Full Transcript for Rep. Charles Cunningham: A Truck Crashed Into My House, So I Ran for Office

told me that with the fingerprints and stuff that was left behind, that these were repeat offenders that were out on bond. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:31.919 And so, you know, that's where, you know, I just said I had uh had enough. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:44.560 And so a good friend of mine that I served on the school board with uh Dan Uberdy before he went to Austin was had announced his retirement, and I thought about it and people were encouraging me. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:51.439 And then I said, well, you know, I've been with Center Point Energy, a company that I've worked with uh since they were called Houston Lightning Power. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:55.360 Uh I've worked with them, you know, a number of years, over 30 plus years. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:59.360 Thought it was time to go ahead and and uh move on to a next phase of life. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:07.120 And so I decided to run, and uh the people 127 elected me, and we've been serving them since uh 2022. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:07.840 Wow. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:24.800 Well, thank you so much for uh for doing that, and especially like you know, it's not it's it's usually not a car in the living room, but there's more than a few politicians that have ended up being like activated into like pursuing higher office because of something like that. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:26.800 And it's it's always kind of crazy. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:35.680 This is the kind of stuff that happens of having a government breakdown or some sort of issue like that that really kind of motivates somebody to you know put their skin in the game. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:40.080 So I'm sorry that it happened to you, but I'm glad you're that glad you're in office there. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:47.360 What would you say thus far have been like your biggest wins or your biggest accomplishments in Austin? 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:57.919 You know, I I think really just really just addressing the the needs, first of all, you have to address the needs of your district because that those are the people that send you to Austin. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:13.520 And, you know, you know, our needs, you know, circle around, you know, delivering, you know, relief for our taxpayers, you know, education is is is there, but also just keeping the criminals off the street. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:27.920 You know, we had the situation where a good friend of mine, you know, well, they became my good friends, Yvonne and Roy Ursan, their son tragically was killed going to get dinner for his family, was shot. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:33.040 And it just so happened that uh Omar Ursan was a deputy council constable. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:37.519 So the perpetrators killed a uh a law enforcement officer. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:40.560 And, you know, that really kind of got got got to me. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:48.959 And so we were fortunately later on, once I got to Austin, we were able to name part of 1960 our one of our FM roles in his honor. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:56.720 But in addition to that, some of the first bills that I introduced, you know, in relation to flooding was criminal justice. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:06.000 You know, I had two bills, they were called MBA, Minimal Bond Act, and FOB, felony all on bond. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:13.600 Those bills required not only passage out of the House and the Senate, but it would require a constitutional amendment. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:18.000 So, of course, in freshman year, you know, you're really just told to sit back and listen. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:20.959 You don't really get too much play. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:27.600 But the next time around, language in that bill was used by Senator Huffman. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:29.439 And so we did get a bill. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:40.240 We just couldn't get it to the point where we need it right now because of our folks on the other side of the aisle, which tend to have a different take on what government should do. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:43.279 You know, government should protect, punish, and promote. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:54.879 You know, they don't they don't want to protect communities, they don't want to punish criminals, and we're certainly not, you know, you know, promoting a lifestyle that's conducive to our, you know, to our communities. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:57.680 You know, they you know, everything they want is just for free. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:05:58.720 And guess what? 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:00.160 After a while, money runs out. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:01.600 So where are you going to get it? 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:03.839 But anyway, we can talk about that later. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:06.720 But that's uh that that was some of the things right there, Garrett. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:12.639 Let's take a step back a little bit and talk about bail reform as a as a whole. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:22.079 So what were the things that you were what are the key elements, at least of the stuff that uh Senator Huffman included in her bail reform push? 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:36.399 What were the things that you're really trying to make sure like keep the bad people, the bad guys in jail without you know running afoul of the constitutional right of you know innocent until proven guilty and all that, you know, those two process rights? 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:37.439 Okay, well, good. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:41.120 Well, there you know, for me there you know there were like really two main things. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:53.519 And and and and and and and and the first one was to stop the revolving door as they got out and and and and and and keep and keep the criminals in jail. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:07:06.480 The other one was the the minimum bond act was have a have a minimum bond, and I forgot, I don't have my bill with me, but it was no more this security bond and all this other good stuff. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.120 Make people pay if they're gonna get out. 00:07:09.360 -->

00:07:16.879 And so, you know, with the Minimum Bond Act, now I I've got the some of these, well, not all judges. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:21.439 Uh I've got I've got I've got some good friends, Dan Simmons, the governor appointed him. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:28.000 I mean, he's he's making these bonds, you know, a fair bond for for you know for the crime that you commit. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:35.360 You know, you shouldn't be able to get out on your own recognizance or whatever they call it for murder, you know. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:40.959 And so, you know, we want we want people to be justly serving their time, waiting on trial. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:42.079 We want quick trials too. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:45.439 That's the other problem that we're having now that we're gonna have to speed that up. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:56.800 I mean, it doesn't make any sense for somebody to commit a crime and the family is still looking for closure, you know, three, four, five, six years down the road. 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:05.519 But anyway, so but it was those two acts, you know, stop the revolving door and and set bonds that that that really had bite in it. