McKinney Recall Fight Escalates Over Intimidation Claims, Personal Attacks

By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews

McKINNEY, Texas — McKinney’s recall campaign is becoming a fight not just over signatures and elected officials, but over allegations of intimidation, threats and personal attacks surrounding the petition drive.

The recall effort targets Mayor Bill Cox and council members Ernest Lynch, Geré Feltus and Justin Beller. Organizers are seeking the signatures required to place the recalls before voters.

Recall supporters raise intimidation concerns

The Collin County Citizens for Integrity PAC, which is supporting the recall effort, has repeatedly raised concerns about what it describes as attempts to intimidate petition signers.

In a recent fundraising appeal, the PAC said it believes “powerful political interests and well-connected developers” are working to stop the recall and protect the status quo. The post did not identify those interests or developers or specify what actions they had taken.

“We will not be silenced. We will not be intimidated,” the PAC wrote.

The PAC says it has received reports of several forms of alleged intimidation, including people being photographed or identified, communications referencing a person’s employment and social-media posts it interpreted as warnings.

One incident highlighted by the PAC involved a woman standing near a petition-signing location holding signs reading “DECLINE TO SIGN” and “PETITIONS AND SIGNERS’ INFORMATION IS PUBLISHED PUBLIC RECORD.”

The PAC said the warning that petition information becomes public record could reasonably be perceived as intimidating or intended to discourage people from signing. It asked anyone who felt intimidated or believed they had been photographed to contact the organization.

TX3D News has not independently verified the PAC’s claims of harassment or intimidation. The PAC did not respond to a request for specific examples before publication.

Rhetoric turns personal

The dispute has also become increasingly personal online.

Louis Maldonado and Eddie Isa, who have publicly promoted the recall, have become involved in a series of confrontational exchanges with Democratic congressional candidate Evan Hunt.

On Aug. 31, Maldonado told Hunt on X, “your political career is just starting. Don’t make us end it. We stand with Eddie!” The statement specifically referred to Hunt’s political career.

Isa has told Hunt he would make him a “national jackass” and, in another exchange, told Hunt that people like him belong in blue states and should leave Texas.

Maldonado later called Hunt a vulgar variation of his name while posting that liberals like him should be “DEPORT[ED] … to a Blue state.”

The exchanges have also extended to Hunt’s family. In an Aug. 30 post directed at Hunt, Isa made a vulgar sexual remark involving Hunt’s wife.

Hunt has been sharply critical of the recall campaign. During the Aug. 18 City Council meeting, he described it as part of a “wave of hate” and accused outside political figures and social-media personalities of inflaming anti-Muslim tensions.

More recently, Hunt said attacks against him had gone beyond political disagreement and extended to his wife and family. He called on U.S. Rep. Keith Self to denounce what Hunt characterized as “bullying, lies and intimidation.”

Self drawn into the dispute

Maldonado has also appealed directly to U.S. Rep. Keith Self.

In a letter Maldonado posted publicly, he said he and Isa began receiving messages they perceived as threatening after encouraging residents to attend public meetings. Maldonado and Isa have continued encouraging their followers to attend public meetings, including Tuesday night’s McKinney City Council meeting.

Maldonado alleged doxxing, threatening communications and efforts affecting people’s employment or livelihoods and asked Self whether “threats, doxxing, intimidation, or retaliation” warranted attention or referral to authorities.

“We are not looking for confrontation or violence,” Maldonado wrote. “We want exactly the opposite.”

TX3D News has not independently verified the threats, doxxing or retaliation described by Maldonado.

Hunt has also appealed to Self, asking the congressman to condemn the conduct Hunt says has been directed at him and his family.

Self has publicly supported the recall and signed a recall petition. He has also said recall supporters have faced “bullying, threats, threats of retribution,” but has not publicly identified those responsible for specific incidents in the statements reviewed for this story.

With the Sept. 26 petition deadline approaching, allegations over intimidation and political conduct have increasingly become part of the recall fight itself.

Editor’s Note: TX3D News contacted the Collin County Citizens for Integrity PAC, and U.S. Rep. Keith Self for comment and did not receive responses before publication. Louis Maldonado was also given an opportunity to provide additional context but declined to comment.