeting today, in Texas? Someone should bomb that building." 

Sabrina, immediately and laughingly insists that he "walk back" the statement, wishing they had a time machine to do so, and they continue to joke for the rest of the segment about how they should "love bomb" the attendees. Klein said, "let's fucking kill everyone in that building...  with kindness."

Elijah Shaffer, host and reporter for Blaze TV, posted the video on Twitter, eliciting many negative comments.

Drew Goulet posted, "It’s honestly mind blowing this guy still has an audience."

"Ace" responded, "I'm sure he meant a mostly peaceful bombing." 

CRA444 stated, "This exactly the stuff that should be taken seriously. Do we wait until it potentially happens?" 

Several others simply tagged the @FBI in the comments, drawing their attention to the video.

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Not Done Protesting: Beto Protests Outside NRA Meeting

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke joined other protesters in downtown Houston Friday to voice opposition to the 2022 National Rifle Association (NRA) convention just days after a deadly elementary school shooting in the state.

The protest was organized by several advocacy groups – including Moms Demand Action, March for Our Lives, the Harris County Democratic Party, and Black Lives Matter Houston – and featured speeches from gun control advocates. 

Democrats have been quick to blame Republicans for inaction in the wake of the tragedy, hoping to politically capitalize on grief over the tragedy.

O'Rourke earlier crashed a news conference on the events in South Texas held by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt  Gov. Dan Patrick. He was removed after blaming both for the massacre. 

Both Abbott and Patrick later withdrew from the convention, citing the families of the victims as the reason.

(Full story HERE.)
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Lt. Gov. Patrick, Gov. Abbott, Cancels Appearance At NRA Conference In Wake of School Shooting

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Lt. Gov Dan Patrick announced Friday afternoon that he has canceled his scheduled appearance at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston in order to "focus on the families" affected by the Uvalde school shooting. 

The decision comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would not appear in person at the event, instead opting to deliver a video message instead. 

"After prayerful consideration and discussion with NRA officials, I have decided not to speak at the NRA breakfast this morning," Patrick said in a statement, posted on Twitter. 

(Full story HERE.)
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Democratic Harris County Candidate Apologizes For "Racist" Ad

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A candidate for the Harris County Commissioners Court has apologized to her Asian American opponent and the larger Asian American community after releasing an ad that contained a doctored image of her rival.

Lesley Briones, who is running against Benjamin Chou in the Democratic nomination to represent Precinct 4, initially deflected blame on an unnamed graphic designer and doubled down on accusing the latter of spreading lies.

In the ad in question, Chou's face is shown in black and white, and lightened, a common technique in political advertising to make one's opponent seem menacing. His facial features also appear to have been altered in the image.

(Full story HERE.)
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Democrat Collier Will Face Lt. Gov. Patrick In November

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Democrat Mike Collier will get his rematch against Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick again this fall, four years after he lost to the incumbent by 4 percentage points in the same race. In Tuesday night’s runoff for the Democratic nomination, Collier defeated state Rep. Michelle Beckley 55% to 45%.

The blue-haired Beckley represents the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and was one of the Democrats in the legislature who fled to Washington, DC to prevent a voting quorum in the House.

While there, she drew criticism for announcing on video that she would run for Congress, plans that changed when she returned to Texas, announcing her lieutenant governor run last November.

Collier now faces an uphill battle against Dan Patrick.

(Full story HERE.)
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O'Rourke Tossed From Shooting Briefing After Shouting Match With Dan Patrick

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke confronted Governor Greg Abbott during a press conference discussing the Uvalde school shooting that left 19 students and two faculty members dead.

O’Rourke was tossed out of the press conference after a heated argument between himself and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

(Full story HERE.)
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Paxton Easily Defeats Bush, Will Face ACLU Attorney Garza In November

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Attorney General Ken Paxton handily won the Republican runoff election against land commissioner George P. Bush last night.

Paxton one with 68% of the vote, to Bush's 32%. Paxton was able to Garner over 70% of the vote in almost all of the states 254 counties, with Bush only winning four, including some of the state's least populous areas.

In a written concession statement posted late Tuesday night, Bush said he hoped that Gov. Greg Abbott would protect the border, implying that Paxton would not. Bush did not mention Paxton by name in his statement.

The campaign was an ugly one, with Bush at one point posing with a cardboard cutout of Paxton, portrayed as wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, alluding to his legal woes, which his Democrat opponent will surely bring up in the general election.

