Yesterday I mentioned the similarities of the mayoral races in Lubbock, Abilene, and Wichita Falls. Three incumbent mayors are being challenged by folks running as consummate conservatives far to the right of the incumbents. But are the opponents legitimately conservative or are they engaging in what many of these incumbents did to first win, namely using conservative words and ideas simply to get votes but never having a real commitment to such?
You can see my recommendations for the Abilene and Wichita Falls mayoral races in yesterday’s commentary here.
Pope picks Leftwing slogan in re-elect bid in 2018.
Lubbock’s race is similar in that the challenger, Stephen Sanders, is coming at the incumbent from the right. He claims to be a pro-Trump conservative but was recently an anti-Trump progressive liberal, publicly. I hope for his own sake that his conservative conversion is indeed authentic, people do see the light and change but there is not yet a strong history by which to test his conversion.
Stephen Sanders
In the Lubbock case Sanders is challenging Dan Pope who repeatedly claims having “conservative” values; being fiscally responsible, and; even being a Republican. But Pope’s history is not one of supporting Republican or conservative values or fiscal responsibility. Pope has consistently raised taxes and spending; likened capitalism and entrepreneurial spirit with disease; lied to people directly about his anti-freedom shutdown orders, and; generally governed as a populist Democrat. I need not even cover Pope’s disgusting comments regarding abortion.
I’m willing to take a gamble on the office of mayor so I’ll be voting for Stephen Sanders for Lubbock mayor.
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For Lubbock County Water Control District I will vote for Tony Renteria At-Large and CJ Hargrove in Precinct 2. I have no recommendation for Precinct 3 in that race for this board that runs Buffalo Springs Lake.
For the rest of the ballot, vote the full ballot, top to bottom, and vote for the Republican in all partisan races. Even the worst Republican today is far superior to any Leftwing Democrat – and they’re all Leftwing in that party now.
I’m all about replacing Pope, but I’ve been concerned about Sanders from the beginning. In the one and only ad I’ve heard on KFYO, he accused Mayor Pope of closing gun stores during the spring COVID restrictions. Gun stores were never closed during the restrictions. In fact, this was a significant point of contention with other small business owners who argued gun stores should not be considered essential. This is important because it is an outright falsehood being run in a campaign ad. If you are willing to publicly lie to make your opponent look bad, you are not the person I want in office. If you are not willing to fact-check your statements before you run them publicly, you are not the person I want in office. In fact, if you enter gun stores so infrequently that you are not aware they never closed down, you’re probably not the person I want in office.
Actually you are wrong about the gun stores. They were closed by Pope effectively because the paperwork and transfer of the firearms cannot be made on-line or in the parking lot as Pope suggested. Such must be done inside the premises. Again, the stores were effectively closed by Pope despite him claiming otherwise. In fact, the Texas Attorney General had to address the issue. You might want to check with state Rep. Dustin Burrows on this as he got the A.G. on it.
Well, maybe I should fact-check before I go public. Good thing I’m not running for mayor.
Mr. Bullard…. didn’t you watch me pull a boulder off the wall of a canyon one time? 😉 While I totally agree that Sanders may not be the character he campaigned as. So I’m not sure how he would govern. At this point, Pope has crossed me so many times, I would rather have the mayor picked at random from the phonebook. I despise Dan Pope and his tower of power.
Thanks for always putting your recommendations up! What are your recommendations for Lubbock Council Member in Districts 2 and 6? Also, should I vote “No” on Frenship ISD – Proposition A? Thank you!
I have no recommendations in those. If I were in Frenship ISD I’d not vote for big debt that will keep property taxes high. It’s all up to you.