0:00

Welcome, everybody.

0:00

It's time people. Time to begin

0:04

focusing on your local

0:04

government and its

0:07

effectiveness. In prior

0:07

episodes, we've discussed the

0:10

importance of limited

0:10

government. And all too often

0:13

when that comes up, we think of

0:13

the Feds and Joe Biden. But

0:17

today we chat with Rachel

0:17

Heisler, a Republican candidate

0:21

for county commissioner and

0:21

chambers County, Texas. She's a

0:24

wife, a mother, a Christian, and

0:24

a conservative, who just decided

0:29

that now was the time to create

0:29

the future that her community is

0:33

hungry for. Be sure to share

0:33

this podcast with your family

0:37

and friends. Follow me on

0:37

Twitter, and Facebook at Ben

0:41

Armenta Texas. You can also find

0:41

out more about my story at Ben

0:45

armenta.com. So you're a conservative? And

0:54

what does that even really mean?

1:00

Does it mean you believe in the

1:00

right to life?

1:04

What about the protection of our

1:04

Constitution? And interpreting

1:09

it as an originalist would? Does

1:09

it mean you listen to talk

1:14

radio, you listen to Rush

1:14

Limbaugh and all the other

1:18

conservative radio types now?

1:22

Does it mean that you never miss

1:22

a vote? Early voting voting day

1:28

you go to all of them rain,

1:28

sleet, snow, hail?

1:33

Does it mean that you believe in

1:33

economic prosperity?

1:38

What about managed immigration?

1:38

Or the rule of law?

1:45

Perhaps the answer to all those

1:45

questions is maybe.

1:52

I think being a conservative can

1:52

mean slightly different things

1:55

to everyone. But at its basic

1:55

level, being a conservative

2:00

means you care about the role of

2:00

the individual, the life of the

2:05

individual, and that you will do

2:05

anything you can to help promote

2:11

the individual over the government. At least that's what it means to

2:14

me. Just vote yesterday, I know

2:16

you're very involved with

2:19

politics. Gotcha. So that's the

2:19

odd thing I probably pay. I make

2:23

jokes off politics. I worked on

2:23

O'Reilly for years and he's a

2:26

has a political show. But it was

2:26

just a place where I hung my hat

2:29

left to my own devices. I'm not

2:29

mad for politics. So frankly,

2:33

you've been pushed into that a little bit readily. And once your weekend

2:36

update anchor you do make jokes

2:39

about current events journal

2:39

Martin has gone this route to

2:43

left to my own devices, man, you

2:43

know, I went to vote yesterday

2:46

and I won't even Well, I live in

2:46

a surf town up the coast here

2:51

from LA and they don't even give

2:51

you the sticker you have to

2:54

actually get I voted tattoo

2:54

right above your pubic

2:59

tattooing people. I have to tell you something,

3:02

because, you know, you and I

3:05

have met before a couple of

3:05

times. And you know, I was

3:08

always a big fan of yours. And

3:08

people though today are like

3:12

what? I think people get upset

3:12

because you're conservative.

3:15

Because you're a comedian. I

3:15

think it's weird for a comedian

3:19

to be conservative or unusual. I

3:19

should say what they say what

3:23

happened to you? What did happen

3:23

to you?

3:27

I'm socially liberal as anybody.

3:27

When I look at, I was watching

3:32

backstage. This is how

3:32

interesting things are. When I

3:35

watch Trump. He doesn't rankle

3:35

me like he rankles people on

3:39

your side, there are days I

3:39

think he's a buffoon. There

3:41

days, I can't believe the stuff

3:41

he says. But today when I

3:44

watched that thing, I kind of

3:44

laugh. I watch Pelosi, and she

3:49

drives me batty intro and I know

3:49

on your side, I think Pelosi is

3:53

kind of acceptable. And she says

3:53

stuff like that. That drives me

3:56

more crazy. All I know is this.

3:56

I've met so many nice people.

3:59

Most of my dearest friends in

3:59

the world are liberals. I refuse

4:02

to go through life defining who

4:02

I'm going to be friends with

4:05

whom I'm going to love who I'm

4:05

going to hang with from this

4:08

Dirar after people's names. All

4:08

I know is when I look at, like I

4:13

said socially liberal and that's

4:13

when I don't dig what the

4:16

conservatives do. They always

4:16

come off like the town elders

4:18

and Footloose and that's a drag

4:18

to me. But you know, I look at

4:23

liberal sometimes I think

4:23

liberalism is like a nude beach.

4:26

It sounds good to get there. And

4:26

then there's a

4:31

lot. But on this podcast, we always,

4:33

always encourage our listeners

4:39

to do a little bit more. Become

4:39

an election day worker or a poll

4:44

watcher. Go to the school board

4:44

meeting.

4:48

Talk about some issue that's

4:48

impacting you and your kids.

4:53

Volunteer to put a candidate

4:53

sign up in your front yard go

4:57

rally at your state capitol for

5:00

For some cause that's important

5:00

to you and your family. I don't

5:05

care what it is. But do

5:05

something, do something more if

5:11

we want to be the Democrats, and

5:11

we want to start winning more

5:16

elections, we all have to do

5:16

something more than what we're

5:20

doing today. The Democrats,

5:20

that's their game.

5:26

And we have to beat them at it.

5:26

I tell my kids all the time,

5:29

foot look, focus on the things

5:29

that you can control. Don't

5:34

Don't bat an eye, don't worry

5:34

about the things that are out of

5:37

yours. You'll go crazy if you

5:37

worry about stuff that's out of

5:41

your control. And I'll ask them, what what are

5:43

what are the two things that you

5:50

are 100% within your control,

5:50

and you'll never be beat at if

5:54

you don't want to be beat at it. And the reply is the same

5:57

attitude, and effort.

6:02

And that's what we have to try

6:02

to do as conservatives, we have

6:05

to remind ourselves that no

6:05

matter what the Democrats do, no

6:09

matter how much cheating, they

6:09

try to do, or other shenanigans,

6:15

whatever, we as conservatives,

6:15

we can always control. Our

6:21

positive can do outlook on life,

6:21

which is contagious, by the way.

6:27

And we can put in more effort.

6:27

We can out work the Democrats.

6:35

We can outwork the liberals, we

6:35

can outwork the communists,

6:39

socialists, fascists, we can

6:39

outwork them all.

