Tag: texas

15 Democrats Arrested For Election Fraud

In rural South Texas, prosecutors have brought forward one of the most significant vote-harvesting cases in recent state history. 

On May 1, 2025, a Frio County grand jury indicted six people, including multiple public officials, on felony election-fraud charges. The indictments, secured after a two-year investigation led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, expose an organized ballot-harvesting operation that allegedly influenced multiple local races in a heavily Democrat region.

Among those charged were Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho, who faces three counts of vote harvesting; former Frio County Elections Administrator Carlos Segura, charged with tampering with physical evidence; Pearsall City Council members Ramiro Trevino and Racheal Garza; Pearsall ISD Trustee Adriann Ramirez, who is Camacho’s sister; and Rosa Rodriguez, identified as an alleged ballot harvester. 

State investigators say the scheme targeted elderly residents and those voting by mail, with ballots collected in violation of Texas election law. Under Texas’s 2021 election-integrity reforms, compensated ballot collection carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The arrests did not occur in isolation. In August 2024, Paxton’s Criminal Investigations Division executed search warrants in Frio, Bexar, and Atascosa counties, seizing evidence connected to what the Attorney General’s office described as an “illegal ballot-harvesting ring.” 

The warrants were the culmination of years of complaints from local residents who claimed political operatives were systematically collecting and manipulating mail-in ballots. Investigators believe the operation was linked to a political network that benefited multiple Democrat candidates in local races.

The investigation expanded in mid-2025. On June 30, 2025, a second grand jury returned indictments against nine additional individuals, bringing the total number of defendants to fifteen. Among the newly charged was former Texas House candidate Cecilia Castellano, a Democrat, as well as former Bexar County Democrat Party Chair Juan Manuel Medina. 

Other defendants include current and former city officials, school board members, and county commissioners across Frio County. The charges range from vote harvesting to tampering with government records, all tied to the same alleged coordinated ballot-collection network.

Court filings reviewed in the case describe how vote harvesters allegedly approached voters, particularly the elderly, under the pretext of offering assistance, then took possession of ballots before they were mailed. 

In some instances, investigators say, those involved exchanged cash or electronic payments via apps like Cash App to secure ballots or voter information. Under Texas law, offering or accepting compensation for ballot collection is a third-degree felony.

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‘I’d F*** Your Old Lady In The A**’: Liberal Mayor Berates Christian At LGBT Festival

A Texas mayor was caught on video using disturbing language berating a Christian preacher at a LGBT festival, video shows.

Jim Ross, the mayor of Arlington, Texas, targeted the preacher during a 2023 LGBT event. The shocking moments were captured by Vice, though Ross’s face is blurred and the footage has just now been uncovered by The Dallas Express.

Ross claims he’s a moderate, but routinely pushes race-based and gender-based initiatives and has promoted LGBT “pride.”

“I believe y’all can have free speech. But this is some hateful s*** and I am a heterosexual guy,” Ross says in the footage, speaking to preacher Ruben Israel, who has since passed away.

“You stand out here like you are a b*da** motherf***er,” the mayor continued. “You don’t think anal sex is good, do you? Have you ever f***ed your old lady in the a**? I’d f*** your old lady in the a**.”

Ross was not done, however. He called Israel a “p**** mother***er” and told him, “Shut your a**, shut your a**, you little piece of s***. You ought to talk s***, these people around here are having a good f***ing time.”

At the time of the confrontation, Ross was serving as mayor of Arlington, and currently holds the same position.

Tarrant County GOP Chairman Bo French said Ross needs to resign “immediately” over the conduct.

Tarrant County Republican Precinct Chair TK Campbell, also speaking to The Dallas Express, said Ross’s unprofessional behavior mirrors that of prominent Democrats, who’ve clung to cursing as an apparent political strategy.

“The now Mayor of Arlington’s vile, profanity-laced rant at the late Ruben Israel, a Christian street preacher, is a disgrace,” Campbell said. “Perhaps the mayor was stressed out because of not being able to pay his taxes of late, but his unprofessional conduct mirrors the worst of today’s cursing Democrats. Leadership demands better.”

