Michele Samuelson

Member For

1 year 12 weeks

Website:

Red County - Travis County, TX

Contact:

Red County Editor -
Travis County, TX
michele.samuelson@gmail.com

BIOGRAPHY

Michele's motto is "William Barret Travis was 26 when he died defending the Alamo. What have you done lately?" In living that out, she has made an effort to make a difference in her social, spiritual, and home life in addition to her political life.

From 2005 to 2007, Michele served as Senior Vice Chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas, a statewide conservative organization for citizens aged 18-35. In 2006, she helped lead the University of North Texas YCT chapter to Chapter of the Year for the second year in a row, and received the Coby Pieper Award for Conservative Dedication. Michele was twice named Student of the Month with the conservative women's organization Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute. She took the experience she gained with legislative issues and media relations to her work for Americans for Prosperity, where she served a year and a half as Texas grassroots coordinator. She currently works as an independent political consultant in addition to serving as executive director for the Travis County Republican Party.

Michele has been blogging about Travis County and Texas politics since 2006, and she's been involved in politics since campaigning for Texas statewide candidates in 1998. She's a conservative Christian who believes that fiscal responsibility is a major family value. She and her husband Randy live in north Austin with their dog, Waylon.

COMMENTARIES

GreenChoice is no choice for Austin

By Michele Samuelson | 10/07/09

Dr. Rosemary Edwards, chairman of the Travis County Republican Party, has an op-ed in today's Austin American-Statesman that you might find interesting, concerning the city's recent mandate on GreenChoice energy. From the op-ed: Our leaders in Austin are pushing their own attempt to "save the world" with an aggressive energy plan to get 30 percent of our electricity from renewable energy by 2020. Mayor Lee Leffingwell has... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »Travis County (TX) |

Cong. Carter's Remove Rangel resolution on the House floor NOW

By Michele Samuelson | 10/07/09

You can watch this debate on C-SPAN. Read Congressman John Carter's press release. The full text of the resolution: Raising a question of the privileges of the House. WHEREAS, the gentleman from New York, Charles B. Rangel, the fourth most senior Member of the House of Representatives, serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a position of considerable power and influence within the House of Representatives;... read more »

1 Comment | Related Topics »National |

Why Texans Need to Vote NO on Prop. 4

By Michele Samuelson | 10/05/09

I've held back on this because I wanted to give readers a chance to read the initial analysis of Proposition 4. There are a lot of arguments out there in favor of it (the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has their endorsement here). I think you need to know, Prop. 4 is a bad idea. One of the "elephant in the room" problems in Texas is higher education funding. The legislature "deregulated" tuition in 2003 to help balance... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »Travis County (TX) | Denton County (TX) |

Information on Texas Constitutional Amendments

By Michele Samuelson | 10/02/09

There are 11 state constitutional amendments on the November 3 ballot in Texas. Early voting begins on Monday, October 19. If you are voting by mail (absentee voting), the last day to submit your mail-in ballot is Tuesday, October 27. Information on where to early vote in Travis County can be found here. Election Day information is here. If you need information on absentee voting, there is information on the Travis... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »Travis County (TX) |

HD 4, HD 20 primaries start getting interesting

By Michele Samuelson | 10/01/09

The Ellis County Observer is reporting that Melissa Pehle-Hill will formally announce her Republican primary candidacy for state rep. in HD 4 (currently held by Republican Rep. Betty Brown) next week. No official word yet if former primary challenger Wade Gent plans to get in the fray. Quorum Report has the press release confirming that Dr. Charles Schwertner will enter the HD 20 Republican primary to replace Rep. Dan Gattis. (In case you... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »Travis County (TX) |

Video: Carter wants Rangel to step down

By Michele Samuelson | 10/01/09

Congressman John Carter (TX-31) did an exclusive interview for the Washington News Observer concerning ACORN and Congressman Charlie Rangel - and Carter says he might introduce a resolution asking Rangel to step down from his chairmanship of the Ways and Means committee. Courtesy of the WNO: read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »Travis County (TX) |

Benkiser stepping down, will join Perry camp

By Michele Samuelson | 09/26/09

Texas GOP state chairman Tina Benkiser announced at today's meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee that she will resign her post, effective October 5. She is taking on the role of senior advisor to the Rick Perry for Governor reelection campaign. I'll update as this develops. The word spread via Facebook and Twitter feeds, as SREC members and attendees updated from the meeting. Chairman Benkiser's Twitter update... read more »

1 Comment | Related Topics »Travis County (TX) |

Commissioner Williams: Let's Talk About Race

By Michele Samuelson | 09/23/09

"Let's Talk About Race" by Michael Williams September 22, 2009 Let’s talk about race. As an African-American son of the south, I grew up in a time and place where you didn’t have to divine intent or deconstruct code words to find racism. When it raised its ugly head it was like a blunt instrument waved in your face to keep you in your place. It was as unmistakable as it was demeaning. Unfortunately, with... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »National | Travis County (TX) |

Paxton to Pelosi: Welcome to Texas, Madame Speaker

By Michele Samuelson | 09/18/09

An Open Letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, from Texas State Rep. Ken Paxton. Dear Madame Speaker, I want to be one of the first to welcome you to Texas for your fundraising visit on Saturday in Austin. You should feel at home as you drive from the airport to your event, passing by businesses that were once located in your home state of California and being greeted by the smiles of friendly Californians who now call Texas... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »Travis County (TX) |

The Nut Cracks: ACORN to Halt Services

By Michele Samuelson | 09/16/09

ACORN has taken a lot of heat in the last few days, thanks to the efforts of a couple of daring conservative activists and the multiplying power of Beck, Hannity, Rush, et. al. And it looks like they've managed to crack the nut, so to speak. ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis is "immediately ordering a halt to any new intakes into ACORN’s service programs until completion of an independent review," according to a press release... read more »