Christian Nationalist Billionaires Want to Take Over Houston

Only Houstonians Can Stop Them

Houston, the city where I grew up, has plenty to be proud of. We embrace life: new foods, arts and culture, opportunities, leading universities and a world championship baseball team. Thanks to our legacy of entrepreneurship, the efforts of everyday Houstonians to make life a little better, and our proximity to the Port of Houston, we bring prosperity to the entire region and welcome those who are seeking a better life. 

But Houston’s right to self determination is under threat from extremists seeking to make Houstonians bend the knee to a cult-like ideology prescribed to by Ted Cruz’s father and some of the wealthiest and most sinister political donors in the country: Christian Nationalism.

Christian Nationalism isn’t new, nor is it unique to Houston; many of the traitors of January 6th were inspired by Christian Nationalist ideology. However, Christian Nationalists have specifically targeted Houston as their choice target in Texas. Because of our diversity, our culture of acceptance, support for public education, and willingness to embrace real history, Houstonians are ripe targets for those who wish to subjugate and colonize us under the Christian Nationalist banner.

Our own (dysfunctional, fundamentalist) Lieutenant Governor told CPAC that God wrote the Constitution. Every day during the 2023 legislative session, fundamentalist legislators suggested egregious and oppressive legislation: mandating the Ten Commandments in schools, allowing schools to replace counselors with chaplains, and hammering away at the rights of trans kids.

Yet the real danger comes not from the legislators, but from their funders. 

In 2022, Christian Nationalist oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks spent $100,000 to try to elect Alexandra Mealer, AKA MAGA Mealer, to the county judge’s seat. The Mealer campaign—a dog whistle brigade with well-documented ties to racists, religious fundamentalists, COVID deniers and even a guy who brought a firearm to a children’s reading event at the library—never spoke much about its ties to the oligarchs. 

Fortunately, Mealer was defeated by Judge Lina Hidalgo in spite of Mealer’s ties to Dunn, Wilks, and other enemies of working Houstonian families. Yet the fight isn’t over: despite dodging questions on the trail about whether she would accept the results of the election or if she believed Joe Biden rightfully won the presidential race, Mealer and 22 other Republicans are currently engaged in a lawsuit to usurp the election by casting doubt on the results when they have no grounds to do so. Should they win the case, Harris County may have to rerun an election for no reason other than a team of autocratic cry babies whining for a doover. Even if they lose the case, Mealer and Co. will run for office again and continue to perpetuate the lies upon which their cases are based.

As for the role of Dunn and Wilks, they’ve been funding like-minded flunkies for years and probably will be in the future as well. We can fully expect them to continue to fund candidates like Mealer and to write her another check when she decides to again support their quest to sink their claws into our city.

So what are Houstonians to do? 

The truth is that we must have a stiff spine and stand up against the State of Texas. We can spread the word about Christian Nationalism to our friends and neighbors by opening the conversation and sharing articles from the free and independent media that expose the Christian Nationalist threat. We can spread the word about influencers like Mendi Tackett, who take on Christian Nationalist fascists head-on.

We can also win elections and disrupt rightwing fundamentalism whenever possible. Several Houston area state rep races were close enough for grassroots activists to make a significant difference in the outcome.

Houstonians know Houston better and love Houston more than any outsider ever could, and any candidate funded by hostile forces must pay a price at the ballot that only grassroots Houstonians can deliver.

Gear up, Houston. The Christian Nationalists will be back. Only we can beat them and keep our city free.

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