elections – Page 2 – Carol A. Spencer

Desperation

Candidates go negative when they think they’re losing. It never fails. They twist facts, publish half-truths, all to make their opponent look like the devil himself (or herself). Instead of explaining to voters why they themselves are best for the job they seek, they want voters to think the worst of their opponent.

I’ve been involved in campaigns since 1987. I’ve run 13 of my own campaigns and lost only one. I’ve been the target of some pretty nasty opposition. So, I know what I’m talking about here.

1995 Primary Flyer This is a mailer sent town-wide by my opponent for mayor in 1995. These four statements are carefully worded to manipulate the voter. Note the use of bright red and “X” next to each one. Add in the scowling photo (taken when council members were joking around one day) and you’ve got a pretty negative piece.

No, we didn’t vote to raise people’s taxes 27%. We voted for budgets that had increased revenue due to increased development. That huge condo development? It was ordered by the Supreme Court after nearly 10 years of fighting against it. I was treasurer of a citizens group that led that fight.

FYI: Voters saw through this and elected me mayor by a 3:1 margin.

This is negative campaigning. No references. No ordinance numbers. No citations. Just twisted statements to manipulate voters.

You’ve likely received more than a few examples of this with the numerous mailers attacking Tom Glass. They are from Stan Gerdes and the special interest PACs supporting him.

Same story in each one.

Gerdes negative mailer You’re supposed to believe that anyone who runs against an incumbent, Governor Abbott in this case, risks “handing [that office] to liberal Democrats”. Is Stan against giving you a choice in a primary? Sure sounds like it.

You’re supposed to believe that the thousands of dollars contributed to Tom Glass are forced. What do campaign contributions have to do with the job of TX House member anyway? Nothing. So why is he raising the issue?

You’re supposed to believe that Tom’s a neo-Nazi because of donations from an unnamed PAC. Why not name the PAC? Likely Stan’s concerned about a lawsuit.

On the other side of the coin, you read that “Stan passed”, “Stan banned”, “Stan stopped”. No, Stan did not do any of those things. Stan voted along with many other TX House members. Sharia Law has not been banned. Islamic developments have not been stopped.

There are those who think that making others look bad makes them look good. That’s exactly what negative campaigners hope to do. They know you won’t take the time to research their statements. They “walk the fence without falling off”, stating things in such a way that they’ll pass legal muster, but they’ll also manipulate people into voting for them. They pay a lot of money to campaign consultants to do just that.

As I’ve said before: beware campaign literature. Most especially, beware negative campaign literature. In fact, just throw it in the trash. It’s worthless to your vote decision-making.

Your Vote is Yours, not Theirs

Two years ago, I wrote a column on candidates citing their endorsements.

This year, let’s discuss the entities who make endorsements. What’s the value of those? Well, it depends.

Did the organization interview all candidates for an office?

If not, did the organization indicate that they did not?

Did the organization send a questionnaire to all candidates?

If not, did the organization state that they did not?

Did the organization provide an explanation for their choices?

We’re going to use the email sent out from Bastrop County Conservatives with their list of endorsements as an example. The BCC website states:

Process

A BCC committee sources, identifies and meets with potential candidates for office and meets with declared candidates in order to consider them for support and endorsement by BCC. Our Leadership Team then votes to determine which candidates BCC will endorse.

Did the organization interview all “declared candidates” for an office?
BCC did not interview all “declared candidates”. If the organization didn’t interview all candidates for an office, they can’t possibly know which candidate most closely aligns with their values.

If they did not interview all “declared candidates”, did they indicate that they did not?
BCC did not indicate that they failed to interview all “declared candidates”. A simple statement under the endorsement like “We did not (or ‘We were unable to’) interview candidate A or candidate B” helps lend credibility to the endorsement.

Candidates for Texas Attorney General, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Bastrop County Judge, Bastrop County Precinct Chair 1004 (and possibly other races) were not interviewed or even contacted.

The list below doesn’t say that so how would voters know?

Did the organization send a questionnaire to all candidates?
BCC did not send a questionnaire. Another PAC invites all candidates for an interview. If a candidate doesn’t respond, oh well. The candidate had a chance and didn’t take it. If the candidate is non-responsive, they can’t expect an endorsement. That’s fair. Just ignoring candidates for an office, then endorsing some alleged favorite, is of no value to voters.

If they did not send a questionnaire to all “declared candidates”, did they state that they did not?
There is no statement indicating whether all candidates were interviewed or sent a questionnaire. The “process” BCC describes on their website leads the voter to believe that all “declared candidates” were interviewed. But they were not.

Did the organization provide an explanation for their choices?
BCC provides no explanation of how it decided who to endorse. There is not one sentence that explains what about a particular candidate caused them to endorse that candidate.

