Interview: Whitmire on Whitmire

Charles Kuffner has posted a 68-minute interview with Senate Criminal Justice Chairman John Whitmire. Go here to listen to the whole thing. Wrote Kuff, "Sen. Whitmire had a lot to say in the interview, so much so that I hardly had to ask any questions. He just got on a roll and went places that I wouldn’t have known to ask about if I’d been directing things." Whitmire opined on topics from the criminal justice system, adult and juvenile, to the budget, schools, park space, food banks, senate rules, and a variety of other subjects.

The Dean of the Texas Senate has a Democratic primary opponent, Damian Lacroix, for the first time in recent memory. Listen to Kuff's interview with him here. Lacroix has blasted Whitmire for his criminal-justice record in terms that frankly were uninformed and disingenuous. I don't always agree with Chairman Whitmire, but he's directly or indirectly responsible for most of Texas' criminal-justice reforms in recent years. Without him, there's zero chance Texas would have closed three prison units over the last two sessions.

As Texas' longest serving senator, a committee chairman, and Harris County's only senator on the budget conference committee last session, it'd be nuts for SD15 voters to replace John Whitmire with a rookie at this juncture. Judging from this interview, he appears to be taking the opposition seriously.