U.S. Congressman Michael Cloud

On Wednesday, March 31, of this year, I had the opportunity to meet Congressman Michael Cloud when I attended a Reception at the Red Barn in Port Lavaca, hosted by cloudforcongress and members of the Calhoun County Republican Club. Congressman Cloud is a Constitutional Conservative, representing the 27th Congressional District of Texas in the U.S. Congress. He earned his congressional seat by defeating his Democratic opponent by a large margin in a special election on June 30, 2018. He serves on the Committee on Oversight and Reform as well as the Committee on Science, Space and Technology and is up for reelection in 2022.

I pulled into the nearly full parking area at the Red Barn, not knowing what to expect for the coming hour and a half, made my way to the door, took a deep breath (it has been a while since I attended such a function), and entered to find nearly 100 folks already mingling, including local officials and business owners such as Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace, Judge Nancy Pomykal, Calhoun County Clerk, Anna Goodman, Seadrift Mayor, Elmer DeForest, Chris Mapp of Coastal Bend Marine and Russell Cain of Russell Cain Real Estate. Connie Hunt and Anne Burt offered a warm and gracious welcome and made sure I was introduced to David Longoria, Congressman Cloud’s Campaign Director, along with Campaign Manager, Bunni Pounds. Before I knew it I was standing in front of Congressman Cloud who generously agreed to sit down with me after the event for a one-on-one interview, a pleasant surprise for which I was grateful but sadly, unprepared (I was only there to quietly observe and report those observations – who knew I would need questions prepared – stage fright instantly set in!)

I gratefully took a seat as others did the same and readied themselves to hear what Congressman Cloud had to say. Russell Cain led us all in a word of prayer and the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance before introducing David Hall, Pct. 1 Commissioner who led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas Flag then turned the microphone over to the Honorable Richard Meyer who introduced Congressman Cloud and welcomed him up for a brief well-received speech regarding our country’s needs and the work we must do to remain the “Land of the Free”. The congressman ended his speech with a moving quote about freedom from former President, Ronald Reagan, then took questions from those in attendance who had them.

Given that the Reception had run a bit over and believing the Congressman most likely had a busy schedule the following day, I cowardly bypassed the one-on-one interview (I had formulated but one question, after all) but asked that Congressman Cloud email his answer to my question, said my goodnights, breathed a sigh of relief, and headed for the door.

The following is the question asked and Congressman Cloud’s answer, received by email from Nicole Woodbright, Communications Assistant for Congressman Michael Cloud:

What would you say to your constituents who feel that given the current political landscape, there’s no point in voting because their vote doesn’t matter?

“This nation was established by people willing to give their lives so that their children could be free. God forbid we let discouragement give birth to complacency and not take up the honor and duty of participating in elections.”