Campbell’s comments regarding taxes seem to reference Ross recently having his wages garnished by the IRS. According to The Dallas Express, Ross owes $940.39 in penalties and interest and has an outstanding debt of about $175,000.

During his tenure as mayor, Ross has created advisory councils based on race, religion, and identity, including black, Asian, Latino, Muslim, and LGBTQ.

In 2023, Ross defended the forums during an NAACP event. “You have to have a black advisory council because, folks, black people are not the same. Did y’all know that?” he said, according to KERA News. “Latinos are not the same. Asians are not the same.”

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Blue-State Governors Harbor Texas Fugitives To Help Democrats Get Control Of Congress

The exodus of more than 50 Democrat members of the Texas House to block a quorum in Austin is bad enough. Even worse is how the Democrat Governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, has essentially promised them safe harbor, appearing with them at a press conference on Sunday while declaring, “we’re going to do everything we can to protect” them.

Control of the U.S. House for the second half of the Trump administration hangs in the balance, as the redistricting map to be voted on in Austin would give Republicans a good chance of winning five of the 13 Texas congressional seats they don’t currently hold. Illinois already gerrymandered its House maps to help Democrats win 14 out of its 17 seats, so it is hypocritical for them to claim unfairness in Texas.

Perhaps Illinois was chosen because its Democrat governor is reportedly helping the Texas Democrats “find lodging and meeting spaces.” During a recent press conference, Pritzker denied that he was writing them checks but said he was not against doing it.

Trump observed on Tuesday morning that “I got the highest vote in the history of Texas. And we are entitled to five more seats” in Congress from Texas. Ironically, Texas has an enormous congressional delegation of 38 seats. This is no doubt thanks in part to Democrats’ insistence on including illegal aliens in the census, used to allocate seats among the states. Multiple Democrat congressmen from Texas could lose their seats next year under the new redistricting plan.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a Sunday statement that the Democrat lawmakers’ “absences were premeditated for an illegitimate purpose.” He cited the state constitution, saying, “When the Governor calls a Special Session, our Constitution provides that the ‘Legislature shall meet.’”

He continued, stating, “Any Democrat who ‘solicits, accepts or agrees to accept’ … funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote may have violated bribery laws.” Abbott added that any person who “offers, confers, or agrees to confer” money to “fleeing Democrat House members” could also be charged with a crime.

In 2021, Democrat House members likewise fled Austin to frustrate a quorum and block passage of new voting integrity measures, including voter ID. That blockade lasted through the first and into the second special session. When three Houston Democrats returned, a quorum was established, and the bill passed. A court struck down portions of the bill, but on Monday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that its mail ballot ID number requirement easily complies with federal law.

In the Texas House, a quorum requires the presence of two-thirds, or 100, of the 150 representatives. The legislative session on Monday fell 10 votes short of a quorum, according to the Texas Tribune.

Civil arrest warrants were then ordered under Texas law because of the dereliction of duty by Democrats, but these warrants are only enforceable in Texas. The state governors could approve an extradition request, but the Democrat lawmakers all fled to states with Democrat governors.

Democrat Texas Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer said, “We recognized when we got on the plane that we’re in this for the long haul,” according to the Associated Press. Fellow Texas House Democrat Caucus Chair Gene Wu observed that he and his colleagues “will do whatever it takes.” Notably, Abbott filed an emergency petition with the Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday to remove Wu from office. According to the Texas Tribune, the justices gave Wu until the end of the day on Friday to respond, and this “test case … could eventually allow [Abott] to remove every member who left the state.” Wu called the move “meaningless” in an interview with NPR.

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Repeat Loser Beto O’Rourke Tells Texas Crowd Democrats Will Do Whatever it Takes to Regain Power: ‘F**k the Rules’ 

Beto O’Rourke spoke to a crowd in Texas this weekend and made it clear that Democrats will do whatever it takes to regain power, saying ‘f**k the rules.’

He claimed that Dems will redistrict blue states in response to what Texas is doing. Apparently, no one has told him that Democrats have nothing left to gerrymander because they have been doing this for years.

O’Rourke also said that when Democrats regain power, they will immediately grant amnesty to illegals. That’s rather telling, isn’t it?

