Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep. 21: The Railroad Commission Isn’t About Trains — It’s About Your Power Bill (Jon Rosenthal)
72 Plays1 month ago
In this episode of Mission: Texas, we sit down with Jon Rosenthal, a four-term Texas state representative, engineer, and the Democratic nominee for Railroad Commissioner, to break down one of the most powerful and least understood offices in Texas government — and why it affects every Texan’s electric bill, safety, and environment.
In this episode, we cover:
- What the Texas Railroad Commission actually does — and why it has nothing to do with trains
- How oil and gas industry money and conflicts of interest shape regulation in Texas
- Why Texans are still paying higher electric bills after Winter Storm Uri
- How Texas’ isolated grid prioritizes corporate profit over reliability and safety
- What it will take to flip Texas, including the volunteer-driven organizing model that flipped a red seat in 2018
- The historic importance of down ballot races in flipping the state
📧 Contact us: missiontexaspodcast@gmail.com
📲 Follow us on social media: @missiontexaspodcast
👉 Support Mission: Texas on Patreon
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Mission Texas'
00:00:00
Speaker
Howdy. This is Mission Texas. A political podcast about winning Texas by 2032 or else we may lose the White House for a generation. I'm one of your hosts, Alex Clark.
00:00:13
Speaker
And I am Kate Rumsey. Other podcasts may focus on the day-to-day the next election. But we are keeping the eyes of Texas on the bigger prize. What happens after the next census?
00:00:27
Speaker
Welcome back to another exciting episode of Mission
Rosenthal's Goals for the Railroad Commission
00:00:30
Speaker
Texas. We are joined by John Rosenthal, um and an engineer and four-term state representative who flipped a seat in 2018.
00:00:39
Speaker
I'd love to hear that. He's running to make the Railroad Commission more independent from industry money, more transparent, more focused on reliability, safety, and cleanup. So glad to have him with us. And congratulations, the nominee for representing on the commission because there is no primary challenge left.
00:00:59
Speaker
Thank you. And, you know, going knock on wood. I actually have, in my entire political career, I've never had a primary challenger. So I'm pretty happy about that. and I'm glad that I don't know exactly what it's like to have to win a primary challenge.
00:01:15
Speaker
And now you're talking to Democrats just because you want to and you enjoy it. You don't have to. You can just move on. But here you are. Yeah. He's like, I'm going to stipulate I do everything because I want to. Yeah.
00:01:28
Speaker
You know, i'm at ah I mean, you know, I'm at a point in life where um it's just not worth doing stuff you don't want to do anymore. Yeah. Well, can you ah back up a second and tell us a little bit about the primary? Because I thought you were going to have a challenger. Like, I thought there was going to be somebody. um and then they decided not to run. um But it was somebody who I'd understood also was potentially ah somebody that we did not know whether they were a Democrat or not.
00:01:55
Speaker
Can you speak to that? Yeah. So actually, we knew she was not a Democrat. And it's not that she didn't decide to run. She didn't decide to run against me.
00:02:07
Speaker
So, yeah or let's say she decided not to run against
Role and Influence of the Texas Railroad Commission
00:02:12
Speaker
me. So the the story is, you know, we're talking about the railroad commission in Texas. And for those who aren't super plugged in and think it has anything to do with choo-choo trains, it does not. It's all about oil and gas. So it's, you know, drilling, it's got mining and pipelines and, you know, storage and chemical waste. And so it's all about the oil and gas industry in Texas and more overall, the energy industry. So the person that we had run as a Democrat last time is named Kate Catherine Colbert, Catherine Colbert.
00:02:48
Speaker
And I admit her, I mean, she won a competitive primary as a Democrat ah two years ago because these The three commissioners serve six-year terms and one is up every two years. So that's the seat that i'm running for. So she ran two years ago, prevailed in the Democratic primary, and then didn't campaign at all, didn't do the hard work of moving around the state. you know We talk about the hard work of campaigning. The hardest work is raising money. You've got to call people and ask them for money. And let me tell you that the lifetime career mechanical engineer is super not accustomed to that.
00:03:25
Speaker
yeah but And super uncomfortable with it, even to this day. It's just, if you want to succeed, you have to be willing in this business, you have to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone.
00:03:35
Speaker
So she ran as a Democrat. Her opponent last time emphatically insisted that she was not actually a Democrat. And it turns out her voting history is all Republican, Republican primaries for 10 or 12 years, her entire history in Harris County. And then apparently she was like registered as a Republican wherever she was. New York or Massachusetts or or something something in Yankee land. And so we were, you know, she had stated her intention to run and and we were preparing to fend off her primary. And the surprise at the end of the day, she did file to run, but she filed into the Republican primary. minister
00:04:18
Speaker
So she's shown her colors as a Republican. And while I'm not angry about it because I'm now your Democratic nominee. The people that supported her as a Democrat when she was campaigning with Democrat clubs and organizations and raising money from Democrats and using ActBlue, which is our fundraising platform, ah those people were pretty upset. And I can certainly understand that if you're supporting someone to run in your party and then they switch parties on filing day.