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:07.839 One a couple of things I want to talk about. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:20.639 One is there was a proposal to basically remove some judicial immunity so that if somebody committed a crime on bail, the judge could be sued. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:29.680 And then secondly, is you all, I guess, is that accurate and has that survived, or do you think that's likely to survive into future reform efforts? 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:39.919 Well, I know, I know I'll be pushing forward, but uh at this point, I you know, Garrett, just to tell you the truth, I you know, I I don't know. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:56.559 You know, we've got you know, you know, the Democrats, Socialists, Progressives, whatever you want to call them, they just, I mean, they they they they they they they cater to, you know, you know, just to to the good guys, you know. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:00.320 Communities shouldn't be fearing living their in their community. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:02.960 I mean, they they cater to the you know, basically to the criminals. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:05.519 Criminals have more rights than the citizens. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:17.759 One of the things that pops up in Fort Pink County in my neck of the woods is that there are these associate judges and there are district court judges that are paid for by the state, where the associate judges are paid for by the county. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:34.879 And there is a problem where the the county court, county commissioners don't want to pay for any more associate judges, even though it would free up more judges to hear cases because they're waiting for the state to come in and just create more district judges because those district judges are paid for by the state. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:59.120 And so there probably needs to be a look at how

those things are funded to make sure that the money is available to hire judges regarding or elect more judges, and that process is less there's less chicken being played between the counties and the and the state, and so some so that those things so that people and the criminals and the the good guys are able to at least move forward in the pursuit of justice. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.559 Have you seen that in in Harris County where you're at? 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:07.600 I would I would probably say that short answer is yes. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:11.279 And and I say that you know precisely what you're saying, Garrett. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:16.240 Everybody asks the question, yeah, we can do this, but who's gonna pay for it? 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:24.799 And then you get the finger pointing, you know, and then you get mad at the state when we pass a law, and then you're saying you're mandating it without any money. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:35.039 And so, you know, we're gonna have to find a balance if we really want to address, you know, uh not only the concerns of the citizens, but you know, even the concerns of the state, you know. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:40.000 I mean, government's role, as I stated earlier, is is to protect, punish, and promote. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:43.679 And so, you know, we just have to prioritize how we're going to do this. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:48.000 And at a state level, you know, we'll we'll we'll we'll see where we're going. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:53.200 We still got some work to do, but but yeah, I can I can I can see that being an issue. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:54.240 Absolutely. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.320 Well, let's take a slight shift. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:05.120 You were in there for the last kind of homestead exemption fights and some of the, I guess, the preludes, what will happen in the 90th, or these other property tax fights. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:25.600 Explain a little bit about what y'all were able to get done in the 88th and the 89th to lower property tax bills and evaluations, and then let's talk a little bit more about the big three's push to cut spending by 3% across the board at the state government so that they can take on more MO taxes from the from the school boards. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:26.879 But let's start on that first bit. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:34.080 What have y'all gotten done and kind of what are you looking at as like the best option moving forward to lower people's property taxes going forward? 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:56.559 Well, you know, in my uh first session, I think uh, you know, the House and the Senate, you know, with uh Senator Bett and Court leading the charge over in the Senate, we were able to do about, I want to say it was close to about 40 or 41 billion in property tax relief, not only for uh homeowners, but for uh small businesses, for our seniors 65 and over for disabled. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:02.320 And then we were able to cap on that in this last session, I think another 11 billion. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:08.240 Anyway, the whole total for the for at least my last four two sessions has been 51 billion in relief. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:10.240 And there's gonna be more on the way. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:25.919 You mentioned, I know that the governor has a plan where he wants to, you know, continue to address the MO tax that's really on the school district side, which is basically everybody's largest bill is is our is our school taxes. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:31.519 And so we'll be we'll be looking to see exactly what that's going to look like. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:38.000 If we were to do it at today's number, you're looking at replacing 13 billion. 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:40.559 And so where is that going to come from? 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:45.440 But I I think as we as we continue on, we're going to be able to look at it. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:53.200 Now the now the now the the issue is, and we talked about this a little bit between state and local government. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:13:02.399 Anytime the state does something that's probably a benefit, then the local government, not all, but some of them, go through the back door and then they end up raising taxes. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:09.679 And so, you know, the end user, which is, you know, the voter, the constituent, he doesn't really see that increase. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:12.799 And so once again, you know, we're trying to find that balance. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:21.440 And so I I you know, take, you know, you mentioned Fort Bend County, I can tell you Harris County uh is looking at raising taxes. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:24.720 Uh as a matter of fact, they're supposed to be maybe even voting on it uh today. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:26.080 Today is Tuesday. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:29.840 Uh you know, by some numbers, 12% increase. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:35.840 The county will tell you, well, it's only seven, and then some say eight, you know, but an increase is an increase. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:49.519 And you mentioned that the governor has already said that he wants to uh state agency-wise, look at a three percent, you know, cut, you know, deduction, savings, efficiency, whatever you want to, whatever name you want to put on it. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:50.639 But I want three percent. 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:52.240 That's what the governor is saying. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:56.480 And I think that that three percent is easily found. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:08.399 I I say it to say this because I was recently appointed on the uh Sunset Advisory Commission, and we're reviewing most of the healthcare agencies this this uh uh term. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:21.200 The Department of Health and Human Services, they have a budget of$50 billion and they average five billion in fraud a year before they even start spending. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:22.559 Five billion. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:23.679 And that's 10%. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:25.759 So

