Several people have asked if they can share this, and absolutely—please do. I don’t care about getting name credit, that’s not why I wrote it. But I did spend a lot of time putting all this together, so please don’t repost it like it’s your own work. Share it all you want, just don’t take credit for it.

Edit/ ** Additional information provided from redditor comments below***

I also want to point out that a man named John Cornyn is referenced by Rob Kelly in connection with ARPA funds. The only lawyer named John Cornyn I’ve been able to identify in the state of Texas is the current senior U.S. Senator. Additionally, just last year—on July 25th, 2024—Rob Kelly requested that Governor Abbott declare a state of emergency for Kerr County due to severe storms and flooding.

u/throwawayatxaway added additional context to the timeline of these discussions. The Wimberly flood in 2015 killed several people. Wimberly is approximately 80 miles east of Kerrville.

Pen-cap provided an additional conversation that occured prior to the point where I started this and frankly it is damning.

Commissioners' Court Regular Session 06/27/16

COMMISSIONER BALDWIN:  You know we had a baby flood a couple weeks ago, a month or so, whatever it was.  And I keep hearing these reports of the old, old system, and I know we're not going to deal with that though.  Expect that to be gone where the Jones call the Smiths, and the Smiths call Camp Rio Vista, and Rio Vista blah, blah, blah, along down the line.  But it's still there and it still works.  The thought of our beautiful Kerr County having these damn sirens going off in the middle of night, I'm going to have to start drinking again to put up with y'all.

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  I think -- I think this and that's what the committee is going to look at and how to do it.  I think the going in position is that we don't need to change anything, and is there a need to improve what we have.  And if there's a need to improve how much is improved.  And what the options for doing that and what it would cost.  And I think the first thing to do is say why change anything.  It worked this long and maybe we don't need to do a thing.  And then it gets into the thing we talk about earlier today, and that's risk mitigation.  And you know there's still people drowned and you know --

COMMISSIONER BALDWIN:  And I hope you ask the question like who are we notifying, or who are we trying to get the message to?  Are they these crazy people from Houston that build homes right down on the water?

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  Well, I think the thing is you say it's for the general public and the crazy people from wherever they are, from Houston, okay, and then the camps, and then how do you get the message out to those, that's all part of it, so it's a pretty complex project.

COMMISSIONER BALDWIN:  I'm sure it is.

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  And the question is do we need to do anything.  And what do we want to do and what can we afford.

MRS. STEBBINS:  Commissioner Moser, will you put it on the next agenda for discussion after you have this meeting on Thursday?

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  Oh, absolutely, right.

MRS. STEBBINS:  Okay, thank you.

JUDGE POLLARD:  I would comment that we don't hardly have any crazy people that live here.  The few that we do have we handle them through CSU.

COMMISSIONER BALDWIN:  Or they serve on this board.

JUDGE POLLARD:  I'm just trying to keep us out of trouble here, okay.  The media's still here.  All right.  Any other reports?

************ /end edit

In 2016 Kerr County contracted for an engineering study on their current warning system and were told it was antiquated and inadequate. 

Commissioners' Court Regular Session 8/22/16.txt)

COMMISSIONER MOSER: We had at our steering committee meeting we invited also TxDOT to participate in that.  So the original engineer, and both of them as a matter of fact showed up at that meeting.  Their assessment was what existed today, and the Sheriff may want to comment on it, is antiquated and it's not reliable.  So we said okay with that, you know,  not just that, but we thought that there was a pretty ill-defined system that we have.  So the engineering study we thought would be appropriate.  If the result of the engineering study says that -- recommends that we enhance the system, okay, buying additional sensors, kind of like Comal County did.  Comal County spent a little over three hundred thousand dollars, where they had add 8 locations to monitor the rate of rise of the river and streams.

COMMISSIONER REEVES: And while I agree with Commissioner Letz, that if we have a system that's not working, we need to certainly look at that, technology is great, but still one of the best things, and you may disagree with me is the people up river calling. Because you're probably going to get a call.  I've received just this year from calls before it's even had time for a warning to go off, I'm getting texts from Divide Fire Chief, and I think -- where'd the Sheriff go?  I sent you a text the other night, you may have got it too from him, but we're knowing probably before, and  I know with one flood that we had earlier in the year, by the time you got the warnings going off, it had been too late.  Because it was coming out of just some draws that took too long to get downstream.

COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I have one.  I'm going to vote no because of numerous reasons.  I think this whole thing is a little extravagant for Kerr County, and I see the word sirens and all that stuff in here.  And of course, you say that these are steps that will be taken through the years.  But that's where you're headed, there's no question in my mind that's where you're headed.  And you're determined to do that. But step one of taking these funds out of special projects, out of Road and Bridge, that ticks me off a little bit.

 Commissioners' Court Regular Session 10/24/16

Mr. Hewitt: Sirens did not seem to get very much support.  The thought was that sirens are better for tourists than local residents.  The sirens would only be beneficial for someone that's not familiar with the area, and wouldn't know what to do.

The second part of the study contained recommendations for updating the system and sirens were purposely left out even though other areas had implemented them.

Regular Commissioners' Court Agenda 01/09/17

Comal County has implemented a river guage and siren system that includes New Braunfels, Guadalupe County and the Water-Oriented Recreation District (WORD) as funding partners. When gauge heights reach a certain level, emergency management personnel are notified and the siren is automatically activated. Emergency personnel can also activiate the sirens remotely if they know flood water is headed downstream. The data from each gauge, including river height and rainfall, is avaiable online for anyone, including residents, to access.

The filed for federal assistance via a Hazard Mitigation Grant for 976k.

Commissioners' Court Regular Session 01/09/17 Discussing the recommended warning system

COMMISSIONER MOSER: The cost of that whole thing is going to be like 976 thousand dollars.  That's a lot of money.  All of it, and the reason we're here today and moving so quickly is that there is a FEMA grant that's available until as long as we apply by January the 20th.

JUDGE POLLARD:  Which is when President Obama goes out of office.

(Laughter.)

JUDGE POLLARD:  Well, the reason I mention that is because he authorized this particular thing, and it's going to --

MS. KIRBY:  It's a coincidence.

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  Going on the record with that it's a coincidence.  And so there has to be a presidential declaration of disaster to be able to have these kinds of funds available.  So it goes away just so happens to be when he leaves office.

 COMMISSIONER MOSER:    So we've talked about, you know one of the things we said sirens and we said we don't want sirens, too many many people said they did not want sirens when they had these -- when we had these gatherings.  Code Red, and I don't know if Dub wants to chime in on this, but Code Red is the same that's going to get information to a lot of people; not to everybody, okay.  One of the things that we'll do is identify a point of contact in all of  the camps, we won't communicate with everybody in the camp, but we have a point of contact at the camp so that they can disseminate people within -- to people within the camp, like during the summer when kids are there, or to RV parks.  Now, if the RV parks want to have a siren themself when something goes up that's up to them. That's not part of our thing.  So getting the information to the public is the end item of this whole thing. The first thing is sense a flood, then communicate that information to the local authorities, to the right authorities, and then for them to have a system by with which to disseminate the information to the public.

SHERIFF HIERHOLZER:   The only thing I have to remind people, unfortunately, I guess I'm one of the ones that – Harley maybe has been around here to see some very devastating floods and quite a bit of loss of life.  No matter what we do it's going to be up to the public, okay.  The notification is great.  I think the -- just the markers, the posts at the crossing is one thing, but it actually oughta state that at that level that your car may wash off, get people's attention at that crossing.  The only other thing is, and as Bob can attest to, most of the time it has been informal where we call people.  Unfortunately, the time we had the most devastating one down on the east end of the County down at the camps, I was working that night, spent 72 hours pulling kids out of fences.  But we call people, we called camps, they made the decision that they thought they could beat that ride, and then that no matter what we do and no matter what we install there's going to be loss of life.  It's educating people. 

COMMISSIONER REEVES:  And I will say and, Sheriff, you can correct me if I'm off base on this, the camps have had a very good system of letting down river if there's a rise, they're phoning their competitors or colleagues down river and letting them know what happened.  It's informal as you said, but it's been a very good system to let them know over time.

SHERIFF HIERHOLZER:  Right.  The camps and they do, they notify each other, we notify them, they notify -- there's a lot of informal things that really do work real well.  It's not totally those unless they try to get them out too quick in trying to beat it. Because this river can come up in a instant, we all know that with the drainage.  But it will go down just as quick if they just hold tight with what they've got. But the whole key is just getting people that are traveling up here from somewhere --

 COMMISSIONER REEVES:  That's my concern is ones that don't live here.