CBS News covered the event:

Beto O’Rourke’s redistricting rally draws crowd in Fort Worth as Texas legal fight escalates

The fight over Texas redistricting is escalating – and Fort Worth became the latest flashpoint Saturday afternoon.

More than 200 people packed the Ridglea Theater for a rally led by former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

The event focused on the legal and political fallout surrounding Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block a Republican-backed redistricting plan. The Texas House failed to reach a quorum again on Friday, preventing lawmakers from voting on the new congressional maps, as GOP officials float ousting the absent Democrats from office or seeking civil arrests.

O’Rourke addressed the crowd and responded to a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. A state judge on Friday barred O’Rourke and his political action committee from financially supporting the Democratic legislators who left Texas.

“He thinks we’re going to take it right here,” O’Rourke said. “But he doesn’t understand – in Texas, our knees do not bend.”

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Corrupt Democrat Rep. Caught Taking Bribes

In 2013, U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife took a seemingly routine trip to Turkey and Azerbaijan, funded by an obscure Houston-based nonprofit. 

What followed, federal prosecutors now allege, was a years-long scheme involving foreign influence, money laundering, and one of the most serious indictments ever brought against a sitting member of Congress.

According to a federal indictment unsealed last week, Cuellar and his wife accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company, SOCAR, and Mexico’s Banco Azteca. 

Prosecutors allege that Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo, Texas, used his office to advance the interests of these entities in exchange for payments disguised as consulting fees to shell companies owned by his wife. 

The indictment accuses Cuellar of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government—a rare charge previously brought against Sen. Bob Menendez in 2023 for working on behalf of Egypt.

The Cuellars allegedly funneled money through front companies, spent it on luxury items such as a $12,000 gown and restaurant bills, and concealed the transactions through intermediaries. 

One of those intermediaries, Florencio “Lencho” Rendon, a longtime associate of Cuellar, has already pleaded guilty to money laundering. So has Colin Strother, Cuellar’s former chief of staff and campaign manager, who prosecutors say funneled monthly payments to Cuellar’s wife.

Prosecutors claim the payments began in 2014, shortly after Cuellar’s trip to Azerbaijan. In text messages and emails, Cuellar allegedly communicated directly with Elin Suleymanov, then Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the U.S., discussing contracts, payments, and legislation favorable to the country. 

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CONFIDENT COMMIES: Undercover Video Shows Socialists in Houston Planning to Intimidate ICE, Stop Immigration Enforcement, Posing as ‘Legal Advisors’

An intrepid reporter with the Texas Scorecard has obtained undercover video evidence of out-of-state socialists and far-left activists planning to intimidate ICE and stop immigration enforcement by posing as legal advisors.

In the video, the group uses militant language to clarify that they are at war with the Trump administration: “That’s where we think the real opportunity is, to get organized, because our enemy is really organized.”

The reporter who captured this video, Joseph Trimmer, exclusively told the Gateway Pundit: “Communists are planning to obstruct, intimidate, interfere, and impede law enforcement operations in Houston. I caught their training on camera. I just hope this will get past Pam Bondi’s desk.”

The Communists make clear that their goal is to “fight back” to stop lawful immigration enforcement.

From the video:

“…we have to be organized because our enemy is organized, so we too have to be organized. Every day they’re allocating new money in some sneaky way to ICE agents or to the police or whatever. And so this is our goal. We want to build a long-term movement that fights back against deportations, raids, detention, and all other forms of immigration-related terror. We want to use a variety of tactics that we’ve developed together over the next many months.”

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Texas Democrats Are Raging Over GOP Gerrymandering—But They Did It First

Democrats in Texas are currently accusing Republicans of using redistricting to gain a partisan advantage. This accusation, however, is both disingenuous and historically inaccurate.

When Democrats controlled the state in the 1990s, they engaged in the same tactics—so aggressively that the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled their districts racially gerrymandered and unconstitutional.

In 1990, Democrat Ann Richards was elected governor of Texas, and the Democratic Party controlled the state legislature. This control allowed them to redraw congressional districts to maintain their political dominance. 

State Senator Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat, chaired the redistricting subcommittee and took charge of drafting the new maps. Her explicit goal was to create new minority-majority districts to favor the Democratic Party.