they're already losing 10%. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:27.279 I'm sure they can find 3%. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:38.799 And so I I think I think as as the governor is saying that, really, in my mind, what he's saying is we all need to, you know, you know, be able to balance our checkbook. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:45.039 And so even these, even these agencies need to be able to make sure they're running as efficient as possible. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:57.120 Well, so my evaluation has because of I've done property tax, like the challenges and whatever, has gone down slightly. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:58.080 There's been some relief. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.240 So my property tax bill has gone down a little bit. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:08.240 I know there are a lot of people who are still in areas where they're just getting hit by crazy evaluations, or maybe their valuations really are going up. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:19.440 And like that's regardless of what a local government would want to do or has done, has really made those costs from the property tax go up even without a technical rate increase. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:26.879 What are the, you know, as a matter of experience, you were on the school board in Humble for 12 years, right? 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:34.240 So like you have you have that experience on your side of kind of being on the on that local school district level. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:42.000 What are things school districts should be doing to lower that cost so that that those even they don't need those valuations to go up, but they're able to stay in budget? 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:45.519 Well, you know, and the first thing the school district's gonna tell you is we don't do it. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:47.840 And you know all that comes from the appraisal districts. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:16:03.759 They do the appraisals, and so you know, I think that's one of the one of the things that the governor wants to do is to lock in and well, I'm gonna use the word freeze, but I don't mean freeze, though, but to actually lock in the appraisals for for a certain time. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.720 I want to say he said for three three or five years. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:11.840 So so that you're not going every year and going up 10% every year. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.759 And and so that's that's that's one way. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:22.240 Now with school districts, you know, and I was I was I was a volunteer for 12 years before I ever got on the school board. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:29.120 So it's total 24 years just kind of understanding because I never could figure out why do why do they always need money? 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:30.879 Don't they have enough money? 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:38.399 And so one of the things, as the governor is asking these other agencies to do, school districts need to start doing the same thing too. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:47.200 You know, some of the dollars, you know, I'll put it this way, are they are they are

they really giving you the return on your investment? 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:51.679 And your investment is our future, the next generation are kids. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:54.559 Is money actually being spent in the classroom? 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:58.480 You know, or are we spending it on the unnecessary things? 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:09.200 And so once we can find find that balance, I I I think we'll be able to address it because if you look at some of the school, the biggest budgets for school district is personnel. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:14.000 80 to 85 percent of their budget is spent on personnel. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:16.160 On their ML budget. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:16.960 Yeah, yeah. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.559 And it doesn't it doesn't leave much room for anything else. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:22.720 And so and so, yeah, M and O. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:30.559 I'm not talking about the INS, you know, and and we can get into the bonds later on that, but on that budget, there you you know, you just need to look at it. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:41.279 And so, you know, they've been spoiled for all these years because all they had to do was just come back and just ask, you know, or you know, we tend to hear all the time, we need more money. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.039 We need more money, you know. 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:47.759 Well, more money is not the answer if I'm not getting the return on my investment. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:53.599 If my kids aren't, you know, the kids aren't, you know, achieving that level that we want them to achieve. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:18:05.119 One of the things that pops up as kind of a counter from the schools is that they have so many mandates, mostly from the feds, but a lot from state government too. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:14.640 What are some government mandates from the states that are requirements that you would get rid of so they could, you know, slum up their personnel and save some money on their personnel? 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:30.640 Well, I I can I can I can I can say that, you know, as I was on the school board for 12 years, I I will believe some of that because some of that is is is mandate, and and most of the time you hear a school board say that it's unfunded. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:35.359 I I would say that it's not that it's unfunded, I will say that it's underfunded. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:40.720 And so that's that's that's that's some of the fallacy on on lawmakers' part. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:47.519 We're not properly funding these things, you know, these different programs, because you'll hear all the time we just need more programs. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:57.519 Well, that's not true either, you know, but we need to properly fund things, especially with schools, because we're talking about schools, we need to properly fund our safety. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:00.640 We need to properly fund our transportation allotment. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:09.680 And the shift that we're making now that school districts don't like is the fact that we used to just fund it and give it to them in the basic allotment. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:13.680 And that was just like an open cookie jar that they did whatever they wanted to do with it. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:19.440 And now we're targeting that money to the various allotments where it has to be used. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:29.119 And that's just going to be a way of the future now, as we kind of work together, you know, you know, for the good of the state, because we need to have an educated workforce. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:34.720 Without an educated workforce, we will fall behind as a state. 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:37.440 How are you? 