Seeks to unseat incumbent Babin
CROSBY – A candidate for the U.S. Congressional seat representing the east part of Baytown to the Louisiana border including Highlands, Liberty and Crosby, District 36, was in Crosby last weekend interviewing with the Star-Courier about the upcoming election at the intersection of U.S. 90 and FM 2100. Dayna Steele never worked in politics before, she was busy working in radio, most famously on Rock 101 for 14 years, television and writing 8 books that have sold well.
What does the Democratic candidate know about recent incidents in Crosby?
“I know that what happened after Hurricane Harvey and the incident at Arkema. Locals told me that the chickens refused to eat feed off of the ground. I started doing a little research and looking into what happened. I live in Seabrook, so I live close to all the plants. I have done a lot of crisis communication training for the executives in those plants, so I know what can go wrong and I was very concerned with what happened at Arkema. That is one of the many reasons I decided to run against Brian Babin. ”
Explaining that, she said, “Babin voted again and again against environmental issues. In fact I had my research team look up some things for me. He voted 35 anti-environment votes in 2017 alone. He has a 0% rating. So, the few times I have heard him expressing some concern over something in the environment, I go look a little bit deeper and discover there is usually an ulterior motive that concerns profit and corporations, not people.”
Her competition has television commercials running. “They are paying it through the American Chemical Council, which used to be, last year, the Chemical Manufacturers Association of Harris County. My question is: If he is doing such a wonderful job why do they need to be running commercials for him four months in advance of the election?”
“Why is the American Chemical Council which is actually a group that advocates for fewer regulations and less protection for the neighborhoods so adamant about getting him reelected?”
“So when people ask why me over Babin? Babin is profit over people; I am people over profit. He is funded by corporate enterprise; I take no corporate money what so ever. I am funded by the people, I am grassroots and I intend to stay that way. When I found out that no Democrat ran against Brian Babin in 2016, I said our founding fathers would not think at all that is what Democracy is about. The more I research why people didn’t run, I find people are frightened and have been threatened if they run. They don’t run because they are bullied and they have nothing to threaten me with. I love this area. My mother is from east Texas. I am a fifth generation east Texan. I am a third generation Houstonian. This is not a Democrat or Republican thing, this is an American thing. We are being overrun by corporate interests and I am tired of it.”
Dayna Steele lives near the Bayport chemical complex (I also live in the area), many times we have smelled odors from that direction. She also lives in an area that floods, so she understands the concerns of people that worry about the security of their homes. She will vote in Congress for the safety of people in our area and to keep the companies honest. Her opponent dares not speak up for his voters and does not support reasonable regulations for chemical companies.