Seems like we just got done with an election, and we’re on to another election.
Wait. That’s actually what has happened.
However, this time, we’re choosing between the top two winners of the March primary, the ones not lucky enough to win their party’s nomination outright.
While many of the local races were decided outright, there are a couple that will require a voter reckoning on May 26, such as the Polk County Judge’s position, the Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace in Tyler County and the County Treasurer’s slot in San Jacinto County.
While those races are critical in the pantheon of county government, there is a couple of state-level races that will affect all Texans, those being the GOP nomination for U.S. Senator and both the GOP and Democrat nomination for Texas Attorney General.
Those races will place people in positions that will give them power of the pocketbook, meaning their work will affect us in mostly fiscal ways.
In the Attorney General’s race, there’s U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who is retiring from his position, and Texas Sen. Mayes Middleton. Roy was an advocate for revamping the country’s health care system while decrying the open border, while Middleton ticks all the Republican boxes regarding border, crime, governmental waste and gender issues.
On the liberal side, there’s Joe Jaworski, an attorney and former mayor of Galveston, and Nathan Johnson, a Dallas attorney and state Senator, both seeking to lock down their party’s nomination.
But the race in the back, front and sides of most Texans’ minds is the race for Senator between Attorney General Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. These two are vying for the ability to take on Democrat James Talarico; and the question that has sprung to my mind, and has parked there for quite some time, is, “Is this the best we got?”
Cornyn has been in his position for 24 years and has come under fire from just about everyone for his dedication to the party line, which on occasion he has bucked. Paxton’s job performance also has been questioned, having been impeached for allegedly peddling influence and facing criticism for a host of other issues.
We’ve already touched on Talarico, who has said a few very out-of-touch things regarding Texas and Texans, most notably being anti-barbecue.
As is typical for pretty much every campaign ever, the race has become a case study in mudslinging and each candidate telling everyone in hearing distance how the other guy is terrible, rotten, awful, no good and generally very bad. Interspersed with the personal attacks are promised of how these gentlemen will put the screws to the Washington, D.C., swamp rats and bring home the bacon for Texas.
I’m not buying that anymore.
In my time on this earth, I haven’t really seen a politician point to the Constitution and scream, “This is the way!” None of them that I’m aware of, regardless of party, have rejected the special privileges, carve-outs and dispensations that come with their position.
I’m hoping that common sense will prevail at some point, and politicians will decide that their constituents are the best people to decide their destiny, and that Congress needs to step off.
Till then, I’m afraid, we will continue to choose the lesser of two evils as representatives, and harangue them to listen to us, who really are the bosses. And while that my not be the best case, it still needs to be done, because nothing will change until we change it.
So get out and vote.
Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at tony@polkcountypublishing.com.
