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Doug Miller voted for Straus and he is unopposed in the primary.


Edit: Never mind. Found out I had my head under a rock or something.

Doug Miller (New Braunfels) has two opponents in the primary. I voted for Kyle Biedermann. There is also a Chris Byrd.

I knew Miller was a RINO when I moved to the district last year. Was looking for someone to support I've talked to Kyle on several occasions and we see eye to eye on the issues, including Strauss. I get "tickled" watching the ads on TV and mailers (a day doesn't go by without at least one from Miller) all claiming, Strauss included, to be conservative.

Rhino1 wrote:Doug Miller (New Braunfels) has two opponents in the primary. I voted for Kyle Biedermann. There is also a Chris Byrd.

I knew Miller was a RINO when I moved to the district last year. Was looking for someone to support I've talked to Kyle on several occasions and we see eye to eye on the issues, including Strauss. I get "tickled" watching the ads on TV and mailers (a day doesn't go by without at least one from Miller) all claiming, Strauss included, to be conservative.

Thank you for the correction. I've been focusing on a couple of other races and haven't paid much attention to that one yet. Looks like I have some research to do.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

joe817 wrote:In the last Speaker of the House election, held Jan. 19, 2015, Here is the 19 who voted for Turner(his opponent):

Rep. Rodney Anderson, District 105
Rep. Dustin Burrows, District 83
Rep. Pat Fallon, District 106
Rep. Bryan Hughes, District 5
Rep. Mark Keough, District 15
Rep. Stephanie Klick, District 91
Rep. Matt Krause, District 93
Rep. Jeff Leach, District 67
Rep. Matt Rinaldi, District 115
Rep. Scott Sanford, District 70
Rep. Matt Schaefer, District 6
Rep. Matt Shaheen, District 66
Rep. David Simpson, District 7
Rep. Stuart Spitzer, District 4
Rep. Jonathan Strickland, District 92
Rep. Tony Tinderholt, District 94
Rep. Scott Turner, District 33
Rep. Molly White, District 55
Rep. Bill Zedler, District 96

If your rep isn't on that list, then he voted for Strauss

There was quite a long thread going on about him in the opening days of the Legislature:

http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php? ... 3&start=30

My rep voted for Strauss.

HMMMMMM.....so did MINE!

flintknapper wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

joe817 wrote:In the last Speaker of the House election, held Jan. 19, 2015, Here is the 19 who voted for Turner(his opponent):

Rep. Rodney Anderson, District 105
Rep. Dustin Burrows, District 83
Rep. Pat Fallon, District 106
Rep. Bryan Hughes, District 5
Rep. Mark Keough, District 15
Rep. Stephanie Klick, District 91
Rep. Matt Krause, District 93
Rep. Jeff Leach, District 67
Rep. Matt Rinaldi, District 115
Rep. Scott Sanford, District 70
Rep. Matt Schaefer, District 6
Rep. Matt Shaheen, District 66
Rep. David Simpson, District 7
Rep. Stuart Spitzer, District 4
Rep. Jonathan Strickland, District 92
Rep. Tony Tinderholt, District 94
Rep. Scott Turner, District 33
Rep. Molly White, District 55
Rep. Bill Zedler, District 96

If your rep isn't on that list, then he voted for Strauss

There was quite a long thread going on about him in the opening days of the Legislature:

http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php? ... 3&start=30

My rep voted for Strauss.

HMMMMMM.....so did MINE!

I had a long phone call with mine about why he did it. I registered my dissatisfaction, and he gave me a half-hour long "justification". I'll not be voting for him again.

Mike1951 wrote:I'm actually very satisfied with my State Rep and he has the NRA endorsement.

But I was wondering if there was a source to find a list of those who keep electing Straus as Speaker.

If my Rep is one, I might seriously consider a conservative newcomer.

Joe Straus is also endorsed by the NRA, so I would discourage you from using that endorsement to decide that your current state rep is the best choice.

https://www.nrapvf.org/grades/texas/

I understand the NRA can only grade reps based on votes, but they surely don't need to endorsing 2nd Amendment obstructionists like Joe Straus. This really tells me that the NRA isn't paying attention to what is happening in Austin.

In no way do I intend to "bash" the NRA but don't care for their endorsements. Their endorsements clearly favor the incumbent and only reflect the votes of the candidate, as evidenced by Strauss' (and others) A ratings. I use these ratings as only one data point when I make my candidate selections.
Several years ago, NRA endorsed Jeff Wentworth over Donna Campbell which was clearly a RINO vs a true conservative race. Donna has been a real friend to gun owners.

I have to point out that the NRA endorses candidates based on many factors. They take the previous voting record as a very high indicator of how the person will help them in the future. This is fair to me as I have always been taught that the best indicator of future performance is past performance.

It makes some sense to me to endorse based on the incumbent over the challenger, if the incumbent has a good voting record. Our political system is set up to favor the incumbents. That is simply a fact. And the past performance is usually a better indicator of future voting than the promises in a questionnaire. The NRA even points this out by reserving A+ ratings for incumbents and only giving an A as the highest possible rating in response to a questionnaire.

Finally, the NRA should only consider gun rights votes. Some may be procedural while some are direct, but it should only be gun rights votes they count. After all, the NRA is a single issue organization.

I always consider the NRA endorsements, but they are never my single point. I am not a single issue voter, though gun rights has become my primary decider. I could actually vote for someone who is dead set against gun rights IF every other position the candidate had matched my position and the opposition did not. I also recommend others not be a single issue voter. Consider the NRA endorsements, but also look at other positions.

As a final point, I always use gun rights as a tie-breaker (though ties rarely happen). A person who supports my owning guns is obviously not afraid to at least allow people with opposing views to exist and have their opinions.

To amplify srothstein's comments:

The strength of the NRA comes from it's influence on voters, its single-minded focus on the 2A, and its integrity; that is to say sticking strictly to its promise to legislators that if they vote correctly on scored votes then the NRA will support them come election time. That is the basis for it being the very powerful lobbying organization that causes the NYT to gnash teeth and the nannybloombergs to pull hair and throw tantrums. The scored votes provide a very objective measure right where the rubber meets the road: when legislation is being voted on. And I think this has effects behind the scenes as well: legislators who do not want to have to go on record for certain bill that might please the anti-gunners but incur the wrath of the NRA will work behind the scenes to see that bill never makes it to a vote -- if they know the NRA will pull for them come next election.

This system is designed to keep long term influence on 2A issues in legislatures, and it naturally favors incumbents. If the NRA ever failed to support an A-rated legislator for doing anything other than failing to keep his word by voting the wrong way on scored legislation, the power of the NRA -- and gunowners -- would vanish. Sometimes this means holding one's nose (e.g. Harry Reid), but this is how the battle fought and won.

Home runs like Heller are much more fun and dramatic, but vastly more risky. Three-yards and a cloud of dust has kept the 2A alive so that Heller-type decisions can be possible.

Understood, but concerns about Straus center on his efforts for the last several sessions to delay, obstruct, or outright block positive changes in CHL laws.

I see that the two that I support didn't vote for him.

Thank you.

Yup I had a similiar experience, it was like trying to explain to a chimp how to boil water, they just dont get it

I think we can count Sheila and Jeff here as non supporters/or spoilers saving his bacon.

Sheila Bean REP 2,956 11.31%
Jeff Judson REP 7,434 28.45%
Joe Straus - Incumbent REP 15,737 60.23%

My Rep of fourteen years came in second and is facing a runoff with the newcomer.