Fact Checking

Background

We’re in interesting times in more ways than most of us really consider. When he-who-shall-not-be-named was running for President in 2015, one of my main fears was what he would do to the psyche and social relationships of the nation. The President is more than just the Chief Executive. He or she sets an example for what is acceptable behavior in the nation. And his impact turned out to be much worse than I expected.

In addition, the pandemic has had serious effects on our social fabric, even among people who have taken it seriously and tried to observe all of the recommended precautions. In addition to low level chronic anxiety, having most of our meaningful social interactions and larger meetings happen via teleconferencing services like Zoom has weakened our social bonds.

There were great hopes and expectations for Democratic victories in 2020. But despite Biden winning the Presidency, down ballot races across the nation didn’t live up to them.

Finally, we had a very contentious County Chair race in 2020.

These factors led to an unusual amount of division and acrimony in the party at both the county and state levels.  In this environment, some “interesting facts” have been circulated about me. If you’re outside of the “activist bubble” you probably haven’t heard many of them, so I’m not going to shine a light on them unnecessarily. But there are a few here that I would like to address. If you hear of others you would like me to comment on, please contact me and I’ll be glad to chat or post a public response here.

The County Party was responsible for 2020 losses.

This is a baseless claim that ignores the realities of the situation.

The truth is that the down ballot losses we saw in Collin County mirrored what we saw in the rest of the nation. In fact, we pretty much held our ground where others lost ground. For example, in Orange County California, Democrats who won Congressional seats in 2018 lost them in 2020.

There’s a lot of disagreement about the polls, but most think they were off. And, while refraining from face to face voter contact might have been the best thing to do for public health, there’s no doubt that it hurt us terribly at the polls.

Finally, the truth is that a county party at best plays a supporting role in major contested races. The Democrats in three most contested races in the county in 2020 had a total of nearly five million dollars pass through their campaigns. In contrast, while the county party did better than it had in previous years, only around fifty thousand dollars was spent in our coordinated campaign.

Didn’t you say you wouldn’t run for re-election in 2020?

No.

I’ve always been careful with my words, and have gotten even more so since becoming County Chair. The only thing I ever said publicly before announcing for re-election in 2020 was that I either had not decided, or that I had no announcement. I told a few people in private that I didn’t care to campaign again (I would much rather help other people get elected), but I never told them I wouldn’t run.

I’ve been in politics long enough and lived long enough to understand that people often hear what they want to regardless of what is actually said. So it goes.

For what it’s worth, one of my opponents is running on a campaign slogan of “A voice you can trust”. I don’t know what his thinking was behind that, but it implies that others running can’t be trusted, at least not as much. I may be wrong, but I suspect that he either got that idea or someone suggested it to him because they think mine is a voice you can’t trust, because I said I wouldn’t run again but I did. This is one of the many things I don’t like about campaigning.

What about the votes in your County Executive Committee condemning you?

While most of us don’t like to think that Democrats would behave badly toward each other, the fact is that we are subject to the same kinds of political excesses that we see played out in other situations. Both of these votes were pushed through by a core of group of Precinct Chairs who supported my opponent in the 2020 County Chair race. They never wanted me to be re-elected, and after the 2020 election they blamed me for our losses. Further, while they couldn’t remove me they have continued to try to minimize my influence and what little power the County Chair actually has (the actual governing authority in the party is the County Executive Committee). For the most part these actions have damaged the party.

While they do have a few valid criticisms of things that I can do better, most of their charges are based on exaggerations, mischaracterizations, and demonstrably false assertions. I don’t care to repeat them here, but if you have any questions about specific things please contact me and I’ll be more than happy to answer them.