Lloyd Oliver Is Just The Harris County District Attorney Candidate That The Democratic Primary Electorate That Voted Him Merits —Two Lousy Candidates For An Important Office

Democratic Harris County District Attorney nominee Lloyd Oliver is not qualified for the office he is seeking.

(Above–A display of support for Mr. Oliver in a Downtown Houston window front.)  

A recent Houston Press article details many reasons why Mr. Oliver is not qualified.

From The Press—

“I got some skeletons in the closet,” he (Oliver) said. “And some of them got some meat on ’em.” Beyond the barratry charge involving Perry Mason — which he was nearly indicted for twice — the State Bar of Texas suspended his law license for 11 months in the mid-1980s. Lloyd, with another lawyer, had apparently hoodwinked a woman “with limited education” out of 26 acres and then committed perjury during the fallout, according to a state District Court decision. In strangeness only befitting Lloyd, he’d told prosecutors he barely knew Brenda Oliver, who’d helped him in the ruse, though, in fact, she’d once been his wife, as well as the mother of his child.”

There has been a lot of angst about Mr. Oliver’s nomination. The Harris County Democratic Party even tried to get him kicked off the November ballot.

But the thing is that Mr. Oliver was on the primary ballot against a mainstream Democrat who likely would have run a well-funded campaign, and for whatever reasons the Democratic primary electorate supported Mr. Oliver.

The facts were out there about Mr. Oliver, and the primary electorate–supposedly involving a more informed voter—chose him anyway.

Life is really short and I’m tired of making excuses for base voters who get can’t get it right, or for a local Democratic Party that seemingly can’t get a message out to voters and that thinks it is okay to try to overturn what voters have done in a fair ballot.

Harris County is a majority-minority county with plenty of progressive white voters. If we can’t make it work when big issues are on the line then we get what we deserve.

The same can be said for Democratic primary voters in Fort Bend county who—for a second time—backed a woman named Kesha Rogers for the U.S. Congress who supports impeaching President Obama.

I’m not voting for Mr. Oliver or for his far-right Republican opponent Mike Anderson.

But the truth is that for many reasons we have District Attorney candidates we merit in Harris County.

We have what you get when the  public fails to meet the basic responsibilities of knowing the candidates or caring about the administration of justice.

As much as I believe that luck and circumstance play a big part in life, we must realize that the work of a decent society is up to each of us.

Texas Democratic Primary Is May 29—Kirkland And Fertitta Lack Credible Opponents In Two Harris County Races

The Texas Democratic primary will be held this month.

Primary Day is Tuesday, May 29. Early voting runs May 14-May 25.

The time by which you must register to vote to take part in the primary is already past.

Who may vote in this primary?

Any registered Texas voter may vote in the Democratic primary with the exception of those who have signed a ballot access petition for a Green or a Republican in 2012.

Here are some additional facts about the primary from The League of Women Voters of the Houston Area.

There are contested Democratic primaries in Harris County, and for all Texas on the upcoming ballot.

I have written about one of these contested primaries so far on the blog.

Highly-rated incumbent Harris County judge Steven Kirkland has a primary opponent for no other reason than that Judge Kirkland is gay.

Another easy race to call is the primary for the Democratic nomination for Harris County District Attorney.

Lyold Oliver has run for office a number of times before in Harris County as a Republican. He has also voted in Republican primaries.

Zack Fertitta is the only credible candidate on the Democratic ballot for DA.

Fellow Houston and Texas blogger Charles Kuffner has the best rundown of the Democratic candidates here in Harris County, and about other contested Texas primary fights as well. 

You might feel that the two-party system is broken and in the hands of the rich.

You might be torn over the fact that while there are clear differences in many respects between the two major parties, that it is also so both parties ignore the poor, and are both leading us to a police state in which the super-wealthy call all the shots.

Fellow Houston and Texas blogger Perry Dorrell has written about the Green Party slate in Harris County and in Texas at his great blog Brains & Eggs.

I will be voting in the Democratic primary.

I guess that is what I should do. It’s what I have done before.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be endorsing candidates in other contested Democratic races.

Maybe I’ll even find a real liberal someplace along the way.