Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author: shailender

House GOP majority on the brink as all-Democrat Texas special congressional election underway

House GOP majority on the brink as all-Democrat Texas special congressional election underway

Republicans are clinging to a razor-thin 218-213 House majority. And the GOP’s margin will shrink even further after a special congressional election this weekend to fill the seat in a Democrat-dominated district which has been vacant for nearly a year. That’s because the two candidates in Saturday’s runoff election in Texas’ 18th Congressional District are both Democrats. Voters in the district, which is anchored by downtown Houston and surrounding areas, head to the polls to choose a successor to fill the seat left vacant when Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner died last March. Sylvester, a former longtime state lawmaker, served two terms as Houston mayor before winning election to Congress in 2024, succeeding the late longtime Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER FEARS SOAR AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS CLING TO FRAGILE MAJORITY Democrats Christian Menefee, a former attorney for Houston’s Harris County, and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards are facing off in the special election. They were the top two finishers in a field of 16 candidates that faced off in an initial election in November. While Texas has redrawn its congressional maps for the 2026 midterms, as part of the high-stakes redistricting battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats, the special election will use the state’s current district lines. CASH SURGE: HOUSE GOP SPOTLIGHTS RECORD FUNDRAISING AHEAD OF MIDTERM CLASH The winner of the special election will give the Democrats one additional House member, giving Republican leadership further headaches. “They’d better be here,” House Speaker Mike Johnson recently said of his members. “I told everybody, and not in jest, I said, no adventure sports, no risk-taking, take your vitamins. Stay healthy and be here.” And House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office confirmed it is advising members that “outside of life-and-death circumstances,” they expect Republican lawmakers to be on Capitol Hill. Three other special congressional elections are on tap this year. Eleven candidates are running in the Feb. 5 Democratic Party primary in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. The seat was left vacant after now New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning November’s gubernatorial election in the Garden State. The winner of the Democratic primary will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held on April 16. The suburban district in northern New Jersey leans to the left, with Sherrill winning re-election in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin she carried the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: HOUSE EXODUS THREATENS JOHNSON’S GRIP ON POWER AS OVER 40 MEMBERS HEAD FOR EXIT But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat. A whopping 22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in a special election in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The MAGA firebrand and one-time top Trump House ally four weeks ago stepped down from Congress a year before her term ended. According to Georgia state law, all the candidates will run on the same ballot. If no contender tops 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two finishers will take place on April 7. The district in northwestern Georgia is solidly Republican, with Greene winning re-election in 2024 by nearly 30 points and Trump carrying the district by 37 points. Primary Day in California for the 2026 elections is scheduled for June 2, and this year it will also include a primary for the special election in the state’s 1st Congressional District, in the race to fill a seat left vacant following the recent unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa. The general election will be held on Aug. 4. The district, in northeastern California, is solidly Republican. Similar to Texas, California is also altering its congressional maps as part of the redistricting wars, but the special election will be held under the current district lines. The White House and congressional Republicans criticized the decision by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to not hold a special election to fill LaMalfa’s seat until August, six months after the late congressman’s death. But Democrats similarly complained about Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas not scheduling the special election to fill Turner’s seat until eight months after the late lawmaker died. Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this story.

Conservative group blasts LinkedIn for removing pro-ICE post, labeling it ‘hateful’

Conservative group blasts LinkedIn for removing pro-ICE post, labeling it ‘hateful’