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:43.599 I mean, you were so you were in the ISD world as a as a school board member, as a volunteer and as a school board member for a long time. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:48.160 You know, I you voted for the ES the ESAs. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:50.480 What are you seeing now? 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:55.440 And now that the program's starting to roll out, are you hearing from your constituents that they got into the ESA and they're loving it? 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:06.079 Like, what is the kind of feedback you're hearing from folks who I'm sure were both for it and against it about how it's how the rollout is impacting uh your area, your district? 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:14.400 You know, well, really, and I don't think the ESA is really impacting District 127. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:22.559 And I say that to just give me, give you some numbers, particularly for Umbo ISD, you know, where I, you know, the district I live in. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:23.759 Excuse me. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:29.599 The district has now, at one time it was considered fast growth because we were growing like wildfires. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:36.000 The district has probably 48,000 kids in Umbo ISD. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:41.519 But actual kids that live in Umball ISD is 66,000. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:48.799 And so there's almost 20,000 kids that are either in private school or charter schools. 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:53.599 We even got an online school, iSchool, and we've got homeschool. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:59.599 We are, District 127, the second largest in the state for kids being homeschooled. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:17.039 So, you know, I, you know, I just, I just, you know, you know, my responsibility was to make sure that we gave, that we stay committed to public education and that we uh continue to increase funding and give educational options to all parents. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:29.680 How would you say that having those educational opportunities and that choice in your area impacted the decisions and the guidance you gave when you were on the school board? 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:40.880 It kind of opened my eyes because, you know, once again, I was a school board member, so you know, your responsibility was to, you know, do the best you can for your school

district and and provide. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:45.599 Once I became a state rep, I had to take in consideration the other parents. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:55.200 Parents who, you know, were in charter schools for whatever reason, parents who were in private school, and and and and and parents who are at homeschooled. 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:59.759 I've just recently really gotten involved with uh we got a charter, or not a charter. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.359 School, but a school here in homeschool called Classical Conversations. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:05.119 Visited with them. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:07.039 They're doing the remarkable work. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:13.920 And even in my own family, we balanced between public and Christian school. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:26.720 And so even my daughter recently just had our granddaughter graduate from humble Christian school, but a little brother is going to public school, humble middle school. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:29.039 And so, you know, there's a balance. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:34.240 I mean, every parent, you know, we would hope knows what's the best education for their child. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:40.240 My job as a state rep now is to make sure that we're providing those options for those parents. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:42.079 Yeah, no, absolutely. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.079 I think that there's having that choice. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:50.000 And I guess my the thing I was really trying to get to was like it makes the school districts better, in my view. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:23:01.200 Like it makes them compete, like makes them make sure they have the right programs, that they have more magnets, that they're doing more for GT students and SPED students and everything else, because those parents may go elsewhere. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:08.400 And so that that those monies follow the kids to other schools, you know, it put kind of puts them in a position where they need to do more. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:19.440 And I think that's the whole point is to create competition for those schools where they're not just kind of lazy or stuck in without much of a motivation to do better. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:20.559 Absolutely. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:21.839 Absolutely. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:25.680 So I mean that I'm I'm glad you really touched on that. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.680 Yeah, we could go on at length about that. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:36.640 What are the biggest issues facing District 127 that we haven't covered? 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:48.799 Stuff that may be, maybe it's stuff that's impacting statewide stuff, you know, big statewide issue, but what are some local issues that you're really kind of hearing a lot more about that you don't think other people may be hearing about? 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:56.960 Well, you know, being down on the Gulf Coast, I mean, right now, you know, you know, every time it rains, we get nervous. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:02.240 And so flooding, flooding, flooding, flooding is is is an issue. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:06.079 And, you know, we're we, I say we because it's just not me. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.119 It's uh a lot of folks, constituents here. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:13.680 You know, Bob Rehag, Bill McCabe, Chris Block. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:19.920 I mean, all these guys are are way smarter than me, and they know, they know, they know, they know how water travels. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:28.160 I mean, but we, you know, we're we're trying to we we can never control Mother Nature, but we can work with her. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:33.359 And so, you know, that was one of the first things I did when I got there. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:36.880 I tried to pass the dredging bill. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:47.759 And Bill, uh, unfortunately, in your first year, like I said, you know, you're a freshman, so just you know, sit there and be a part of the furniture, you know, and and kind of learn. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:51.920 But I, you know, but I learned, and you know, we, you know, and it's all about relationships. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:25:00.880 And so we came back, we came back the second session and was able to, you know, work with some of our issues and was able to get the bill passed. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:08.079 Now, of course, you know, that even took some some hurdles too, because we've got our our dam, our lake down here that has a dam. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:10.400 The dam was built in 1953. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:12.640 We need a new dam. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:16.720 So is that is that run by the Army Corps engineers? 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:25.039 Uh this one is actually it's it's owned by the city and it's run by the uh Coastal Water Authority. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:36.400 So they they run it, and I I think in in your area out there where you're at, Fort Ben area, where there's the North Houston Water Authority uh folks too. