Orlando Sanchez needs your vote. He is endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party in the City of Houston Controller race. His opponent, Chris Hollins, is the Rodney Ellis, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sylvester Turner pick – the triple crown of corruption. I am sure Taylor Thames will be voting for Hollins as long as she is walking this free earth. Republicans need a watchdog Controller and Orlando has proven himself in his previous positions.
Orlando was our Harris County Treasurer for many years and was a good steward of our tax dollars. Orlando is a fiscal conservative and does understand city politics as he served on Houston City Council. Many of our best Republican operatives working for the federal government came out of Orlando’s City Council office. Orlando was part of a group of conservatives that was a majority on council in the 90’s – a time when the City of Houston was run well. It was nice to hear Michael Berry, a former opponent of Sanchez, telling his audience to go vote for Orlando this morning.
Orlando’s race for Houston Mayor in 2001 was the last big Republican showing in City elections. I was very proud to have worked on Orlando’s campaign for mayor with George Hammerlein, Chris Begala, and Jessica Colon of all people. The campaign had an interesting twist tying the Jewish community to a Republican candidate. To this day, Orlando brought Hispanics to the polls unlike any other city wide campaign. It was an interesting time in our city’s history. I believe this was Jessica’s first race she worked on after moving to Houston. Orlando is a leader and the antithesis to his opponent Hollins.
At 10 p.m. on May 19, 2020, Harris County Commissioners Court, Lina Hidalgo and Adrian Garcia voted with Rodney Ellis to appoint then Texas Democrat Party Finance Chair Chris Hollins, to serve as the Harris County Clerk. Almost nine hours into the virtual meeting, numerous community members spoke in favor of then Chief Deputy County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth for the position. People like Carolyn Williams spoke about Hudspeth’s leadership skills, experience operating elections, and strong work ethic.
After a quick executive session, Hidalgo, Garcia, and Ellis returned to play out the appointment of Hollins – a man with no experience to serve in this position. Garcia nominated Hollins and Ellis seconded the motion.
Interestingly, on the same agenda, Rodney Ellis proposed the creation of the election administrator position, taking the operation of elections away from the Harris County Clerk.
Hollins ran the November 2020 election debacle – the subject of a detailed audit by the Texas Secretary of State. Importantly, Harris County failed to comply with the Texas Secretary of State on the audit. The Final Report on Audit of the 2020 General Election in Texas details tremendous problems with Harris County election operations. Hollins, covered by Marxist Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, rushed through drive through voting operations that left those votes insecure.
In February 2022, Hollins announced his run for Houston Mayor. A few months later, when Sheila Jackson Lee announced her run for Houston Mayor, Hollins joined the City Controller race. In announcing his switch to the Controller race, Hollins said this about SheJack: “I have nothing but the deepest respect and highest esteem for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. She’s a personal hero of mine. She’s an icon. She has been an incredibly hard worker for the 18th congressional district and for Houstonians and Texans. When I was fighting to protect and preserve democracy she stood shoulder to shoulder with me in that fight. I think she would make a fine mayor, and I’ve told her face to face that I wish her the absolute best.”
Let it be clear: Hollins is a Rodney/Sheila acolyte. Should John Whitmire win the Mayor’s race, Hollins will take his commands from Rodney and Sheila and work against Whitmire. Said differently, a vote for Hollins undermines a vote for Whitmire.
The Secretary of State Audit of the 2020 election: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/fad/2020-Audit-Full.pdf.