6:44

And that's why today's guest is

6:44

so important.

6:47

We have someone on our show who

6:47

despite her crazy schedule,

6:54

she decided that doing more

6:54

politically in her community was

6:59

important. She decided that something had

7:01

to change.

7:05

And she wasn't going to leave it

7:05

up to others, that she was going

7:09

to take accountability to solve

7:09

the issues that are important to

7:13

her and her family. I want you all to pay attention

7:15

to her story here. How she has

7:20

faced encouragement and advice.

7:20

I'm going to talk to her about

7:25

the good, the bad, the ugly, the

7:25

challenges that she has faced,

7:30

the adversity that she's faced,

7:30

the lessons learned.

7:35

Listen, how she's figured out

7:35

how to incorporate becoming

7:39

politically active in her life.

7:43

She does what she what she can

7:43

and she always maintains a focus

7:49

on her faith in Jesus Christ.

7:53

So today, I want to welcome

7:53

Rachel Heisler onto our show.

7:58

I've known Rachel for several

7:58

years now. And our paths have

8:02

crossed in Texas state politics,

8:02

and in her neck of the woods and

8:05

chambers County. Rachel, welcome

8:05

to our show. Hi, Ben. Thanks for

8:10

having me. So before we get in

8:10

into politics, I want to I want

8:15

to dive deep into a bunch of

8:15

different things here. But

8:18

before we get into politics,

8:18

share with us a little bit about

8:21

your background, kind of your

8:21

upbringing, where you were where

8:25

you grew up, your family

8:25

background, let's just kind of

8:28

get to know you a little bit.

8:28

Okay, so, I grew up in rural

8:34

areas of Texas, a couple of

8:34

different areas, in my early

8:38

childhood, on the coast, down

8:38

around Matagorda. And then

8:43

whenever I was in middle school,

8:43

my family made a big move up to

8:48

Burnet, Texas, over in the

8:48

Central Texas area. My My father

8:53

had a career change. And so it

8:53

was, you know, everything kind

8:56

of changed for us. And then,

8:56

whenever I was 17, I kind of

9:02

struck out on my own, I had a

9:02

little bit of a rebellious

9:05

streak, and I ended up here in

9:05

Antioch area. I met my husband,

9:13

we met when we were 17. And we

9:13

got married when we were 18. So

9:18

we've been married for a long

9:18

time. Now. We're an old married

9:21

couple, which is great. And then

9:26

we moved back to the Austin area

9:26

for a few years and ended up in

9:32

Houston. And then we said, this

9:32

is not for us. You know, being

9:36

in that large metropolitan area

9:36

and just dealing with all the

9:41

traffic and everything and my

9:41

husband got an opportunity to

9:45

join the family business, which

9:45

we never thought that we would

9:48

do whenever we were younger. But

9:48

whenever we got a little bit

9:53

older, a little bit wiser, and

9:53

then said okay, we feel like

9:57

we're ready to start settling

9:57

down. We

10:00

Give Back to chambers County. So

10:00

your your childhood but I mean

10:05

it sounds like being close to

10:05

the water rural area like that's

10:10

been in your blood for a long

10:10

time then. Yes, exactly. That's

10:13

that's how I grew up. I mean,

10:13

just as a country girl. Yeah,

10:18

definitely been yeah been in my

10:18

blood and I guess maybe I tried

10:22

to fight it for a little while

10:22

but then whenever I got older

10:26

finally realized, no, this isn't

10:26

new. This is who you are. This

10:30

is where you're meant to be. And

10:30

so yeah 2006 We moved back here

10:33

to chambers County and we've

10:33

been here ever since. owned our

10:38

own business. You know, Ben, we're in Ghana.

10:40

What kind of business? Yeah,

10:44

commercial seafood. My husband

10:44

is a red snapper fisherman. So

10:50

he goes off shore for about a

10:50

weekend at a time catches

10:54

anywhere from 10 to 14,000

10:54

pounds of red snapper brings

10:59

that in, sells that to a

10:59

wholesaler. And then it goes

11:04

actually all across the country,

11:04

all the way to New York, where

11:09

it'll get a plane and get flown

11:09

up there. Is it a year round

11:13

business or is there a season,

11:13

so it is a year round business?

11:19

The thing about the snapper

11:19

fishery is that it is a

11:22

federally regulated fishery. So

11:22

there are all kinds of rules,

11:29

regulations, laws that we have

11:29

to follow. It's very tightly

11:32

regulated where every single

11:32

pound of red snapper that is

11:36

caught commercially is accounted

11:36

for. And what that does is that

11:42

allows us to control our timing

11:42

and harvesting of the fish in

11:50

order to make it more safe, more

11:50

effective, and to provide it to

11:56

the nation in a way that works

11:56

for the people who want to buy

12:01

the fish. So a lot of

12:01

restaurants do more people. I

12:06

bet do more people

12:09

purchase and consume red snapper

12:09

in Texas or in the Gulf Coast or

12:15

other areas like like east

12:15

coast. So I would say it's

12:19

definitely more of a Texas Gulf

12:19

Coast thing but like I said,

12:25

some of the fish will go all the

12:25

way as far as New York City

12:29

Fulton Fish Market, but it's

12:29

definitely a gulf coast

12:33

favorite. For certain. Do you

12:33

ever go with him?

12:38

So I have not yet what I will be

12:38

soon and there is a reason why I

12:45

have not gone with him. Okay, So

12:45

picture this. It's

12:50

a 60 foot boat with a one room

12:50

cabin that has bunks and a

12:55

galley. And you know the the

12:55

wheelhouse where the captain is.

12:59

And there's no head. That means

12:59

you have to do your business

13:05

over the side or in a bucket and

13:05

I just haven't been brave enough

13:10

to do that yet. But but I'm not

13:10

I'm not gonna I'm not gonna

13:13

blame you. But it would be a

13:13

heck of an adventure be a heck

13:16

of a story. I mean, oh, very

13:16

couple you figured you'd have

13:20

done it. But you know, I you

13:20

know, I get you. Yeah, but I'm

13:25

but my goal is to get on there

13:25

this summer because some some of

13:29

the the things that I'm working

13:29

on now and some of my long term

13:35

goals, it will benefit me to

13:35

have actually been out on the

13:41

boat and gotten more on that

13:41

side of the process. Because

13:45

usually my end of the business

13:45

is everything in the office,

13:49

everything paperwork, every you

13:49

know, filing.

