Most Liberal
Rice University Political Science Fellow Mark Jones put out his ranking of Texas House members and my state representative and friend Christina Morales is the most liberal. Good. See the featured photo. I would say that State Representative District 145 is one of the most liberal districts in the state. See this from the Trib:
The 62-member Democratic House caucus also reflects a wide range of ideological positions on the left. The Democratic delegation is anchored at its liberal end by Christina Morales of Houston, Ron Reynolds of Missouri City, Ana-Maria Ramos of Richardson, Terry Meza of Irving, Jessica González of Dallas, and Vikki Goodwin of Austin. The Democratic delegation is anchored at its least liberal end by Terry Canales of Edinburg, Richard Peña Raymond of Laredo, Sergio Muñoz Jr. of Palmview, Armando “Mando” Martinez of Weslaco, Eddie Morales Jr. of Eagle Pass, and Philip Cortez of San Antonio.
Here is the entire Trib story: Analysis: The 2025 Texas House, from right to left | The Texas Tribune.
_____
I saw this tweet yesterday from Forrest Wilder of Texas Monthly:
NEW from me: A deep dive into why casino gambling and sports betting isn’t coming to Texas any time soon.
The short answer is that Miriam Adelson’s attempts to strong-arm her way into Texas are backfiring spectacularly.
Why should I take a deep dive now that I know the short answer.
_____
Meanwhile, over in Pasadena, see this from ABC Channel 12 News:
PASADENA, Texas (KTRK) — The results for Pasadena District B’s election have been confirmed a tie on Monday, ABC13 confirms.
According to the unofficial results, candidates Bianca Valerio and Bruce Leamon each got 272 votes in the June 7 runoff for the council seat in district B.
The city of Pasadena says the canvassing will take place at Tuesday’s council meeting, which means an official examination of the votes.
After that, the city will request an official recount. If that recount confirms a tie, the tied candidates will then cast lots to determine the winner, which means they pick a card, draw straws, or potentially flip a coin.
Stay tuned.
_____
Former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is at war with local Democrats. See this from the Chron:
Former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg—speaking at a local Republican event—issued a blistering rebuke of Democratic leadership and urged Republicans to reclaim the county in 2026.
“The motto used to be—’Y’all can go to hell. I’m going to Texas.’ Ogg said during fiery remarks at a June meeting of the Log Cabin Republicans of Houston. “Over the last eight years, we’ve had hell in Texas, here in Harris County.”
During her nearly 45-minute-long address, Ogg spoke about the over-encroachment of the “liberal” government of the Democratic Party, her increasingly conservative tendencies over her two terms and future plans, including a potential nomination to serve as a U.S. Attorney.
“Every position by 2018 in Harris County was blue. Now understand that follows 25 years of every position in Harris County having been red until my year, 2016,” Ogg said. “My dad, who was a conservative Democrat, used to say the best government is a split government. I don’t know that I would say that now. Now, what I would tell you is the Republicans need to carry Harris County in 2026.”
Despite the critiques she fired at her then-Democratic counterparts, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Commissioner Rodney Ellis and late Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (among others), Ogg was quick to extend her support to former Houston Mayor Annise Parker’s bid for county judge.
Ogg noted that while she had Parker’s back, the more left-leaning voter pool may not view her support as a good thing.
“They will turn the machine that Rodney Ellis has built using the Democratic Party as the central focus and all the precinct chairs—they will turn that part of the party against Annise unless she kisses the ring,” Ogg said. “Most importantly, if Lina Hidalgo runs for a third term, already the ‘progressives,’ I call them the ‘socialists,’ are suggesting that [Parker’s] friendship with me and her friendship with Mayor Whitmire is some sort of satanic pack (which Ogg told Chron was a joke) and that we’re all gonna go to gay hell or something.”
“While Annise is far more to the left than I am, she is not a socialist—she supported me,” Ogg added. “I support my friends.”
Ogg confirmed that if she voted in the Democratic primary, she would vote for Parker. She touched on the fallout from her endorsement of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz in his reelection bid against Democratic Congressman Colin Allred.
When contacted for comment on her meeting remarks, Ogg replied that she had “nothing to add other than what you already know I have said: The Houston Chronicle is a biased news source.” Notably, Chron is a free digital news site owned by Hearst Newspapers and operates independently from the Houston Chronicle.
In a written statement, Parker addressed Ogg’s support for her county judge bid, saying, “While I didn’t ask for it, I’m happy to have the support of a broad spectrum of Harris County residents.”
However, Parker told Chron, “I was not aware of her remarks at this event. As I said, I did not ask for the endorsement. Upon reading the story, I fully reject Ms. Ogg’s endorsement,” in a written statement. “I couldn’t disagree more with her assessment and will do everything in my power to strengthen the position of Democrats, as I have always done.”
Ogg attributed Democrats’ discontent of her leadership to her stance on bail reform practices, which the former DA said members of her party and the media used to start making her a “piñata.”
“How dare I stand up for crime victims’ rights? How dare I stand up for public safety? And, of course, by 2022, how dare we take any Democratic public corruption cases to ordinary people who sat on grand juries to see if they thought crimes had been committed,” Ogg said. “They did, and they indicted, and that was an indictment of me within the Democratic party because how dare I prosecute my own kind? I just happen to believe in equal justice under the law.”
Here is the entire read: Kim Ogg goes full red: Calls for GOP takeover of Harris County.
Sounds like an angry, bitter rant. Annise did the right thing in rejecting Kim’s endorsement. No thanks. Kim’s brand is toxic within the Democratic Party. Kim wants Republicans to carry Harris County next year. Why would Kim even consider voting in the Harris County Democratic Party Primary. Who would she vote for? More importantly, who would want her vote.
_____
Sigh. We got this news yesterday:
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Houston Astros placed starter Lance McCullers Jr. on the 15-day injured list with a sprained right foot Monday, halting the right-hander’s comeback and dealing another blow to their injury-depleted rotation.
McCullers was scheduled to start Monday’s series opener against the A’s at Sutter Health Park. Rookie Ryan Gusto, who was scheduled to start Tuesday, moved up to pitch Monday.
The sprain above McCullers’ right big toe occurred in a “freak accident” in the weight room Saturday, manager Joe Espada said. Espada said the Astros’ initial hope is that McCullers will miss a minimum 15 days. His time on the injured list is retroactive to June 13.
We are a dinged-up team. We also lost last night
