Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg (center) loved her father, the late state Senator Jack Ogg (Senate District 15), with all her heart. But folks have to remember that Kim Ogg’s late father was a stabilizing force in her life, and he guided a lot of her decision-making early on before his passing. Her father, a lawyer, was considered to be a “CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRAT” during the hay-day when Democrats ran Texas – but those days are long gone. He also served as Ogg’s treasurer for many years. THE ENDORSEMENT… Kim Ogg’s endorsement of United States Sen. Ted Cruz (left), a Republican, over U.S. Congressman Colin Allred, a Democrat, isn’t as impactful as her endorsement in local countywide races would be if she decided to cross the aisle and start endorsing “DOWN-BALLOT REPUBLICANS” over her fellow Democrats in the forthcoming Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Presidential Election. You can (CLICK HERE) to view our “2024 HISTORICAL YEARBOOK” featuring every local down-ballot Democratic nominee.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg (right) endorsed United States Senator Ted Cruz (left) over Colin Allred in the race for United States Senator on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Kim Ogg's endorsement might carry less weight statewide than it could carry locally. Suppose District Attorney Kim Ogg decides to endorse candidates running countywide in local "DOWN-BALLOT" races in Harris County, Texas. In that case, that will be a "BIG PROBLEM" for some local candidates. You can (CLICK HERE) to view our “2024 HISTORICAL YEARBOOK” featuring every local down-ballot Democratic nominee.
Dan Simons will run for Harris County District Attorney against Sean Teare on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, in what is expected to be an extremely close race.
“MEET DAN SIMONS.”
Dan Simons was born and raised in Southeast Texas. His family was impoverished and lived through the struggle of poverty. During his childhood, there were times when he was homeless and had no choice but to live in cars or tents to survive. Dan constantly faced problems and chaos in his family, ultimately being placed in foster care at a young age. He has four brothers and one sister, none of whom ever graduated high school, much like his parents.
At twelve, seeking stability to graduate high school, he made the tough decision to move in with a family he met through the Salvation Army. Through sheer determination and hard work, he graduated at the top of his class and was named All-District Quarterback in his senior high school. Dan became the first person in his family to graduate from high school.
After graduating high school in 1996, he joined the United States Air Force to serve his country.
In 2005, he moved back to Texas, intending to further his education and become a lawyer. He graduated from Sam Houston State University in 2008 at the top of his class. He went on to attend the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, graduating Magna Cum Laude in December of 2011. He received his Masters in Tax Law from the University of Houston in 2013.
As Assistant District Attorney, Dan handled thousands of cases. He tried 29 Misdemeanor Jury Trials and had five acquittals; 13 Felony Jury Trials and had only one acquittal; and 26 Justice of the Peace Court and Jury Trials. Dan's total conviction rate was 84%.
As a Misdemeanor Chief in Criminal Court No. 14, Dan Simons reduced the docket by over 200 cases in less than four months — a 20% reduction that reduced the court's burden and saved the county costs. In early 2017, he left the DA’s Office to work in private practice.
In 2018, he started his practice, Dan Simons Law Firm, focusing on criminal cases in Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Montgomery County, Texas.
“THE RIGHT MAN.”
Harris County has enough politicians. We need a Harris County District Attorney who isn’t afraid of political party bosses. We need a truth-seeking prosecutor – not a politician.
We need someone committed to restoring public safety, trust, and peace of mind in Harris County, Texas; Dan Simons is the right man for the job.
We need a Harris County DA who will protect the people, respect them, and give victims the justice they deserve; Dan Simons fits the bill, in my opinion.
Dan Simons is committed to ensuring that business owners receive equal protection under the law, enabling local communities to thrive rather than merely survive.
We’ve got some innocent citizens getting charged and convicted of crimes they may not have committed. With an honest man like Dan Simons as the Harris County District Attorney, wrongful convictions will decrease significantly, while lawbreakers can expect to receive the punishment they deserve.
Moreover, we can’t do anything about the past, but with Dan Simons as our District Attorney, addressing mistakes expeditiously rather than hiding them – could serve as a much-needed foundation to rebuild trust in our criminal justice system.