13:52

It's that that's my wheelhouse.

13:52

So it will definitely benefit me

13:57

to get on the boat and make a

13:57

few trips and just, you know,

14:01

really get into that side of it

14:01

for some of the goals that I'm

14:04

pursuing. So I'll be doing that.

14:04

That'll be awesome. And y'all

14:09

are parents, right? We are we

14:09

have a 15 year old son, who's

14:14

currently learning how to drive

14:14

just got his learner's permit.

14:18

That's our newest adventure with

14:18

him. Yeah, that's a heck of an

14:22

adventure. And so you're

14:22

probably pretty busy with his

14:25

activities, I'd assume. Hmm.

14:25

Yes. He's, you know, he's into

14:31

music. He does martial arts and

14:31

now you know, learning how to

14:36

drive and he'll actually he'll

14:36

be on the boat with his dad

14:40

quite a bit this summer because

14:40

he'll be working to earn money

14:44

to purchase the car. So that's

14:44

going to be his big adventure is

14:48

going on the boat. I like it. I mean, I don't think

14:50

enough, enough kids get work

14:57

experience early on and I

15:00

Um, I've run a couple different

15:00

companies. And we'll hire folks

15:07

that come from all different

15:07

backgrounds and the ones who

15:12

actually had real jobs. I mean,

15:12

whatever it might be, could be

15:18

working for a lawn company or

15:18

sacking groceries or waiting

15:22

tables, they're just way more

15:22

relatable when they are an

15:27

adult. And in my mind, they are

15:27

way more employable. Just

15:31

because you have some training

15:31

or a degree or whatever, it

15:36

doesn't necessarily make you

15:36

relatable to customers, and you

15:41

get on your good on him for

15:41

getting after it and learning,

15:45

learning and a hard day's work.

15:45

Exactly, yes, that is one of the

15:49

things that both my husband and

15:49

myself, you know, we both had to

15:55

have jobs as teenagers. And so

15:55

that strong worth that work

16:00

ethic has just been instilled in

16:00

us from

16:05

the very beginning. I mean, that

16:05

was, if you want something, you

16:08

have to go to work and get it,

16:08

no one is giving you anything,

16:12

you have to you know, you have

16:12

to earn it. And so that has

16:15

something been something that

16:15

has served both of us extremely

16:19

well, in our lives in, you know,

16:19

many different facets, not just

16:24

in our business, but you know,

16:24

in our personal lives having

16:27

integrity, standing by our

16:27

principles, just

16:32

kudos to both of our parents. I

16:32

mean, we both, you know, love

16:37

each other's parents. Yeah,

16:37

that's, that can be rare these

16:41

days. So y'all are definitely,

16:41

definitely blessed. So share a

16:48

little bit with our listeners

16:48

paint a picture around chambers

16:52

County, what, for people who

16:52

aren't familiar with where it's

16:56

located demographics, types of

16:56

employers in the area. Tell us a

17:02

little bit about the county

17:02

itself. So chambers county is

17:07

located east of Harris County

17:07

and west of Jefferson County. So

17:12

we're kind of sandwiched in

17:12

between two

17:17

larger cities, obviously,

17:17

Houston being you know, one of

17:20

the largest cities in the United

17:20

States. And then Beaumont, just

17:24

being one of those smaller kind

17:24

of small cities, but still, you

17:29

know, both on each side of us

17:29

that they both have industry and

17:36

you know, their own things going

17:36

on. So for us being right in the

17:39

middle is really great,

17:39

actually, because we are able to

17:45

keep a lot of our rural illness

17:45

that we have here in chambers

17:49

County, but then also have

17:49

access to a lot of great things

17:54

with Houston and Beaumont being

17:54

on either side of us. So,

17:59

chambers County, for the most

17:59

part on the west side of Trinity

18:03

River, I would say is oil and

18:03

gas, we've got a lot of oil and

18:10

gas over in the Mont Bellevue

18:10

area. And then we also have a

18:15

port situation where there is a

18:15

large swath of area that is

18:21

being developed into warehouses

18:21

and distribution centers for

18:26

large corporations. And so that

18:26

is a newer industry that is

18:32

being developed in our county of

18:32

are on the west side. And then

18:35

once you get east of the Trinity

18:35

River, then that's really where

18:39

you really get to the rural

18:39

aspect of chambers County where

18:43

we have, for instance, rice

18:43

forming soybean farming.

18:50

A few small little towns here

18:50

and there, but for the most

18:52

part, it's just unincorporated

18:52

area. One of the things that

18:57

we're known for in the county

18:57

seat of Antioch is that were the

19:00

alligator Capital of Texas that

19:00

we have more alligators than we

19:05

do have people. So, right. I like it. Yeah, it's

19:07

really is a great mix. So for

19:13

someone like myself, I live in

19:13

mid County. And so I am you

19:17

know, we live out here on five

19:17

acres of land on a bayou and so

19:21

that provides the access that we

19:21

need for our fishing boat to be

19:25

able to bring it right up here

19:25

to our home and keep it here and

19:28

then whenever my husband's ready

19:28

to head out into the golf, he'll

19:32

just hop on the boat and head

19:32

out right but

19:35

at the same time, we're an hour

19:35

from downtown Houston so if we

19:40

want to go and do something fun,

19:40

have a night out well we just

19:44

jump in the car and there we go,

19:44

you know, go to an Astros game

19:47

or go and visit some of the

19:47

really great restaurants that

19:51

are available so chambers county

19:51

really is a great place and it

19:55

is also one of the fastest

19:55

growing counties in Texas. We

19:59

have tons of people who are moving

20:00

here to chambers County, I

20:03

believe a lot of them are moving

20:03

here from Harris County because

20:07

they're trying to escape the bad

20:07

policies, bad government, the

20:12

crime, that is in chambers

20:12

county, or I mean, Harris County

20:16

next door to us, you know,

20:16

they're fleeing here to chambers

20:19

County, because they see that it's still, you know, relatively

20:22

safe here, we have, you know,

20:27

we're very conservative for the

20:27

most part here, our grassroots

20:31

are very conservative. So we

20:31

have a lot of young families

20:36

here, in chambers County. So

20:36

it's, it really is a great

20:40

place. And my mission is I want

20:40

to keep it that way. I mean,

20:45

it's exciting because you, you

20:45

do have that mix there of not

20:52

just proximity to urban areas,

20:52

but still being rural, but also

20:55

just mix of people that have

20:55

lived in chambers county a very

20:59

long time. And then individuals

20:59

who have moved there or have

21:04

come back and you know, they

21:04

went away for, you know, similar

21:07

to your story, it went away for

21:07

a while and had some adventures,

21:10

and then came back and are now

21:10

planning some roots. It really

21:14

is one of those counties where

21:14

people plant some roots and and

21:19

want to raise their families

21:19

there. So it's it's very

21:22

exciting. What about the

21:22

politics? You You talked about

21:26

how it's, it's more conservative

21:26

in nature, you're you're wanting

21:30

to play a role in maintaining

21:30

that.