Bush was hurt by his stance on the Alamo, part of which he advocated moving during renovations. The fact that he hails from the Bush political dynasty also hurt him with many Republicans, who were cognizant of the fact that Bush likely would eventually seek higher office, perhaps even the presidency.  Dynasties are not terribly popular with Republicans.

Any such political aspirations are likely on hold now, but defeat seems to never be final for family members. His grandfather, George HW Bush, lost at US Senate raised before winning a spot in Congress, catapulting him to other positions that led eventually to the presidency.

Word in Republican circles is that Bush will write a book while pondering his next steps.

Paxton's Democrat opponent will be ACLU attorney Rochelle Garza, who defeated former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski 63% to 37%.

(Full story HERE
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County Judge Arrested For Cattle Rustling

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Law enforcement agents traveled to a rural and sparsely populated West Texas county Friday to arrest the county judge, a former sheriff’s deputy and two ranch hands for cattle rustling.

Loving County Judge Skeet Jones, 71, faces three felony counts of livestock theft and one count of engaging in criminal activity, allegedly gathering and selling stray cattle, according to authorities.

Loving County is the nation’s least populated county with just 64 residents, according to the 2020 Census.

The county judge, an elected official, is essentially a county commissioner, holding the top legislative responsibilities in the county.

(Full story HERE.)
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Sen. Cornyn Calls Paxton's Legal Woes An "Embarrassment"

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Texas Senator John Cornyn blasted one of his party's top leaders, calling the mounting pile of accusations and legal woes against Attorney General Ken Paxton an "embarrassment" just days before a primary runoff election.

Paxton, who is within reach of winning the GOP nomination to seek a third term Tuesday, has been under state felony indictment since 2015 on securities fraud charges and is separately being investigated by the FBI after his top deputies accused him of corruption.

(Full story HERE.)
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Dem Lt. Governor Candidate Beckley Faces Challenges

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Days after Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Mike Collier released his first TV ad, a survey of Texas voters from the Dallas Morning News and University of Texas at Tyler found that state Rep. Michelle Beckley leads Collier by double digits, 31 to 19 percent. 

Beckley, who with other legislators fled to Washington DC last year to prevent a quorum in the House, faces challenges in the race. The state’s major newspapers, and groups like the Texas AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes and Texas American Federation of Teachers have all endorsed Collier.

And Beckley appears to be facing repeated backlash from former staffers.  She was awarded Texas Monthly’s “Furniture” award, a distinction reserved for the most underwhelming legislators.

(Full story HERE.)
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Paxton Ad Condemns Bush's "Woke" Plan To "Reimagine The Alamo"

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The campaign of Attorney General Ken Paxton has released a new ad taking aim at  his opponent, George P. Bush, accusing the Texas Land Commissioner of pursuing a "woke reimagining" of the Alamo, and attempts to tie Bush to the "Radical Left."

The 30-second advertisement posted to YouTube on Monday characterized Bush, the eldest child of former Florida governor Jeb Bush and nephew of former U.S. president George W. Bush, as a "liberal land commissioner" bent on reshaping the historic Texas landmark.

"The radical left wants to destroy our heritage," a deep voice intones during the ad.

For his part, on the campaign trail Bush has stated that the reimagining plan was not his, but was a proposal by the San Antonio City Council. However, he has taken ownership of an original idea to move the nearby cenotaph honoring those who died at the Alamo. But he says that plan was abandoned due to fierce opposition.

(Full story HERE)
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Trump Rallies In Texas Draw Tens Of Thousands

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Former President Donald Trump criticized Democrats for a litany of issues, including inflation and immigration, during an Austin rally Saturday where he urged conservative supporters to help the Republican Party take control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

The rally's speakers featured Trump, his son Don, Junior, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - what radio ads for the event featuring Trump called his "dream team."

The Austin rally drew approximately 10,000 people. A rally in Conroe, Texas reportedly true up to 80,000 in a larger venue.

(Full story HERE.)
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Jones Projected Winner In Dem. Primary for Special State House Election

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Unofficial special election results project Jolanda Jones as the winner of the State House Rep. 147th seat.

Jones is ahead of Danielle Keys Bess by about 200 votes. Both candidates are vying for the November Democratic nomination spot in the ethnically diverse district.

(Full story HERE)
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Deceased Candidate Wins Mayoral Election

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Despite having died nearly a month earlier, Ramiro Rodriguez Jr. was reelected mayor of Palmhurst, Texas over the weekend.