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "Early voting will begin on Monday, October 21, 2024, and end on Friday, November 1, 2024, for the upcoming Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Presidential Election. It is incumbent upon us to make it our business to select the best candidate available in every down-ballot race."
District Attorney Kim Ogg Endorsing Ted Cruz Has Forced the HCDP to Reinforce Unification and Place Focus Down-Ballot
AUBREY R. TAYLOR REPORTS©
In my opinion, local Democrats and Republicans must take their eyes off TRUMP/VANCE and HARRIS/WALZ and focus their attention and intention on winning local contested countywide “DOWN-BALLOT” races in Harris County, Texas, and Fort Bend County, Texas, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
Listen, former President Trump has appeared on two General Election ballots in Harris County, Texas, and Fort Bend, Texas, and didn’t perform well either time.
2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – HARRIS COUNTY – On Tuesday, November 3, 2020, the Republican presidential ticket featuring TRUMP/PENCE received 700,630 votes for 42.70% of the vote, and the Democratic presidential ticket featuring BIDEN/HARRIS received 918,183 votes for 55.96% of the vote in Harris County, Texas. *** Straight-ticket voting “WAS NOT ALLOWED” in Texas for this election.
2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – FORT BEND COUNTY – On Tuesday, November 3, 2020, the Republican presidential ticket featuring TRUMP/PENCE received 157,718 votes for 44.01% of the vote, and the Democratic presidential ticket featuring BIDEN/HARRIS received 195,552 votes for 54.57% of the vote in Fort Bend County, Texas. ***Straight-ticket voting “WAS NOT ALLOWED” in Texas for this election.
2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – HARRIS COUNTY – On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, the Republican presidential ticket featuring TRUMP/PENCE received 545,955 votes for 41.61% of the vote, and the Democratic presidential ticket featuring BIDEN/HARRIS received 707,914 votes for 53.95% of the vote in Harris County, Texas. ***Straight-ticket voting “WAS ALLOWED” in Texas for this election.
2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – FORT BEND COUNTY – On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, the Republican presidential ticket featuring TRUMP/PENCE received 117,212 votes for 44.78% of the vote, and the Democratic presidential ticket featuring BIDEN/HARRIS received 134,475 votes for 51.37% of the vote in Fort Bend County, Texas. ***Straight-ticket voting “WAS ALLOWED” in Texas for this election.
“DOWN-BALLOT.”
I’ve been saying this for months: Both local party chairmen are paying too much attention to the “PRESIDENTIAL RACE” and not enough to local “DOWN-BALLOT” races in Harris County, Texas.
The Harris County Republican Party Chairman Cindy Siegel has to be salivating as she watches the Harris County Democratic Party Chairman Mike Doyle fall for the diversionary tactics being used to divert his attention away from protecting his gains at the local countywide Democrats have achieved in recent years.
Earlier this week, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, a Democrat, made headlines when she threw her support behind United States Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, who is being challenged by U.S. Congressman Colin Allred, the Democratic nominee challenging Sen. Cruz on the forthcoming Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Presidential Election ballot.
Ogg’s endorsement of Cruz should not have come as big of a surprise as some folks are making it out to be. District Attorney Kim Ogg is a hurt human who feels betrayed.
It wasn’t that her party turned against her on Super Tuesday — it was how local Democrats treated her in the process, which appears to be not sitting well with Ogg.
As a refresher, Sean Teare received 126,449 votes for 75.0% of the vote, and Kim Ogg received 42,149 votes for 25.0% -- based on election returns for the Democratic Party Primary on “SUPER TUESDAY” when the two Democrats faced off in the race for Harris County District Attorney.
What local Democrats should be concerned about is that the primary race for Harris County District Attorney was contested on March 5, 2024, in the Democratic Party Primary and uncontested in the Republican Party Primary. However, Dan Simons, the Republican Party nominee, received 145,293 votes, and the combined total for the DA’s race in the Democratic Party Primary, with Sean Teare and Kim Ogg competing against one another, was only 168,598, in their primary.