21:35

So how conservative is it has?

21:35

And has that changed over the

21:39

years? Has it been more in the

21:39

past, and it's kind of getting

21:43

pulled a little bit further

21:43

left? Tell us a little bit about

21:46

that. So as far as percentages

21:46

go, we are close to 90% of

21:54

Republican voters in chambers

21:54

County. But one of my concerns

21:59

is that as new people move in,

22:04

we, you know, a lot of people

22:04

who are moving to Texas right

22:07

now, unfortunately, don't share

22:07

our views. They're being moved

22:13

here because their company is

22:13

moving here. And so for their

22:17

job, they're moving, they're not

22:17

moving here necessarily because

22:20

they are seeking a more

22:20

conservative worldview. So I

22:26

certainly have those concerns.

22:26

And that's one of the things

22:29

that I want to try to help

22:29

people to understand because I

22:32

look at a county like Fort Bend.

22:32

And, you know, they they used to

22:38

be like we are there, you know,

22:38

we are then 1020 years ago,

22:45

where they they experienced this

22:45

tremendous growth. And then one

22:49

day you look up and say, What is

22:49

going on here? What what are we

22:54

subscribing to who are the

22:54

people that are in elected roles

22:59

that don't match up with our

22:59

values. And so that is one of

23:05

the things that I want people to

23:05

understand here in chambers

23:08

County, that we we have to be

23:08

vigilant and guard over that if

23:11

we want to maintain and keep

23:11

that conservative feeling and

23:17

values and principles that we

23:17

enjoy here in chambers County.

23:22

Before we get into some of kind

23:22

of what's on the horizon for

23:26

you, politically. You you've had

23:26

a history and politics, you've

23:32

you've had a bit of a journey

23:32

over the last handful of years.

23:36

How did that come to be? What

23:36

sort of inspired you a few years

23:40

ago to step up a bit more into

23:40

the political sphere. So like a

23:46

lot of people COVID. And some, during that

23:53

beginning of the pandemic, our

23:53

county commissioner Court passed

23:57

a resolution that in a in a

23:57

state of declared disaster that

24:03

they could have the power to

24:03

raise our tax rate by 8.2, up to

24:09

8.25%, without a vote by the

24:09

voters there by bypassing the

24:15

process that is on the books in

24:15

order to approve that rate hike

24:21

if they saw fit. And it was the

24:21

first time I ever went to

24:27

Commissioner's court the first

24:27

time I ever made a public

24:30

comment. I mean, the first time

24:30

that I figured out I need to say

24:36

something I need to speak up

24:36

this is not right. And so from

24:42

there, I just started to get a

24:42

little bit more just paying

24:47

attention to okay, what is this

24:47

Commissioner's court? What are

24:50

these people doing? Because I

24:50

just really, I was an election

24:53

judge but I've wasn't really

24:53

involved in politics before

24:56

that. So I was doing a little

24:56

bit but not political.

25:00

Pull, I wouldn't say, you know,

25:00

just doing like more of a civic

25:03

duty. But after that I just

25:03

started paying attention, just

25:08

following what they were doing.

25:08

And one of the good things that

25:10

did come out of that is they

25:10

started having Commissioner's

25:13

court on YouTube. So that meant

25:13

that I could go back and watch

25:17

it. You know, whenever I had the

25:17

time to do that, because my son

25:20

was younger at that time. So I

25:20

didn't have as much free time as

25:24

I do now, and started paying attention. Then I

25:27

decided to become a precinct

25:32

chair. And because I didn't even

25:32

know about precinct chairs,

25:36

really, and my precinct had been

25:36

vacant for some time. And so

25:43

they said, Okay, sure. If you

25:43

want to be a precinct chair,

25:46

let's go. So I came in and

25:46

started getting involved in, it

25:51

just went from there. And I

25:51

ended up sponsoring a resolution

25:57

to censure our county judge for

25:57

the executive orders that he

26:06

placed during the COVID

26:06

pandemic.

26:10

It was very controversial. It

26:10

was

26:15

extremely upsetting to some

26:15

people. But

26:21

once I had seen what I had seen,

26:21

I could not

26:27

stand idly by and watch as our

26:27

constitutional rights were

26:33

trampled on. I just could not do

26:33

Yeah, it's it's a fascinating,

26:39

it's a fascinating story.

26:39

They're, most often

26:41

conservatives think about

26:41

government overreach, where the

26:46

federal government overstepped

26:46

their bounds or, you know, the

26:50

Biden administration is trying

26:50

to tell Texas or other states,

26:56

what what to do, and we sue

26:56

them, and they think about that.

27:01

But in times of crisis, you

27:01

really expose even the

27:07

vulnerable areas at a local

27:07

level, and we saw it with school

27:12

boards. But this is a great

27:12

example of county level

27:16

policies, where where the

27:16

elected officials took it too

27:21

far. And they trampled on the

27:21

Constitution and the rights of

27:26

the voters and the rights of the

27:26

individuals by implementing

27:30

those kinds of, of policies, and

27:30

most people don't have really

27:35

even a frame of reference for

27:35

how the county governance even

27:40

operates. So pretty, you know,

27:40

pretty impressive that you just

27:44

rolled up your sleeves and said,

27:44

I gotta do something about this.

27:47

Right? They I never imagined

27:47

myself doing anything like that.