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:44.240 And so, you know, really uh in in in in in the initial all all these folks are trying to kill the bill, all right? 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:55.599 Because they felt that the bill was going to be another tax bill, raise taxes, and you know, another layer, layer of government, you know, and I get all of that. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:00.240 You know, however, that was not the you know the intent of the bill. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:04.880 The bill, when you look at our lake, Lake Houston, it's a gold mine. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:06.880 It has all kinds of sand. 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:10.160 I don't have all the different sands that they have in there to buy products. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:12.079 This stuff can be sold. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:19.839 You know, early on, I had already worked on some partnerships, and hopefully, we we just now got the board the board in place, the dredging board. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:25.440 The city of Houston finally named their four people, the county named their their personnel, boards in place. 00:26:25.519

--> 00:26:28.640 I swore them in office probably about three weeks ago. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:33.119 But prior to that, there were already people wanting to be able to partner with us. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:38.160 The sand miners that sandmined along the along the river were wanting to be a partner. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:38.799 Dr. 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:41.680 Don Buckingham, GLO, wanted to be a partner. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:43.920 She wanted the sand for the Ike dike. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:27:01.920 And so, you know, we've got we've got we've got uh partnerships waiting to happen where this lake hopefully will be able to uh fund itself to the extent where we can maintain our reasonable depth by dredging uh in the in the lake. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:11.359 And so when we and you you mentioned earlier about the release of the foot of the water, and so when we release, you know, when we do our proper releases, then we're not wasting water. 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:17.440 We're we're releasing and having water because you know, you know, Texas has got a water crisis on its hand also. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:20.400 So, you know, you know, all that comes into play. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:33.680 But with the money that's that was available for it, you know, the board is in the process now of setting up its uh SOP, uh standard operating procedures, how they're gonna operate, where they're gonna put their money at, where's the money coming from? 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:36.240 There was 25 million set aside. 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:41.759 Well, let's put it this way, 25 million, really 50 million, 25 of that. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:54.720 We hope the city hasn't spent it all, but if they have, we're gonna still be able to fund it because we've got partnerships not only at the at the county level, we got partnerships at the state level still, and we have uh partnerships at the federal level. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:03.359 One thing I want to make sure we're clarifying for folks a dredging district just make sure I understand it, and you can correct me where I'm wrong or confirm I'm correct. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:12.079 Basically, Lake Houston is at the Lake Houston is has the San Jacinta River, but does it have the Trinity in it too? 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:13.279 Like it flows into it? 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:15.519 It takes water from the Trinity also. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:16.319 Yeah. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:21.039 So the so it has these two major river networks that go into it. 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:30.079 And so, like, this is water that's coming all the way from up in the Dallas area down to Houston, and it ends up being like the major water supply line for the Houston area. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:40.000 Even Fort Bend County, there are areas that are fed by our this massive new pipeline they've built from the lake for the North Fort Bend water district. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:42.400 That's a whole other can of worms. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:58.319 But

the so what you're saying is they're dredging it, which is this to say taking the silt and the stuff that's taken taken downstream and that's building up in the lake when it comes with the water as it's settled out so that there's still more room for water and it doesn't just fill in. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:09.440 I mean, you're saying that this the sands and the stuff that they're pulling out have a bunch of rare earth and other things that can be used to like to sell so that you can like sell that sand to make pay for the lake, basically. 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:13.359 Is that why you've created or helped create this dredging district? 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:14.559 That's correct. 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:15.519 Okay. 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:22.240 What how did you I mean, does this were you hearing about this from people in your area? 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:25.119 Was this something you were passionate about because you're working at Center Point? 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:33.839 How did you figure out that this was a major issue for your area and that you had this kind of common sense way to like have this infrastructure pay for itself? 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:36.160 Well, it a combination of things. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:41.359 You know, my predecessor Dan Huberty tried to pass the bill, but he he couldn't pass it. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:51.759 I think he tried twice, but he had he had the uh the taxing entity on it, and nobody was you know had appetite for a new taxing bill. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:30:00.240 Uh and then of course, yeah, the old mayor of Umbold, uh Donnie McManus, plenty of history there, he's like 80-something years old. 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:07.839 Anyway, he shared with me about you know the byproducts that was that was that was uh you know in the lake. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:18.480 And then I was able to get a whole of a of a report that was done by Freeze and Nichols basically outlining everything that was you know in the lake, sediment, things of this nature and stuff. 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:38.640 And so working, as I said earlier, with some of the uh Kingwood vocals, Bob Rehack, Bill McCabe was very involved with uh you know, hydrologist, Chris Block, engineer, you know, we all just kind of sat down and said, what is going to be beneficial for our area because we can't stand to have another flood. 00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:43.440 You know, if we do, HEB had already said, you know, we're pulling out, we're not gonna do it. 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:48.400 And so we we couldn't we couldn't stand for our livable before us to all of a sudden be a dead for us. 00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:52.160 And so, yeah, it was just coming together with other people, Garrett. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:53.599 Absolutely. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:56.799 Well, thank you so much for joining me today. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:05.039 Where can people find more information about you and you know, follow up with your flood work, your education work, all the stuff you're

