That’s the conclusion to draw from this Trib story.
Rep. Sylvester Turner
Three weeks after U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s death and just over a month before the state’s next uniform election, Gov. Greg Abbott has not yet called a special election to fill the seat representing parts of Houston, a Democratic stronghold, in Congress.
Turner, who previously served in the Texas House for nearly three decades before becoming mayor of Houston, died March 5, two months into his first term representing Texas’ 18th Congressional District. His funeral was held in Houston on March 15.
Turner was elected to Congress last year after his predecessor and political ally, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, died in office after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Abbott has the sole authority to call a special election to fill Turner’s seat for the rest of the two-year term. State law does not specify a deadline for the governor to order a special election. If called, the election must happen within two months of the announcement.
But the Republican governor has little incentive to send another Democrat to Congress.
[…]
The next scheduled election date in Texas is May 3. According to the state election code, Abbott would have to order the special election by March 28 for it to take place in May. But the practical deadline to call a May 3 election may have already passed, due to how much time the state needs to program voting machines and prepare and mail ballots.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office did not respond to a question about how much time the state generally requires to carry out an election.
Chad Dunn, a longtime Democratic Party lawyer, argued that there was plenty of time for the state to execute a special election on May 3 if Abbott ordered it.
While Texas law does not set a deadline for the governor to call a special election, Dunn added, “the assumption of Texas laws is that the state doesn’t want to be without representation in Congress.”
Historically, states were “eager” to ensure their entire delegation was present in Congress, Dunn said. Extreme partisanship in the broader political climate has changed that.
“Rather than pursue the interests of their state,” he argued, “some partisan governors are not moving expeditiously with replacement elections in these circumstances because they think that benefits their political party.”
In February 2021, after the death of U.S. Rep Ron Wright, R-Arlington, Abbott called a special election to fill Wright’s seat on the third day after his burial, or just two weeks after his death.
Abbott called a special election to fill Jackson Lee’s seat just over a week after her funeral, and 17 days after her death.
In those cases, however, there were several months before the next uniform election date.
Abbott could also declare an “emergency” special election, which allows for an election to take place outside the May or November uniform election dates.
He called for an emergency election on June 30, 2018 to replace former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, who resigned that April. Then, Abbott pointed to the recovery from Hurricane Harvey as justifying an emergency election.
See here for the previous update. The Houston Landing concluded that it was already too late for Abbott to call and election for May. I’m not sure why this is so confusing, but if it isn’t already too late it will be soon, and there’s nothing to indicate that Abbott cares. So here we are.
With all due respect to Chad Dunn, the solution here is not for Texas governors to act in less blatantly partisan fashion when scheduling these elections, it’s to update the election code to limit their discretion. The Lege could limit the amount of time that governors have to suck their thumbs, or they could mandate that any vacancies created at least X days before a uniform election date requires an election to be scheduled for that date. There may be other ways to do this as well, but the specifics don’t really matter. The point, which has been made repeatedly over the last, oh, eight years or so, is that in political matters, laws >>> norms. Getting a Legislature in place that can take that action is a separate matter, but when we do, put this on the list of things for them to address.
There is a saying,
If frogs had wings, they wouldn’t bump their asses every time they jumped.
Another in the same category is,
If my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.
Do you know other expressions of this type? The intention of the speaker is to let someone know that their stated proposition is ridiculous.
For example,
Gertrude- If only I had four hundred turkeys, I’d be able to feed all the hungry people in the county.
Algernon- Yeah, and if frogs had wings……
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/if-frogs-had-wings.163951/
It looks like Abbott cares a lot about this – it’s a perfect illustration of the current R “I’ve got mine and I’m getting yours – screw everyone else and pwn the libs” philosophy.
In reality the Ds are now the real conservatives if we’re using the definition of trying to maintain the status quo, spend wisely, and conserve resources. Maybe we ought to start emphasizing that.
EXCESS TURKEYS IN LOVING COUNTY
RE: “Gertrude – If only I had four hundred turkeys, I’d be able to feed all the hungry people in the county.”
Response: Depends on the size of the county.
For Texas, the least populous counties are as follows:
251 McMullen County: 568
252 Kenedy County: 343
253 King County: 217
254 Loving County: 43
United States Census Bureau. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023. Population Division. May 2024.
https://www.texas-demographics.com/counties_by_population
Wolfie, you create a scenario to suit your answer. Obviously, Gertrude and the person making the statement live in the same county, so they probably know the population.
Wishing things were different does not make it different or better.
“With all due respect to Chad Dunn, the solution here is not for Texas governors to act in less blatantly partisan fashion when scheduling these elections, it’s to update the election code to limit their discretion. The Lege could limit the amount of time that governors have to suck their thumbs, or they could mandate that any vacancies created at least X days before a uniform election date requires an election to be scheduled for that date. There may be other ways to do this as well, but the specifics don’t really matter. The point, which has been made repeatedly over the last, oh, eight years or so, is that in political matters, laws >>> norms. Getting a Legislature in place that can take that action is a separate matter, but when we do, put this on the list of things for them to address.”
Democrats can’t even figure out how to get working people to vote for them en masse.
RE: Gertrude Strongspear & the abundance of her turkeys
Not sure what your point is: That German woman are dumb? Or that there is something wrong with caring for the not-haves and feeding them?
Wouldn’t that be stereotype peddling? Denigrating an entire “race”.
If the allusion is to the famous American Gertrude [Stein in German, Stone in English), she self-deported to Paris and served as co-godmother to Hemingway’s son together with her lesbian partner. They later had a falling-out and Hemingway had unkind things to say about her. See his posthumously published (1964) collection titled MOVEABLE FEAST, telling autobiographical stories about his years in Paris. About
F. Scott Fitzgerald (of Great Gatsby fame) and his crazy wife Zelda too.
In the spirit of teachable moments … etymologically Gertrude comes from Old High German and means “strong spear” or “spear of strength”
None of this has anything to do with the topic of Kuff’s post, of course. He’s got a good policy prescription, but the problem with fixing problems with election systems (or tweaking specific features thereof) is the political feasibility. The incumbents, especially the majority, typically benefit from the status quo, so why would they change it, acting contrary to self-interest? And sometimes not even just the majority. See campaign finance reform.
A political crisis sometimes makes change possible by way of compromise.
Wolf, you are not very bright if you assume that any person named Gertrude is German.
The point is that wishing something is so does not make it so. Thus, “If”
Of course it does (regarding the topic); he wishes things were different, like getting a legislature in place.
You have quite an extensive vocabulary, which is a compliment. However, too many words tend to obscure the issue.