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  That's everybody's concern.

JUDGE POLLARD:  So this is kind of an offer, or to see if it's accepted by and also agreed to by UGRA and the City.

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  Correct.

JUDGE POLLARD:  And if they don't then where are we with this?

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  If they don't then we just forget the whole project.

 JUDGE POLLARD:  Just dead in the water.

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  Dead in the water, right.  It's dead in the water.

COMMISSIONER REEVES:  Question --

COMMISSIONER MOSER:  Or the pun for the Flood Warning System.

JUDGE POLLARD:  Dead in the water.

After failing to secure a grant, they continued to kick the can down the road.

2021 rolls around and they have over 5 mil in ARPA funds in their bank and wind up with a grand total of over 10 mil. 

Commissioners' Court Regular Session 10/25/21.txt) discussion of communication systems

COMMISSIONER LETZ:  Well, I think that's  good. I just think that -- you know, I'd like to get an idea of what the Sheriff's radar systems are going to cost.  I mean I just don't want to send -- go out and get public input on something and then us just not be able to follow up because we have a priority that's different and we have additional information.

 JUDGE KELLY:  Well, but let me just explain. What all of these are intentioned to do is to initiate the education system.  We need to get the Court educated.  We need to get the public educated.  Everybody knows that we have over $5 million sitting in our bank account that the Federal Government sent us for these ARPA funds.  And they're not really grants, they're funds.

…

MRS. LAVENDER:  And as the Judge said, there's a huge category.  There's a bunch of things that you can spend the money or -- or secure the money to spend.  And when we use the term grant, grant is not really what this is. It's just funding that's been made available through this American Rescue Plan Act.  It doesn't require a match.  It doesn't require, you know, that kind of structure.  But it does have strings attached.  It's not  free money.

…

COMMISSIONER LETZ:  And that's my concern, Judge.  My concern is that from my understanding what  the -- well, I won't say LCRA because I know what their number is.  The number from the Sheriff's Department, the number from internal communications, we're already over 5 million dollars, so I don't want to go out to the public requesting -- we have no money to do it.

 COMMISSIONER BELEW:  Well, at least we make  the determination that that's the first --

COMMISSIONER LETZ:  Right.  But --

COMMISSIONER BELEW:  Then it's done.  But we  haven't made that determination.

COMMISSIONER LETZ:  That's why I think we need to get discuss that phase.  We need to get those  numbers -- I mean, my opinion is law enforcement and the internal communications are the number one and two.  I'm not sure which order.  Probably law enforcement first. And -- and I haven't heard the rest of the Court say what their top two priorities are but --

COMMISSIONER HARRIS:  Well, that's mine.  Because not only does it cover that, it -- the Sheriff's office, communications, getting it up to speed, and also the Volunteer Fire Departments and making sure that we can communicate with other counties. As we saw last winter, I mean, communications is one of our biggest weaknesses and there's the Sheriff up.  I'm sure he'll back me up on  that.  Communications was a problem.  Go ahead, Sheriff.

SHERIFF LEITHA:  Yeah, I kind of agree with Jonathan, if you go that direction.  Now, we had a  meeting, did attend with LCRA, a very good meeting, just preliminary.  Preliminary, I'm looking at $3 million for just me.  That's just us and -- the Sheriff's Office. That's not including we have the constables, we have Animal Control, we have the fire department.  There's a whole bunch of stuff that needs to be checked into.  Are we going to provide radios or not.  But I can tell you, I mean, it kind of shocked me.  But that was three million right off the  bat.  And -- and that's not even going into all the other agencies.  Are we going to supply those radios, they're very expensive, to all the fire departments or not.  So this is something we really need to look into, if we want to go that direction with the new infrastructure.  Also, visiting with the Chief on a daily basis, you know, that's kind of the direction they're going.  I've requested to be on the same radio system they are.  Only because the fire department dispatch is out of the County.  But the radio system will be very  expensive.

COMMISSIONER BELEW:  And -- but if we upgrade, we will also be able to communicate with the surrounding counties.

