Brandon Dudley
Democrats haven’t held the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office since long-serving Tax Assessor Carl Smith passed away in 1998. They came close in 2012, as first term incumbent Mike Sullivan won a three-way race with a shade less than 49% of the vote. Two candidates are vying for the opportunity to end that losing streak. Brandon Dudley is a longtime Chief of Staff to State Sen. Rodney Ellis, where he has worked on matters of tax fairness and voting rights. As an attorney, he has worked on criminal justice reform, while having served on the City of Houston’s Planning Commission, on the Board of Directors for Houston Downtown Management District, Midtown Redevelopment Authority, and the Texas Civil Rights Project – Houston. He was also a candidate for State District Court Judge in 2010. Here’s my interview with him:
You can see all of my interviews as well as finance reports and other information on candidates on my 2016 Election page.
I don’t trust the Texas Legislature to devise a fair online voter registration system. Arizona, for example, requires the user to enter their drivers license or state ID number before proceeding any further with the online process. If Texas were to adopt a similar portal (and why wouldn’t they?) then every person without required ID would be blocked from using online registration in a similar fashion to how they are blocked from voting under Texas’ current voter ID laws. I’m for online registration and updating, but you would be kidding yourself to believe that Texas would design a fair, inclusive system that would serve anyone other than those with state-mandated ID.
It is obvious that Brandon does not understand the powers of this office. In no way can the Tax Assessor Collector have an impact on what corporations pay vs. the normal citizen. He needs to find a different position in government that deals with law and not the implementation of the law.