{"id":28426,"date":"2022-02-04T09:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T09:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=28426"},"modified":"2022-02-04T09:49:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T09:49:00","slug":"we-recommend-john-whitmire-in-the-democratic-primary-for-texas-senate-district-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/04\/we-recommend-john-whitmire-in-the-democratic-primary-for-texas-senate-district-15\/","title":{"rendered":"We recommend John Whitmire in the Democratic primary for Texas Senate District 15"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Incumbents get a few extra points in this process because we figure that since taxpayers have effectively funded their on-the-job training there\u2019s no need to toss them out unless they give voters a good reason.<\/p>\n
No Texas senator has had more on-the-job training than John Whitmire, a moderate Democrat who has spent nearly a half-century representing Houston under the pink dome, starting in the House.<\/p>\n
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His primary challenger for Senate District 15, Molly Cook, 30, does bring welcome energy, a fresh perspective as an emergency room nurse and a grassroots organizer, and a concern worth pondering: she argues Whitmire won\u2019t be as effective next legislative session because he\u2019ll have one eye on his recently announced campaign for Houston mayor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of evidence that Senator Whitmire has moved on, is ready for his next job,\u201d Cook told us.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s right that the 72-year-old Whitmire\u2019s influence has diminished over the years, from a scrappy senator who often made Texas Monthly\u2019s list of best legislators to merely a shrewd survivor often hamstrung by Republicans\u2019 iron grip on the Senate.<\/p>\n
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The fact that right-wing Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has allowed Whitmire to retain his long-held chairmanship of the Senate\u2019s criminal justice committee and a seat on the powerful finance committee either shows Whitmire is still effective in a divided chamber or he\u2019s made a deal with the devil not to push too hard on Democratic priorities. It\u2019s probably both.<\/p>\n
Some bills, including those to decriminalize marijuana possession, haven\u2019t progressed under his watch.<\/p>\n
Still, Whitmire is a commanding orator on liberal causes such as voting rights, a cantankerous watchdog in committee hearings and a reliable ally of teachers, labor, police and firefighters. His seniority puts him in the room where it happens, to borrow a phrase, and that room isn\u2019t open to freshmen.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYeah, it\u2019s frustrating,\u201d Whitmire told us of his minority status in the Senate. \u201cI don\u2019t like the demagoguery. It makes me want to throw up some days but that\u2019s just where we are as a nation right now. \u2026 I\u2019m results-oriented. That\u2019s all I care about. Get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for his run for mayor, Whitmire says he won\u2019t start campaigning in earnest for mayor until July of 2023, a month after the regular session ends in June.<\/p>\n
Whitmire\u2019s track record as a hard-working senator in tune with his constituents\u2019 needs gives us no reason to believe he\u2019d start slacking off now. His accomplishments in the past decade include closing prisons and reducing the state\u2019s inmate population through \u201csmart-on-crime\u201d reforms, banning the biased \u201cpick-a-pal\u201d grand jury system and shepherding the Sandra Bland Act, which diverts mentally ill inmates toward treatment and requires independent investigations into jail deaths.<\/p>\n
Whitmire\u2019s seniority and relationships remain valuable, especially as fellow Houstonian, Republican Sen. Joan Huffman, ascends to the role of finance chair.<\/p>\n