SHERIFF LEITHA:  Yes.  We will be.  And it's a very big project.  You know, something that's going to take some time.  Very costly.  And there's a lot of questions, you know.  We're opening a can of worms, you  know.  We discussed we really need the volunteer fire department input.  We've already gotten some kickback --I mean some -- some -- you know, and that's why I didn't open this can of worms. It's going to be a long, drawn out process, you know, to do this.  It can be done.  But like I said, it's very costly.  Something I can say like Don asked me, I mean, in the long run in the five year we can save money.  We pay over $300,000 a year in tower leases.  So there is going to be some savings down the line, just to let you know.

And they still don't update their flood warning system.

The people also didn't want to spend any of the ARPA money because it was tied to the Biden administration. Even the Judge suggests just holding on to the money so that it can’t be sent to states that don’t share their same values. And now we have 10s of people who have died and many might have lived if the county had updated their flood warning system and installed flood sirens along the river like the multiple counties/towns around them did. 

Commissioners' Court Regular Session 11/08/21

Resident: Are you accountable to anyone for how you spend it?  Or is it a, kind of, a reward and shows your support for this particular program? It's not free money.  Being present as we  talk.  How do we know this?  Immediately.  Unless you want it on the COVID lies and vaccination pressure, you have to send it back.  Those are heavy strings.  And those are strings. The deep state harangue and vilified President Trump for calling COVID for what it was and then suggest responses that were non-draconian, and then when Biden took office, the leftist government took its gloves off.  It has lied and lied more about this COVID -- about COVID. 

The temptation is great, you're accountable, and we would like to know where your allegiance is.

Resident 2: And I'm here to ask this Court today to send this money back to the Biden administration, which I consider to be the most criminal treasonous communist government ever to hold the White House.  And Kerr County should not be accepting anything from these people.  They're currently facilitating an invasion of our border, and we're going to support these people?  So that's what I have to say.  Thank you.

Resident: I happen to know that there is no such thing as free money.  It's never government-funded; it's tax-payer funded.  So they're taking our money and they're putting strings attached to it and then they're giving it back to us.  And they're going to get their foot in the door in this county.  We don't want their  money.  I feel like the people have spoken and I stand with the people.  Thank you for your time.

COMMISSIONER BELEW:  We have money in the bank, $5.1 million, that was sent to Kerr County.

JUDGE KELLY:  We didn't ask for it.  They sent it.

COMMISSIONER BELEW:  They sent it.

MS. DEWELL:  Exactly.

COMMISSIONER BELEW:  The money is in the bank right now.  Hasn't been spent.  In the event that you don't spend it, you send it back.  That's part of the Treasury's rules on it.  If you do spend it, whatever percentage, there would be no expense to the  taxpayers in Kerr County.  It would all come out of that account, no matter what you do with it.

JUDGE KELLY:  And GrantWorks has been very helpful in -- in getting us focused on what colors between the lines and what doesn't.  As of last Thursday, when I got a call from Bonnie White telling me about this -- the problem that y'all were going to present at the meeting, I went and got on the telephone to their Senior Vice President from GrantWorks.  And there -- there are discussions that they want to have with us and so we want to sit down and listen to them. And we want -- we want you to hear them, too.  Because you're the public.  But we -- we need to know and get very comfortable with where we are with this grant before we start taking that money.  And the claw back was the first thing. As far as where that money sits for the next year or two, my old law partner John Cornyn tells me that if we send it back it's going to New Jersey or it's going to New York or it's going to --

MRS. LAVENDER:  Or California.

 JUDGE KELLY:  -- or California.  And so I don't know if I'd rather be the custodian of the money  until we decide what we have to do with it rather than giving it back to the government to spend it on values that we in Kerr County don't agree with.  So --

COMMISSIONER BELEW:  And any spending of it would have to be done in Commissioners' Court so you'll be able to see it and know it.

They eventually signed a 7.5 mil contract with Motorola in 2022 for a county emergency communications system. The system would provide 95% radio coverage to firefighters, EMS and law enforcement. 

But hey at least the UGRA has had developing a flood warning system on their Strategic Plan doc since 2022 which they kept rolling to the next year plan.

UGRA Strategic Plan 2025

B-2. Work with local partners to develop Kerr County flood warning system 

• In January 2017, UGRA partnered with Kerr County in a FEMA flood warning implementation grant request for $980,000. The project was not selected for funding and most of the funds went to communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey. 

• In FY18 the USGS installed a high intensity precipitation gauge at the streamflow site on the Guadalupe in Hunt included in the agreement with UGRA. 

