Fighting or Governing? The Real Contrast in HD-5

The Collier Campaign
Feb 19
2 min read

Branding vs. Remedy

There is a difference between saying you’re fighting and actually drafting solutions.

At the recent censure presentation of Cole Hefner, Rains County Republicans laid out specific votes by the incumbent that they believe conflict with Republican legislative priorities — including Democrat vice chairs with subpoena power, record-setting budgets, new state-run funds, and expanded bureaucratic programs.

Then Dewey stood up and did something different.

He didn’t say, “We’ll look at it.”

He didn’t say, “We’re fighting.”

He said:

I have a bill drafted. Day one.

That’s the difference.

The incumbent says he’s fighting Islam. We have drafted The Sword & Shield Act.

Here’s the distinction:

Shield: Follows the taxpayer dollar. It conditions any receipt of public funds on compliance with the Constitution and prohibits state-funded activity that subverts constitutional order. It prevents constitutional subversion through public financing mechanisms and creates standing for the People to enforce compliance.

Sword: Follows the Oath of Office. It enforces ministerial compliance by public officials, prohibits ultra vires conduct, bars recognition or enforcement of parallel legal authority, and provides structural standing for the People to challenge constitutional violations in court.

Together: The Shield protects against constitutional subversion through funding channels.The Sword enforces constitutional fidelity through oath-bound authority.Both vest enforcement power in the People.

That framework:

Uses existing constitutional text.
Bars parallel legal authority.
Requires neutrality against coercion.
Preserves liberty of conscience.

One is rhetoric. The other is a drafted remedy.

Property Taxes: Branding vs. Math

The incumbent says elimination is the goal. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) — in writing — explain what it actually takes.

According to TFR:

Roughly $79.5 billion in total property taxes were collected in 2022.
About 55% of that is school taxes.
Eliminating School taxes alone would cost roughly $20 billion per year — assuming spending is frozen and zero pork is cut.

Dewey has a plan, and that plan starts with YOU: eliminating property taxes on homestead properties by Constitutional amendment. The right thing to do is simply the right thing to do. He also has a plan to backfill the lost revenue, and spoiler alert, it's not as much lost revenue as you'd imagine it is.