27:51

I never imagined myself being in

27:51

politics or seeking an elected

27:55

office. I mean, it just all

27:55

happened organically, that I was

28:00

just in the right place at the

28:00

right time connected with the

28:03

right people who were able to,

28:03

you know, coach me a little bit

28:08

and how to through the process of the

28:11

center, and then honestly, my

28:15

hope was that this would open a

28:15

crack in the door for someone to

28:20

come and run for county judge,

28:20

because the current judge has

28:27

been in office will now for 30

28:27

years. And so my hope was that

28:32

someone would say, okay, there

28:32

we we've got some momentum here.

28:36

We can get something moving. But

28:36

the the opening filing day came,

28:41

and it went and, and no one, no

28:41

one signed up to run. And I was

28:47

with a friend of mine over at

28:47

the San Jacinto Monument

28:51

actually, that day, we were

28:51

placing some luminaries for

28:56

an event that they had that

28:56

night. And I said,

29:01

I think I'm going to run for

29:01

county judge. No one, no one

29:05

signed up, no one is willing to,

29:05

you know, take this risk. And so

29:11

she said, Okay. We'll, you know, we'll all pray

29:14

about it, we will all just, you

29:18

know, kind of, give it some time

29:18

and simmer and see what we, you

29:22

know, what we come up with? So I

29:22

went home, talk to my husband,

29:25

we, you know, talk to our

29:25

family, just really sat on it

29:31

for, you know, for a little bit

29:31

and then finally said, Okay,

29:35

it's the right thing to do.

29:35

Because it's the right thing to

29:39

give voters a choice. There's no

29:39

there's nothing to stop me

29:44

basically, because I met every

29:44

qualification that is required

29:47

in order to run for the office

29:47

and seek the office. So why

29:51

wouldn't I run right? So I just

29:51

said, Let's go directly and then

29:57

something amazing happened that

30:00

At God just started opening

30:00

doors and making a way providing

30:05

financing that I never would

30:05

have imagined.

30:10

It was a wild ride. So it was a

30:10

leap of faith. And I just have

30:17

to say that God came through big

30:17

time, bigger, better, stronger

30:22

than I ever would have imagined.

30:22

So, you know, just at the

30:27

beginning, I thought, Okay, I'm

30:27

just going to put my name on the

30:29

ballot, just so that people have

30:29

someone else that they can

30:32

choose if they didn't want to

30:32

choose the incumbent, right?

30:36

Well, no, it turned into a real

30:36

race, it turned into me getting

30:42

47% of the vote against a 29

30:42

year incumbent. It turned into

30:48

flipping the politics and

30:48

chambers county upside down.

30:53

Because people said, Who is this

30:53

girl? Who is this person? What

30:58

is going on here? How is she

30:58

getting all of this support?

31:02

What What is this about? And

31:02

people started talking, and

31:05

people are still talking, and

31:05

I'm very excited about this

31:09

primary coming up in 24. Because

31:09

now I have some other people who

31:14

are going to be running this

31:14

time, I'm not going to be all by

31:16

myself. As far as a candidate

31:16

goes, there are some people who

31:19

have said, hey, if she can make

31:19

that much of a dent, I think I

31:24

can do something too. And so

31:24

we've got some other people

31:28

running. I think there's Yeah, I

31:28

think there's something to that,

31:32

you know, you fantastic race.

31:37

You know, fantastic results.

31:37

Ultimately, you didn't, you

31:42

know, claim victory. Right, but

31:42

you talk about it with so much

31:48

positivity. And you know, I mean

31:48

people everywhere, and they say,

31:54

Well, I just don't know if I can

31:54

win. I just don't know

31:58

if I, if I can do this. And then

31:58

what if I don't win? And I think

32:04

the courage in your voice is

32:04

inspiring this leap of faith.

32:08

And clearly, a strong foundation

32:08

in your faith has played a role

32:15

before during and after that

32:15

race. Is that fair to say? Oh,

32:19

absolutely. Absolutely. I mean,

32:19

I can imagine so. So you go

32:25

through this journey, you You

32:30

are now looking at a county that is listening a

32:33

little differently to what's

32:37

what's occurring, and they're

32:37

paying attention a little

32:39

differently. We're coming up on this next

32:41

election cycle. All right,

32:45

what's what's on the horizon for

32:45

you? What What have What have

32:49

you decided, is going to happen

32:49

next for Rachel. So this past

32:55

Saturday, I had a very exciting

32:55

campaign kickoff event where I

33:02

officially announced that I am

33:02

running for county commissioner

33:06

precinct number one in chambers

33:06

County. So I will be seeking a

33:11

place on the chambers, County

33:11

Commissioners Court that will

33:14

allow me to actually vote and

33:14

affect policy in my county. And

33:20

I am really excited about the

33:20

amount of support that I have

33:25

received so far from from all

33:25

across the county, not just in

33:28

my precinct, but from people

33:28

across chambers county who are

33:33

interested in the process and

33:33

interested in getting involved

33:36

and having their voices heard.

33:36

Yeah, no doubt. So the the prior

33:42

race when you ran for county

33:42

judge a lot of that decision

33:46

process involved.

33:50

Changing the leadership,

33:50

changing the leadership style

33:53

changing, overreach and bringing a

33:56

different level of ethical

34:02

decision making to that position. Why are you

34:04

running for this particular

34:09

seat? What are you looking to,

34:09

to change as a result of, of the

34:15

precinct one Commissioner's

34:15

court victory? So what the main

34:20

thing that I would like to

34:20

change is our tax rate, to be

34:25

100% honest with you. Chambers county is extremely

34:28

blessed in the tax base that we

34:32

have earlier when we talked

34:32

about how the county is made up

34:35

and what the industry is and the

34:35

demographics. We have a budget

34:40

of over $100 million a year that

34:40

is spent in a county of

34:47

approximately 50,000 citizens.

34:47

So there are counties in Texas

34:52

who would love to have the

34:52

budget that we have here in

34:56

chambers County. And so for us

34:56

to

35:00

Spend the money in the way that

35:00

it's being spent. Now, I don't

35:05

agree with, I believe that we

35:05

could be better stewards of that

35:10

taxpayer money. We have a very

35:10

healthy abatement program that,

35:19

you know, many people like it

35:19

because they believe that it

35:22

brings business and industry to

35:22

our accounting others, some of

35:27

us we don't love it so much,

35:27

because we believe that it's

35:29

corporate welfare, and it's the

35:29

government picking winners and

35:33

losers. For me, what I'd like to

35:33

see is a lower tax rate for

35:37

everyone across the board,

35:37

rather than picking and choosing

35:42

who gets to have those tax

35:42

breaks. While

35:47

you know, the appraisals

35:47

continue to go up in in our

35:50

county as they have across the

35:50

state, it's a statewide issue

35:54

that property tax appraisals

35:54

have just skyrocketed.