hearing me doing going forward? 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:09.599 You know, you know, go, I guess, to the uh uh Texas Online. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:16.559 You can Texas Legislature Online, yeah, T L T L O and really reach out to my office. 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:29.680 I I do a I do a monthly newsletter, electronic newsletter, and then of course you can always go go to my uh website, you know, and that's Charles Cunningham, I think, Texas.com, you know, www. 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:30.880 Look me up. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:37.519 I'm you know, I'm I'm on I'm online, and you know, give us a call, reach out, let us know what's going on. 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:41.200 You know, we got we got we got an election coming up. 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:42.880 We're trying to keep Texas red. 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:46.079 So I'm glad that I was able to be on C in Red. 00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:47.279 Yeah, absolutely. 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:49.680 Well, thank you so much for joining us today. 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:55.759 And uh and thank you for all the work you've done to you know make Houston a little bit a little bit better. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:00.640 And you know, get I hope you got your your uh your wall fixed from the car driving into it. 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:02.480 Did they did they let you keep the car? 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:04.799 Or I guess it probably had to go back to its original owner. 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:08.319 Yeah, original owner, he was like he was like he was like two blocks around from me, you know. 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:18.799 So yeah, he he got his car back, and and of course, you know, everybody made fun of me for for the time that was getting prepared because they thought I thought I had a drive-through dying dying with you know coming in. 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:25.440 But uh, but no, I I I do appreciate you reaching out, Garrett, giving me this opportunity just to share with the with your audience. 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:27.200 Absolutely, absolutely. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:27.680 Thank you. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:28.960 Have a good have a good session. 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:30.319 You too, sir. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:36.640 Thank you to Representative Cunningham for coming on the show. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:46.079 It was a lot of interesting information, and I hope that you're able to take away that being a state representative isn't all about doing the sexy stuff, right? 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:48.240 It's not about these big issues that are in the news. 00:32:48.319 --> 00:33:00.960 There's a lot of bills that have to get passed for specific areas all over, and that it really matters who you have in your local office to make sure that the stuff that your community needs gets through the process. 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:06.960 But all that and more, we're gonna jump right into the kind of stuff that's popping off right now. 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:10.799 I might be wearing red, but I'm bleeding burn orange. 00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:22.960 I'm a UT alum, love the UT football team, was a was on pins and needles throughout that incredible game over the weekend that seems to have captivated this any sports fan's imagination. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:26.559 Like it was just one of the craziest comebacks in college football history. 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:29.119 Like it's a top 50 game all time. 00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:30.640 Like it's a it was a very good game. 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:37.440 It's one of those games like you never you watch football, you watch sports just so you get the opportunity to watch one of those games happen live. 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:39.519 And it's it was a great game. 00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:49.519 Our esteemed railroad commissioner candidate, that's Bo French, tweeted out the show a couple weeks ago because one of the college kids said that they'd vote for him for president in 2028. 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:52.000 Now they share a same name, and that was what the kid said. 00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:56.640 But, you know, fun little clip to kind of get sent around. 00:33:56.960 --> 00:34:00.880 He decided to post a quick screen grab of the crowd. 00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:18.800 One screen grab of the crowd, because there are lots, but there was one that showed a small section of uh appear to be kids of South Indian descent or South Asian descent, whether they're Indian, Pakistani, but you know, South Indian descent, and talking about how it was an invasion has basically occurred. 00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:26.320 I'll I'll flash the tweet real fast or try to with this so you can properly engage with what what with what he said. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:40.400 This rightfully brought the scorn of speaker Burroughs, uh Governor Abbott, John Cornyn, Jared Patterson, friend of the show, talking about how like this wasn't appropriate. 00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:47.840 This is you shouldn't be looking at someone's skin color and making any sort of judgment, and that and talking all all sorts of things. 00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:49.760 Let's be very, very clear. 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:52.559 Bo French is an internet troll. 00:34:52.719 --> 00:34:54.719 He is he lives on Twitter. 00:34:55.039 --> 00:35:02.559 I rent on Twitter, he has five properties on Twitter, he is there all the time, he always has been. 00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:05.840 This is the same man who Dan Patrick et al. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:18.639 called on him to resign from his post as Tarrant County GOP because of similar comments when he compared when he did a poll of who has caused more problems for America, Jews or Muslims, right? 00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:19.920 This is the guy, this is this guy. 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:21.519 He is an internet troll. 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:24.239 And you shouldn't feed the trolls. 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:30.000 But when you're in an election, sometimes you have to run against them, bash the trolls, and highlight it. 00:35:30.239 --> 00:35:32.880 I don't know what Bo French's

strategy is here. 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:34.559 I don't think there is a strategy. 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:36.079 I think he's a troll. 00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:41.519 I think he genuinely believes what he's posting, and that makes him a racist troll. 00:35:41.679 --> 00:35:43.119 Nevertheless, he is a troll. 00:35:43.360 --> 00:35:44.639 Will I be voting for him? 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:45.199 No. 00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:47.519 I don't think anyone should. 00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:50.000 But that's your own prerogative. 00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:51.920 He is an internet troll. 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:55.280 He is not a serious candidate, and he never has been, and he never will be. 00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:57.360 If he gets into office, he'll still troll. 00:35:58.400 --> 00:35:59.360 He is a troll. 00:36:00.800 --> 00:36:03.440 I mean, what do you don't answer his riddles? 00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:05.440 Just go over a different bridge. 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:07.760 You know, like he is that's all he is. 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:11.119 And, you know, like he's his comments should be taken seriously. 