City News

Here are 9 important down-ballot elections

Students are less likely to vote without a polling location on campus.|Leah Nash/The Cougar

These candidates will have an impact on the community level. | Leah Nash/The Cougar

After a tense and painful campaign cycle, Election Day is two weeks away. Although it’s important to vote for the president, especially in this election, it’s important to know about the down-ballot candidates who will have more power over the day-to-day workings of the state of Texas.

The Cougar presents nine important non-presidential elections you should vote in.

Since ballots often vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, and even street to street, the candidates below represent the University of Houston (4800 Calhoun Rd.). This is meant to be a sample ballot fairly representative of Houston.

U.S. House of Representatives Texas District 18

With one of the largest populations in the country, Texas has 36 representatives in the House. District 18 covers most of inner Houston, including UH. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) has been 18’s representative since 1995, which is longer than some college students have been alive.

Sheila Jackson Lee (Incumbent): Lee is a big supporter of NASA and has sponsored legislation aimed at expanding government funding for space research. She is also an outspoken proponent of comprehensive immigration reform in Congress. Lee has supported legislation that aims to eliminate health disparities, HIV/AIDS research and comprehensive health insurance coverage.

Lori Bartley: The candidate’s website describes her as a “Frederick-Douglass Republican.” She is pro-life, saying she “will always support and defend laws that protect and uphold life.” She is fiscally conservative, but “will initiate legislation that allows us to invest time and energy into getting to the core issue of why an individual has become homeless and then provide them with the tools and support they need to be self-sufficient and productive members of society.”

Thomas Kleven: The Green Party candidate says he aligns with all 10 of the party’s key values, which include decentralization of power, “ecological wisdom” and feminist values. He has been a professor at TSU’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law for 40 years.

Texas Railroad Commission

Despite its name, the Texas Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas industry, natural gas utilities, pipeline safety, the natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline industry and surface coal and uranium mining in Texas. The commissioner’s power resonates in a city that is as concentrated on energy as Houston. The current chairman, David Porter, is not seeking re-election.

Grady Yarborough: The Democrat candidate garnered an endorsement from the Dallas Morning News for the runoff election in May. His self-funded campaign advocates temporarily shuttering wells to protect nearby communities. He also hopes to develop a plan to move Texans’ energy dependency to more renewable sources.

Wayne Christian: With an endorsement from Gov. Greg Abbott, Christian, a conservative Republican, is a former Texas state representative where he served as vice-chair of regulated industries and as a member of the Energy Resource Committee.

Mark Miller: The Dallas Morning News endorsed the Libertarian candidate for the general election. He is a retired petroleum engineer and believes in free markets and limited government.

Martina Salinas: The Green Party candidate wants to “back to its original intent to be the advocate for Texas Citizens and to hold the rights of Texans over rights of industry.”

Harris County District Attorney

This is the second time Democrat Kim Ogg and Republican Devon Anderson have faced off for the position. Anderson assumed the role after her husband, DA Mike Anderson, died in office in 2013. She was re-elected in 2014.

Kim Ogg: Ogg advocates more leniency on misdemeanor drug charges, has experience in gang prosecution and proposes harsher human trafficking and animal cruelty punishments.

Devon Anderson (Incumbent): Anderson is the current DA of Harris County. Her many high-profile cases concern human traffickers and money launderers.

Harris County Sheriff

Incumbent Ron Hickman served as constable for 14 years and was appointed to the sheriff’s office in 2015. The sheriff’s department is responsible for policing Harris County.

Ed Gonzalez: The Democratic candidate has earned an endorsement from the Houston Chronicle. He is also a former member of the Houston City Council and was appointed mayor pro tempore in 2012.

Ron Hickman (Incumbent): In his time in the constable’s office and as sheriff, the Republican candidate pioneered the use of technology and “progressive policing practices.”

Tax Assessor-Collector

While not a particularly exciting position, the tax-assessor collector calculates property tax rates in various school districts in Harris County. There aren’t many college students who own homes, but the tax assessor receives the money when you renew your vehicle tag  and is responsible for voter registration.

Ann Harris Bennett: The Democratic nominee’s platform revolves increased efficiency, inclusion of disenfranchised populations in elections and eliminating voter fraud at the polls.

Mike Sullivan (Incumbent): On his website, the Republican candidate says he employs a fiscally conservative approach to the county’s tax office. He was first elected as a city councilman in 2008 for Kingwood and Clear Lake.

Texas Supreme Court

This is the court of last resort for civil matters in the state of Texas and they have administrative control over the State Bar of Texas. This year, positions three, five and nine are up for election.

Currently, Republicans fill all nine positions. This election could change that.

Place 3

Mike Westergren, Democrat: Westergren ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. He has 15 years of experience as a district judge, four years as a justice of the peace and eight years as the Nueces County attorney.

