Neither have great fundraising numbers.

The Houston Chronicle has a good article on the two candidates running for Harris County Judge if you like the 30,000 ft level. Here are some more details. You can review campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates at https://ethics.harrisvotes.com/CampaignFinanceReports/COR.aspx. The amounts are not very impressive. In 2022 Alex Mealer spent about $10 Million in his losing effort against Lina Hidalgo. Abbott has pledged $20 Million to win seats in Harris County.

Orlando Sanchez
Sanchez raised $107,165, spent $141,418, and has a Cash on Hand balance of $32,527. He has an outstanding loan of $234,513. In this period he added a personal loan of $15,000 to this total but I cannot find any report going back 8 years where this $234,513 loan was reported. I can only assume it came from his own pocket and spent it along the way. In 2018 he ran for County Treasurer, spent most of this loan, and lost. He carries this balance to be able to be reimbursed at a later date. That usually happens after a candidate wins. They continue to fundraise, paying off their loan first. Of the $107,165 $75,000 came from the 9 individuals below.

Letitia Plummer
Plummer raised $145,881, spent $70,492, and has a Cash on Hand balance of $70,161. She has a personal loan of $45,000. Out of the $145,881 raised $75,000 came from 8 individuals/PACs below.

Bowen is the heir of the throne.

Former CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen, after being ousted from the Board, is now the republican nominee for State Representative of the Bay Area. In March he easily beat his Republican conservative, Robert Mitchell, even though Mitchell was a far better candidate. In that period Bowen financed his campaign with a $50,000 personal loan and major donations from out of district PACs. Bowen is the new PACMAN of the Bay Area. Bowen raised over $200,000 for his primary race but for the general election he has raised significantly less.

His mid year report filed on 7/15/2026 shows he raised only $12,000 with more than half coming from various out of district PACs. He also added $15,000 to his personal loan amount. He has only $16,000 cash on hand. For Bowen winning the primary was all he needed to win the general election. He probably thinks he is entitled to be the heir to the throne held by a Republican for over 30 years. He doesn’t need to raise money to earn the votes of those in the Bay Area, after all he is PACMAN and his devotion will be to Greg Abbott and his PAC buddies not to the citizens of the district.

Bowen is running against Albert Wittliff who is depending on donations from those in the community. Wittliff has met with the business community as well as voters in the district. If you listen to Albert speak on any issue affecting the community, insurance, electricity prices, education, vouchers, etc you will leave very impressed. Wittliff has applicable experience for the job. He is an excellent speaker. Bowen, on the other hand, is awkward, has a failed record of leadership on the CCISD Board, and stands out in a crowd like a duck doing the chicken dance.

There are a number of forums scheduled between the town where voters will see the difference between the two.

BTW. I donated to Wittliff. Take 4 minutes and watch a video of him speaking about his background.

Many believe he will not vote to fund an independent investigation of the ICE killing. I beg to differ.

According to Fox26 Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis seeks to fund an independent investigation into the murder of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE. It seems like all Commissioners are onboard except for Commissioner Tom Ramsey. He has been silent, as every Republican in the State. But Ramsey is a “Republican”conservative” and the only Republican on Harris County Commissioners Court. In the past if a member of a Federal agency shot and killed people in Harris County Conservatives would be yelling about “Jack booted thugs”. Unfortunately this is a new Republican Party and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was a Mexican. (Republicans don’t like Mexicans. Or Jews. Or Muslims, gays, teachers, etc etc) If Lorenzo was a Larry and had a boatload of guns Ramsey would jump on this investigation like Ken Paxton jumping the bones of his christian, married, mistress. (eww)

So will the real conservative vote to reign in ICE? Will he vote in favor of funding an independent investigation into the senseless shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo? Needless to say ICE investigating ICE is a non starter and a no brainer. Anytime someone is murdered in the County the County is in charge of the investigation NOT the agency responsible for the shooting.

But will Ramsey return to being a conservative with conservative values or will he stick his nose up Trump’s ass and vote no on funding an independent investigation?

Just one important thing.

There is little if anything I can agree on with Lindsey Graham. Even prior to Trump Graham wasn’t the best human being in the Senate. As someone said he was a political parasite much like some of the progressives always performing for a camera, always looking for attention, always looking for the sound bite. But unlike progressives Graham was successful in creating relationships on both sides of the aisle which in the end helped move legislation.

Don’t get me wrong. I think Graham was an incredible ass kissing, bottom feeding, coward. He will always be remembered as the Senator who made awful, truthful, comments about Trump calling him a kook, unfit for office, a coward. That was until Trump was elected in 2016 then Graham sewed his lips to Trump’s ass. He briefly took a breath after the Jan 6 riots then reattached himself voting against removing him from office. Graham will never get that stain off of his nose.

But as John McCain’s wife said on MSNOW shortly after his death, Graham forged relationships with members of both sides of the aisle, when it suit his needs. He created friendships that lasted even after insulting one another in a “respectful” manner. He created gatherings with other Senators and their spouses. He fought them every step of the way on legislation then arranged for dinner. It’s hard to make personal insults towards another knowing you will be eating at their table along with both families.

And that is what progressives could learn from Graham. (it’s the only thing) You can’t be the lightning rod of the party spewing insults and then expect the other side or even your side to work with you on significant legislation. It’s like kicking someone in the balls and then asking them to shake hands and be friends. That’s not how politics works. Ask Bernie Sanders who has worked for over 40 years on universal healthcare or single payer, or medicare for all, or whatever he calls it now. Ask the members of The Squad who has a horrible record of legislative accomplishments much like the extreme right of the Republican Party.

Progressives could learn one thing from Graham to help them make progress. If you can’t make progress you can’t call yourself a progressive.