The Day After Election Day
Mr. Trump-- what mighty coattails you have!
What a night.
By all accounts, Donald Trump has won and will be the next president.
”Midnights” would seem to be the name agents have for the late shift and accompanying muster. Ms. Bradley is such a sponge, it’s little wonder she’s adopted the term.
Many have probably forgotten— but it wasn’t that long ago that we found out agents were committing suicide in record numbers. Was it all attributable to the border crisis? Perhaps not, but one is certain it didn’t help. It all followed closely on the heels of Covid and other troubles that certainly made life harder on Agents who then had to deal with the crushing weight of so many migrants literally killing themselves to get to the United States, and the accompanying gaslighting and other troubles.
As we write this, Kamala Harris has yet to concede matters. But the morning is young.
Also, it seems our associates at Current Revolt were correct in their analysis of the Texas Senate Race between Colin Allred and Ted Cruz. The morning of the election they said Allred was a bigger loser than Beto O’Rourke and wouldn’t even come nearly as close.
Ouch.
Cruz whipped Allred by 9 points and 1-million votes, despite a full court press of Democrat spending that dwarfed Cruz’s warchest, and a candidate that some have called “Disciplined” when speaking of Allred. Democrats have been lusting for Cruz’s scalp, ever since Beto O’Rourke missed it by 2 points some years ago.
Other races of note—
We mentioned the Galveston County Sheriff’s race recently, and the consequences for Kinney County that it included— we are happy to report that Constable Jimmy Fullen cruised to a comfortable victory over his challenger Democrat Mark Salinas.
The Houston Chronicle and others have hastened to point out that Fullen still faces a hearing over whether or not he can keep his badge.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement’s executive director in June recommended that Fullen’s law enforcement license be revoked after uncovering omissions on Fullen's application for the license.
Fullen didn’t report to the commission that he had been arrested multiple times in the 1980s.
The commission next year will make a final decision on whether to revoke his license. If the recommendation is upheld, Fullen would be required to resign his position and Galveston County Commissioners would appoint his replacement.
On its face, Fullen’s victory isn’t a surprise. A Galveston native and longtime Precinct 1 Constable, Fullen outraised and outspent his Democratic challenger, Mark Salinas. Fullen’s campaign received support from deep-pocketed donors, including Galveston-born billionaire Tilman Feritta and high-profile attorney Tony Buzbee.
Fullen will replace retiring Sheriff Henry Trochesset, who has held the position since 2012.
Fullen hosted a jovial victory party at the Fertitta-owned San Luis Resort & Spa on Seawall Boulevard in Galveston.
He declined to comment on his victory to the Chronicle. But Galveston County Precinct 2 Constable Paul Edinburgh praised Fullen in a speech, saying he owed his sense of leadership to the law enforcement veteran.
“Who else would endure the stress, the negative publicity and,” he paused, at which the crowd shouted, “bull****.”
Before Tuesday’s gathered crowd, Fullen acknowledged running a long, grueling and expensive campaign, but said it was worth it because he’d long planned remaking the sheriff’s office.
“We’re going to go after the criminal elements and send them back to Harris County,” he said to applause. “We’re going to kick ass and take names out in the streets.”
—Reporter John Wayne Ferguson, The Houston Chronicle
Keep an eye on that byline there— John Wayne Ferguson is originally from the daily paper in Galveston and is obviously very familiar with whatever’s happening there.
Also of local note— the State Rep’s race for this area saw Democrat Eddie Morales slip past Republican Robert Garza, by 1800 votes.
Garza was winning the race, as most observers around the state waited for the results from Maverick County.
Maverick County, Eagle Pass, is Morales’ hometown. And by the time the dust settled as those results arrived— Morales finished on top.
Garza is a former Mayor of Del Rio, and grew up in Brackettville, here in Kinney County, where his father was a long-time political force, as well as his older brother.
We would have to say don’t count the man out— he, or one of his sons, daughters, or grand-children are bound to pop up again in regional politics. It’s clearly part of the pedigree.
As for Morales— he’s like a lot of border-area democrats. Rather conservative. Like Henry Cuellar down in Laredo, TX, (who also won) he stands to exercise a whole lot of power as someone that Republicans are bound to court as they seek bipartisan support in various houses and bodies throughout the land.
That’ll mean a lot of favors and markers that they’ll be able to call in down the road, a fact that is surely not lost upon savvy voters in Eagle Pass, or Laredo, and San Antonio, in Cuellar’s case.
And finally, this morning, as expected, Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez cruised to a comfortable win. Many races were incredibly impacted all over the country by President Trump’s very impressive coat-tails—but it seems this was not one of them— or at least, not to any significant degree.
Martinez dispatched Republican Rogelio “Roger” Hernandez to take his fifth term, hauling in 7,926 votes to Hernandez’s 6,033.
It may not sound like much— but Del Rio’s population is only about 30-thousand people, so that falls in line with the roughly 40-to-50 percent voter turnout we saw throughout most of the state last night.
All of this is sure to have some kind of impact on Operation Lone Star, though we personally expect the Governor will continue with it in some form or fashion— reorganizing various state agencies to continue operating as a more muscular partner with a Trump DHS and Border Patrol. Or not! We’ll see. Even if it stops tomorrow, prosecutions and other court proceedings are bound to continue for some time to come.
We should also acknowledge the migrant caravans that many are aware of, presently proceeding North from Tapachula, toward the border. It’s possible that they might make it all the way to the border, but we doubt it.
Time is ticking right now on getting this newsletter out, so we’ll have to explore our reasoning for that in another edition— possibly tomorrow or the next day.
We still have to proofread this thing! You may not’ve seen yesterday’s embarrassing correction— where we had our wires crossed, saying “Edwards County” when we meant “Terrell County.”
Yuck. We hate pointing out our own corrections, but obviously that’s something that must be done, especially in these times.
In any event, have a great morning— and we’ll see you again soon.
As always, this newsletter is an independent work product, and no one should confuse it for an official statement on behalf of our employer, Kinney County, TX.
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