Debra Lehrmann (Incumbent), Republican: Justice Lehrmann has served on the Supreme Court since 2010 and was a family law trial judge for 23 years.

Kathie Glass, Libertarian: Glass ran for governor in 2014, but lost to Abbott. She is pro-life and doesn’t believe abortion is justified in the case of rape or incest. Glass also advocates an abstinence-only sex education program in schools, although she has said she will support whatever sex education voters approve, and believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Rodolfo Rivera Muñoz, Green: San Antonio lawyer Muñoz bills himself as the “Indian” candidate. He seeks to educate people on the history of the native inhabitants of Texas.

Place 5

Dori Garza, Democrat: Garza hopes to use her position to reflect the changing demographics of the state.

Paul Green (Incumbent), Republican: Green has served as president of the San Antonio Bar Association, director of the State Bar of Texas and a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.

Tom Oxford, Libertarian: Oxford ran for the court in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 and is an attorney with the law firm Waldman Smallwood.

Charles Waterbury, Green: Waterbury has been litigating since 1992.

Place 9

Savannah Robinson, Democrat: The Democratic nominee doesn’t have a campaign website and hasn’t raised or spent any money.

Eva Guzman (Incumbent), Republican: Guzman joined the Texas Supreme Court in 2009 and was the first Latina to sit on the court.

Jim Chisholm, Green: Chisholm unsuccessfully ran for the court in 2012 and 2014 and has his own practice in Houston.

Don Fulton, Libertarian: Fulton hopes to lessen punishments for DWIs and advocates traffic ticket reform and driving licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Ballot Measures

Proposition 1: Stemming from an archaic law, the sale of alcohol is still prohibited in a section of the Heights. Lifting the ban would allow liquor stores and an HEB to open in the Heights, something residents have greatly spoken out in support of.

A “yes” vote is in favor of lifting the ban on the sale of beer and wine for off-premise consumption in the area formerly known as the City of Houston Heights.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that Kathie Glass supports abstinence-only esex education, but Glass has said that she will support abstinence-only or more intensive sex education based on what voters approve. 

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10 Comments

  • The most important vote you will cast as a Harris County resident this fall is *against* Devon Anderson, who jailed a rape victim for a month (rather than putting her in witness protection) because it was too expensive and difficult to handle.

    Throwing that woman out of office is the highest priority, regardless of your political leanings. We can’t allow incompetence and malice of that level in the prosecutor’s office.

  • CNN’s King: Emails Show “People Who Love Her And Support Her” Saying Clinton Is “Nuts,” “Secretive”

  • If you LIKE George Soro’s and his attempt to BUY the Harris County DA’s slot by investing 500,000.00 (giving a 1/2 million dollars to Ogg) Vote Ogg.

    Talk about a UN / Marxist / Communist dream come true!

    Furthermore Google: Kim Ogg, Attorney-Client Privilege and the McAfee Case

    Quote:

    ” Kim Ogg agreed to turn over a murder victim’s confidential file to the
    attorney representing the victim’s killer. She just needed a judge to
    sign off on an order to cover herself.

    And the order was signed and the Ogg Law Firm turned over their Attorney-Client Privileged file to the Defendant’s attorney.

    Whether you are the most hard core of prosecutors or the most hard core defense
    attorney, this breach of confidentiality is stunning and mortifying.

    The information in the file was damaging to the reputation of Janet McAfee,
    and the defense was absolutely not entitled to it. Neither was the
    prosecution.

    Nobody was entitled to see the information in the Ogg Law Firm’s file on Janet McAfee.

    Why?

    It was privileged.”

    • I keep seeing Ogg’s folks trying to use a disabled woman to discredit Devon Anderson. Probably brought and paid for with George Soro’s money.

      The Truth About Jenny from “the horses mouth” so to say..
      Here are the real facts that Kim Ogg and George Soros don’t want you to know.
      https://www.facebook.com/VoteAnderson/videos/1237910126231617/

      Ever wonder why George Soros, a left-wing activist billionaire, would
      dump nearly a million dollars into a campaign for Harris County District
      Attorney? George Soros has spent billions on radical groups and causes
      worldwide. Now Soros wants to impose his socialist agenda on Harris
      County with his hand-picked candidate Kim Ogg

    • Devon Andersen convicted David Daleiden of selling fetal body parts based on wording in an email, the very felony his undercover videos exposed Planned Parenthood permitting and committing all the way to the top of the organization. Andersen may claim to be conservative, but her actions show her loyalties lie elsewhere.

  • I just talked to Kathie Glass, running for Texas Supreme Court, and she tells me that she was never contacted for this article and that the description of her views is wildly inaccurate, to say the least. If you want to know more about what she actually thinks, see http://www.lptexasjustice.com. Will the author of this article please call Kathie Glass at 713-467-2989 for an actual interview so that her correct opinion can be reported and a correction to this article can be quickly made.

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