What good, then, are these endorsements?
None. Personally, I think voters need to know why a candidate was chosen for endorsement, what makes that person more fit for the job than any of the other candidates.

BCC (and any other PAC that provides a list without explanation) thinks GOP voters are lemmings and should just vote for whomever BCC endorses.

The conclusion of my April 22, 2024 blog post bears repeating:

Never be a lemming. Just because this group or that says “vote for our list of candidates” or worse yet, “take our list to the polls with you”, that’s not what you should do in a primary, runoff, or uniform (May non-partisan) election.

Expect information. Better yet, demand information or refuse to be a lemming. Your vote is yours, not theirs.

Come on, Candidates

Campaigning = Communicating

I don’t care if you’re a local candidate representing a county or portion thereof. I don’t care if you don’t have an opponent (yet). I don’t care if you’ve raised money or not. Have a website. Have the courtesy to communicate in some detail why you are running and what you hope to accomplish.

Facebook is not a website. Twitter is not a website. Instagram and TikTok are not websites. They are social media channels demanding short, visual posts.

The use of social media channels varies by age group. Who do you want to reach? Want to reach those aged 18 to 29? According to Pew Research, you should be posting on Instagram: “eight-in-ten adults ages 18 to 29 say they use Instagram”. Nearly every age group uses YouTube. Pew Research continues, “About half of U.S. adults go on Facebook and YouTube daily, 24% do so on TikTok.”

That means about half of U.S. adults do not go on Facebook. If a candidate is only on Facebook and not on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok, that candidate is not connecting with potentially 50% of voters.

YouTube and TikTok are video platforms. Short, 30 second to 1-minute videos work well. Instagram requires a photo or video to post. Every channel demands short posts.

So how can a candidate connect with the details they want to share with voters: a platform, a page for donations, a place for email signups, an appearance calendar?

A website, of course. And, in every social post, include a link to that website. Keep the domain name as relevant and short as possible. It should be in the bio / profile of each social channel so visitors can link to it.

For years, I’ve taught government officials that people want posts coming to where they live online. They’re not coming to look for you. You must go to them. And once you connect on a social channel, lead them to more detail on a website.

And please, please, please test the website and all its links on Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari at a minimum. Desktop percentages of use are:

Desktop Browser Market Share in United States Of America – October 2025
Chrome	71.25%
Edge	10.39%
Safari	8.64%
Firefox	5.23%

And, test it for mobile use (which is likely at least 50% of web visitors). In fact, if you can, design mobile-first. Mobile percentages of use are:

Mobile Browser Market Share in United States Of America – October 2025
Safari	49.4%
Chrome	42.26%
Samsung Internet	3.38%
Brave	1.51%
Firefox	1.44%

Stats courtesy Statcounter Global Stats

This country is blessed to have elections for those who represent us. A representative republic demands an informed constituency. Candidates should have the common courtesy to inform those they expect to vote for them. A website is a necessity. It should be created before a candidate files to run. It’s the least a candidate can do to build support.

This blog post was written after looking up the websites for all state-wide and local candidates who have filed to run in the Texas GOP primary on March 3, 2026. That list will be published on LostPinesRW.club for voters to access and learn about candidates.

Follow the Money

Money - US bills It’s that time again. Candidates must file to run in the March 2026 primary no later than December 8. As I’ve written before, where candidates get their campaign funds will tell voters a lot about a candidate’s loyalties should they get elected.

Look for out-of-state donors, lobbyists, other candidates, Political Action Committees (PACs), leadership (like TX House speaker, Washington leadership PACs).

A “How-to” Guide

From the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) website:

Filers who run for and/or hold statewide offices and multi-county offices that may include Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, Railroad Commissioner, Land Commissioner, Agriculture Commissioner, State Chair of political party, Texas Senate, Texas House of Representatives, Multi-county District Attorney, State Board of Education, Supreme Court Justice, Court of Appeals Justice, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge, and district judges must file with the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC). (emphasis added)

These candidates file their financial reports with the Texas Ethics Commission on a schedule set by law.

Filers who run for and/or hold local offices, before they can raise or expend any money, must “file a campaign treasurer appointment, even if the candidate does not intend to raise or spend money. [They] are permitted to appoint [themselves] as [their] treasurer.” If they have run before and not filed a final report, they do not have to re-file another appointment of a campaign treasurer form.

Just by following the money, you’ll be able to tell which are the people’s candidates and which are the establishment, donor class candidates. Happy searching & learning!

