Takes

Sometimes, my takes get a reaction. I will get a text, a call, an email, or an in-person comment. Yesterday evening, I attended Mayor John Whitmire’s first major fundraiser since taking office. I ran into a couple of folks who I have put out takes on and I got some reactions. One was just a prolonged “hello, Marc” and the other was a brief cool handshake and moving on. Oh, well.

I did have conversations with a few fundraiser attendees on a take from earlier this week. I appreciated those conversations.

Oh, yeah. It was a very well attended and successful fundraiser. See the featured photo. It was good to see a lot of old friends yesterday.

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On a related note, here is from the Houston Landing on the State Senate District 15 Democratic Party Primary runoff election:

Few voters paid attention to Saturday’s state Senate District 15 special election that saw emergency room nurse Molly Cook prevail over state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, a result the veteran Democrat blames on himself. 

He and his supporters got complacent, Johnson admitted Monday.

Now, the four-term state rep has less than three weeks to reverse Saturday’s defeat. The pair face off again in a May 28 Democratic primary runoff.

“It’s time to take the gloves off,” Johnson said, taking aim at Cook. “Obviously, your tricks have worked. Your lies invigorated your people. It engaged them and enraged them and they went to the polls.”

Saturday’s election was to fill Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s remaining Senate term, which runs through the end of the year. The election drew a miniscule turnout — about 2.25 percent of the district’s 725,000 voting-age residents. Those who did vote preferred Cook by a little more than 14 percentage points. 

That represents a sharp turnaround from the March Democratic primary, when Johnson finished nearly 16 percentage points ahead of Cook but did not win enough votes to avoid a runoff against her. 

In an interview Monday, Cook credited her success to her campaign staff’s efforts to remind voters of the Saturday election. 

Johnson blamed his defeat on “poli-tricks,” pointing the finger at a series of mailers sent to voters by the Cook campaign that claimed Johnson is not trustworthy enough to defend Democratic values in the Senate.

One of the mailers claims Johnson has “caved to Greg Abbott too many times” and details perceived shortcomings in Johnson’s record on the issues of gun control, abortion rights, healthcare expansion and public school funding. 

He also said he expects further political attacks in the weeks leading up to the primary runoff, specifically targeting his family life. 

“I underestimated the impact,” Johnson said. “Sometimes when you tell a lie enough, in some peoples’ heads, it becomes the truth.”

Here is the entire Landing read: Senate District 15 primary to heat up after special election (houstonlanding.org).

Folks know my take on this race.

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On this Mother’s Day Weekend, I will give a shout out to The Beatles for putting out “Your Mother Should Know” from “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Mother Nature’s Son” from “The White Album” and John Lennon for writing and recording “Mother” from “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.”

Go find your favorite artist and mother tune.

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We finally got a win against the Yankees yesterday. We ended up the season 1-6 versus the Yankees. We are in Detroit for a weekend series.

Have a safe and happy Mother’s Day Weekend.