00:04:51
Speaker
And file and post and all proud about it and stuff. So she has joined a five, what is now a five way primary on the Republican side. And we can talk about that and why I think that will actually help us flip this statewide seat in Texas.
Party Switching and Political Implications
00:05:05
Speaker
And I'm talking about realistically, like no BS, there's a real possibility here.
00:05:12
Speaker
um Setting aside the drama of a former Democratic nominee becoming a Republican nominee, or former Democratic nominee three times becoming an independent. I'm still not over Mike Collier. Oh man. yeah where a guy Like he lives just north of town, I think.
00:05:31
Speaker
And we'd been friends ever since I got into politics in 2018 when I left industry to first run for office. He was running his first time for lieutenant governor. I think he had tried to run for a comptroller before that. ran comptroller. He ran for lieutenant governor. He ran it for lieutenant governor. And now, despite his Instagram bio leading with the word Democrat, he is an independent.
00:05:53
Speaker
but We're now the anti-Mike Collier podcast. Barely. I'm burned up about ah He might be a nice guy, but I don't have any idea what he's doing on this race. He should have ran in the primary. I feel like he's he's so smart. And this is such a ah ah really misguided move yeah not smart you know know smart people do stupid stuff all the time you know ask my wife i probably am on a half a dozen not smart things that i've already done today so you you are a smart person and you actually have the background for the job you're running for but again ah feel like this is so confusing for the average voter and
00:06:31
Speaker
I'm an attorney, I'm an activist, and the whole Railroad Commission thing is still pretty murky to me. Can you like just demystify that? Like, what did they actually do? Why is it called a Railroad Commission?
00:06:42
Speaker
And then like, once you've done that, I want to know like, for like an ordinary person who does not steeped in this stuff, what are like the practical outcomes what like a good Railroad Commission could do versus the one we currently have?
00:06:56
Speaker
So what what is it and why should we care? Something like that. Yeah, like what it what is it? what can What can be done with it if it's being used correctly? So it is a great question and I'm trying to learn how to answer this question in 30 seconds.
00:07:13
Speaker
Fair. This is a long-form podcast. You don't have to do 30 seconds. Yeah, you don't have to. We got all the time. Yeah. No, but you know when you speak to groups or you want to talk about this, you really need to encapsulate answers. Yeah.
00:07:25
Speaker
Yeah. You know, the i know your campaign manager, he's going to keep you on task. So he will. I'm sure he will. Shout out to Favaz, who I know.
00:07:36
Speaker
Favaz Anwar is already working miracles on this campaign. So proud of the work that him and Catherine Kaminsky are doing. I'm going to shout out to Favaz because he's It's a direct result of their efforts and a very loud whisper campaign that I'm sure convinced this woman to run as a Republican instead of trying to take me on. Because that was going to be a primary where we weren't going talk about the Railroad Commission at all. We were going talk about her voting and campaign record. And it was going to be the mission to let millions of Texas Democrats know only one Democrat in this race. And now...
00:08:12
Speaker
I don't have to do that. There's already only one number. All right. So back to the Railroad Commission of Texas and why it's called something that it's totally not. You know, this is a legacy name, like from the 1800s.
00:08:26
Speaker
And to change the name of it would require legislative action, possibly a constitutional amendment in the state. There has been no will to do that to the legislature.
00:08:38
Speaker
But the long and short of it is, For the energy infrastructure in the state of Texas, you've got two commissions, one on the electrical side, which is the Public Utility Commission that we all know about now, Public Utility Commission. On the other side is the Railroad Commission, which ought to be called the Texas Oil and Gas Commission.
00:08:58
Speaker
commission. And the two of those are the two pieces of the energy infrastructure management. And then the the corporation that we all know about now ah called ERCOT coordinates the actions of those two parts to keep the lights on in the state of Texas.
00:09:16
Speaker
And so if you care about your energy, your power staying on in the next massive winter freeze, it is crucial that natural gas gets delivered. And no matter what your feelings are about natural gas, more than half of the electricity we generate in the state of Texas generated by burning natural gas. So um until we have a replacement for that, we need that to keep our homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer and charge our electric vehicles and everything
Winter Storm Uri: Consequences and Politics
00:09:49
Speaker
else. So
00:09:50
Speaker
It is the energy infrastructure of Texas. And if you care about both keeping the lights on in the next winter storm and your electric rates are heavily dependent on gas delivery. And right now, actually, our electric bills have all increased. i don't know if everyone out there is noticing this, but...