Where to find data

TEC: Search a candidate filing

TEC: Search for a donor (screen shot)

BastropVotes: Search local candidates (click > next to a candidate name for a dropdown list of filings)

FEC (Federal Election Commission): US Senate, US House of Representatives, President, Vice President

OpenSecrets.org (contributions over $200)

List of all candidates who have filed to run in the March 2026 Primary (filter by party, federal, state, or county offices)

Election Integrity: Highest Priority

For many elections, I have served as presiding judge of the Early Voting Ballot Board, Signature Verification Committee and Central Count. This position is critical to the validity of our elections. (These committees are described below.)

I filed to run for Republican Precinct Chair in my precinct, 1008. A few weeks later, so did someone else. That made it a contested race. Contested candidates cannot serve as the presiding judge of these committees. So, I had a choice: continue to serve as presiding judge or run for precinct chair.

I chose election integrity and serving as presiding judge.

Below is the letter I sent to Justin Bezner, Bastrop County GOP Chair. I have withdrawn my name from the ballot. As I said in my letter, there are many ways to serve the Republican Party. I’ll continue my involvement through the Lost Pines Republican Women, the Bastrop County GOP Club, and when called upon, through the BCRP.

What’s the “Early Voting Ballot Board” and “Signature Verification Committee”? What’s “Central Count”?

These are two groups, made up of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, that are critical to ensuring election integrity.

Early Voting Ballot Board
An early voting ballot board (EVBB) shall be created in each election to process early voting results from the territory served by the early voting clerk. No matter what type of election an entity is having, they must have an early voting ballot board.

In Bastrop County, the EVBB also typically serves as the Signature Verification Committee, ensuring that a ballot signature matches the application. This is a critical function for election integrity.

Central Counting Station
A central counting station (“CCS”) is the place on election night where ballots are counted, vote totals are accumulated, precinct returns are completed and the unofficial elections results are generated.

Running for Precinct Chair

Ready to Serve Republicans in Precinct 1008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2025
Contact: Carol A. Spencer
RepublicanCarol@gmail.com

Carol A. Spencer Republican Carol Spencer has filed for a place on the ballot in the March 2026 primary to serve as Precinct Chair in Bastrop County (TX) Precinct 1008. Spencer is currently president of the Bastrop County GOP Club. She served as a Bastrop County precinct chair from 2018 – 2022. She is a founder and past-president of the Lost Pines Republican Women. And in 2023, she was named a Texas Federation of Republican Women “Ten Outstanding”, representing the best of the best Texas Republican women.

Believing strongly in the necessity of communicating with the grassroots, Spencer started a newsletter for her precinct and later continued that communications via RepublicanCarol.org. She spearheaded a joint project, The Bastrop County Voters Guide, with the Republican Party. This guide is mailed head-of-household to all Republican households in Bastrop County. This guide contributed to Republican sweeps in each of the last two election cycles.

“Conservative values, Texas values, are the core of my political positions. I’ve brought those core values to everything I’ve done. I’ve worked hard for 35+ years for open government, smaller government, lower taxes, and operational efficiency”, Spencer stated. “My record is solid and with the votes of Republicans in Precinct 1008, I’ll continue those efforts on their behalf.”

Currently serving as Presiding Judge of the Early Voting Ballot Board (EVBB) and Central Count, Spencer is dedicated to ensuring election integrity in Bastrop County. She’s held this position for numerous elections, overseeing mail-in ballot and result count accuracy.

Spencer, a web designer by profession, created her RepublicanCarol.org blog. She designed and manages content for the websites of the Lost Pines Republican Women and the Bastrop County GOP Club. She previously authored the Bastrop County Republican Party website.

Spencer will appear on the ballots of those in Precinct 1008 in the March 3, 2026 Republican primary.

Carol Spencer can be reached via email at RepublicanCarol@gmail.com, on X (formerly Twitter) as @RepublicanCarol, on Gettr as ChazTX, on Facebook at FB.com/RepublicanCarol.

It’s baaaack… Gateway Zoning Returns

There was a long discussion on Nextdoor a while back about development in the City of Bastrop and this election. NO, some shouted. It isn’t about the Gateway development. That’s over. Some of that land is up for sale, they said, so it won’t come back.

Caution, I said. Rezoning is afoot and zoning goes with the land, not the owner. The last application was a request for a zone change. I warned the City was moving too fast with zone changes and the public really didn’t understand them. I also warned about the City Council appointing developer and ethically-challenged former City Council member Jimmy Crouch to Planning & Zoning. I warned about stacking that Commission with developer friendly, Council buddies.

Now this article, from Thursday night’s P&Z meeting, by the Independent Texans PAC.
NOTE: I’ve refrained from suggesting who you should vote for since I don’t live in the City and I continue to do so. The title on this post is that of Independent Texans PAC, not mine. Article reprinted with permission to reprint in full from Independent Texans PAC.