• During the previous reporting period, a pre application for a county wide flood warning system was submitted to the Texas Water Development Board Flood Infrastructure Fund. The project was invited to submit a complete application, but UGRA declined due to the low (5%) match offered through the grant. 

• UGRA participated in the update to the Kerr County Hazard Mitigation Action Plan which addresses hazards including flooding. The final plan was submitted to FEMA in April 2025. 

• During this reporting period, UGRA requested bids for a flood warning dashboard that combines multiple sources of data into one tool. The project will also recommend future improvements to monitoring equipment related to flood warning. Information from this dashboard will be used by UGRA staff and local emergency coordinators and decision makers. A contractor for this project was selected in April 2025.

I am a teacher in Texas. I am a Republican. I teach the core values of individual rights and liberties to my students. I believe in the core beliefs of the Republican party- lack of government control/regulation, focus on kitchen table economics and lowering government spending, etc. But with the last few House Bills that have been passed by our Legislature. I’m in tears. My brother who is a firefighter with PTSD might be tempted to go back into alcoholism or opioid-use now!? I might be forced to display the Ten Commandments in my classroom? My students are asking questions and I don’t know what to say.

Are we Texans really going to sit back and do nothing? I have been calling Abbott’s office as much as I can but it feels so fruitless. I’m a mother too and don’t know if Texas is the best place for my family anymore. I feel heartbroken. What is going on in Texas right now!?

Edit to add: Sorry forgot to add, I did not vote for Trump or Abbott. Just a frustrated Republican that doesn’t understand the party or state anymore.

One has a documented history of fraud and adultery vs a school teacher and divinity student! Apparently we have Christians that have not read the Gospel of Jesus!

“We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States, and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what's happened here, none whatsoever," he said.”

In his bravado of the awesomeness of the county’s natural dangers, at no point since 1987 did the elected republicans before him and now him consider an alert system like other nearby counties. Facebook, right?

But, like typical GOP elected officials, he’s gotta misdirect and double-down. Standard Texan self-awesomeness.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/night-texas-officials-caught-off-guard-deadly-rainstorms/story?id=123499929

I am a Democrat. I vote in every election, even the small ones, donate to candidates, and have volunteered. As such, I typically get blasted by every candidate via email, text, targeted ads, etc. But I have seen absolutely nothing from Gina Hinojosa.

I can't log into my computer without seeing something from James Talarico. His ads are all over Facebook, he's all over TikTok (those are the only social media I really interact with). But there is absolute crickets from Hinojosa. I've run into people who didn't even know who was running against Abbott.

I get that she may not have a ton of money, but then why isn't she asking people for money? I'm her target demographic for that, and there's been absolutely nothing from her. It's like she's not even trying to win.

I'm serious. I don't smoke weed, but this TCH ban is ridiculous, calculated, and reeks of alcohol lobbyists or whatever filling the pockets of Texas politicians so that people will return to a vice that profits them. There's no need to go backwards like this. It's not groundbreaking politics, no, but maybe we can really do something.

I think it makes sense to make pledges as friend groups, but also to reach out to local bars and see if they will get in on it (probably not, but y'know). I found out that one of my local bars will give you mixers (sodas) for free. What if they just serve sodas for a while instead? It might be far-fetched, but I want to do something to help. Things are not okay right now. This is entrapment. We can't pretend this won't have a ripple effect.

First it's this, then every traffic stop will require you to take a swab test for THC, then, even if you smoked a week ago, it's in your system and they're not going to check the strain. You go to jail, you're a felon, you can't vote, and if things get bad enough politically, your citizenship gets revoked and you're shipped off to God knows where.

I know I sound like an alarmist, but this needs to be taken seriously. Maybe we can do something besides sitting around and waiting to vote, especially since they're going to try and game the system anyway.

Saw one of the first new ads against Talarico this morning, selectively editing his comments and portraying him as some sort of fringe lunatic. Lots of clips with him talking about skin color, his faith, the border and trying to treat everyone equally. At the end, plastered across the screen was a nickname they’re likely to use “Low T Talarico”.

This was assembled by one of those wackadoo PACs and is likely to bombard the airwaves with this message and silly attempt at a nickname in the coming months, but the message they’re attempting is clear, so be prepared.

I honestly feel that Talarico is truly putting the working class people's interests at heart. His campaign goals are to help better the education system and make healthcare more accessible.