35:59

And commissioners, courts don't

35:59

lower the tax rate in order to

36:03

offset that property value

36:03

increase, unfortunately, so they

36:08

continue to increase their

36:08

budgets and spend more and spend

36:12

more, while you know, my

36:12

business can only make what my

36:16

business can make, because the

36:16

federal government gets to tell

36:19

me how much fish I can catch

36:19

every year, right? So I can't

36:23

just raise my salary because I

36:23

have to pay more property taxes,

36:28

you know, I have to absorb that

36:28

somewhere. So that means

36:31

somewhere else is going to get

36:31

less, right. So I have less

36:35

discretionary spending, because

36:35

now I'm spending more on

36:38

property taxes. Well, I just

36:38

don't agree with that. And I

36:43

believe that we have the tax

36:43

base here in chambers County in

36:46

order to very much lower the tax

36:46

rate across the board for

36:50

everyone, not just people who

36:50

are politically connected. And

36:55

then the second issue that is

36:55

just huge for us is drainage. So

36:59

many people in chambers county

36:59

have flooded multiple times,

37:04

myself included, where you have

37:04

to, you know, go through a

37:09

horrible process of throwing all

37:09

of your things away mucking out

37:13

your house, going through all

37:13

the remodeling, or if you if you

37:20

decide you've had enough, and

37:20

then you want to try and sell

37:23

your home, I mean, it's it is a

37:23

nightmare. And we've got to get

37:27

this drainage taken care of,

37:27

because there really there

37:30

really is no excuse for it. Obviously, you're not going to

37:33

be able to prevent all flooding,

37:37

but we can certainly make a huge

37:37

difference make better drainage

37:42

for the residents of this county

37:42

who who are paying taxes that

37:46

they should be going to that

37:46

kind of infrastructure that

37:49

benefits them. Yeah. And even if

37:49

it if it makes future flooding

37:56

less severe, it makes the

37:56

recovery time for the county and

38:00

the communities that much

38:00

faster. Maintenance. And

38:04

prevention is so key when it

38:04

comes to flood prone prone

38:08

areas. How contested Do you

38:08

anticipate this race being? Is

38:14

the incumbent running again?

38:14

Yes, so he announced back in

38:19

February, I do believe so I knew

38:19

that he was planning to run

38:24

again. I mean, I fully expect for him

38:26

to have all of the backing of

38:29

the establishment and the status

38:29

quo, people that back to my

38:33

competitor last time, it'll be

38:33

all the same people. But you

38:38

know, I, I and I get that, you

38:38

know, I understand they're going

38:41

to have people that are that are

38:41

always going to support them

38:44

that are going to be in their corner because I have people like that in my corner too. And

38:46

it's great. But those are not

38:49

necessarily the people that I'm

38:49

going after. I am working with a

38:54

really awesome group of people

38:54

who have come together and said,

38:58

you know, we're ready to change

38:58

the game here in chambers

39:01

County, we're ready for the next generation of people

39:03

who want to step up and serve

39:07

their fellow citizens to come in

39:07

and start gaining ground here.

39:12

And we have plans to do some

39:12

things that are going to bring

39:17

new voters into this process and

39:17

educate people and help them to

39:21

understand what really is at

39:21

stake here in this race. So I'm

39:25

really excited. Yeah, it's

39:25

exciting. It definitely is. It's

39:30

going to be a fantastic next

39:30

handful of months as this

39:36

continues to scale and ramp up

39:36

and you're out there meeting

39:39

more of your community members

39:39

is going to be up and you know,

39:42

you know, it's going to be a

39:42

fantastic ride. So I'm

39:45

definitely looking forward to

39:45

following it. What what current

39:50

political office holder would

39:50

you say is somebody that you try

39:55

to model after that you you you look up

39:57

to

40:00

and how they approached certain

40:00

decisions and challenges and

40:04

difficult circumstances. And,

40:04

and as you become an elected

40:08

official that you would model

40:08

some of your governing

40:11

tendencies after that one is, actually I have to,

40:13

and it's really easy because

40:18

they've both been my state rep.

40:18

So the first one would be maze

40:21

Middleton, who, who has

40:21

somewhat, you know, kind of

40:26

coached me in my first race and

40:26

was very helpful and

40:29

instrumental in that race for me

40:29

as well. I very much appreciate

40:34

his very reserved, even handed

40:34

style that he approaches things

40:39

with where he's very logical,

40:39

he's very calm, he's very

40:42

thoughtful, he does not,

40:46

he doesn't have outbursts, he

40:46

has a lot of self control. And I

40:49

appreciate that so much. Because

40:49

for someone like myself, I get,

40:53

I get excited, I get passionate.

40:53

So that's something that I can

40:58

try and emulate more. And so I

40:58

very much appreciate that. And

41:02

then the other person is Terry

41:02

Leo Wilson, who is my current

41:05

state rep. She and I got to know

41:05

each other a lot in the last

41:10

race where we would be working

41:10

pulls together at political

41:14

events together. And she has,

41:14

you know, she's been in this

41:19

political process for quite some

41:19

time, because she served on the

41:22

State Board of Education, she's

41:22

been involved with the party, on

41:25

those kinds of things for a long

41:25

time now. And so she's been a

41:29

great resource and role model

41:29

for me to help me understand

41:35

what the process is like, what

41:35

I, what I should expect, you

41:39

know, going into this, and just,

41:39

I'm so proud of her in this

41:44

session that she really did

41:44

stand behind her principles, and

41:49

follow through and voted the way

41:49

that she told us she was going

41:53

to vote when she campaigned. And

41:53

so that's something that I

41:57

really appreciate and will try

41:57

to emulate myself, you know,

42:00

okay, this is what I said, while

42:00

I'm campaigning. So this is the

42:04

deliverable for when I am

42:04

elected and placed into office,

42:08

this is the product that you

42:08

elected me to deliver. So here

42:11

it is. So I it's Yeah, both of

42:11

those really great, really great

42:18

people that I can look up to?

