Texas Politics 365: Texts

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

County Commission Candidate Indicted For Misleading Campaign Texts

[#TexasPolitics365]

A grand jury in Collin County indicted a Plano man on suspicion of a misdemeanor violation of state election law, a spokesman from the Plano Police Department confirmed to the Plano Star Courier.

The indictment came as Plano police investigated a series of clandestine text messages purported to be from Plano City Council candidates.

Candidates named in the texts, including 2021 mayoral candidate Lily Bao, denied any involvement with the texts and contend that they were from an external source.

One of the text messages read, “Make Plano Great Again. Vote For Donald Trump Co-Chair Lily Bao for Mayor.”

Authorities connected the text messages to Plano resident John Stafford, who's served as the fundraising director for the Collin County Democratic Party and is running for Collin County Commissioner.

(Full story here.)
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Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Sen. Cruz Says Wife Heidi "Pretty Pissed" Texts With Neighbors Made Public

[#TexasPolitics365]

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) on Tuesday said that his wife, Heidi Cruz, was "pretty pissed," over group text messages leaked to The New York Times last week that showed she invited friends and neighbors to join their trip to Mexico as their home state was battered by an extreme winter storm., reported the Hill.

In an interview on Josh Holmes's conservative "Ruthless" podcast, the GOP senator said that his wife was recently at a neighbor's house "walking through the messages."

The Texas senator said there were "folks on our street who put up Beto signs, which I thought was a little rude," after his return home, referring to his 2018 Senate race against former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D).

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