Dear Friends,

As we pay tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today, we remind ourselves that his work goes on around the world - from Kosovo and Bosnia to Afghanistan and Iraq, where dedicated men and women struggle for the right to cast their free ballots in free elections.

But his work goes on around the corner, too, in the face of partisan efforts to disenfranchise legitimate citizens by purging their names from the voter rolls or imposing voter I.D. requirements that target low-income, minority, and elderly voters here at home.

The incumbent Tax Assessor for Harris County used his office to lobby aggressively in the Texas Legislature last year on behalf of a controversial bill that would have imposed an onerous voter identification system on low-income, elderly, and other legitimate citizens. The office has also been under intense scrutiny for purging tens of thousands of seemingly legitimate voters from the rolls, including a large number of minority voters.

I believe that Dr. King was a man who stood for empowerment, equality, and above all, the ability of everyone to participate in the democratic process. This is why we must build a voter registration system in Harris County that is fair, inclusive, and works for all Harris County citizens.

While handling the tax-payers hard earned money and managing the voter registration process, I promise that as Tax Assessor-Collector I would run the office with integrity, transparency and a commitment to empowering all of my constituents to participate in their government and their democracy...anything less is unacceptable.

Yours for free and fair elections,