Joel Montfort

Joel Montfort

@montfort.me

#TX politics. Political Scientist. Democrat. #ODAT #texasdemocrat, #txlege

48.8K followers43.7K following825 posts

Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

A one-stoplight TX town got in bed with ICE for $$ and started pulling over every other car and detaining Hispanics. 10% of the town is gone now, and businesses are struggling. The town cop has to look over his shoulder in public now. www.propublica.org/article/depo...

propublica.orgThe Small-Town Cop Who Helped ICE Deport His NeighborsIngram, Texas, was just rebuilding from a devastating flood when its tiny police department enrolled in ICE’s 287(g) deportation program. Within a year, cops would hand over the equivalent of 10% of t...
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

SoS is starting to get it together. Here is early voting through Day 4. '26 vs '22. After 4 days, we are already at 54% of '22. Texans are voting like it is a presidential year.

Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

On Talarico vs Paxton: Being effective: 51 v 44 Data centers: 50 v 42 Cost of Living: 52 v 42 What's best for Texans: 55 v 40 Health care: 53 v 41 Tariffs: 52 v 43 Immigration: 48 v 48 Talarico is ahead in almost every category.

Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

Even Bill Gates believes AI is a huge threat to humanity and could cause massive job losses and potentially catastrophic consequences if left unchecked. AI companies won't admit that reality because too much $$ is on the line. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/t...

nytimes.comBill Gates Is Warning That A.I. Is More Dangerous Than Big Tech Will AdmitIn an hourlong interview, he said his industry was downplaying the risks, which he believes include mass unemployment and bioterrorism.
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

The Texas voucher scam smells more and more like rotten fish. Of the 122K vouchers initially issued, 21K were returned. Of those 21K students, 70% would have come from public schools, and 12K would have been low-income. www.audacy.com/krld/news/lo...

audacy.comMore than 20,700 Texas students give up school vouchers after awardsOver 20,700 Texas students returned or opted out of school vouchers. Discover why securing private school seats remains a challenge for many families. | NewsRadio 1080 KRLD
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

General Dynamics received a contract of $530M from the Pentagon and opened a state-of-the-artillery factory near Dallas to make shells for the Ukraine war. Robots regularly caught fire, conveyors broke, autonomous carts got lost, and there was a dumpster fire. www.propublica.org/article/gene...

propublica.orgFiasco in the Factory: Taxpayers Funded a $533 Million Artillery Plant That Made NothingGeneral Dynamics opened a Texas factory to churn out artillery shells for Ukraine, but the machines kept breaking. Robot arms smashed into things. Hunks of metal crashed to the floor. There was even a...
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

Amazon is planning a massive data center in West Texas that will have its own natural gas power plant. The plant is permitted to emit 33M tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than double the next largest plant, and will be the largest polluter IN THE US www.the-independent.com/tech/amazon-...

the-independent.comAmazon data center plant in Texas could become America’s biggest polluterThe data center’s on-site natural gas power plant could emit more than double the carbon dioxide released each year by the current record-holder
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

Last night at Paxton's event in Allen, TX. One lady with a Talarico sign. They made her leave. All heroes don't wear capes.

Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

Gov Abbott is feigning interest in stopping data centers in Texas by requesting full audits. With Hinojosa in striking distance, I expect his interest to stop once the elections are over. www.texastribune.org/2026/08/03/t...

texastribune.orgNew Texas data center projects frozen until state audits themOn Monday, the governor ordered the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit all data centers wanting to connect to the state’s power grid.
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

School shooter Colt Gray's father, who purchased the AR-15 he used to kill four students, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for buying the weapon for the troubled teen. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

reuters.comFather of Georgia school shooter sentenced to 15 years in prisonA man who gave his troubled son the rifle he used to kill four people at a Georgia high school was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in prison, ​the culmination of the state's first case in which a pa...
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