A conservative advocacy group is slamming the social media platform LinkedIn and conservatives online are threatening to ditch the site after the group’s post supporting President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown was temporarily removed in what the company called an error.  “.@DHSgov is carrying out the essential task of keeping our country safe,” State Freedom Caucus Network posted on Jan. 27 on multiple platforms including X and LinkedIn.  “Biden let over 10M illegal aliens enter our states, many being violent criminals and pedophiles. Every state must ensure collaboration with ICE and CBP to remove them. Our caucuses are on the frontlines leading their states to support @POTUS’s mission to keep Americans safe!” On Thursday, SFCN revealed a screenshot showing that while the post was allowed by X, it was flagged as “hateful speech” by LinkedIn and removed. TIKTOK ‘MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUE’ SPARKS CENSORSHIP CLAIMS FROM DEMOCRATS NEWSOM, MURPHY “Apparently protecting children is ‘hate,’ but letting actual predators roam free is fine,” SFCN wrote. “@elonmusk doesn’t censor us, but @LinkedIn does! We’ll be deleting our account as a result.” Conservatives on social media quickly began calling out the social media company, co-founded by liberal megadonor Reid Hoffman before he sold the company to Microsoft, where he currently sits on the board. 2010 OBAMA CLIP GOES VIRAL WHERE HE DEFENDS DEPORTATIONS, EVEN OF THOSE ‘JUST TRYING TO EARN A LIVING’ “Everyone delete LinkedIn,” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X. “Just a garbage woke platform that provides little value.” “How is wanting pedos off the streets hateful?? ?? Why are you censoring Conservatives?? @LinkedIn,” conservative influencer account LibsofTikTok posted on X. “DELETE YOUR LINKEDIN ACCOUNT.” A LinkedIn spokesperson pushed back, telling Fox News Digital: “This was removed in error, and we quickly corrected it.” Andrew Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, told Fox News Digital he received a “removal notice” via email and after the situation was posted on LibsofTikTok, he received another email saying the removal was an error. “Initially, your post was removed for going against our policies,” Roth was told by LinkedIn. “As part of our review, we now find that your post doesn’t go against our policies and apologize for the mistake.” Roth told Fox News Digital, “Yeah, right.” “I guess wokeism is still alive and well, but we will continue to fight it. First step is to not engage on the LinkedIn platform ever again. Second step is to tell the world what they did.” Conservatives have long decried censorship and perceived bias on social media platforms and although the post was reinstated within a few hours of being taken down, Daniel Cochrane, Heritage Foundation Senior Research Associate at the Center for Technology and the Human Person, told Fox News Digital the situation represents the “predictable model” that Big Tech platforms often operate under. “Censor first and then ask for forgiveness later,” Cochrane said.  “While platforms nearly always claim a ‘mistake’ or ‘miscommunication’ content moderation systems and processes operate in a black box,” Cochrane added. “The opaque nature of these systems leads to a dearth of accountability.” Cochrane went on to say that even if platforms aren’t “explicitly targeting” a specific group or message, “liberal biases” can often be “baked into their algorithmic moderation systems disproportionately flag and demote conservative voices.” “Without greater accountability, the status quo of arbitrary censorship is a feature of Big Tech platforms, not a bug.”

Famed filmmaker presses Democrats to put ‘citizen-led’ presidential primary first

Famed filmmaker presses Democrats to put ‘citizen-led’ presidential primary first

NEWFIELDS, N.H. — Ken Burns, the esteemed filmmaker whose popular documentaries chronicle American history and culture, has a message for the Democratic Party. Burns is urging Democrats to restore his home state of New Hampshire as the lead-off primary in the Democratic National Committee‘s (DNC) 2028 presidential nominating calendar. New Hampshire had held the lead-off presidential primary for both Democrats and Republicans for a century, and while the GOP adhered to tradition in the last race for the White House, the DNC upended their calendar, placing South Carolina ahead of the Granite State. The move was an unwanted distraction for Democrats during the 2024 primaries, and the DNC is now starting to discuss which states will lead off its 2028 calendar, when the party aims to win back the White House in the race to succeed term-limited Republican President Donald Trump. WHITE HOUSE RACE UNDERWAY: WITH 2026 LOOMING, BOTH PARTIES ARE ALREADY PLAYING FOR 2028 Burns, who lives in the small southwestern New Hampshire town of Walpole, wrote a letter to the DNC’s Rules & Bylaws Committee, which oversees the party’s primary calendar, on the eve of that panel’s meeting in Puerto Rico to begin considering applications by New Hampshire and nearly a dozen states to hold an early primary in 2028. “I’m writing to you today both as a Granite Stater who has witnessed firsthand how New Hampshire’s First in the Nation Primary has helped move our democracy forward, and a historical filmmaker who, in this particularly challenging moment, is concerned for the future of our country and believes that New Hampshire’s citizen-led, First in the Nation primary remains indispensable for this moment,” Burns wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Fox News Digital. ‘ROCK STAR’ NEWSOM STEALS THE SHOW AT DNC SUMMIT AS DEMOCRATS HUNT FOR 2028 CONTENDER TO TAKE ON TRUMP In the letter, which was first reported by WMUR-TV in New Hampshire, Burns emphasized, “I know of no people better suited to help begin the journey to maintain true freedom, to re-light that sacred fire, than the people of the Live Free or Die State. That’s why we need New Hampshire’s citizen-led, First in the Nation Primary, where everyday people can be heard. For in the strength of everyday citizens, there is no better or equal hope in our world.” Longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley, who’s a member of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee and is attending the meeting in Puerto Rico, told Fox News Digital that “Ken Burns is a beloved, internationally respected storyteller of America. Ken is trusted, he knows his stuff, he speaks with such clarity and authority that he gets people to sit up and listen.” “Ken makes a powerful statement in support of New Hampshire’s presidential primary that will resonate with my colleagues,” Buckley predicted. 2028 LOOMS LARGE: HARRIS, NEWSOM, PRITZKER CONVERGE AT HIGH-STAKES DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUMMIT National Democrats for years had knocked both Iowa — whose caucuses for 50 years led off the party’s nominating calendar until 2024 — and New Hampshire as unrepresentative of the party as a whole because the states have largely white populations with few major urban areas. Nevada and South Carolina, which in recent cycles voted third and fourth on the calendar, are much more diverse than either Iowa or New Hampshire. Nevada and South Carolina were added to the Democratic calendar two decades ago to increase the diversity of the early states’ electorate. But New Hampshire Democrats have long pushed back, saying the state’s rich tradition of grassroots, retail politics, its well-informed electorate, its high percentage of voter participation and its longtime status as a key general election swing state make it the perfect locale to hold the first-in-the-nation primary. After the DNC removed New Hampshire from the top of their 2024 calendar, putting the state second along with Nevada, the Granite State still moved to the head of the line. Adhering to a nearly half-century-old law that mandates the Granite State to hold the first presidential primary a week ahead of any similar contest, New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan scheduled the Democratic and GOP presidential primary contests for Jan. 23, 2024. The Democratic contest, which was held before South Carolina and Nevada, ended up being an unsanctioned election, with the DNC banning the state’s delegates from attending that summer’s nominating convention. The DNC later made peace with New Hampshire, and reinstated their convention delegates. The Rules and Bylaws Committee isn’t expected to decide on the 2028 calendar until later this year. The rival Republican National Committee, as Fox News Digital first reported last week, at its winter meeting took the first formal step in keeping the GOP’s 2028 calendar the same, with the Iowa caucuses kicking off the nominating process followed by New Hampshire’s primary.

