iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Mary Sisson

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

IMO one of the most important local elections in the country (boltsmag.org/prosecutor-a...)

"Long before Trump began sowing unfounded doubts about the 2020 presidential race, Republicans in Tarrant County, home to Fort Worth, were notorious for their selective enforcement of election laws and for the harsh prosecution of Crystal Mason, a woman who mistakenly thought she could vote while on probation and was sentenced years in prison.

DA Phil Sorrells, who came into office after the 2022 midterms, has continued that legacy. He helped launch a task force to police local elections, and he continued to prosecute Mason even after an appeals court overturned her conviction in 2024. This fall, he filed criminal charges against Lon Burnam, a former state lawmaker who was expelled from a public meeting and forcibly arrested for speaking out against a GOP plan to dramatically reduce polling places.

Sorrells faces Democratic challenger Tiffany Burks in a competitive rematch of their 2022 election. Burks, who has worked as a prosecutor in the office, has signaled a very different direction from Sorrells on such cases. “We are talking about a county where they are doing everything that they can to suppress the vote,” she said in an interview last month.

She is currently representing Burnam in court, and she said last month that her “first item on business” as DA would be to drop the county’s efforts to reinstate Mason’s conviction. (That won’t be necessary after all: Texas’ highest criminal court ruled in favor of Mason and against Sorrells on Sept. 24, upholding Mason’s 2024 acquittal.)"

Mary Sisson @msisson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Report from the front lines: The halal brisket at Levant BBQ in Frisco is excellent—just falls apart when you touch it. 👍 Man, am I full!

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Mary Sisson @msisson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I want to make an observation on the Bo French situation: French, a racist pig, is Texan. These kids in this photo, who he hates? Are ALSO Texan. When you decide that French equals ALL Texans, =you are supporting him.= You are buying into his world view, and you are erasing these kids for him.

Bo French hating on non-white college graduates because they exist.

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Reposted by Mary Sisson

Michael Barajas @michaelbarajas.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Tarrant County officials have now arrested and charged two different people for speaking out during last week’s meeting over a plan to cut nearly half of election day polling sites—a local activist and a former state rep fortworthreport.org/2026/08/12/f...

fortworthreport.org

Fort Worth activist arrested a week after his removal from Tarrant County Commissioners Court

EJ Carrion was charged with disrupting a public meeting for directing an expletive at commissioners.

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Reposted by Mary Sisson

Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🧵🧵 After 16 months on the sidelines, far-right billionaire Tim Dunn is getting involved in the Texas race for US Senate. Dunn's entry comes as Ken Paxton, whose political life he once bankrolled, trails in some polls and is getting killed in spending by James Talarico.

texasmonthly.com

Ken Paxton’s Far-Right Billionaire Backer Has Returned

Tim Dunn, once among Paxton’s biggest donors, seemed to pull back from financially supporting the candidate in 2025. A recent campaign-finance report shows he’s finally getting involved in the Senate ...

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Reposted by Mary Sisson

Jen Rice @jenrice.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Lon Burnam, a former state lawmaker representing Tarrant County from 1997 to 2015, was carried out of the room by four sheriff deputies, who held him by his hands and feet: fortworthreport.org/2026/08/04/t...

fortworthreport.org

Tarrant County judge removes attendees during public meeting about voting site reductions

Former state lawmaker Lon Burnam was carried out of the courtroom by sheriff deputies after O’Hare called speakers disruptive.

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Mary Sisson @msisson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I was having a discussion here last night about a notion I see often but that I think is wrong: Gerrymandering has no impact on state-wide elections. I feel like people don't appreciate the wider effects of partisan gerrymandering and how it feeds into the authoritarian "politics of the inevitable."

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Reposted by Mary Sisson

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I appreciate @natecohn.bsky.social & Eve Washington's NYT piece pointing out that random simulations of nonpartisan districting tend to produce many minority opportunity districts, perhaps as many as we have now. But although the subhead comes close, the authors do not ever quite say the key point—

highlighted text (subhead): Our simulations debunk the notion that the act created artificial minority districts that wouldn't otherwise exist.

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Mary Sisson @msisson.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

I like this because it's taking a more-holistic view of what the Supreme Court is actually trying to accomplish. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/power-demo...

donmoynihan.substack.com

Power, democracy, and clarity

What does the end of the Voting Rights Act mean?

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Mary Sisson @msisson.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Just wanted to point out that Angela Paxton's name also appears as a donor here--TTP is a hate group, if you were unaware. Looks like Angela got Tim Dunn in the divorce!

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Reposted by Mary Sisson

The Bi of Hormuz @joshstein.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

I will say, seeing astroturf campaigns on BSKY suggests that the platform is viewed by the groups that run these operations as a legitimate source of political discussion that influences and moves voters.

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Mary Sisson @msisson.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I know that there's a lot of controversy over whether or not it's worthwhile to attempt to flip Texas, which I assume will pop up again because of Rehmet's win in SD9. If you're from out of state, I wanted to point out that Rehmet's win (and any Dem win) blunts the power of billionaire Tim Dunn.

propublica.org

A Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built the Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas. That’s Just the Start.

Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks are poised to take their Christian nationalist agenda nationwide.

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Mary Sisson @msisson.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Super happy with the results from SD9! Lots of people are noting that the GOP candidate was...sub-optimal, and that's exactly what's been happening in Collin County as well. If you let people like Tim Dunn run the show, you're never going to have good candidates, or good policy. Keep fighting!

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Mary Sisson @msisson.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

I'm finally going to post, because I've seen some really naive takes on voter suppression in Texas and how it can't possibly have any kind of meaningful impact on voting. (You might wonder why Republicans bother!) Anyway, this is what a successful Dem get-out-the-vote effort looks like in Texas:

texastribune.org

Former Democratic state House candidate among nine indicted for alleged vote harvesting in South Texas

The charges are the latest escalation in a probe that resulted in Texas authorities indicting six other Frio County area officials in May.

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