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ICYMI: Right-winger Alexandra Mealer grabs endorsement from the Houston Chronicle (and far-righters) [1]
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Date: 2022-10-23
Yes, yes, Alexandra del Moral Mealer. Always make sure you have a portrait of your god...oh, I mean "The Boss".
The Houston Chronicle recently gave a bevy of endorsements. But what may be the most notable is their endorsement of Republican Alexandra del Moral Mealer over Democrat Lina Hidalgo for the Harris County Judge race. A county judge in Texas, by the way, would be the equivalent of county commissioner in many places.
The editorial board cited Mealer’s stance on public safety, which is the most important issue for roughly two-thirds of Harris County voters polled. Paul Castro, a “dyed-in-the-wool” Democrat and father of a teenager, David, who was slain during a road rage shooting after an Astros game, has decided to vote for Mealer whilst continuing to vote for Democrats in state races; he believed that Mealer was attentive to his concerns about crime in Harris County.
But should voters trust an untested, first-time candidate who may have experience overseeing troops in a theater of war but no experience in the thorny theater of partisan politics? Mealer’s proposal of hiring 1,000 new law enforcement officers, spread across the sheriff’s office, constables, and county jail, is simplistic at this point. Each would cost $100,000, coming to roughly 5 percent of the county’s $2.2 billion budget. She says she’d fund it by cutting back on overtime, reducing administrative overhead, and yes, by defunding new programs that are well-intended but aren’t essential, such as pre-K investments that serve a relatively few number of kids.
But don’t let Alexandra del Moral Mealer’s moderate stature fool you, even if she gets the stamp of approval from the Houston Chronicle editorial board, which is indeed diverse. Mealer was willing to take money from Defend Texas Liberty PAC, a group with the backing of far-right West Texas oil tycoons Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. Although, it could line up with her past of working with the Wells Fargo Energy Group.
x Who took the Dunn & Wilks money from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC?
Alex Mealer (Harris County Judge) - $100k
Dan Patrick - $50k
Ken Paxton - $50k
Michelle Evans (HD136) - $30k
Tarrant County Patriots PAC - $30k
Andy Nguyen (Tarrant County Commish) - $30k
Tim O'Hare - $25k#txlege — Christopher Tackett (@cjtackett) October 12, 2022
She may have said to the Chronicle, “Trump lost. Biden is president.” And she may claim that she has not seen one iota of voter fraud in Harris County. But Mealer’s stance on elections is practically the same as the present form of the Grand Old Party. Not only did she signal support for the anti-democratic Senate Bill 1, but she also proudly touts her Ted Cruz endorsement. It’s a strong contrast to the Houston Chronicle having critical stories about Texas voting laws.
Elections must be secure, transparent and efficient. When the Democrat-controlled Commissioners Court created the appointed bureaucratic position of the Elections Administrator, there was significant bipartisan opposition. At its base, the power to run the elections was taken away from two women elected officials, the Tax Assessor-Collector and the County Clerk, and handed over to a political appointee.
Alexandra del Moral Mealer is no friend towards people that care about the climate crisis, either. Mealer stated that prosecuting polluters is “not first or foremost”, in an area notorious for environmental racism. Where over 80 per cent of landfill waste was dumped in black-majority neighbourhoods during the mid-20th century, even though only about a quarter of Houstonians were black.
x In Houston, climate change makes environmental racism an even greater threat: flooding increases the pollution danger for communities of color. #txlege #txclimate
https://t.co/zjTKKiqQKK — Changing TX Climate (@TX_Climate) July 8, 2022
Although Alexandra del Moral Mealer has yet to speak out on the issue of abortion, she has welcomed the hatred of anti-LGBTQ, extremist figures. Mealer received endorsements from Doc Greene, a right-wing talk show host for Raging Elephants Radio who gained notoriety for trespassing a library during drag queen story time…
Mealer made sure to use some of her airtime in the interview demonizing immigrants, labeling them a “burden” on the county. Greene is also a member of the King Street Patriots, a group who consistently harasses and intimidates people at the polls who they believe won’t be voting Republican in an effort to rig the election through strong-arming. Just like the national liars and fraudsters making fabricated claims about the 2020 Election, Greene peddles falsehoods in concert with the Harris County Republican Party and Mealer herself to set the stage for tilting future elections in their favor. He was one of the first people Alexandra Mealer decided to do an interview with on his far right radio show. The segment begins with Greene referring to Judge Hidalgo as, “Dora The Explora” in a childish attempt to mock her Colombian/Spanish heritage, all while Mealer sits idly by in front of a shrine to Donald Trump titled “The Boss.”
..and Angela Box, a former elementary teacher who first sparked controversy with her anti-Muslim rants. Box also said this in her own bio: “I also would like to eradicate every radical Muslim terrorist cockroach from the planet. I live in Houston because in Texas we eat liberals for breakfast.”
In June of 2022, Box posted a video deriding Pride Month as a “demonic scam.” She claimed “the LGBTQ mafia” demands to “be coddled for an entire month.” She clarified that she doesn’t actually “think gay people are demonic,” but that, with “the agenda of the LGBTQ mafia,” “we aren’t talking about gay and straight anymore.” Box said it is “literally insane” and “demonic” to “choose your own gender.” She recalled a depiction of “a biblical demon with breasts of a woman and male genitalia” and said, “Satan’s busy and Satan’s saying like, ‘I’m here, I’m queer, get used to it.’” Not to be outdone by herself in the previous minute of her own monologue, Box continued that “these people” want “to hold the whole world hostage for the month of June while they sashay around and push this demonic crap on the kids,” even though we have “one day to celebrate” other holidays, like Christmas and Martin Luther King Day, adding, “don’t even get me started about Black History month, because ‘certain’ Black history month if you get my drift.”
But even if Mealer didn’t have her “Sister Souljah moment”, she is not easily trounced in the polls. Mealer is up by 4 in a right-wing poll for Defend Texas Liberty PAC and down by 10 in a poll conducted jointly by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University. Furthermore, Mealer signs can be spotted in places like the Heights, West University Place, and even Montrose. It’s not a big deal for Houston Republicans that Mealer is from California, with all the “Don’t California My Texas” talk out there.
x The number of Alexandra Mealer signs I’ve seen over the last few weeks in neighborhoods that should be solidly Democratic tell me Lina Hidalgo is probably cooked, and that’s a shame. I think the Chronicle saw the writing on the wall when they made their (shameful) endorsement. — MH (@mhinojosa8) October 19, 2022
x Thanks to all the attorneys who voted in the Houston Bar Association preference poll. Knowing that the people who deal with our local judicial system on a daily basis voted for our campaign over @LinaHidalgoTX is another sign of the need for change in November. pic.twitter.com/X9OJxoU1Ym — Alexandra del Moral Mealer for Harris County Judge (@AlexMealer4HCTX) October 17, 2022
And really, there is no excuse for the Houston Chronicle to endorse people that are fascist-adjacent. It’s been a decade since their endorsement of Ted Cruz.
x The Houston Chronicle just published one of the troubling pieces of journalism I’ve ever seen in print. I try my best to explain some of the key problems and why they are so dangerous:
https://t.co/bC1exIYinK — Alec Karakatsanis (@equalityAlec) October 17, 2022
x This is another easy to disprove claim I wish the editorial board would have questioned her on. She talks about being unsafe walking around her neighborhood so much, and in the screening, but I live a few blocks away and I’ve never heard of violent crime happening on that street — Evan O'Neil (@eoneil83) October 20, 2022
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