The top local stories this evening from KERA News:
The presidential inauguration is only a few days away – and the list of Democrats planning to boycott is growing by the day. The latest count was at 59, and at least three of them are Texas members of Congress.
In North Texas, Democrat Marc Veasey of Fort Worth hasn’t said whether he’ll attend, but his Dallas colleague, Eddie Bernice Johnson, announced on MSNBC she plans to go, weather permitting.
“I have some Republican guests and some Democrat guests that are attending. I will be there to greet them and hand them their tickets, and if the weather is pretty good, I will attend myself,” Johnson said.
Representatives Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, Lloyd Doggett of Austin and Al Green of Houston are among the Texas Democrats who say they’ll stay away.
I will not attend this year’s inauguration ceremony. Here's why: https://t.co/APvdTrSsMV
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) January 17, 2017
I will not be attending the inauguration this Friday. Read my statement here. pic.twitter.com/4gt6AA4u16
— Lloyd Doggett (@RepLloydDoggett) January 17, 2017
Congressman Al Green’s Statement on the 2017 Presidential Inauguration: https://t.co/QTww2wasHT
— Congressman Al Green (@RepAlGreen) January 17, 2017
The boycott has powerful meaning for Texas Democrats, said Brandon Rottinghaus, who’s a political science professor at the University of Houston.
“There’s been concern that there hasn’t been a significant enough appeal of Texas Democrats, and they haven’t been able to tap into this growing movement that the Democratic Party is trying to harness in terms of race and youth and ideology,” Rottinghaus said. “This is an opportunity for the party to make a stand on that issue.”
Still, other Texas Democrats in Congress will be there – including Representatives Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen and Gene Green of Houston.
Other stories this evening:
- President-Elect Donald Trump was propelled to our country’s highest office – in part, thanks to Tarrant County. Fort Worth and its suburbs make up the only metropolitan county in Texas that still votes Republican. In fact, Tarrant is one of just two of the nation’s largest urban counties that voted for incoming President Trump. In this first-of-a-two-part collaboration with the Texas Tribune, KERA’s Christopher Connelly digs into why.
- Education and earning potential both suffer when teens have babies — and one North Texas nonprofit is challenging students to think about how their life would change with a child to care for. As part of KERA’s One Crisis Away project, Courtney Collins reports on a film competition that’s helping students see pregnancy through a different lens.
You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.
