Alex Mealer - Candidate for CD-9 Joins Houston's Morning News

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, well, we have a drug maligne here in Texas.
But it looks like the line is going back to
the old line, at least for now, it's going back
to the old line. After a three judge panel, federal
judge panel, including at least one appointed by President Trump,
have decided that the new congressional map here in Texas
is not constitutional and we're going to have to use

(00:20):
the old one. Now, this is likely going to go
to the Supreme Court. But how quickly they hear it,
and whether or not they hear it in time they
have an impact on the interim elections remains to be seen.
One of the candidates who would be implicated are not implicated,
but the impacted, pardon me by this is Alex Meeler,
candidate for CD nine. They redraw the lines here. If

(00:40):
we don't have a new congressional districts to several new
congressional districts, what happens to your candidacy, Alex?

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Jimmy, then I go back to the private sector and
keep runt of a small business trying to create jobs.
But obviously I think it's incredibly important that we keep
the House majority, and just to step back that this
is a shockingly bad decision, and I do believe that
will be corrected by the Supreme Court, and very quickly.
I don't think there's any doubt of any Texan that

(01:10):
this map, the big beautiful map, was passed to better
reflect Texas conservative voting panels, and that is a legal
valid form of jerrymandering that this three judge panel agreed
to valid. What it was so shocking is they've apparently
ruled that now any jerrymandering that favors Republican must be
racially motivated and therefore invalid. Well only jerrymandering that we've

(01:31):
all seen Democrats, even here in Harrison County Commissioner's Court.
How they ended up with their four to one majority,
But that's valid on its.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Face, and so the is the reasoning is kind of interesting.
I don't know how you look at white versus Hispanic voters,
but I kind of lump us all in together. As
far as that goes the fact that they consider only
forty percent of the state to be white, but seventy
three percent of the representation representation would be would be white.

(02:01):
I'm not quite sure how the math works out on that,
because I don't know how they divided people up based
on race.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Well, and that's why what was that to? I think?
Why so many it's our conservatives, right, I'm half Hispanic?
Am I now somehow differently represented it? Or or is
that my identity? No, so it's really outdated, and like
I said, it's not even a valid argument. And what
it comes back to you is, you know, this is

(02:30):
a Republican judge decided to team up with a bunch
of Democrats and you know, overrule the kind of the
duly elected authority that our Texas Legerisulator had. It is
not for the judges to be drawing these lines. Our
constitution gives that the Texas legislature and they did it

(02:52):
in a legal valid way. But this just gets back
to me and when you have these weak Republicans, it's
very similar to what happened with Timpact and impeachment. A
bunch of Republicans or a handful decided to team up
with Democrats to circumvent the will of voters. And you know,
my opponent versus Cocaine was one of those. And I'm
grateful that we had a strong federalist judge who was
the dissenting opinion and just for the fact that history

(03:14):
does repeat itself. The current congressional map that they want
us to go back to, this was challenged as well,
and the same good federalist judge and that's trying to
act as in his authority, Judge Jerry Smith. He was
the dissenting vote in twenty eighteen. The Supreme Court ultimately
did side with him, and in this recent decision he
was the lone dissenting voice as well. So I'm confident

(03:37):
that sometimes history does repeat itself and Scotis will move
judiciously here in six just which is really just an
absurd and patently bad decision.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Well, and hopefully they get to it quickly. There are
several other states that are going to be having court
challenges because they have been changing their maps as well.
North Carolina, Missouri they drew new maps, Virginia's trying to
draw a new map. California voted to draw new maps.
So there's gonna be a lot of things for them
to consider. Do you think all of this can get
done in time for the mid term elections.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
I think we have a much better answer on that,
But I do think, you know, the Supreme Court can
roll on this before the filing deadline. So December eighth
is when we're supposed to have everyone completed. In my
original loan, there's a loving candidate and you start multiplying this.
But behind, like you said, there's other states that Texas

(04:29):
obviously being tip of the spear, that this has very
significant implications for you know, who's going to be controlling
the House. And so I do think this will go
to the top of the docket. It's already been sorry,
the state's already moved very fast. So appreciate General Paxton
and the Governor Abbot's team. So I don't see how

(04:51):
you would delay, just given the huge strategic impact that
really who's going to be in control of DC. And again,
this was a thoughtful for I mean, even going into
making the decision to file, I was very comfortable with
the legal risk, understood the background and the law, and
there was nothing about this was very clear. You know

(05:11):
under President Trump's Texans have shifted more conservatives. This is
a new match to reflect those voting preferences. It's that simple.
And so I do believe it can move quickly and
we'll keep running hard. Let's sit it the shoe lunch
on the line. But very good questions, and I would
say yes, this was a shock and unexpected that a
Republican judge would team up with the Democrats and a

(05:34):
very legal analysis.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
Alex hanging in there. It's not over yet. Thank you
for joining us. That's Alex Mieler, currently a candidate for
CD nine. It is five fifty eight