All of those boondoggle multi-million-dollar border buoys that @GovHotWheels_TX wasted taxpayer money on are floating down the Rio Grande after the rain. How many billions will we waste chasing red meat politics in this state? www.tpr.org/border-immig...

tpr.orgMore than 100 federal border buoys break loose in flooded Rio GrandeControversial buoys installed in the Rio Grande by the federal government have broken free and are floating downstream. The buoys could cause damage to international bridges and other infrastruture al...
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

The reflecting pool is now green, the color of all the money wasted on it. Painting the bottom has apparently heated the water and accelerated algae growth. Pure Genius. people.com/reflecting-p...

people.comTrump's 'American Flag Blue' Reflecting Pool Renovation Is Already Bright Green with Algae After $14M 'Beautification' (Photos)The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is already blooming with new algae just days after President Donald Trump's $14 million beautification project attempted to turn it 'American Flag Blue.' See the m...
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

Racist Jake Lang was arrested and handcuffed on a plane while trying to leave Dallas after making terroristic threats in Collin County. Bond has been set at $1M. 🤣 www.dallasobserver.com/news/white-n...

dallasobserver.comWhite nationalist influencer in Dallas County Jail, bond set at $1 million for a 'terroristic threat'Jake Lang has been causing racial trouble across the country since being pardoned by the president for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

An article on data centers making people sick with symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, nausea, and anxiety. Folks report noise levels approaching 100dB, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The rural data centers powered by natural gas are the worst. www.techradar.com/pro/dizzines...

techradar.com‘Dizziness, nausea, vertigo, and sleep disruption’: The undetectable hum of AI data centers is making local residents sick – imperceptible noise from cooling systems, backup generators, and gas turbin...The noise emitted by data centers is causing local residents to fall sick, and the science backs up their claims.
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

4 large new data centers coming online in Texas this month failed their voltage test, which ensures that when they disconnect from the grid, they don't unbalance the power and cause more disruptions and outages. www.reuters.com/business/ene...

reuters.comTexas grid flags risks as data centers, crypto sites fail voltage testsSeveral ​large data centers and crypto facilities planning to connect to the Texas power grid ahead of ‌peak summer demand have failed key reliability tests, raising the risk of power outages just as ...
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

Local activist Jesse Ringness captured this racist White Nationalist digital billboard running at city hall in Frisco, TX, during the redneck rally.

Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

Texas has more police departments patrolling its schools than all the other states combined. The accusations of unnecessarily brutal force are piling up as cops are called in to deal with minor problems like vaping. The kids pay the price. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

nytimes.comTexas School Police Pepper-Sprayed, Tackled and Tasered StudentsSchool officers across the state turned to heavy-handed tactics on children, often in response to minor misbehavior, our investigation shows.
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

I am always complaining about Dallas's complete lack of interest in preserving history. The Wyland Whale wall, completed in '99 in downtown Dallas, is being painted over for a FIFA ad. The ghouls who are destroying this city should be tarred and feathered.

Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

The electricity and water guzzling AI boom that is consuming Texas is almost entirely driven by the Texas GOP and encouraged by trump. We are going to destroy this state for what? A handful of jobs and a little tax revenue? www.texastribune.org/2026/05/07/t...

texastribune.orgTexas Republicans have a data center problemData center construction is unpopular among locals, and a majority of the facilities are being proposed in red, rural counties. That puts Texas Republicans in a tough spot, as the White House has enco...
Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

The Blue wave in Texas local races continues. 👉Arlington, TX, flipped a city Council seat ( Brittney Garcia-Dumas) 👉Pearland, TX flipped the Mayor's seat (Quentin Wiltz) 👉NEISD flipped 2 seats on the board (Michael Adam Wulczyn, Caprice Garcia)

Joel Montfort
@montfort.me

Remember when Obama posted a meme of himself as Jesus? Me neither. He's truly an insane narcissist with his finger on the Nukes. What could go wrong?