00:36:11.199 --> 00:36:12.400 They should be condemned. 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:14.480 But we don't need to be holier than thou about it. 00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:29.119 We just need to call the spade a spade, call a troll a troll, and just recognize that there is a particular type of like malignance behind what he's doing, and he's just in it for the clicks and in it for the notoriety. 00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:32.159 He does not care how he gets attention, he just wants the attention. 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:33.360 Here's more of it. 00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:36.079 But we're in a political campaign, we're 60 days away from the election. 00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:37.840 Like we we kind of have to talk about it. 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:40.159 And he knows that, and that's why he's feeding into it. 00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:43.280 Because again, Bo French is a troll. 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:45.199 So that's where that's landing. 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:56.239 But the what's what's damaging for Republicans is in the attempt to like bring Ken Paxton and John Cornyn voters back together, there's been a whole talk about unity, unity, unity, unity. 00:36:56.559 --> 00:37:04.639 The elephant in the room, so to speak, has been that Bo French is in a loose canon and is a troll who's gonna go do something crazy like this. 00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:14.400 So, now how do you, at the top of the ticket or on the ticket, while you're still trying to mend together these fences of this, like the brutal primaries that took place? 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:25.199 How do you pitch to your voters and to Corny voters and to Chip Roy voters, etc., the you know, the candidates that lost their primaries? 00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:30.559 How do you pitch to these people, hey, we're a unified party, whatever else, but except for that guy? 00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:32.079 Like, what are the exceptions? 00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:38.000 And so Republicans are having a problem messaging this, and Democrats are pouncing. 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:39.760 The Democrats pounce. 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:43.280 Representative Rosenthal is running against Bo French, he's pouncing. 00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:47.760 Jung Sal Rico is pouncing on his opponent, so call out Bo French more. 00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:52.960 You know, Bo French, if he wanted to win, should have just been quiet through the general election. 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:57.039 He should have just deleted his account, stayed off the beaten path. 00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:00.239 But he's this is like the second or third thing he's done. 00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:04.480 And he doesn't, he just wants attention. 00:38:04.639 --> 00:38:05.840 He doesn't care. 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:12.000 He knows that he if he loses, he'll be the Republican that lost, and then he can still go tweet. 00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:16.079 And he'll doesn't matter because then people will just be in his comments, hey, didn't you lose your election? 00:38:16.159 --> 00:38:17.199 And he'll be like, it doesn't matter. 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:17.760 Guess what? 00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:22.400 As Tarant Kine GOP uh chair, he decided to start endorsing in local elections. 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:24.880 This has been a big push from some activists for a long time. 00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:28.000 Sincere activists who are really trying to like make a difference. 00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:34.800 He said, Yeah, let's do it, endorse the craziest people in the race and put his name behind them, and every single one of them lost. 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:37.599 These were nonpartisan local races for like mayor, school board, etc. 00:38:37.760 --> 00:38:38.719 in Terran County. 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:40.719 Every single competitive race lost. 00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:43.199 By competitive, I mean had an opponent. 00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:45.360 That's bad. 00:38:45.679 --> 00:38:48.880 Terran County is not a like a blue county. 00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:50.719 Ostensibly, it's red. 00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:54.800 And if there should be some pockets of red, regardless, in any large area. 00:38:54.960 --> 00:39:00.880 And if you're like really pushing something from the party perspective, you want to try to be putting your resources where races you can win. 00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:06.719 To go Ofer is a tremendous, like just like indictment on his ability to lead. 00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:09.519 And obviously, he's not a leader, he is a troll. 00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:21.280 And so you are in this problem with Bo French, where you have let him into the tent, you just tried to ignore him, and then he took a giant steaming turd, upper decker, on the whole party. 00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:29.039 So now we all have to deal with all that entails, and so that's where we're at with it. 00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:46.559 Still, President Trump and uh SLF, the SLF, which is like the main pack of the Senate

leadership out of out of DC, have invested tens of fifties of millions of dollars and have gone already paid to advertisers for a rollout campaign. 00:39:46.719 --> 00:39:51.679 You're starting to see ads on every football game all the time for Ken Paxton. 00:39:51.920 --> 00:39:58.320 I if you're in a like restaurant, you're gonna see like five ads in the background on the TVs running. 00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:01.199 If you're watching football, you're gonna see 12 a game. 00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:10.159 Like you're gonna see tons and tons of ads hitting, going after James Talarico and propping up Ken Paxton. 00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:15.760 We're gonna start to see if those start to close the gaps in the polling, which is starting to get like one to five points in Taler Rico's favor. 00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:22.880 That's a substantial amount of you know, a lead at Labor Day, but Paxton really hasn't spent that much money. 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:24.400 Taler Rico has. 00:40:24.559 --> 00:40:28.000 And now Talarico spent a lot of his money and he has to re-raise that money. 00:40:28.079 --> 00:40:30.079 Now he's entirely possible he will. 00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:34.000 And frankly, from a strategic standpoint, it makes sense that he did what he did. 00:40:34.079 --> 00:40:38.400 He spent all the money so he could get to September and say, I've spent all this, here are my poll numbers. 00:40:38.480 --> 00:40:45.679 I need another 100, 200 million, whatever, to stay on air through the end of election day to try and hold on to this lead. 00:40:46.400 --> 00:40:51.360 And we'll see what happens, but like it's not the worst strategy, but he doesn't have a lot of money on hand right now. 00:40:51.519 --> 00:40:55.360 Paxton's on the inverse, he hasn't had a lot now, he's just blasting it. 00:40:55.920 --> 00:40:58.239 It's probably gonna work for Paxton. 00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:03.039 But there are drags on the ticket now beyond him. 00:41:03.119 --> 00:41:05.360 Like you have Bo French, that's a problem. 00:41:05.519 --> 00:41:08.320 And Bo French is doing things where people know his name. 00:41:08.559 --> 00:41:19.119 Again, Bo French should have just showed up after he won the primary and not said anything because then there would have been new news for to like start some sort of controversy and bring him in. 00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:22.639 Because at that at this point, he's just what who is he bringing into the party? 00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:24.559 Who is he bringing out to vote? 00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:29.679 You're just turning people on to vote against you or to split ticket against you or to not vote. 00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:31.440 To undervote is what they call it. 00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:40.320 If you skip a race, it's entirely possible if the race is close enough at the Senate that Bo French underperforms Ken Paxton. 00:41:41.199 --> 00:41:48.559 And depending on how close the race is at the top at the top of the ticket, if Paxton were to win, you'd have