00:10:10
Speaker
Because of winter storm Uri, we now have a surcharge on our electric bill that increases our electric c rate, and it's to pay off the $9 billion dollars hit our economy took from that winter storm failure. So not only did we freeze our butts off in our own houses, my power was out for a week, not only did a couple hundred Texans die of hypothermia, not only did another 500 Texans die um in their vehicles trying to stay warm, you know, running their cars in their garages, but also the state got saddled with $9 billion dollars worth of debt that we have to pay off instead of the people who actually made that money, who are the gas delivery folks who just coincidentally gave the governor a million dollar campaign contribution immediately after the session where,
00:11:06
Speaker
ah the legislature decided not to hold them accountable for that massive failure that killed almost a thousand people in this state. Yeah. Moderators know it was not a coincidence. yeah So that's, you know, the, the railroad commission not only governs and regulates natural gas operations, but if you care about your environment and you care about global warming, if you care about being able to hunt and fish and operate your farm or your deer ranch,
00:11:37
Speaker
The Railroad Commission is also responsible for regulating the waste of the oil and gas industry where it's a serious pollution issue. So there's ah it's one of the most important jobs that no one has ever heard of. you know so it's It's been estimated that over 30% of the Texas economy is either directly or indirectly related to the oil and gas industry. And the panel of three people that regulate the industry, nobody knows who they are or what they do.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. Well, do you think that the name is by design that to keep people away from thinking about this office and how important it is? It was not originally. So this is a legacy name from the eighteen hundreds when it actually did have something to do with transportation. But over the years and the way that the federal government has structured transportation law, the vast majority of all that stuff is done by the federal transportation, you know, Department of Transportation.
00:12:36
Speaker
Even as recent as, i don't know, 30, 35 years ago, the Railroad Commission did do some small little piece. Like I think they were dealing with regulations for rail cars or that carried the oil and gas products. but But they don't even do that anymore And the legislature and the Railroad Commission and the people in charge in this state for over 30 years are happy to let it fly under the radar and be misnamed. And so it's anonymous. Nobody knows what it is. And they are all there. The three of them are elected statewide and they serve the industry they're supposed to regulate. Two of the three make their money from the industry they're supposed to regulate. and
00:13:13
Speaker
Which two? My opponent, Jim Wright, operates a a pollution company, a chemical waste management company that Actually, it's my understanding it was being investigated and they were initiating proceedings to revoke his operating permit because he's such an egregious polluter.
00:13:32
Speaker
And then he got elected to the Railroad Commission and suddenly no accountability anymore. I'm sure that's also a coincidence. Talk about a return on an investment. Right. ah Speaking of ah how the Railroad Commission's duties have kind of been lessened because of federal help from the Department of Transportation, I learned during the winter storm, because I feel like we all were freezing our butts off.
Texas Power Grid Independence: Motives and Impact
00:13:58
Speaker
our Maybe your toilet wasn't working. Mine wasn't.
00:14:00
Speaker
There was lots of bad things that happened during that time. Tried not to think of the trauma. But I learned during that time that Texas had its own grid that was completely disconnected from the federal system. That seemed really strange to me.
00:14:14
Speaker
and I thought, well, it sure would be nice if we could get some some some power from help other other states right now. i'm Pretty annoyed that we can't. Is that a decision that's made by the commission or is that more of a Texas legislature thing? Or is this something that's going to be gone forever? we are where we ever have the ability to rejoin the the nation? and our So we could.
00:14:37
Speaker
we could It is a legislative decision to remain, to keep our our grid functionally separated from the rest of the country. So the ERCOT region is most of Texas.
00:14:51
Speaker
You've got, I think it's three interconnects in this kind of country, or there might be more interconnects. there There are three close to us. So the Western, the Eastern, and is it the Central or the Northern, whatever it is.
00:15:04
Speaker
therere ah And we choose, so so first, it's not that there's zero connectivity. We literally don't have the capacity to power share.
00:15:15
Speaker
And it's mostly it's mostly because the leadership in the state don't want to have regulations imposed on the industry. So they they want the industry to run free and they claim that it keeps our rates low, which of course is garbage. It's totally not true.
00:15:36
Speaker
um Before the winter storm, we were competitive with our neighbors. and And I'll just remind you that Even though we all froze during that winter storm, Yuri, our neighbors to the west and our neighbors to the east and our neighbors to the north, none of them had a complete power failure like Texas did. And those rates for ah residential electricity, roughly the same.
00:16:01
Speaker
But now we're actually starting to edge up according to our neighbors. So we're less competitive and we're still, you know, have a rickety ass grid that is susceptible to the same type of failure that we have.
00:16:13
Speaker
But they choose not to interconnect because they don't want to deal with the Federal Electrical Regulation is it Committee or the National Electrical Regulation Committee. FERC and NERC are the two federal ah regulation committees, who, by the way, both did.
00:16:32
Speaker
um a joint report on the winter storm failure the state endured in 2011. So 10 years before we all froze our butts off that we remember, 10 years before that, we had a similar failure of a slightly less lesser scale.
00:16:46
Speaker
dramatic Interestingly enough, there was a 300-page report done about it. None of those suggestions were followed and so we froze and we had the power went down it was exactly the same ah causes so they don't want to be regulated yeah it's not that our our electric rates are more competitive what it is is More dollars go in the pockets of the owners of the corporations that produce electricity and natural gas in the state.