Johnson’s plan resulted in a majority-Hispanic district in Houston and a majority-Black district in Dallas—both aimed at consolidating long-term Democratic control. 

This political maneuvering did not go unnoticed. The newly drawn districts, which included those represented by Democrats Martin Frost and John Wiley Bryant, became more homogeneous and less politically diverse.

Despite protests, the Texas Legislature passed Johnson’s plan in 1991. Critics, primarily Republicans, argued that the maps used flawed census data, potentially undercounting minority populations.

Yet, the U.S. Department of Justice granted preclearance under the Voting Rights Act, and the new districts were used in the 1992 elections.

In 1994, Republicans filed a lawsuit, claiming that several new districts—particularly Districts 18, 29, and 30—were racially gerrymandered in violation of the Constitution. 

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TX Judge Slaps Beto O’Rourke With Fundraising Ban Over Fleeing Democrats

A Texas judge has issued a temporary restraining order against former congressman Beto O’Rourke and his nonprofit organization, Powered by People, following allegations from state Attorney General Ken Paxton that they engaged in illegal fundraising to aid Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in an effort to block Republican redistricting legislation.

Tarrant County District Judge Megan Fahey, a Republican appointed in 2019 by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, issued the ruling Friday evening.

The order prohibits O’Rourke and his group from raising funds or providing financial support to the Democrats who left Texas to avoid a legislative vote on GOP-backed redistricting maps.

In her decision, Fahey wrote that “Defendants have and will continue to engage in unlawful fundraising practices and utilization of political funds in a manner that either directly violates or causes Texas Democratic Legislators to violate [the law].

Consumers have and continue to suffer irreparable harm through these unlawful acts because they are making political contributions that are being used to fund personal expenses and violate state law.”

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Newsom Says California Will Hold Special Redistricting Election to Counter Texas’s Plan

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Friday that the state will move forward with a ballot measure in November to redraw its congressional map in response to a Republican-backed redistricting plan in Texas.

Speaking alongside state Democratic leaders, Newsom said they would call for a special election in the first week of November to vote on redrawing the congressional map, a move that could potentially add five more U.S. House seats to the Democratic tally.

“We are talking about emergency measures to respond to what’s happening in Texas, and we will nullify what happens in Texas,” the Democratic governor told reporters.

“We will pick up five seats with the consent of the people, and that’s the difference between the approach we’re taking and the approach they’re taking. We’re doing it [on a] temporary basis,” he added.

Newsom also reaffirmed that the state will remain committed to its independent redistricting process. The Democrats said they expected to have a newly agreed-upon map, based on previous plans reviewed by the state’s independent redistricting commission, ready for public scrutiny next week, three months before it would go to voters.

Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who attended the conference, backed Newsom’s decision and praised Texas Democratic lawmakers for their efforts to block the GOP’s redistricting plan.

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Texas AG Ken Paxton Launches Criminal Investigation Into Beto O’Rourke’s PAC For Unlawfully Funding Runaway Democrats

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into Beto O’Rourke’s PAC for unlawfully funding runaway Democrats.

It was reported this week that Beto’s PAC funded the private plane that transported the Texas Democrat lawmakers to Illinois so they could block GOP redistricting efforts.

The Free Beacon reported:

Now We Know: Beto O’Rourke’s PAC Funded Texas Dems’ Private Jet to Illinois

State lawmakers in Texas make just $7,200 a year. A group of Democratic legislators spent roughly four times that amount to take a private jet to Illinois in an attempt to block their Republican counterparts from passing a new congressional map. But they didn’t have to worry about the price tag—because Beto O’Rourke’s PAC picked it up.

That’s according to a report in the Texas Tribune, which cited two people involved in the effort to raise funds for Texas Democrats’ walkout. O’Rourke’s PAC, Powered by People, is “armed with a $3.5 million war chest” and has covered most of the costs associated with the walkout so far, including “air transport, lodging, and logistical support,” the outlet reported. Every dollar the group receives going forward will go toward supporting the walkout.

On Wednesday, Ken Paxton announced he launched a criminal investigation into Beto’s PAC.

“Any Democrat coward breaking the law by taking a Beto Bribe will be held accountable,” Paxton said.

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