Beller calls Self ‘unfit to serve,’ backs Evan Hunt at McKinney event

By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews

McKINNEY — McKinney City Councilman Justin Beller called U.S. Rep. Keith Self “unfit to serve our community” Monday night and urged voters to elect Democratic challenger Evan Hunt.

Beller spoke during a McKinney meet-and-greet featuring Hunt and Texas House District 61 Democratic nominee Brittany Black. After the event, Beller confirmed he is endorsing Hunt over Self.

Beller takes aim at Self

Beller spent nearly all of his remarks criticizing Self, accusing him of contributing to division in McKinney.

“We’re facing people who want to divide us,” Beller said. “They want to create power out of that division, and it’s important that we don’t let that happen.”

Turning to the McKinney Islamic Association site plan, which the council approved 7-0, Beller said Self knew what council members had been told about their legal obligations.

“We were legally obligated to do what we did,” Beller said. “That if you upheld the Constitution, that we followed Texas laws, then we followed our oath.”

“Rather than acknowledging that, dealing with that, he threw gas on the fire,” Beller said.

“He did that for his own personal benefit, his own political benefit,” he continued. “And to me, that makes him unfit to serve our community.”

Beller said the district instead needs someone who “brings us together” and “serves all of us.”

“Regardless of your political party, regardless of your race or religion, it serves everybody,” he said.

He closed by urging attendees to talk to their neighbors and friends, volunteer and phone-bank.

“And we need to elect Evan,” Beller said.

Hunt calls for ‘service and solutions’

Hunt followed Beller with his own criticism of Self, saying the district needs to move away from politics of “division and distraction.”

He criticized Self’s focus on Islam and Sharia law and pointed to his own experience as a 20-year Air Force veteran who served after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I went to war against radical Islam and terrorists after 9/11,” Hunt said. “But if you can tell the difference between the Taliban and Muslims, you can tell the difference between the KKK and Christians.”

Hunt said elected officials should instead focus on issues affecting residents across party lines.

“Real greatness in America comes from freedom,” Hunt said. “It comes from the freedom to say what you want to say, love who you want to love, worship how you want to worship, and be who you want to be.”

He also said government has become too responsive to special interests and large political donors.

“The American government is broken,” Hunt said. “It’s not working for us. It’s not working for the 99%. It’s working for special interests and big money.”

He discussed health care, immigration, Social Security, government ethics, redistricting, artificial intelligence and data centers. His proposals included congressional term limits, 18-year terms for Supreme Court justices, a binding ethics code for the court, restrictions on stock trading by federal officials and changes to partisan redistricting.

On immigration, Hunt said the country should enforce its laws and remove violent undocumented offenders while providing due process and greater accountability for federal agents.

During questions, Hunt encouraged residents who had previously stayed out of politics to become involved.

“What I really need is your voice,” Hunt said.

“There’s no way to do it other than one person at a time,” he added. “And I can’t do it without all of you.”

“We need to get regular people involved,” Hunt said, “otherwise, we will continue to be ruled by the extremes.”

Black focuses on Texas issues

Black, who is challenging Republican state Rep. Keresa Richardson in House District 61, focused on public education, health care, affordability and government accountability.

“I basically specialize in fixing broken systems,” said Black, a software engineer. “And right now, our political system is broken.”

Black said families are struggling with housing, insurance and health care costs even while working and trying to keep up.

“We’re doing everything that we thought was right, and it’s still not enough,” she said.

Black called for greater investment in public education and criticized using public money for private schools.

“We need to fully fund our public schools and stop putting public money into private institutions,” Black said.

During questions, she also discussed health care, workforce training, accessibility and government transparency, telling attendees she would remain accessible even when she does not immediately have an answer.

“I will not walk out of the room,” Black said. “I will be here, and I will answer, and if I can’t get that answer that moment, I will find a time when I can or find the right person.”

Looking toward November

With the Nov. 3 election approaching, Hunt closed by returning to his central message.

“It is time to get away from the politics of division and distraction,” Hunt said, “because it’s time to get back to a politics of service and solutions.”

Beller had already made his position in the congressional race clear.

“And we need to elect Evan.”

 

Editor’s note: TX3DNews contacted U.S. Rep. Keith Self’s office for a response to Councilman Justin Beller’s remarks and endorsement of Evan Hunt. No response had been received at the time of publication. The story will be updated if a response is provided.