00:17:14
Speaker
So it has nothing to do with reliability. it has nothing to do with the cost that we pay because we actually pay as much or more as people in the neighboring states. It's all about self-dealing and corruption. Which seems to be a pattern here in the state. ah But can we go back to your 2018 race that Alex alluded to? Because you have a history. And I think I mentioned this before we started the podcast. I think now a goal of the podcast is to talk to every person who flipped a seat in 2018 like you. And we've we've talked to like four or five of y'all. And I think it's incredible because...
00:17:50
Speaker
That's a Trump midterm. There was a blue wave. There was a lot of organizing. And you were able to beat a pretty long-held incumbent, right, and flip the seat in Northwest Houston. So can you speak to that? Like, what worked? Like, what were you seeing, especially in terms of how to compare that to now, which we're in another Trump midterm?
00:18:10
Speaker
That's right. So, and this is a great question. I hope everybody is interested in this, particularly people that are... that are interested in sane governance, you know, not just Democrats, but anybody that wants government to work for the people.
Political Shifts Post-2016 Election
00:18:24
Speaker
ah What happened was we were having a backlash to the first Trump administration. and i don't know if, if any, if anyone, you know, hearing this remembers how they felt that November, 2016, when,
00:18:41
Speaker
I was watching election returns and I was certain Hillary would win. And the only question was by how much, yeah If anybody remembers thinking that. And then then it didn't go that way. And I was shocked and dismayed along with a large part of the country. And of course, I'm going to preface this by saying 30-year career engineer, 25 in oil and gas. I did it towards the latter third of my career, offshore, subsea, ah technology and operations stuff. I really enjoy doing pays pretty well.
00:19:14
Speaker
I was so happy with my little life here in Northwest Houston. you know And then that went down. And after being a little shell shocked for a couple of weeks, I decided like many Americans that I was through just complaining about stuff.
00:19:32
Speaker
So what happened in 2016 after we're all upset over the result of that election and then coming into 2017, everything went off the rails in terms of the administration and politics and everything else. I thought it was just, I thought, you know, Bush Jr.'s administration was off the rails for, you know, committing illegal war just to go after somebody who's loyal. And now that seems remarkably sane compared to what we have.
00:20:00
Speaker
But were you were you like a little delusional like me in that you thought, oh, you know, he was really crazy on the campaign. But now that he's the president, he's going to have to kind of grow up a little and take this a little bit more seriously.
00:20:13
Speaker
the we all I thought there was a moment where like oh know he's going grow into the job or something. Yeah, there'll be some adults in the room. ah but He went on, was it 60 Minutes? And one of the remarks he made, I knew we were done because he was like, well, I'm the president you're not.
00:20:29
Speaker
And i'm like... Who freaking says that? Yeah. All right. So they a resistance movinging movement started brewing, and and I was part of it.
00:20:41
Speaker
um So what I do want to emphasize is the environment that we have right now is similar, but I think it's an even elevated kind of even more potential here for a massive blue wave. So even in the face of...
00:20:57
Speaker
um historic efforts to suppress and discourage vote, even in the base of these efforts to disenfranchise voters by taking off the rolls or redistricting out of their congressional districts and all kinds of cheating synonyms that these people are are pulling and and really doing it by by going after people of color. It's such a racist thing.
00:21:23
Speaker
undertaking and the way that they're going about all of this. What I'm saying is, even in the face of all that, we're seeing dramatic swings in elections around the country, in special elections right here in Texas. But it's it's a, room to me, it feels very similar. It's one of the reasons that I wanted to get into this race was because, you know, the Democrat faithful in this state will know that it's been more than 30 years since we elected a Democrat
Democratic Optimism and Strategies for Texas
00:21:49
Speaker
statewide. And why do I think I can be first? Well, I think I can be among actually a group of Democrats that could get elected in the state. And I don't know how many or which positions,
00:22:00
Speaker
And we can talk about what we think will take to flip the state. But we have what could be what certainly is the brewings of a dramatic blue wave in this country and in the state.
00:22:13
Speaker
And for it to happen, the people who are willing to do the work and do the organizing and be relentless have to do those things. And we need for society to step up and get out of their chairs and go vote. So that's that was my big motivation. And it's you know at a time when back then 2017, the incumbent that was representing me had been in the chair for 24 years. And for folks who know Houston, it was centered around Jersey Village, which is a very conservative, ah high voting, red leaning community.
00:22:49
Speaker
And people told me it's impossible. People told me there's no way a Democrat can get elected. Northwest Terrace County, I'm Cypress area, Cypress and Katy.
00:23:00
Speaker
You know, for those who are around Texas politics, you know, my senator is Paul Betancourt. Dan Patrick, you know, has his homestead in that area.
00:23:10
Speaker
And so it's life. You know, and people people still do this to me. They're like, you got elected as a Democrat in Cyprus? And I'm like, yeah, i listen yeah more times.
