There’s a unique kind of election fraud in Texas, but what exactly is it? Candidates who jump into a race with no intention of finishing. They simply want to eliminate a run off election.
Texas has seen this time and time again. And Texas lawmakers need to quickly pass laws to stop this fraud in its tracks.
The most egregious modern day example of this was the Republican Bech Bruun vs Republican Michael Cloud runoff race for Texas’s 27th congressional district in 2018. There were plenty of people in the race originally, but the top two vote getters were Bech Bruun and Michael Cloud, who was in second place. Using personal information against Bruun, Cloud “convinced” him to drop out of the race in order to hand the victory over to Cloud, without the voters agreeing to it. The other candidates were understandably angry.
As of today’s date, we now have Ken Paxton saying he is willing to drop out of the runoff race against John Cornyn IF certain criteria is met. Is this even legal? You are exchanging your chance at winning a runoff election based on another candidate meeting your demands?
And then there is the newest dishonorable drop out, Republican Jim Baxa of Lubbock, Texas who jumped into the Lubbock County Clerk’s race at the very last minute, took money from donors, used up countless volunteer laborers, soaked up several endorsements and used his candidacy to prop up his wife’s campaign for Justice of the Peace – and he still ended up in second place.
Now, he has announced that he is dropping out of the runoff race just as quickly as he got in in the first place. Baxa claims he is dropping out “for the good of the party”, without any explanation and it just doesn’t ring true. In reality, the voters got screwed and so did the other candidate Rebeca Gonzales who should have had the opportunity to further her candidacy, but didn’t, due to Baxa’s questionable and suspicious tactics.
Did someone pay Baxa to hand over the win to the top vote getter, Sandy Garcia?
What’s unusual here is that Baxa’s wife, Traci Baxa, also came in second place in her race, yet, she isn’t dropping out “for the good of the party” – as of yet. The Lubbock County District Attorney should take a closer look at this husband and wife duo, as it now seems likely she too will be dropping out of her race – perhaps after she gets something in return for exiting. She has already taken money from local developer Scott Mann, who by all accounts is not someone candidates should be taking money from. In fact, he is her second largest donor.
Social media is abuzz with angry voters and supporters who are only now realizing they were bamboozled by the Baxas.
There are numerous examples of this happening all over Texas – and it must stop. Taking money from donors, using volunteers without paying them, depriving other candidates of endorsements because they believe you are serious about running, and denying voters the right to vote for a real candidate is fraudulent.
The new laws must contain provisions such as a requirement that all donor money be immediately returned to the donors, and of course, that the third candidate replaces the drop out in the runoff. The drop out candidates should also be prohibited from running for public office for a minimum of five years.
Without these simple provisions, this will never end.
Voters deserve better.