New Jersey governor to launch portal for uploading videos of ICE tactics: ‘They have not been forthcoming’

New Jersey governor to launch portal for uploading videos of ICE tactics: ‘They have not been forthcoming’

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, announced that state officials will launch a portal allowing residents to upload photos and videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting federal operations. Sherrill revealed the initiative during a Wednesday appearance on The Daily Show, Comedy Central’s nightly comedy news program. “If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out, we want to know,” Sherrill said. “They have not been forthcoming,” the governor continued. “They will pick people up, they will not tell us who they are, they will not tell us if they’re here legally, they won’t check. They’ll pick up American citizens. They picked up a five-year-old child. We want documentation, and we are going to make sure we get it.” MARYLAND DEMOCRAT’S BILL SEEKS TO ‘DIGITALLY UNMASK’ ICE AGENTS AFTER FATAL MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING Sherill said her administration will soon be launching a portal so New Jersey residents “can upload all their cell phone videos and alert people” about local immigration operations. A spokesperson for the governor, Sean Higgins, said Sherill’s administration will release further details in the coming days. “Keeping New Jerseyans safe is Governor Sherrill’s top priority and, in the coming days, she and Acting Attorney General Davenport will announce additional actions to protect New Jerseyans from federal overreach,” Higgins said in a statement. Sherrill also said that her administration intends to provide information to educate New Jerseyans on their rights in the state. GOP LAWMAKER RENEWS OVERSIGHT HEARING REQUEST OF DHS AGENCIES FOLLOWING FATAL SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS New York Attorney General Letitia James launched a similar portal in her state in October, saying state officials would review the videos and images uploaded to the portal to determine whether immigration agents violated the law. California officials also opened a portal last month for residents to report possible unlawful acts by ICE agents. Some grassroots groups across the country have also been warning community members of reports of ICE activity, so migrants can avoid the area. This comes after two killings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month. Both shootings were recorded by bystanders and sparked unrest in Minnesota and across the country. Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, and Border Patrol agents on Saturday fatally shot Alex Pretti while he was recording immigration enforcement operations in the same city. Pretti, an ICU nurse, appeared to be attempting to assist a woman agents had knocked down when he was sprayed with an irritant, pushed to the ground and beaten, according to video and witness accounts. An agent was later seen pulling Pretti’s lawfully owned firearm from his waistband before other agents fired several shots, killing him. Sherrill also compared ICE to secret police forces she observed in other countries when she served in the Navy. “We saw people in the street with masks and no insignia. So not accountable at all, hiding from the population – and we saw again and again an undermining of what law enforcement should do to keep people safe,” she said on Wednesday. Democrats in Congress and in various state legislatures have sought for months to adopt measures that would ban immigration agents from wearing masks to hide their identities, arguing that such legislation is needed to ensure transparency.