00:23:24
Speaker
yeah But it was volunteer-driven effort. there It was not just me being relentless, but it was a whole bunch of people pitching in with with money, with time, with effort. And built a, even though it was a not as well-funded,
00:23:39
Speaker
Like I was outspent seven to one. People don't know this, this district was R plus 10 in the cycle before my opponent outspent me seven to one in 2018 and it still beat him because we had developed a network of over 200 volunteers to knock on doors, to make telephone calls, reflect social media posts. Everybody who hears this, you can do something about this election and you can enroll other people to do something about election. So it's, it's not just for me. If you want sane governance at any level in this state, pitch in and help.
00:24:13
Speaker
Like, I'm tired of hearing people say, oh, I wish we could win races, but then they're unwilling to do anything about it. yeah Do something. I would note this for our listeners. Like, it's it's not always going to be the top of the ticket. It's not going to be the governor or the Senate races necessarily. It could just be John Rosenthal, our next railroad commissioner, and that would be a foot in the door.
00:24:33
Speaker
I think a lot of people forget In 1994, we always remember this is the last time we elected a Democrat statewide.
Historical Political Shifts in Texas
00:24:40
Speaker
That was actually a year where Ann Richards lost by seven and a half points. At the same time, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, land commissioner, and comptroller all remained Democrats.
00:24:53
Speaker
Right? It was Bob Bullock, Dan Morales, Gary Morrow, and John Sharp all won re-election. At the same time, our governor nominee lost by seven and a half points. And so who was the first Republican to break through that?
00:25:08
Speaker
Statewide cycle. There's a senator, right? ah Tower. Is that right? No. So the first Republican outside, you know, of governor to the first Republican in that down ballot thing to get elected statewide, even when all of the rest of those positions were held by Democrats was Rick Perry when he is agriculture. Oh, for oh my gosh. That's a good piece of trivia.
00:25:34
Speaker
Rick Perry, former Democrat, Rick Perry. My dad called him Governor Goodhair because he had good hair. um My favorite Rick Perry fact is that he once shot a coyote while he was on a jog.
00:25:50
Speaker
have lots of questions about that. but Yeah. Yeah. He has a degree in animal husbandry or. Oh, that's right. And and he got his degree there at A&M and he got a D in meats.
00:26:05
Speaker
Oh, good. is His transcript got leaked somehow. Yeah. I never got a D in meats, but of course. Did you take meats? No, I took a bunch of math and science classes and I got a, I got a lot of good grades and those, my dad's a math teacher, you know,
00:26:20
Speaker
But the breakthrough happened for Republicans and it was down ballot statewide. And part of what I think feeds into that is that those are not the culture war issue seats like running for railroad commission, Texas oil and gas commission, let's call
The Power of Down-Ballot Races
00:26:38
Speaker
it.
00:26:38
Speaker
People can ask me, you know, do you want men and women's sports? And I'll go, what does that have to do with keeping the power on in Texas? I'm here to keep your lights on, know? And so let's talk about that.
00:26:49
Speaker
So i I think that that opens up some possibility just the way that it did 30 years ago for them, right? Yeah, that's an interesting lesson. I mean, i think what we're saying is that even though we all are kind of enamored of these top of the ticket races like Senate or governor, it we should be reminded that the Republicans were able to, as Alex was saying, that they were able to flip on the down ballot ones. And so we can, through potentially, hopefully your race and other down ballot races, break through and flip. And I think a lot of folks focus to maybe too much on those top of the ticket races that tend to like take up all the oxygen and money in the room. And yet we should be paying more attention to your races because that's the foot in the door to get us back on track.
00:27:35
Speaker
could Now I have optimism around the Senate race and, And I think people are underestimating our Democrats running for governor and lieutenant governor, and especially Gina Hinojosa. Yeah, and your colleague. Do not sleep on Gina Hinojosa. She is a badass.
00:27:51
Speaker
And our most recent episode just came out. I don't know when this one will publish, but we I was asked for predictions. And the the one prediction I came out of the gate with,
00:28:02
Speaker
the Gina Hanna-Hossa will win the Democratic primary for governor. So there you go. So I endorsed her before she announced because I had her. Yeah. part of a draft of her You drafted her to run for governor. it was No, I'm not. I'm not part of that.
00:28:18
Speaker
But we do sit together on the House floor. we're colleagues and my friends and we're House neighbors. Actually, my first session, I can't remember it was the first session, we were neighbors on the hall in our offices in the Capitol.
00:28:33
Speaker
So Gina and I are pretty close. and And she asked, she said, I'm thinking about running for governor, would you endorse me if I announce? I'm like, oh, hell yeah. You bet. Love it.
00:28:45
Speaker
Go for it. She's running her campaign out of Brownsville. cheki yeah Yes. So for those that don't know, Brownsville is South Texas, close to the border.
00:28:56
Speaker
And Gina, you know, she's been posting about how every campaign stop, she runs into people that she's blood related to. so I love that. Well, can you, I mean, talking about geography, you're our first guest from the Houston area.
Houston's Role in Flipping Texas
00:29:13
Speaker
Can you give us a sense of, if you can, like, what is, what are politics like down there? Because we just, as we were talking about our recent episode that we had released about precinct chairs. Like Harris County is number two in ah the state just behind ah Austin in number of precinct chairs. It's also really,
00:29:33
Speaker
huge. It's so large. And it just seems like it's the area. If we're going to flip, we really have to turn out voters in that area. So like, what's it like down there? It's true.