42:18

Well, you just brought up the

42:22

state legislature, and we

42:22

finished our general session,

42:27

and now the governor has started

42:27

a special session, there might

42:30

be even more in the future.

42:30

Okay, what grade would you give

42:35

our state legislature in this

42:35

first session? D. I, okay. I'm

42:41

quite disappointed. I'm so

42:41

disappointed. I feel like we

42:46

only had a couple of wins that

42:46

we really were able to

42:49

celebrate. But

42:53

the amount of work that they did

42:53

not get done is if it was if it

43:01

was a business, and I hired them

43:01

to accomplish these goals. Well,

43:08

it's time for you to come into

43:08

my office, and we're going to

43:10

have a serious evaluation about

43:10

your place here. And do you

43:14

belong here? Because our

43:14

Republican representatives did

43:19

not deliver what they campaigned

43:19

on. They just simply did not.

43:26

And I feel like we had to go in there as

43:28

grassroots and beg and plead for

43:34

the few victories that we did

43:34

get. And I just, I don't

43:39

understand that. Why do we have

43:39

to fight so stinking hard with

43:43

our own people to try and get

43:43

our priorities passed, and there

43:47

were only eight. So it's not

43:47

like we were asking them to pass

43:51

1000 bills? You know, we're

43:51

asking for hours it can be i i

43:57

find it very frustrating that in

43:57

Texas, that the Conservatives

44:04

Republican Party has all

44:04

statewide elected positions, has

44:10

control of both chambers of the

44:10

legislature.

44:15

Yet there's just seems to be a

44:15

disconnect between the state

44:21

Republican Party and the

44:21

process. That is, I mean, we use

44:25

the term grassroots but this

44:25

process where the people in

44:30

every county spend weeks and

44:30

months working through what

44:37

really are the priorities, what

44:37

really is going to move the

44:39

needle for our communities and

44:39

for our state. And ultimately,

44:44

it gets surfaced and synthesize

44:44

to just eight clear priorities.

44:50

And then it's your it's like,

44:50

chipping away. So you know,

44:56

minute li i mean that the

44:56

progress was made

45:00

underwhelming, at best,

45:00

underwhelming, it's very

45:03

frustrating, isn't it? Yes,

45:03

extremely frustrating. And the,

45:09

you know, the disconnect between

45:09

the party and the politicians.

45:13

I'm not really sure how we

45:13

rectify that except for, like I

45:18

said, it's time for an

45:18

evaluation, it's time for us to

45:22

decide whether we need to stay

45:22

together or part ways, and we

45:26

just need good people to step up

45:26

and run, please, you know, just

45:31

Yes, run. I'm not apologize, there's a lot

45:33

to that. It's, oh, my goodness.

45:40

But, you know, it's part of the

45:40

part of the, the things that we

45:45

face as a candidate running

45:45

against what I call it the

45:48

machine, you know, it's, you're gonna

45:50

have an uphill climb and uphill

45:55

battle, you know that it is

45:55

extremely difficult to run

46:00

against an incumbent. But at

46:00

this point, I just don't know

46:05

what other choice we have. I

46:05

think the things that you did,

46:10

by getting involved, there are a

46:10

lot of people who go and cast

46:15

their votes. And they feel like

46:15

that's it, they've have

46:20

fulfilled their civic duty, and

46:20

it is a civic duty to go vote

46:24

for sure. But I think that if

46:24

people are frustrated with the

46:31

lack of inaction, they have to

46:31

do more than just go cast their

46:35

vote that to become an informed

46:35

voters, they have to do the

46:38

things like go to the campaign

46:38

rallies, or go to the, to the

46:44

candidate forums, or become a

46:44

precinct volunteer or precinct

46:50

chair and go to your county

46:50

conventions, they have to do

46:52

those things. Because then

46:52

they'll understand where their

46:57

elected officials are falling

46:57

short of the bar. If they just

47:01

go and vote because they got a

47:01

great Mahler they're missing

47:05

half of the equation, they're

47:05

missing a big portion of the

47:07

story. And, and I think the more

47:07

that we get people involved in

47:12

the political process, beyond

47:12

just casting a vote, I think,

47:16

then then that divide, that

47:16

disconnect becomes less and less

47:20

over time, it's just hard, it's

47:20

a lot of hard work. Right?

47:24

Because you're asking someone to

47:24

personally invest into this

47:28

process. Now, whether that be

47:28

with their time with their money

47:32

with their their talent, you

47:32

know, you're you're asking

47:35

someone to invest into this

47:35

process. And that is difficult.

47:40

I mean, it's difficult to get

47:40

people to come to church these

47:44

days. So, I mean, much less get

47:44

involved in a political process,

47:49

or, you know, a lot of times I

47:49

feel like even So as parents,

47:53

you know, we want our children

47:53

to be well rounded, we want them

47:57

to have all kinds of different

47:57

experiences and things but at

48:01

the same time, priorities have

48:01

to be the priority. So on

48:04

Wednesday night, we're at church

48:04

on Sunday morning, where at

48:07

church, we're not doing other

48:07

activities that interfere with

48:10

that, because that's just

48:10

something that we've said, No,

48:13

this is our priority. And I feel

48:13

like that's the same thing

48:18

that's happened with politics

48:18

for me is right now and this

48:22

season, it is my priority,

48:22

because I do have a child and

48:28

and I do want to hand off

48:28

something to him where he is not

48:32

a debt slave, basically, and

48:32

just going to be

48:38

having, you know, go to work, pay your

48:40

taxes come home, you don't have

48:43

any discretionary money, your

48:43

government is totalitarian

48:47

dictating to you what you can

48:47

and can't do every day. No,

48:51

thank you. No, thank you. I

48:51

mean, that is not the Texan way.

48:57

For sure. It's not the American

48:57

way. It's not how I grew up. And

49:02

I don't want my son to inherit

49:02

that. Yeah. It makes it makes

49:07

total sense. So what's your

49:07

advice to the moms and dads

49:12

another? You have folks who

49:12

listen to this podcast and

49:18

you're trying to become a bit

49:18

more informed and maybe they're

49:21

thinking about doing a little

49:21

bit more what's, what's your

49:25

coaching to them. So there is a

49:25

role for everyone to play and

49:31

there are no small roles. Everything that you can do to

49:33

get involved and become more

49:38

educated is is helpful and

49:38

beneficial. And the easiest

49:44

thing that you can do is start

49:44

attending your county executive

49:50

committee meetings because

49:50

that's where you're going to

49:52

find out. What are the issues

49:52

that matter to the grassroots?

