As we all know, no Democrat of consequence has filed to run for the Senate seat now occupied by Republican whip John Cornyn. Considering Cornyn was only held to 54 percent of the vote--pretty underwhelming for what is still a ruby-red state--I consider this a major fail. That means with Steve Stockman's decision to primary Cornyn, that raises the very real possibility that a guy who thinks the Branch Davidian raid was staged could end up in the Senate.
Well, Talking Points Memo has revealed even more proof of why we should be kicking ourselves for not having a bigger name in this race. Stockman's congressional campaign office was located in an old motorcycle shop in Webster, just southeast of Houston. That is, it was based there until November 7, when city officials condemned it after discovering a whopping 14 fire code violations--including faulty wiring and Stockman campaign signs strewn about. Additionally, as many as eight people had been working and apparently sleeping there, even though Stockman never troubled himself to get a permit allowing anyone to occupy the building.
TPM filed a public records request asking for more details of what led up to the closure, and managed to obtain pictures from a city inspection that took place on November 4. Check them out here. They show that Stockman had his staffers live and work in filthy conditions. One of the bathrooms looks worse than something you'd find in a ratty convenience store. There's a lot of exposed wiring in the living spaces. And on, and on. Considering that Stockman was once homeless himself, it's appalling that he'd make his staffers work in such conditions.
This is yet more evidence that politicians need to get out of the redistricting business. Stockman wouldn't be able to get away with this if he didn't represent an R+20 district that would vote for a comatose Republican.
Almost as scary is that Republican primary voters in Texas are wingnutty enough that Stockman could actually oust Cornyn in the primary. If the thought of "Senator Steve Stockman" didn't already scare you, it should after looking at these pictures.