00:29:44
Speaker
We do need voters to turn out Harris County is like 4.6, 4.7 million people. Yeah. seven million people I wouldn't say it's deeply, deeply blue, but in 2018, when we were having that wave, it was it went from being a slim Republican majority to Democrat plus nine points.
00:30:07
Speaker
And so all of our countywide... a Elections were won by Democrats around 8, 9, 10 points. And so we had a historic election of the county judge, which is the county executive. You know, we elected first Democrat in Lord knows how long and beat a popular. know Yeah. Hidalgo beat Ed Emmett, who was a very popular incumbent, mild, mild mannered Republican, you know, really a moderate.
00:30:37
Speaker
and And especially by today's standards. Right now, I mean, it's a mix. So there's a lot going on. We're going to have an open seat race for that a county judge, the county executive position, because Lena's not returning. So that's an interesting race. The big deals out here are Congressional 18, where the Sheila Jackson Lee and then Sylvester Turner both perished in office in successive administrations. And The people of Congressional 18 have been without congressional representation for something like two two years.
00:31:10
Speaker
By the end of all this, if you piece together all the parts between Sheila passing away and the new um representative being installed, it'll be close to three years without representation for those people. So it something else we can be mad at our governor about. but but My understanding is both of the contenders in that runoff are fairly young, right?
00:31:33
Speaker
They are. It's Amanda Edwards and Christian Menifee. And they're both great. Like, yeah I endorse Christian. We have a close personal relationship. But the truth is, they're both great. Either one would do a fine job in that role.
00:31:45
Speaker
Christian Menifee is our county attorney who has made a living these last few years of suing Greg Abbott and suing the Trump administration and winning the majority of those suits. Yeah. Amanda Edwards was city council at large. So representing the entire city of Houston to two and a half, roughly million constituents. And so both of them are, both of are young and ambitious and smart and driven and, and will serve their constituents well. So that's hottest race on the ticket. They are 37 43 respectively, dear listeners.
00:32:24
Speaker
Okay. Get excited to have some some younger representation in Congress. i mean Yeah. So I took the lesson when i decided i was um considering moving on. actually been in conversations for a number of years with my former chief of staff, Osipogaru, who's 30-something. He's 32, 33.
00:32:45
Speaker
Actually, he and my son are almost exactly the same age, like down less than a month apart. So Otis is running for the district 135 seat, in of course, the native son the district. But at this point, we need to recognize Democrats aging in office have to have a succession plan.
00:33:03
Speaker
it's and And we need to do like, you know, i don't want to put it like this, but we need to emulate those formulas that that work.
00:33:14
Speaker
And while, um you know, Republican Party has policies that are horrible, they have machinery and political practices that have been effective.
00:33:26
Speaker
And so but the the blue, a big piece of what I thought predicated our blue wave in 2018 was indivisible. And the mapping of So Indivisible was a movement that identified the techniques that were used by the Tea Party back in 2010, around that time, to exert outsized political influence for a small group.
00:33:51
Speaker
And they mapped those techniques to, you know, more liberal, sensible ideas. And that was... a large part of what I employed to win in 2018. So we can emulate the technique while still governing responsibly, and that's what we should be doing
Engaging and Educating Young Voters
00:34:08
Speaker
politically. So that means developing our bench, encouraging young people to run for office and be in those roles that that develop their acumen and their ability to campaign and stuff, because it's, you know, I'm telling you as old
00:34:23
Speaker
It's oil field trash. It's an old oil field engineer. It's a learned art. Like people ask me, oh, how did you win in 2018? And the real answer to that is I worked with people that knew what they were actually doing. And I took their advice and did those things.
00:34:39
Speaker
Yeah. It's hard campaigning, especially when you go from a career of not having done it and not raising money. And I'm sure an engineer, you're like, how do I even how do I even begin? um But you alluded to it earlier that you believe that with more people in the Republican race, It might be good for yours. So how how do you perceive that, especially as we gear up for the general, which, gosh, I mean, i know we're all thinking about the primary, but really, I mean, that's the end goal. We're we're kind of a long-term strategy podcast.
00:35:12
Speaker
Oh, good. Good, good, good. So we need to be using this time in the primary area. to build the war chests and connect to our base. So if people are not already fired up about what's happening, you know, like in my case, I'll be talking about their high electric bills and reminding people of how they felt when the power went off and it was sub freezing temperatures outside.
00:35:37
Speaker
We also... it we need to be amplifying a message, um, that is simple and powerful and something that we can all unify behind. So a perfect example of that is talking about affordability and how, um, everybody is struggling and no matter what the administration or the Republicans in the state say about how great our economy is, people here are suffering and having difficulty losing their houses and their apartments. And,
00:36:07
Speaker
And having to make decisions between buying life-saving medications and feeding their families and like should not be that way in the second richest state in the wealthiest country in the history of this planet.