The incumbent candidate defeated his opponent Israel Silva in the South Valley town of 2,600 people after receiving 329 votes to his challenger's 234 Saturday. Rodriguez has held the position for 23 years until his death on April 5 at the age of 68. 

(Full story HERE.)
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Texas Supreme Court Allows Trans Child Abuse Investigations To Resume

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The Texas Supreme Court has allowed the state to resume investigations into parents of transgender youth for child abuse while also ruling in favor of one family that was among the first contacted by child welfare officials following an order by Gov. Greg Abbott.

(Full story HERE.)
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Dads File Federal Lawsuit Against Round Rock School District For Violating Free Speech Rights

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Two Texas fathers who were arrested for allegedly disturbing meetings of the Round Rock Independent School District school board have filed a federal lawsuit claiming the district and its agents violated their rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution.

"The overall trend is basically a conspiracy among many of them to remove and restrain the civil rights of citizens whom they disagree with," one of the arrested fathers, Jeremy Story, told Fox News Digital on Thursday. "They ultimately have gone to great lengths to silence parents who disagree with them and ultimately to conceal their own malfeasance."

(Full story HERE.)
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Allen West Launches Bid To Lead NRA

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Wayne LaPierre will face a new challenger to lead the NRA.

Former Texas Republican Party chairman and candidate for governor Allen West announced Monday he will challenge LaPierre to become executive vice president of the gun rights organization.

West said he would accept the nomination offered up by dissident current and former NRA board members looking to replace LaPierre. He said he is running to “restore the honor, integrity, and character” of the NRA.

LaPierre has faced significant opposition within the group, which in recent years has faced financial struggles, a failed bankruptcy, and a corruption suit brought by the Attorney General of New York.

(Full story HERE.)
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Abbott Will Investigate Whether School District Pressured Staff To Vote For Bonds

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Gov. Greg Abbott wants to look into allegations to see if staffers at the largest school district in San Antonio, Northside Independent School District, felt pressured to vote in the recent bond election last weekend. 

Voters approved San Antonio's $1.2 billion bond, which also included the passing of Northside ISD's $992 million bond. About 58% of voters were in favor of Northside ISD's bond. 

(Full story HERE)
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Conservative Candidates Sweep Tarrant Co. School Election

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All but one of the 11 Tarrant County conservative school board candidates, who were backed this year by several high-profile donors and PACs, defeated their opponents during Saturday’s local elections, according to unofficial results.

The one candidate backed by the groups who didn’t win outright advances to a runoff election in June.

(Full story HERE.)
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Pro-Life Democrat Cuellar Gets Help From National Democrats

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Just a day after Democrats forcefully recommitted to protecting abortion rights, a U.S. House leader swooped into Texas on Wednesday to defend and stand side-by-side with Rep. Henry Cuellar, one of the last pro-life Democrats in Congress.

(Full story HERE.)
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Bush Joins Calls To Declare Immigration Crisis An "Invasion" Of Southern Border

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Land Commissioner George P. Bush this week became one of the few major candidates in Texas to call for the state to take the step of declaring illegal border crossings an “invasion” under the Constitution in order to expel migrants immediately, bypassing the federal government’s authority over immigration.

Bush, who will face off against Attorney General Ken Paxton in the May 24 Republican primary runoff, said Thursday that “Texas has been left with no choice” but to take drastic action because President Joe Biden — and Paxton — won’t.

(Full story HERE.)
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Sen. Cruz Hails Draft SCOTUS Decision On Roe v. Wade; Condemns Leak

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Texas Senator Ted Cruz is among many republican elected officials who are hailing the leaked draft decision of the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.  

“I think the right outcome is to overturn Roe versus Wade. Roe vs. Wade was wrong the day it was decided. It was seven unelected lawyers who declared to the American people that the voters no longer have the right to make decisions about abortion," Cruz told CNN's John Harwood.

But Cruz took to Twitter Tuesday to condemn the leak of the majority decision, which is subject to change before being made public. 

"The decision of an immoral and unethical individual to leak the Court's confidential working documents is the predictable consequence of a multi-year effort by Senate Democrats to politicize and undermine the Court." Said Cruz. "I hope whoever is responsible for the leaked draft opinion is fired, prosecuted, and has to serve real jail time."

It is exceedingly rare in modern times for a draft decision of the court to be lead to before it is made, officially.

Texas passed the heartbeat bill in 2021 which effectively bans abortions in Texas, and would act as a trigger for further restrictions if Roe is actually overturned.

It has not been successfully challenged in the courts since it was passed.

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