The mistake political pundits, consultants, and party bosses are making in trying to measure the weight of District Attorney Kim Ogg’s endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz is that they’re measuring her impact by the 2024 Democratic Party Primary where she received 42,149 votes, and not her past election results when she received 841,914 votes on November 3, 2020, running against the Republican nominee (Mary Nan Huffman) or on November 8, 2016 when she received 696,955 votes running against the Republican nominee (Devon Anderson) in the countywide race for District Attorney – which is a huge mistake,
Discarding Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s “ENDORSEMENT” of Sen. Cruz and calling her a (DINO), which stands for a “Democrat In Name Only,” is not the way to go.
What local Democrats and Mike Doyle, the chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party, have to remember is that many of the voters who turned out to vote in the low-voter turnout “PRIMARY ELECTION” on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Harris County leaned far to the left — which bode well for Sean Teare. However, Sean Teare spent several million dollars and only received 126,449 votes — which isn’t impressive.
Remember, Sean Teare’s opponent (Dan Simons) did not spend any money and still received 145,293 votes, even though he ran unopposed in the Republican Party Primary.
If Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg decides to start throwing her support behind down-ballot local candidates like (Dan Simons) and others – this could be a significant problem for local Democrats if the local countywide races are as tight as I’m expecting them to be.
“UNITY IS KEY.”
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or political analyst to see that Kim Ogg’s endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz over Colin Allred doesn’t matter as much in the grand scheme. After all, Cruz and Allred are statewide races in the United States Senate. And no Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, when the late Gov. Ann Richards was defeated by George W. Bush, the son of Former President George H.W. Bush, in a shocker.
Long story short, if Democrats don’t take their heads out of the sand and focus more attention on down-ballot countywide races, there could be some severe repercussions for “DEMOCRATIC NOMINEES” up and down the ballot in places like Harris County, Texas, and Fort Bend County, Texas.
“Harris County Democrats are united in their support for Colin Allred, Sean Teare, and all Democrats up and down the ballot,” said the header in an email I received from Harris County Democratic Party Chairman Mike Doyle a few days ago.
Doyle states, “The Harris County Democratic Party, by a unanimous vote of the County Executive Steering Committee, affirms its unified support of Colin Allred for Senate and Sean Teare for Harris County District Attorney.”
“We were disappointed to hear outgoing District Attorney Kim Ogg endorsed the border-bill blocking, Cancun evading, off-and-on Trumpster, Ted Cruz,” he continued.
Mike Doyle stated, “No individual of conscience, and certainly no one professing to be aligned with the values of the Democratic Party, could contemplate backing the cruel, opportunistic, and just plain dishonest Ted Cruz.”
“This endorsement underscores the HCDP Executive Committee’s December admonishment of Ogg and shows that our outgoing District Attorney has lost touch with Texas and Harris County Democrats,” explained Doyle.
Suppose you believe Doyle; an incredible surge is taking place in America. “With the incredible Democratic surge here and across the nation from the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris to Colin Allred’s campaign kick-off in Harris County last week, HCDP looks forward to historic victories for all of our candidates up and down the ballot, including our District Attorney candidate Sean Teare.”
“DEMOCRATIC FIELD.”
In a sense, Mike Doyle, the Chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party, has one of the “STRONGEST FIELD OF DEMOCRAT NOMINEES” the HCDP has ever fielded in my opinion.
If you are not sure what I’m talking about, take a moment and review our “2024 HISTORICAL YEARBOOK,” which features the entire “DOWN-BALLOT” field of Democratic nominees who will be on the forthcoming Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Democratic Party Primary ballot.
“CLOSING THOUGHTS.”
The Harris County Republican Party left many countywide races uncontested this time, giving the Democrats running for re-election a decided advantage over their Republican rivals. However, with Vice President Kamala Harris (not President Joe Biden) at the top of “THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET,” the Harris County Democrats will have their work cut out. To succeed in Texas, they must unify their efforts and encourage voters to “Vote Blue All The Way Through” on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, in Harris County, Texas, and beyond.
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONSEMAIL: aubreyrtaylor@gmail.com957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
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