Rougher Riders
Texas attorney, writer and public policy veteran Tim Mahoney bears a remarkable resemblance to Teddy Roosevelt. And while Tim won’t be charging up San Juan Hill, in the 2022 Texas Election season, he is in for a rough ride as he storms the Lone Star States’ Capitol Hill in his quest to become the next Democratic Comptroller of the State of Texas.
Texas supporters think that Tim Mahoney has what it takes to succeed.
Other Democrats are also joining this troop of Rough Riders as they all vie to become the first Democrat(s) elected to Statewide office in Texas since 1994.
Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican and was a leader of the progressive movement of his time and championed his “Square Deal” domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation’s natural resources for all citizens.
Tim Mahoney Texas State Comptroller Proposed Policy Goals:
Roosevelt had his “Square Deal” domestic policies,
As Texas State Comptroller Mahoney will have his “Sqaure Deal Squared” economic studies that will measure what we have, what we could have, and how to get there. Such measurements will be done for citizens in every region of Texas, and that input will result in an exploration of new evolving options leading to better lives for more Texans: Better Lives, Better Futures. *Or something else?
How the "Rougher Riders" Found Their Way in Texas
On May 1, 2021, Tim Mahoney saw that the majority party that controlled The Texas Legislature was going to produce another redistricting monstrosity of “zig-zag” convolut4ed congressional, senate, house and educational re-districts. Many friends were so angry that they were almost unable to speak. And that is the rub. We need to understand that the ugliness of the current redistricting effort did not happen at the last session of the Texas Legislature; it happened before the 2021 Legislative session when that current batch of legislators was elected. And that election resulted in the worst session in Texas history. But we need to throw caution to the wind, and come up with a simpler message: “All Texas election districts need to be compact, like Texas Counties.” Texas counties are compact because a Texas constitutional provision requires counties to be compact (Article *). But Tim Mahoney went to the May 1, 2021, House Redistricting Committee hearing and told the committee members that “Unfortunately, incumbents often rig the system to benefit themselves, their party and special interest supporters, manipulating voting maps to dictate the outcome of elections… The dysfunctional result is mistrust and bad public policies that intentionally ignore the will of the people.: *No wonder we are all angry, but that has not produced any sort of a productive change; being angry is such an unpleasant, not only to be, but to see. *”Of little concern will be how much this pre-ordained process may hurt Texans. Instead of dividing a county into six different senatorial districts, or 6 different federal representative electoral districts, as has been done in Texas, maybe we could have districts that enhance communities of interest in a more compact geographic fashion. Compact communities might elect leaders who will work together to heal the vestiges of unfair domination that have plagued Texas for hundreds of years*… I, and others like me, will be watching what this Legislature does with the new census data. Many of us do not have a lot of faith that the result will be fair districts. Democracy works best when our voting maps are fairly drawn to ensure that Texans can participate equally in the election of their representatives. *The dysfunctionally-controlled Texas Legislature did not disappoint. As our studies demonstrate, the 2021 Legislature produced congressional, senate, house and educational districts that were as bad as the 2011 districts. The way out of this mess is to ensure that we elect senators and representatives to the Texas Legislature in 2023 that are for compact districts. *And that result needs to be driven by voters in every county and city in Texas to build new relationships with each other that understand that if we don’t hand together, we will hang separately in a world where our children will be less likely to find affordable education and work opportunities.