Good morning!

It is a good morning, because the Federal Election Commission just got a whole lot more respectful of the First Amendment. Too bad a leftwing federal judge tried yesterday to make elections a lot less honest.

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Modify your email preferences.

• When Bill Clinton said he experimented with marijuana, the media didn’t care. When Barack Obama said he used cocaine, the media didn’t care.
       

• But when America’s most famous teetotaler – President Donald Trump – says he is taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure under a doctor’s care... the mainstream media suddenly frets about drug use. 🤷‍♂️

      
• The U.S. Senate voted 49-43 yesterday to confirm the president’s nomination of my friend – and former legal counsel – James “Trey” Trainor III to the the Federal Election Commission.

• As Democrats across the nation use fear of the Chinese coronavirus to push for more mail-ballot voting, a process ripe for fraud, Texas’ Attorney General – Republican Ken Paxton – is fighting back to preserve the state’s voting laws and election integrity. The Democrats are waging a two-front war against honest elections: in state court and in federal court. Erin Anderson lays out the details. 
      
• Late yesterday a federal judge in San Antonio – Fred Biery who was appointed by President Bill Clinton – sided with the Democrats and against Texas. He ruled the state must allow expanded mail-in voting, based on the federal lawsuit the Democrats brought. Biery’s inflammatory ruling stated in part, “The Court finds the Grim Reaper's scepter of pandemic disease and death is far more serious than an unsupported fear of voter fraud in this sui generis experience.”
      
• Of course, it was DEMOCRATS, when arguing against Voter ID, who loudly claimed mail-in ballots were the most susceptible to fraud... But who needs intellectual consistency? Democrats have elections to steal, and a federal judge all too happy to help.
     
• Attorney General Paxton announced he will seek an “immediate review” of Biery’s ruling.
        
• Later today, the Supreme Court of Texas will hear arguments related to the state-level legal action Democrats brought seeking to expand mail-in ballots.
      
• As a result of longtime Democrat Sen. Kirk Watson vacating his senate seat earlier this year, six candidates are facing off in a special election. Jacob Asmussen reports two Democrats, two Republicans, a Libertarian, and an Independent are competing in a district that includes much of Austin and all of neighboring Bastrop County.
     
• Most prominent in the race are Democrats State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (Austin), Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, and Republican former Austin City Council member Don Zimmerman.
     

• While it is normally considered a safe Democrat seat, the mass of candidates, combined with fears of the Chinese coronavirus depressing voter turnout, and the historically low voter engagement in special elections, could create the potential to set up an interesting runoff later in the summer if a Republican clinches one of the top two spots. The special election is tentatively set for July 14, the same day as the primary runoff election.

• “Contact tracing” was an unfamiliar concept to most of us just a couple months ago, but is today regularly invoked by Republican and Democrat governors across the nation as they discuss reopening the economy in the wake of the Chinese coronavirus shutdowns. Brandon Waltens has the details, highlighted by Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to bring 4,000 contract tracers online in Texas by the end of the month.
       
• To handle the “contact tracing,” Gov. Greg Abbott  recently signed a $295 million, 27-month deal with MTX Group, a New York-based company that recently set up operations in Frisco, Texas.
     
• So what is contact tracing? According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is “a core disease control measure employed by local and state health department personnel for decades … a key strategy for preventing further spread of COVID-19.”
      
• Texans were generally horrified when the City of Austin recently attempted to require restaurants and other small businesses to keep detailed logs of customer information, a move that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called “Orwellian.”
      
• Some are (rightly) concerned about government contact tracers using technology – such as the log your cellphone keeps of your daily movements – to violate your privacy rights.

• The government-mandated shutdown of the state’s economy has been directly responsible for between 2.2 million and 2.59 million Texans filing for unemployment according to data from the Texas Workforce Commission.
   
• That is roughly the population of Houston.
     
• In a new commentary, Chelsey Youman describes giving birth last week in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. She is the Texas State Director and National Legislative Advisor for Human Coalition Action. She and her baby boy are doing well – even if it isn’t exactly how she thought her third child would enter the world.
   
• “You will get through these challenges, and you can hold your sweet, healthy baby at the end of it. That baby will be filled with love for you, and you will love that baby, and nothing else will matter. God has brought that child to you in His perfect sovereignty and timing.” – Chelsey Youman, writing to other expectant mothers

ONE CLICK SURVEY

Do you trust Texas politicians and bureaucrats to implement “contact tracing”?