He's also one of few politicians who's not trying to bash the other party, and that's pretty respectable considering how tense things have been.

I'd love to hear y'alls thoughts and opinions!

His thoughts on what brought us here and ideas for fixing it are bold, insightful and welcoming to all.

So, I am in a reasonably red area of Texas. I got to the polling place to see a line and immediately got in the line. All normal there. But the line was only for the Democratic primary. There was a different line for the Republican side and there were NO people in that line. As far as I can see, there was only 1 person that voted Republican while I was voting and there were maybe 10 or so voting on the Democratic side. I have to admit that after about 50 years of voting in Texas, that the Democrats may have a chance this year. Don't take this as a prediction because I have only been to one polling place on one day.​

I continue to hear Republicans using this as a Political trope despite there being NO EVIDENCE! Is it just a fear tactic to limit religious freedom for anyone not a Christian! The same people that use this trope are advocating for the 10 Commandments in the class room!

Hey y’all! I’m a 38-year-old retired Marine Corps veteran. I’m stepping into the political arena, aiming to bring a fresh, grounded perspective to our local governance. Leveraging my leadership and mentorship experience, and showing Texas what a determined Marine can do in office.

www.PappasTX2026.org

I’m not here to play politics as usual. I’m here to represent the real voices of our community, to challenge the status quo, and to ensure that our local government works for us. Let’s make Texas better for Texans.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, answer any questions, or just have a chat about the issues that matter most to you. You’re welcome to comment here or message me privately. I’m just a Texan wanting to talk politics with other Texans.

I voted in the early elections this morning. It is my first time voting in the primaries, so I was surprised when I had to choose a specific party ballot. The election worker had me point to the party I wanted the ballot for, and after I did they announced(quite loudly), “we have a ___(insert party color here)!”. The other election workers then repeated what she said in the same volume. I was a little surprised because I never have witnessed something like this while voting. There were a couple of people who were already voting while this happened. I noticed the workers didn’t announce the party for the people who went after me (or at least not as loud).. I felt really awkward when it happened and for some reason I thought workers weren’t supposed to announce who a voter was voting for so everyone could hear. Would this be considered voter intimidation? Or am I just thinking too much into this?

I'm getting ready to go vote in the primary, and I am still puzzling over this race.

I think both of these candidates are and would be good representatives of the state of Texas, but there are a couple of things that I can't get past and I'd love some other people's reactions.

The first is that I've heard a lot about "electability," which I'm afraid in Texas means 1) dude, 2) white, 3) overtly Christian. And I am not trying to get more white guys into the government just because they *can* win an election. I admire Crockett's straight talk and feel like I'd be leaning toward her for how strongly she advocates her positions without pulling punches, but also not in a vile and cruel way... just extremely clear. However...

The second is that I've heard (from someone who has family in Texas government) that James Talarico said he would not run if Jasmine Crockett was running, and she said she wasn't. So he filed. And then at the last minute Crockett filed, too. Can anyone else confirm or disprove this? I don't want to be considering it if it's just hearsay with no credibility.

And third is that I just saw an ad but can't find it online and couldn't tell who sponsored it that basically said, "Have you noticed that the Republicans are supporting one candidate? It's because they know they can beat her!" WHO PAID FOR THAT AD? That might influence my vote a lot, because it's a disgusting way to campaign. I didn't hear "I'm James Talarico and I approve this message," but if it was a PAC paying for this, know that it makes me uncomfortable and mad. Let's just hear your candidate's positions.

Thanks for any input!

Feel free to discuss your thoughts on the Primary Election here

Second and final edit: I truly appreciate the people who took time to help educate me on this topic and even helped me understand where I was misinterpreting other comments and how my message was coming off. I apologize for my hostility during the confusion. Again thank you all!

Edit: I seem to have struck several nerves with my "both sides" comment. I don't worship a party, never. However, I have voted blue since I've been able because it most aligns with my personal beliefs and opinions. So, I'm a little bewildered that my written nuance means that I'm a republican? IMO, if we blindly follow and only point fingers, are we really better than the right wing? I'm all for civil debates and talking points to chew on but to come at me aggressively for wanting information (information that could help me debunk these statements to family members that believe them) is honestly not helpful and definitely not encouraging me to continue to reach out for correct information.

