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Houston Democracy Project Blog

Exchange About Democracy With Houston Republican Council Candidate Julian Ramirez

10/1/2023

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The 
Houston Democracy Project recently had a conversation at a community event with Republican At-Large #1 candidate Julian Ramirez.

Above is Mr. Ramirez with a Houstonian.  

Mr. Ramirez was courteous and continued the conversation after it was clear he and I had differing outlooks.

When I walked over to Mr. Ramirez, one of the first things said is he is endorsed by current Houston Councilmember Mike Knox.

I told Mr. Ramirez that Mr. Knox had testified before a Texas Senate committee about voters supposedly getting food and water in the voting line and how civic-minded election workers should be punished.      

I asked Mr. Ramirez if he had voted for Biden or Trump. I didn't expect him to answer and he did not. But on the other hand, wouldn't anyone take the chance to say they'd not voted for Trump?

(At-large #1 candidate, the same race as Mr. Ramirez, Conchita Reyes added democracy to her website after talking to the Houston Democracy Project.) 

Mr. Ramirez said city races are non-partisan. He might believe that and hope to serve all Houstonians.

At the same time, many Republicans do not treat Houston municipal elections as non-partisan. 

I asked Mr. Ramirez if he saw democracy as a matter of public safety. He seemed open to the concept. Democracy as a public safety is a central idea of the Houston Democracy Project.

And so on with a few other exchanges.

Mr. Ramirez said he had come close to winning a Harris County judgeship in 2022. He said he did not join the 21 election-redo lawsuits from sore-loser Harris County Republicans because the evidence was not there to make the case.        

I don't know Mr. Ramirez outside our ten minute exchange.  He might indeed be competent to help administer the city as a council member. It is good he stayed out of the phony election re-do lawsuits. But a bottom line remains that even if you are in your heart not on board with the anti-democratic Trump agenda as a Republican, you have an obligation to publicly distance yourself from it & to be working within the Party to affirm a commitment to democracy.   

It does not appear that Mr. Ramirez meets this standard.      

The Houston Democracy Project is working everyday to make democracy a top issue in 2023 Houston city politics & to help inspire, build and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

Please share word of the Project and please support the effort with your donation.  

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    Author

    I'm Neil Aquino

    ​I’m a rank & file Democrat, activist and Houstonian who wants to live in a free society.  I’ve volunteered extensively for Democratic candidates and causes, and served as paid staff for multiple Democratic campaigns. My work for Democratic campaigns has  involved communications and strategy. 


    I’m an organizer of the Weekly John Cornyn Houston Office Protest. The Cornyn Protest team has been outside Senator Cornyn’s office each Tuesday for well over six years now with one clear message: In addition to voting, we must show up physically and non-conventionally for the fights over democracy ahead. 
    ​

    ​I’m a member of the Southwest Democrats, Tejano Democrats and the Houston LGBTQIA Caucus. I have a political science degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati and ran a Cincinnati City Council office.  
     

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