00:36:21
Speaker
Right? So just talking about affordability, you know, and and harping on it over and over again and having everybody in concert working together from the top of the ticket down and from the bottom of the ticket up. and The dynamic there is so important that your statewide candidates hopefully can coordinate together. It's something Democrats have not typically done well in the past.
00:36:46
Speaker
If it's a bunch of house reps at the top of the ticket, I promise we've already learned how to work. I know. you ah we haven't talked about this, but the you, corn breaking. I mean, you were part of two, right? And you guys all flew up to Chicago or wherever else together. I imagine that creates some some good relationships, especially for all of y'all that are on the, hopefully the top of the ticket.
00:37:07
Speaker
ah That's right. So those of us at the top of the ticket have now been through two quorum breaks together. i i was the vice chair of the redistricting committee this session. So I was right in the middle of it. I helped to organize this quorum break along with a shout out to our House Democratic Caucus Chairman, Gene Wu, who has just been amazing.
00:37:27
Speaker
you know We won't have on. ah so he said he would. He he promised. So we're going to have him on too. yeah You know, and one of the things that this quorum break was so effective about, we were just talking about messaging.
Texas Democratic Party's Comprehensive Strategy
00:37:39
Speaker
We were on message and we all did it together and we literally won the cycle.
00:37:45
Speaker
And because of that, California cat ah passed, developed and passed a proposition to negate the Texas redistricting. So not only are they going to pick up five seats in California, I promise Republicans are not going to win all those five seats. Not this time.
00:38:03
Speaker
They're not in Texas, yeah like the backlash that we're seeing now. But talking about how the top of the ticket can coordinate together and how we already know what we are, how to win and how to win together is going to be crucial. But also let's shout out to the Texas Democratic Party and people who on them all day long. They have fielded, they have helped to make sure we have a democratic candidate in every legislative seat all the way down the ticket all the way across the state and the importance of that even in districts that are so deep red even in a blue wave they're not going to flip we understand that you need local people all over helping to organize and get out the vote you know uh democrats have been accused of abandoning rural areas and and
00:38:52
Speaker
that There's certainly, that's been a problem in the past. I will go there because there's oil and gas and agriculture and those two things are very connected to the race I'm in.
00:39:03
Speaker
But having candidates who know the ground and the area where they're at, I promise nobody knows neighborhoods of this district like me and now Otis Evergaru who literally grew up here and has been in politics longer than me, even though he's very young. Yeah.
00:39:19
Speaker
And and the the fact that we have someone in every single spot, that hasn't happened since 1994. And if you were paying attention earlier, dear listener, that was the last time we won a statewide election.
00:39:31
Speaker
Yes. Coincidence? Yeah. Correlation? What they're seeing is there are no coincidences in Austin, right? Well, I think that gets into a new segment that we'd like to introduce to this podcast, which is a good news story from each of us. And that is an incredible good news story that has come out of the TDP. And we have to give our hats off to our friend, ah Kendall Scudder, who's the chair and our first guest on this
Personal and Political Achievements
00:40:00
Speaker
podcast. So,
00:40:01
Speaker
ah But John, any personal, professional, political good news that you want to share for, because I think everyone needs hope. We all need positivity here in the new year, gearing up for this election. What's some some good news?
00:40:13
Speaker
I have all kinds of good news. So for me personally, I had a small triumph last weekend. I learned to make pasta at home and I mean homemade pasta. Yes. i love it the first the first patch was very encouraging and actually i have i'm now going to make pasta from scratch today uh for my mother-in-law and my kids are coming over later this afternoon and we'll cook a dinner homemade pasta so that'll be fun but uh are we talking like fettuccine spaghetti ravioli like what are we what are we talking about here
00:40:46
Speaker
Today is going to be fettuccine and it's going to be egg based with extra fine wheat flour. So let's see how that. ah say i took a I took a pasta making class at ah at North Park Mall here in Dallas has a place called Eataly.
00:41:04
Speaker
maybe it may have heard of this place. yeah three Three layers of different Italian food and shopping and restaurants and things. They had a special class you could take and All of that information has now left my brain. So kudos to you is still still making pasta. Did you say North Park Mall?
00:41:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, in Dallas. um My husband and I like to make pasta as well. So we, for my birthday this year, only a month ago, we made pasta for a bunch of friends and it was an egg based pasta. We made fettuccine because it's quite, ah you know, it's really good to make. And honestly, we only added like a little bit of butter and like sage and Parmesan and it was so good. It just tasting like the fresh pasta. Hats off to you chefs. I'm a Costco pasta kind of guy. but But there's there's actually more good news. I've had a personal triumph over the last ah year and a half that's much more serious than that. And I was ah experiencing some fairly dramatic health issues um that have been addressed through diet and exercise. And so I sit here today. I'm down 50 pounds from a year and a half ago. Oh, way go. Blood pressure is normal for the first time since I got elected. yeah but
00:42:15
Speaker
Literally had to start going on blood pressure medication. My first session, my first term, uh, even more important, my cholesterol has, uh, has gotten much healthier and the doctor actually cut my cholesterol management medication in half.
