On rare occasions Independent Texans — a political action committee founded in 2001 for non-aligned independent voters — endorses or opposes candidates and ballot measures. In the case of House District 17 — “home of the water wars” — we are switching horses!
Today we proudly endorse John Cyrier for his first full term as the State Representative for House District 17 (Bastrop, Lee, Caldwell, Gonzales and Karnes counties). Early voting begins on February 16th. There are no Democrats running in this race in November, therefore this race will be decided in the Republican primary.
Rep. Cyrier has earned our support for passage of his (and our) bill, House Bill 3163. This “little bill” has huge implications by putting the stop to water marketers using lawsuits as a club to have their way with water district board members by suing them individually.
But Cyrier did more than this — and something even more rare than a freshman legislator passing statewide legislation. He went to bat for us (the people of his district) by getting us a seat at the table in the knock-down-drag-out process still underway about our most precious resource. And, again, this has huge statewide implications.
We challenge you to read the surveys both candidates filled out that informs our endorsement. We thank both of them for submitting to this rigorous process:
A quick history: In the special election runoff last February, you may remember that we endorsed Brent Golemon. We also raised concerns about the conduct of the election. We’ll have more to say about that soon. Suffice to say that on the issues that we non-aligned independents are concerned with (water, eminent domain reform and open government), Cyrier became the obvious choice.
Now what can I do, besides voting — we sure hope you’re asking.
Come volunteer at our campaign office in Cedar Creek (Bastrop County) at 1441 Hwy. 71, or invite us to come to you. Map here. (Across from The Colony and between Bastrop Computers and Twin Liquors.) Call or text Linda at 512-657-2089 to make sure we’re there — most days and hours.
We all need a good laugh (and scream) at politics while we keep working to change it. Watch this video and add your own favorite jokes – but keep it clean and don’t be mean.
Come see us and we’d love to hear from ya!
PS To remind you, the League of Independent Voters does not endorse any candidates. It is a non-profit membership association for independent, non-aligned voters.
On Jan 17, 2016, at 2:42 PM, Ed Skarnulis wrote:
Linda, you need to give full disclosure on this. According to Texas Election Code if a Democrat votes in the Republican Primary they cannot be a delegate to the county, state or national democratic convention.
From the Democratic Party Rules re: credentials required: “has not voted in another party’s primary, convention, or supported a candidate of another party,
shall be eligible to attend, to participate in, and to be a candidate for any Party Office or for any Delegate or Alternate position to be filled at that convention, including the positions
of delegate or alternate to the Democratic National Convention. (Texas Election Code §174.021)”
Ed Skarnulis
Full disclosure would also include all parties, so this is true for those who consider themselves Libertarian and Green Party folk who want to be delegates at their party conventions. Thanks for the catch, and there are many in Texas elections.
Bottom line for the independents (notice the small “i”) is that we vote for the person, not the party and just because we might vote in either party primary doesn’t mean you own our votes. They have to be earned and that’s what I love about the Texas open primary. There’s more to be done, to make it more open but that’s another discussion.