49:56

What what are the issues that

49:56

matter in your specific county

50:00

The you will be able to find out

50:00

who is on your Commissioners

50:04

Court there, if you're not

50:04

familiar with your commissioners

50:08

or your county judge, because a

50:08

lot of times they they will

50:12

attend those meetings. But if

50:12

they're not attending those

50:15

meetings, you'll also find out

50:15

about that too. Because people

50:19

will be saying, why are they not

50:19

here? Why are they not

50:22

connecting with their precinct

50:22

chairs and their officers who

50:26

are then turn, you know, facing

50:26

out toward the community so that

50:31

if they are there, that's

50:31

awesome. If they're not there,

50:34

that's also a big indicator to

50:34

you about how connected your

50:38

elected officials are to the

50:38

grassroots in your county. So

50:42

attending county executive

50:42

meetings, the, that's easy, all

50:48

you have to do is show up and

50:48

attend, you don't have to say

50:51

anything, you don't have to do

50:51

anything, you're just there to

50:53

listen and observe. That's easy,

50:53

right? Everyone can do that. And

50:57

it's maybe a couple of hours.

51:01

Ours is only once every two

51:01

months. So it's not even a huge

51:04

commitment, right. The next

51:04

thing you can do is find out

51:08

whether you're voting precinct,

51:08

whether the chair, there's a

51:12

precinct chair there or not. If

51:12

the chair is vacant, and you

51:17

have those, you know that little

51:17

bit of time that you're willing

51:20

to devote to that to finding out

51:20

what's going on in your

51:23

community and just being your the precinct

51:26

chair, you can volunteer for

51:30

that. It's really easy. And then

51:30

once you're the precinct chair,

51:33

there are some things that you

51:33

can do to help get out the vote

51:37

on elections. There are things

51:37

you can do to help candidates to

51:43

campaign, you can get involved

51:43

in block walking, you can host

51:49

events in your neighborhood,

51:49

where candidates or even elected

51:54

officials can come and speak and

51:54

connect with the voters in that

51:58

precinct. I mean, it just it

51:58

really depends on you on what

52:01

level you're comfortable with,

52:01

and the time commitment that you

52:04

have available to become

52:04

involved. But I would say don't

52:08

let, don't let perfection be the

52:08

enemy of good. If you're willing

52:13

to, you know, get involved, just

52:13

start small. And that's fine.

52:18

You don't have to be turning into some kind of

52:21

political consultant or

52:24

something where you're, you

52:24

know, that's your whole entire

52:27

life. You can just go and attend

52:27

the meeting, that's fine, but

52:31

just start somewhere, yeah, get

52:31

educated, then you can get

52:35

activated and go from there. I

52:35

truly, truly believe that. Well,

52:40

I can't let you go without you

52:40

telling the audience where can

52:44

they find out more about you and

52:44

your campaign and how they can

52:48

help you? Yes, so I do have a website.

52:49

It's not currently updated for

52:54

my last judge race. But the

52:54

crazy thing is, is a lot of the

52:58

same issues are still issues. So

52:58

my platform really has not

53:02

changed too much, because I'll

53:02

be campaigning on basically the

53:07

same, the same platform of

53:07

ensuring that our constitutional

53:12

rights aren't violated. Working

53:12

against unconstitutional

53:17

mandates, all that kind of

53:17

thing. But my website is Rachel

53:21

heisler.com. And that's our A C

53:21

HALHISLE r.com. And if you want

53:29

to donate to my campaign, you

53:29

can go to when read and type in

53:34

my name, and it'll take you to

53:34

my donation page. That can help

53:38

me and then also, if you'd like

53:38

to volunteer on my campaign,

53:42

there is a place where you can

53:42

sign up on my website where you

53:45

can volunteer to block, walk or

53:45

host an event, do all kinds of

53:50

things that would just help me

53:50

connect with voters in chambers

53:53

County. Well, look, everybody,

53:53

we're coming up on a season in

53:58

which is going to be a lot of

53:58

attention. And a lot of media

54:01

put on a presidential race,

54:01

there's going to be a lot

54:05

happening at a national level.

54:05

But we can really affect amazing

54:12

changes in our lives by putting

54:12

the right people in office

54:17

locally. So spend the time get

54:17

to know what's happening in your

54:21

local communities, get to know

54:21

candidates like Rachel,

54:25

understand what they're all

54:25

about, and then help them help

54:28

them get to where they want to

54:28

be and then hold them

54:30

accountable for representing your values and following

54:33

through on their campaign

54:35

promises. So, Rachel, thank you

54:35

so much for being with us today.

54:40

It was great having you on I'd

54:40

love to have you on maybe, you

54:44

know in a few months we get an

54:44

update on how your campaign is

54:47

going and and how things are

54:47

shaping up. So I'd love to have

54:52

you on again if if you'd welcome

54:52

that. Oh, yes, absolutely. This

54:57

has been great. Thank you so

54:57

much for having me on and I

55:00

definitely look forward to being

55:00

on the podcast again to to

55:03

update you and let you know how

55:03

the race is going. Fantastic.

55:07

Best of luck. Thank you so much

55:07

for listening. As always, you

55:11

can email me your thoughts to

55:11

Ben at Ben armenta.com. I've

55:15

said this many times before, but

55:15

it's worth repeating. If you

55:18

want things to change, you have

55:18

to roll up your sleeves and do

55:22

something about it. Take a cue

55:22

from Rachel. Contact your local

55:26

GOP committee and find out what

55:26

is happening in your area. Learn

55:30

what the needs are, and start

55:30

volunteering. Who knows where

55:33

it'll lead? And if someday you

55:33

too, are running in a race of

55:37

your own. Until next time, thank

55:37

you again. And God bless.

55:46

The answer with Ben Armenta is

55:46

sponsored by the kickin crab,

55:50

the latest and greatest Cajun

55:50

concept to hit the southwest.

55:53

They offer down home flavors and

55:53

it's one of those places where

55:56

you'll want to take the kids, no

55:56

plates, just good times brought

56:00

to you by folks that have strong

56:00

conservative values. Just like

56:04

you and me. Visit them today off

56:04

highway six in Houston or at the

56:08

kicking crab.com