Paxton winning and Bo French losing. 00:41:49.280 --> 00:41:56.320 I've had several text messages from people in politics, out of politics, like being like, who the hell is this Bo French? 00:41:56.400 --> 00:41:58.480 Or not the people out of politics, like, who is this Bo French guy? 00:41:58.559 --> 00:41:59.599 What the hell is he doing? 00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:03.119 People in politics are saying, like, dude couldn't keep his mouth shut. 00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:04.800 He doesn't want to keep his mouth shut. 00:42:04.880 --> 00:42:05.760 Again, he's a troll. 00:42:05.840 --> 00:42:07.440 He just wants the attention. 00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:10.079 This is a his I mean that's all he wants. 00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:11.599 He just wants attention. 00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:13.440 And he doesn't mind if it's negative. 00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:15.920 So that's where we're at. 00:42:16.079 --> 00:42:17.280 That's the state of the race. 00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:18.400 A lot's going on. 00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:20.400 We're past Labor Day now. 00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:21.119 We are in it. 00:42:21.199 --> 00:42:24.320 We are going hard, going strong through the end of it. 00:42:24.639 --> 00:42:32.480 Get involved in your local races, call, text, knock doors, do what you can to keep your candidate's message out there. 00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:46.719 Like I've said in the past, a well-coordinated effort from a local candidate, some state house rep, state senate, and below, you can probably do 10% about 10 points better than the top of the ticket. 00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:55.679 And so if you're in a close race or in a close set district, you can outperform the top of the ticket by 10 points if you run a perfect race. 00:42:55.840 --> 00:43:04.719 You know, you probably would have had to do a lot of things by now, but if you are out there and you are trying to help find somebody, find people who are running good races in your area and try to get them across the finish line. 00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:09.679 So a couple more inter a couple other interesting elements, things happening behind the scenes. 00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:16.480 There's a lot of controversy over the fact that Jim Jimmy Kimmel is not running an ad, or not an ad. 00:43:16.559 --> 00:43:19.840 Well, it is an ad for Jimmy Kim, for James Salarico on his show. 00:43:20.079 --> 00:43:23.679 There are some very specific rules for broadcast TV. 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:31.039 They, because it's public airwaves, literally the public owns the airwaves and they rent it back to the channel. 00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:33.119 So things that go over the antenna. 00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:56.559 And these different channels, then license stuff from ABC, the show, the whatever, and like basically those shows can't disproportionately advertise or seek to promote any candidate for federal office or even probably state office too, without giving equal airtime to the opponent. 00:43:56.800 --> 00:43:59.519 This has famously happened for 20 25 years. 00:44:00.400 --> 00:44:17.599 Where in like when Gary Coleman and Arnold Schwarzenegger, two celebrities, ran for uh California governor, they couldn't go on the late show like until they were or until onto late night shows, or they could only go into certain late night shows because they're running for California. 00:44:17.840 --> 00:44:21.599 They couldn't go on ones that were based in California, they would go on ones based in New York. 00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:22.800 It was weird stuff. 00:44:22.880 --> 00:44:25.519 This is not an uncommon situation. 00:44:25.840 --> 00:44:31.360 There's some just consternation now because so much stuff's online, no one really cares. 00:44:31.440 --> 00:44:33.199 There's so many more ways to get things out. 00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:36.800 It's not when these laws were passed 80 years ago, never the laws are there. 00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:45.840 And Jimmy Kimmel is just trying to stir up some stuff because, you know, of all the controversies that he had with Pat Trump earlier in the year. 00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:52.880 And so just trying to drive something here late in this game and basically run advertising and free media for Taler Rico. 00:44:53.840 --> 00:44:55.599 Well, who's surprised? 00:44:55.760 --> 00:44:58.559 That's kind of a low-key thing going behind the scenes. 00:44:58.719 --> 00:45:00.800 Something that kind of probably got missed. 00:45:02.079 --> 00:45:16.880 Galveston County has been leading some efforts to change how the Voting Rights Act and different redistricting and election things are really the law on the books and making sure and challenging those laws. 00:45:17.039 --> 00:45:27.840 They were successful in getting some stuff overturned on the Federal Voting Rights Act that's helped push the redistricting push and laid precedent for the redistricting push of earlier this year. 00:45:30.079 --> 00:45:36.559 But also they have been pushing some other stuff more on state law. 00:45:36.880 --> 00:45:41.440 One of the things they tried to do was they had a primary using certain voting precincts. 00:45:41.599 --> 00:45:48.480 And by voting precincts, I mean like county-level precincts for like JP, county commissioner, constable. 00:45:49.039 --> 00:45:53.360 And then they changed the lines after that primary happened. 00:45:53.920 --> 00:46:05.280 So that the people who voted in for precinct, let's say three or precinct four in Galveston County, then they their lines changed so that it was a different candidate, that they're not in that district anymore. 00:46:05.519 --> 00:46:08.400 The Supreme Court has knocked that decision down. 00:46:08.559 --> 00:46:14.000 It's going to revert back to what the pre-the- the other map was for this election. 00:46:14.159 --> 00:46:15.920 I think that's probably the right move. 00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:25.280 And historically, county judges or county commissioners' courts will change, if they're going to change districts, will do so in an odd year. 00:46:25.519 --> 00:46:34.159 And it might be worthwhile to make that change like in code so that that they have, if they're going to make a change, it has to be in an odd year. 00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:43.280 But that's just something that's been percolating, and I'm sure they'll challenge it to the feds, but or they might try to challenge it to the feds, but it might be moot by the time it gets there. 00:46:43.519 --> 00:46:44.559 So we'll see. 00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:46.639 I'll keep an eye on it if it's anything changes. 00:46:46.800 --> 00:46:52.159 But that's just an interesting kind of quirk of things that are going behind the scenes here 60 days before an election. 00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:57.119 But all that, so much more always happening. 00:46:57.199 --> 00:47:03.679 If you want to know what's happening week day to day, you can follow me on Twitter, follow the podcast anywhere at the Sing Red Pod. 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:07.440 We are active all the time with clips from the show and engaging with viewers. 00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:11.039 Thank you so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. 00:47:11.119 --> 00:47:12.639 Make sure you like and subscribe. 00:47:12.800 --> 00:47:14.320 All right, bye guys.