Brownsville's Very Own Marjorie Taylor Greene Garners Fake Homophobic PAC Support

By Diego Garcia III | Editior of The Brownsville Beacon

The District 3 candidates for the Brownsville city commission, along with one candidate for the at-large seat all "Zoomed in" on a local Facebook political talk show before the general election.

The candidates were cordial to one another and avoided personal attacks and mud slinging for the most part. Opening statements by the D3 hopefuls even praised the opponents. One candidate even said any of the choices would serve the city well should they be elected.

That was then.

After the smoke cleared, two candidates remained for the D3 runoff. Roy De los Santos and perennial Brownsville bridesmaid Jessica Puente-Bradshaw.

At first, it seemed the race would be free of the personal attacks a staunch conservative neo-Republican would obviously unleash against an LGBTQIA+ advocate, but when Puente-Bradshaw saw the huge wave of support swelling in favor of her opponent, the old dog resorted to her old tricks.

A mailer went out to residents of District 3 paid for by a political action committee called "Concerned Conservarives of Brownsville." I thought of reposting an image of the mailer here, but much like sports broadcasts refusing to train their cameras on attention-seeking streakers who choose to interrupt football games, I decided against posting the hateful propaganda leaflet. In a nutshell, and in the least offensive synopsis I can muster, the mailer connects voting for Puente-Bradshaw's opponent as a vote for turning Brownsville gay.

The ad was quickly condemned by Morgan Cisneros Graham, the Cameron County Republican Party Chair. While her statement does not address the sentiment of the ad, her statement, in part, reads:

"The Republican Party is against bigotry, hate, and anonymous political paraphernalia...We condemn this mailer and its disregard for the laws governing ethics in political advertising and funding."

She says the political ad is from a cowardly group of people who have violated campaign finance laws by using a fake political action committee. Who better to confirm the "Concerned Conservarives of Brownsville" don't exist than the Cameron County GOP Chair?

On her social media post, tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist Puente-Bradshaw supporters were quick to defend her, going far as to speculate De los Santos himself sent out the hateful homophobic ad.

Cisneros Graham also mentions in a comment thread with the conspiracy theorists Puente-Bradshaw attacked her and accused her of "making Brownsville the LGBTQ capital of the world."

The Brownsville Blogosphere was quick to deliver Puente-Bradshaw a couple of shotgun blasts. Bobby Wightman, the publisher of the Brownsville Voice calls Puente-Bradshaw deranged and says her homophobic ad all but guarantees a De los Santos victory (for the record, Puente-Bradshaw's name is not on the mailer, nor is her 'political ad paid for' tag, but Wightman connects Puente-Bradshaw to the ad).

Jerry McHale, the publisher of The McHale Report gives it to Puente-Bradshaw with both barrels. He has published multiple articles and photos of Puente-Bradshaw's mudslinging and calls her homophobic attacks despicable. As I write this article, McHale continues publishing stories burning her at the stake.

McHale also reports Jared Hockema, Cameron County Democratic Party Chair issued a statement condemning the ad and saying Puente-Bradshaw is unfit to represent all of Brownsville if the ad was endorsed and out out by her team. 

Statements of support for De los Santos have also been issued by Brownsville Mayor Juan "Trey" Mendez, State Representative Eddie Lucio III, and several other members of the community.

I am painfully aware I am not anywhere on the level of a mayor, a state representative, or other influential Brownsvillians, but allow me to add my support...

I find the tasteless political ad to be absolutely reprehensible, and it wouldn't surprise me if the mailer came directly from Brownsville's own Marjorie Taylor Greene (read: Puente-Bradshaw). She has proven time and time again if she is anything she is an unapologetic homophobe, and with her back against the wall, she was hoping she would be able to appeal to the older generation of conservative Catholic and Christian voters who think homosexuality is a sin and convince them to vote for an intolerant bigot who has lost every election she's ever run in.

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. If she didn't create, or isn't a member of "Concerned Conservarives of Brownsville," I would be very surprised.

I'd be f***ing amazed.

This mailer is going to backfire. I wouldn't be surprised if this hateful piece of propaganda doesn't encourage even more voters to come out and vote for De los Santos. 

McHale and his "South Texas Independent Journalist's Association" had the race at 55-45 in De los Santos' favor. Thanks to Puente-Bradshaw and her hate-mongering shadow PAC supporters, the margin of victory might just be way more than ten points.

Puente-Bradshaw's campaign was always Brownsville's version of the Titanic. With endorsements and photo-ops with eternal losers like Carlos Elizondo and Erasmo Castro, Puente-Bradshaw shot out of the gate and hitched her wagon to a falling star. But if this ad ends up being linked to her further, her ship won't even get halfway across the Atlantic before hitting an iceberg — it'll sink while moored to the dock.

If she or her campaign staff (does she even have a campaign staff) had any functioning brain cells, they'd condemn the ad as an act of an independent PAC that did not advise them about the mailer. I can't imagine why she would think spreading hate would be a winning strategy.

Roy De los Santos was the right choice from the beginning. It is ironic the one person who ended up proving that more than anybody would be his opponent.

Yo voy con Roy. If you aren't a hateful, ignorant, bigoted homophobe, you will, too.