Signs, Signs...

Right now early voting is available in Texas. While I have always followed politics I am more involved this time around than ever before. 

I guess stepping up involvement started a few years ago when Cathy began being an election judge. When I had a chance I started being the alternate judge and last Presidential election I was election judge. I have only done the bigger elections as we are limited to elections that fall when the old day job does not interfere. These have been a lot of fun as I am stationed at a fairly busy box. I have heard that school board elections are pretty slow.  You might sit there all day with only a couple of voters. If you don't know by now, people need to turn out and vote. Election judge does pay, a little over $100. The fee is paid by the party and I don't know if I ever get my money because I think Cathy donates it back. If you want to judge call the county and they will know how you can get started. It's easy. 

This year there seems like a lot of people I know are running for office. When that's the case you have a more personal stake in the outcome. We want to see our friends do well.

Brent Beal, who I met through friends is running for representative of Texas's 1st Congressional District. It's a seat held by Louie Gomert. If you know anything about Louie it's that he is unavailable to voters of the district, he gets on TV with crack pot theories and his campaign money is PAC money from out of the district. Brent takes his money in 10s and 20s from people like me and is doing well with the grass roots fund raising. No PACs. If elected his voice will be your voice. Word on the street from both sides is it is time for Louie to go. Vote Beal.

I am listed on Brent's web site as an advisor for Angelina County. It's a little bit of a symbolic thing so you can see that your neighbors, people you know are involved but I do what I can. I run a little facebook page Southern Angelina County for Change and yesterday I put up signs. It's a long run. There will be other things to do. 

Another candidate to consider is Shirley Layton for Texas Senate District 3. I know Shirley and knew her brother Cliff from working at the paper mill. This is from her web site:

• Work with our public teachers to ensure that they are justly compensated and have the resources they need.
• Work tirelessly to make sure that our retired teachers continue to get what we promised them while they were teaching our children. 
• Work to bring equal access to information and education to our children via high speed internet.
• Help our families struggling with access to healthcare, maternity care, child care and the weight of taking care of elderly parents.
• Work to provide mental health care for those in our families that are in need.
• Help businesses in under-served communities create jobs and opportunities while providing a living wage to their employees.
• Work to ensure communities practice responsible policing and every family is treated equally under the law.
• Expand access to Quality Mental Health Care for our County inmates.
• Work to improve our infrastructure across the district including highspeed internet.
• Work with Veterans to ensure our Texas Vets are taken care of when they come home. 

How can you not be for her? Here is a photo I took at an Indivisible meeting.

Jason Rogers is running for the Texas House of Representatives District 57. I know Jason from the time he went through the Christian Initiation Program at St. Patrick's Catholic Church and I was involved with that team. He is also a teacher at Angelina College. The seat he is running for is held by Trent Ashby. Jason's story on how he decide to run is that he encountered Ashby in the grocery store and had questions on an education bill which Trent had voted in an unfavorable way toward teachers. In the course of their discussion it came out that Trent could not remember how he voted on the bill. I know Texas State Representative is kind of a part time job but we do need something better than this. Like Jason on facebook here. This is my photo of Jason at the Indivisible rally.

I missed meeting Beto O'Rourke who was recently in Lufkin. He's running against Ted Cruz. Ted just uses his office to run for president and other outside the state agendas. Again like all these candidates no PAC money for Beto. Read about his visit to Lufkin in the NYT

If you want to help you can donate to these fine folks at ActBlue. It does not take big money. I asked Brent yesterday if he wanted money for the signs. He said "throw $5 at the web site." 

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