00:42:31
Speaker
And, uh, I'm in fight and ready shape for this campaign. So fighting John Rosenthal coming to town near you. Actually, my colleagues call me Rowdy Rosenthal cause I so I swear a lot. And I got in the face of a bully freshman term and,
00:42:45
Speaker
and in front of a whole group of people that probably I should have thought better of. But now they call me Rousley Rutt. And I was like, the dude's really much bigger than me.
00:42:56
Speaker
Before we get over to our good news, I want to know, what was your your exercise regimen? What what do you like to do? So, people don't know, I was a gymnast at the University of Texas at Austin back in the 80s. No way! Okay. my exercise regimen has been developed over years, but The key to it for me is to learn to exercise like an old dude and not break things. And so my wife will say, oh, did you have a good workout today? And I'll say any workout where I perform all the exercises and don't injure myself, and that's a good workout. Injuries are brutal. I do. I lift weights on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I do some cardio on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And that's the deal.
00:43:37
Speaker
Nice. Alex, what's your good news? Good news. I love that we're going to do this segment. I feel like we got to get into the habit of spreading the good news. Some good news that you just you can't help but share.
00:43:48
Speaker
My good news. I want to keep it simple for now and just say that my son turned 15 months old ah on on the first on at the beginning of the New Year's Day. um And he is you walking.
00:44:04
Speaker
He is walking everywhere and it happens suddenly. And he is, he'll be, he'll be block walking with me in no time. I'm just saying. Hey, knock those doors. Yep. Yeah. I've been telling everybody about it. ah He'll be walking around with me in a restaurant or something. And people will just like be completely confused as to what's happening. I'm like, look, it's his first, like he's excited. You know, this is a big deal. He's going to like seeing things over and over again. It's great. Yeah.
00:44:33
Speaker
Well, the door, I can tell you statistically, the door answer rate when you're block walking is dramatically higher if you're holding a very small child. Yep. Because they see it in the ring camera, there are people that just want to say hello to the baby. so That's right. Yeah.
00:44:48
Speaker
Well, that's I mean, that's so funny, because I when I ran for office, I had a one year old and she went with me everywhere. I was block walking with like my stroller. And that was exactly right. Like I would just like be like, hi, and then they want to know, like, do I need anything? I'm like, Nope, I just need your vote. I would love to talk to you about this. um ah But I guess my good news is also that we survived 2025. And we are now in a new year. I'm really proud of us. Like I can't believe ah Just looking back on want all the things that happened last year personally and with politics and one of those being that we started this podcast. So i can't believe that that's now happened and we are well underway. So we're really, I'm really proud of that. um
00:45:30
Speaker
So that is our good news. Okay, we're going to wrap up and we'll give you with our last question, John. We're going to ask every guest, what is the last word for you on what it's going to take to
Beyond Voting: Ensuring Democratic Wins
00:45:42
Speaker
flip this state. Are we going to do it? How are we going do it?
00:45:45
Speaker
Also, please, before you go, let us know how we can support you and follow you. So what's the last word? Because we're seeing competing views about what it will take.
00:45:55
Speaker
ah Is it a base turnout? Is it appealing to moderate you know Republicans? and And I'm going to say, while I am very hopeful and even optimistic about the possibility of winning a statewide race by a Democrat,
00:46:11
Speaker
There's not one formula that I can say is the thing that works. The test will be what actually happens. And I want to clarify that different races will have different dynamics around them. The person running for governor or lieutenant governor will have a different dynamic occurring than the person running for senator or the person running for railroad commission or agriculture commission. It's So the formula for me might be different than the formula for James Tallarico or Jasmine Crockett, who incidentally both have endorsed my campaign. So I'm not saying anything bad about either one of them, but, um, what it's going to take is a huge effort and it's going to take everybody on board. Cause that's how we win, no matter what the races or the dynamic.
00:47:01
Speaker
Folks need to be engaged and bring people in with them. This is a cycle where it's not enough to just vote. you You people out there listening to this podcast, if all you're doing is voting in this election, you're helping Republicans win. You need to bring people with you, contact them, help spread the word of all these races. And spread the word about my race Go to johnrosenthaltx.com. You can find me on social media. It's J-O-N underscore Rosenthal TX. It actually comes up on all the searches.
00:47:34
Speaker
Find the race and help spread the word about the Railroad Commission having nothing to do with choo-choo trains and everything to do with keeping your power on and your electric and power rates low.
00:47:45
Speaker
So that those are going to be my my last words on that. Thank you so much. my ah My daughter has now joined the podcast. ah So it's our time. Thank you so much, John, for having us. And we will sign off. see you all next week and God bless Texas.
00:48:04
Speaker
You can follow us on all socials at Mission Texas Podcast. Email us at missiontexaspodcast.gmail.com. This episode is edited by Juan Jose Flores.
00:48:16
Speaker
Our music bumper is by Adam Pickerel. And our cover art is by Tino So.
00:48:22
Speaker
you