Elections – Carol A. Spencer

Smithville Be Aware & Beware

If you live in Smithville, you will want to read this. I research candidates. I’ve written before about the importance of researching versus just voting by name, by the candidate-written campaign literature, or by the endorsement of another person or organization.

woman shocked by news on her phone Did you know that Bastrop County Conservatives has endorsed Wini Griffin for Smithville City Council? WHAT? Based on what research? The BCC emails and literature merely lists her name with no explanation.

Wini G LinkedIn WHY would an allegedly conservative organization endorse a woman whose LinkedIn has she/her pronouns and whose voting record is nearly non-existent? We’ll never know because they don’t tell you what questions the candidates were asked, who interviewed them, or why they chose who they chose. They just want you to blindly follow them like lemmings.

It doesn’t matter that this is called a “non-partisan” election. Every candidate brings with them their governing philosophy and their core values. What do the two candidates in this race bring to the table? Read on.

the Candidates’ voting records

Mitchell Jameson, a sitting City Councilman, is up for re-election. Jameson has a solid Republican voting record in Bastrop County. Red indicates he voted a Republican ballot in a primary or runoff. Blue is a Democrat ballot. See for yourself. (2026 primary records are not yet available from the GOP.)

Wini Griffin has an awful voting record. In fact, Griffin hasn’t voted since 2018. UPDATE: Griffin was registered to vote in Travis County (Austin) until January 2025. Voting records only show one vote there and that was in 2018. Once registered in Bastrop County, she voted in the GOP 2026 primary.

As of July 2024, she had no voter registration in Bastrop County. Her website claims she’s a 5th generation Smithville resident, I have voter reg lists from 2022-2024 and she’s not listed.

professional life

But voting record alone doesn’t tell the whole story. LinkedIn is a great first place to see what a candidate has done in their professional life that will benefit Smithville constituents.

Mitchell Jameson built an insurance business that now has multiple locations and “a seasoned staff of Insurance and Financial Services professionals”. He has lived in Smithville since 2013.

Wini Griffin lists 15 jobs in the last 11 years. Griffin describes herself as “a generalist, a Renaissance-type professional who thrives on new challenges, fresh environments, and opportunities to pour my best into something until the work is complete.” Study her LinkedIn timeline, not her candidate website. the number of jobs and nature of the work does not bode well for skills needed for a city council position.

And then there’s this

Digital research reveals more about Griffin. Here she is as one of 4 people who are converts to Islam, recorded 4 years ago.

Personally, I’m shocked that an organization claiming to be conservative would endorse this person for city council. I urge all Smithville voters to do your homework, ask questions, make an informed vote! Mine would be for Mitchell Jameson, hands down.

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.

Know Before You Go

There’s an election coming up on March5. Early voting starts February 20. How will you choose which candidates align with your beliefs?

Find your sample ballot.

You can do that on BastropVotes.org. Enter your last, first names and your birthdate. You’ll get this screen:

If you were to choose the Republican ballot, and IF you live in Precinct 1, you’d get this ballot. If you live in a different precinct or choose a Democrat ballot, your ballot will have different choices. Depending on your printer, choose “print to fit”, black & white printing, and print single sided (turn off duplex).

Sample Ballot 2024 Primary Page 2 — Sample Ballot PG 1

Sample Ballot 2024 Primary Page 1 — Sample Ballot PG 1

Go through the ballot and check off or circle those races where you already know who you’ll be voting for.

Did you know you can take the sample ballot into the polls with you? You can. Just don’t leave it behind after you vote.

I typically do not pay attention to a candidate’s materials. Many candidates hire political consultants who design their websites and mailings. They sometimes do polling to see what issues resonate with voters. Then they “wordsmith” every line and every sentence. It’s important to “watch what they do, not what they say”.

Follow the money.

County & Local Candidates

Case full of money The first thing I want to know about a candidate is who has donated to them.

County and local candidates file their finance reports with the County Elections Administrator. You can find them here: https://www.bastropvotes.org/elected-officials/campaign-finance-reports/ Candidates must report all donors over $110 from any one individual in the reporting period. You’ll get a pretty good idea of the source of their campaign funding.

Sometimes, though, candidates fail to file these reports. That’s a violation of law, totally refutes any comments they make about transparency (in my opinion).

The Texas Ethics Commission sets the required dates for finance reports: quarterly were due January 16, the 30-day prior were due February 5, and the 8-day prior are due February 26. ALL candidates must meet these filing deadlines.

State Candidates

State candidates file with the Texas Ethics Commission. Reports are public. Finding and viewing reports is a bit daunting at first, but doesn’t take long to get the hang of it. You use the simple search to find the candidate’s “filer id”. Once you have that, you can do an advanced search for all contributions for that “filer id” or candidate. You can download them as a spreadsheet and from there sort by donor. That will give you a very clear picture of whether a candidate is getting his/her money from out of state, from PACs, which PACs, or from individual donors.

Federal Candidates

Federal candidates are required to follow the rules set by the Federal Election Commission. They are different than state rules and have different filing deadlines. You can see a federal candidate’s donors by visiting the FEC Campaign Finance Data page online.

Generally…

Try OpenSecrets.org. This independent non-profit website will show you donations to state and federal candidates, or you can search by donor. The advanced search allows a more detailed “deep dive” into the data. OpenSecrets has launched a new lobbying data section. If you want to know who is influencing the elected officials that represent you, and those in leadership positions, spend some time looking around this website.

Money is important in politics. Races are expensive. But how much influence will large donors have over a candidate if elected? Once you know who the PACs are, do some research on the PAC. Who runs it? What are their goals? What other candidates receive money from them?

It takes some time, but isn’t your community, your state, your country worth it?