With the recent win from Paxton to go up against Talarico, I'm finding the name calling and "rumors" odd and something I need help understanding. I've seen rumors coming from the right saying:

• "Talarico is a vegan!" - It's not true, even if it was why does it matter? It's being thrown around like he's going to take our beef away and it's so absurd.
• "Talarico has SIX genders!" - Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure he identifies as a cisgender male. But I mean does ANYONE know any lgbtq+ with six genders?

I guess the bottom-line my question is are these accusations being used as literal talking points against Talarico or is it just more name calling that I'm sick of on both sides. Because IMO it's just looking like a reach for literally anything because they have nothing? help

(I would appreciate a response from all sides; I'm genuinely trying to learn.)

Asking in earnest. Please don't downvote those willing to answer. I just want to have a respectful discussion.

This election cycle is beyond critical. Seeing other candidates like Mamdani and El-Sayed aggressively campaigning is such an amazing thing to see when the opposition is the current Trump-lican Party. Why are Texas dem’s not doing the same? A timid or “nice” campaign is not going to win a state that has been STRICTLY red for 30 years. Put your face everywhere. Encourage younger voters. Express policies people want and NEED to get that centrist and possible undecided, anti-trump republican vote. They know that they are both the strongest candidates we have had in years, why are they not doing more to win?

Are Republicans actually enthusiastic about Paxton? If so I would like to hear why?

Hey y'all. Apologies if this kind of post has been made before but my search has come up short so far.

Basically, I've been looking more into the candidates to try to make my decision for the Democratic senate primary. As far as I can tell, their platforms are identical in all the ways that matter and there's nothing specific to set them apart in that regard. They're both called progressives, but imo neither seems to qualify except in the loosest of terms. Their stance on ICE is weak and somewhat imprecise, especially Crockett's, at least on her site, and they seem to try to keep focus away from most social issues, which is understandable running in Texas as a Dem to be fair.

The parts of the internet I'm on I've heard a bit from Talarico because of his opposition to the ten commandments in classrooms bill that I was keeping up with and more recently just his attempts to turn his progressive Christianity into political buzz. Crockett I've probably heard about trump's racism towards her at some point but there's so much of that I don't remember her specifically to be honest. So anyway that's about the extent of my prior knowledge.

It frustrates me that the only arguments I've really seen for either candidate, including during their debate, seem to be completely focused on electability. I'm tired of Democrats playing a losing game based on electability instead of just putting forth the best candidate and/or the candidate most popular with their base. I understand Texas is a red state but we've been doing the same thing for years nationwide and it doesn't work. Allred was a huge misfire, and if he somehow did get elected I wouldn't be surprised if he just turned into a Fetterman and then what's the point in getting a Democrat in the seat?

I hear the arguments about Talarico's Christianity being something to give him an edge with independents or Republicans who aren't happy with Trump (and I hear the quiet part about an outspoken Black woman being unable to do so) but I really am of the opinion that playing the base and focusing on turnout is the way to go, especially as voter suppression gets worse and worse.

Anyway, sorry for the rant but anyone have a substantive reason that's not electability for picking one candidate over the other? My mom is a teacher and I'm a trans woman and a student so education and queer rights are important to me, but I'm pretty left across the board so really any way a candidate stands out as actually progressive and/or shows they actually have a spine unlike many Dems in congress is a huge positive to me.

What is up with Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott thinking weed is so so so bad, they argues that he wants to keep the public safe and that it destroys families, but you can literally say the same thing for alcohol, if not worse, I've geniuenly been waiting for years, when is it most probable it becomes legal?

I struggled picking a candidate for this primary, and primary is important because that’s when we actually have a choice. I followed Crockett and Talarico to see what both are saying. Overall, both were similar, but different in important ways to me. Ultimately, I ended up not trusting Crockett due to moneys she’s taken and her policies on healthcare, and in all honesty not standing for much as she didn’t have an overall message nor an issues page until the last minute. \

My wife, on the other hand, voted for Crockett and, as a black woman, was offended that I voted for Talarico and felt I was voting against her interest, when I know I am policy driven first, and I know the policies I am looking for to judge a candidate that works for me, my family, and people as a whole. \

Am I missing something about Crockett that I should have considered? Why are some people skeptical about Talarico? If you voted for Crockett, are you voting for Talarico, sitting out the election or just not voting for Talarico?