the un-endorsements

Ken Hoffman asks why endorsements are still a thing when they often go so, so wrong

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How valuable is an endorsement when the "endorser" ends up behind bars?

Got into a discussion over the weekend with friends over the importance of political endorsements. You know, since there was a kerfuffle recently over one Houston mayoral candidate claiming an endorsement that the supposed endorser says he didn’t make for the endorsee.

Oops.

Talk about a worthless slap on the back — at least these days. Of all the things I consider before deciding whom to vote for, endorsements aren’t one of them. Who cares about any politician’s endorsement?

Or celebrity endorsements. Or critics’ opinions. Or unsolicited advice. Or solicited advice for that matter.

A non-endorsement for endorsements in general

I have never voted for anybody, bought a product, watched a movie, eaten at a restaurant or done anything because a celebrity or politician or media person recommended it. And I stopped taking advice from anybody a long time ago.

Nothing matters less than a political endorsement. A politician could say, “Vote for this person, he’s a fine upstanding paragon of virtue, the next George Washington.”

Six months later, that “endorsed” guy’s indicted and his wife is going back to her maiden name and consulting a divorce lawyer.

Yeah, I’ll trust a politician’s endorsement. Right after I consider a newspaper’s political endorsement. Newspaper endorsements used to be precious and could turn an election. Now they’re not worth the paper they’re printed on. (Or, the website that I refuse to pay for.)

When celeb endorsement fails cost billions

Celebrities? I can’t believe that anybody buys any Kardashian Krap. If Kim said she loves Ballpark hot dogs, give me two Oscar Mayers with sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard.

How about soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, the most famous footballer in the world? During a Euro 2020 press conference, he sat down and, clearly annoyed, moved two bottles of Coke that were sitting in front of him. He then raised his bottle of water and declared, “Agua.” Problem was, Coca-Cola was an official sponsor of Euro 2020. His obvious snub cost the world’s biggest soda company $4 billion — with a B — in market value.

Again, oops.

Then there’s movies, with a critic saying, “You absolutely must see this film. I give it a zillion stars!” I’ve worked with a few movie critics that I wouldn’t trust them to get me a box of Raisinets at the candy counter. They’d probably come back with Twizzlers.

Someone actually gave the movie with this guy a good review.

Jar Jar Binks Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, with this character, got great endorsements. Photo courtesy of Lucasmfilm

Recommend a movie? The last five movies to win the Academy Award for Best Picture were: Everything Everywhere All at Once, Coda, Nomadland, Parasite, and Green Book. Critics raved.

How many of those Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed movies did you see? I’m at zero.

(Fun fact: in just its opening weekend, Taylor Swift’s concert film sold $100 million worth of tickets. That’s more than any of the last 10 Best Picture winners grossed during their entire run.)

It seems every month a new list of “Best Pizza Places in America” comes out. I love pizza. If I were forced to pick one food that I had to eat every day for the rest of my life, it’d be pizza and nothing’s close. Those Best Pizza lists usually include one or two places in Houston. I’ve been to most of the critics’ favorite pizzerias here. Eh. Too bready. Too greasy. Not greasy enough. My go-to pizza joint never makes these lists because, I’m guessing, it’s an Irish pub.

For 20 years I wrote a weekly fast food review column. I was the No. 1 food critic in Texas ($10 and cheaper). I wrote more than 1,000 reviews. But I rarely said if an item was good, bad or in-between. Instead of rating a fast food item, I merely described the treat, listed the ingredients and nutritional numbers, made a couple of silly jokes, and let the reader decide whether to try it.

That’s because nothing is more personal and subjective than someone’s taste in food. And people can get ornery about their favorite food, especially in Texas. One time I wrote, “why would anybody put mustard on a hamburger? Sounds awful.” Pitchforks and torches. I thought I would have to join the witness protection program. I still think mustard on a burger is an abomination, I just don’t say it.

One year I caught the football betting bug. I subscribed to Score, Danny Sheridan, and the Gold Sheet gambling tip sheets. They’re experts, they live and breathe football, so I took their advice on which teams to bet my meager money. By Super Bowl I was wearing a barrel with shoulder straps.

Look at ESPN 97.5 FM host Lance Zierlein. He knows more about football than anybody I’ve ever met. But Lance has as much clue who’s going to win Sunday afternoon as a cow pooping on a giant bingo card. I’m not 100-percent certain he knows how to get hot, fresh French fries every time at McDonald’s.

Advice should come with a government warning. The best advice on accepting advice came from Richard Pryor. The comedian said his father once told him about the bird and the bees, but Pryor didn’t believe a word of it because “he’d been wrong about everything else.”

Nutcracker Market is back

November is around the corner and in Houston that means black belt consumers are sharpening their credit cards for the 43rd Nutcracker Market at NRG Center. (We made a big deal about here.) This year’s shopping spree takes place Thursday Nov. 9 through Sunday Nov. 12. Daily session tickets are available at Ticketmaster.

The Nutcracker Market annually attracts 100,000 shoppers descending on nearly 300 vendors selling all kinds of apparel, accessories, jewelry, gourmet food, home and holiday décor, toys and unique gifts. My wildly popular Donne Di Domani spaghetti sauce ladies will be back. Warning: if you wait until the weekend, in the words of Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi, you may hear “no sauce for you!”

Remember the rules: no strollers, carts, rolling bags, wagons or pets.

Nutcracker Market Houston 2019 The Nutcracker Market is one of the most beloved shopping events in Houston. Photo courtesy of Nutcracker Market

The savviest Nutcracker veterans don’t wait until Thursday to stalk the various booths. The Wells Fargo Preview Party will be held 6:30 pm-10 pm on Wednesday, November 8.

Preview Party animals will get first crack at the merchandise and they’ll be able to plunder the buffet and cocktail stations. A Preview Party ticket also will get you admission to the entire run of the Market. For some, the Preview Party means guaranteed, leisurely access to the Donne Di Domani booth. The rest of the week means a spaghetti sauce stampede that makes the Running of the Bulls look like Martin Maldonado trying to beat out a bunt. For Preview Party tickets, call 713-535-3231.

Proceeds from the Nutcracker Market support Houston Ballet, the fifth-largest ballet company in the U.S., with 59 dancers making 85 performances each year.

I’ve actually been to a Houston Ballet performance. I watched amazingly athletic women dancing on their tippy toes. It was very entertaining, but it made me wonder: instead of making the women dance on their toes, why don’t they just hire taller dancers? That question courtesy of Highlights Magazine. (Editor’s note: Way to cite the hard-hitting journalism, Ken.)

Do you take endorsements seriously? Love the Nutcracker Market? Let Ken know at ken@culturemap.com or on Twitter.

Election results

Talarico, Hinojosa lead historic Democratic sweep in 2026 Texas election

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Gina Hinojosa has been elected Texas governor, and James Talarico has been elected U.S. Senator from Texas.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democrats finally got their wish in Texas.

Shut out of power for decades, Democrats on Tuesday, November 3 romped up and down the ballot in Republicans' most populous stronghold, flipping a U.S. Senate seat and retaking the governor's mansion in a history-making election that ushered in an overnight resurgence for a party that has spent much of the last 30 years fighting for scraps.

The stunning victories showed how voters, frustrated over high prices and concerned about government corruption, soundly rejected President Donald Trump's party and handed Democrats a decisive foothold in a fast-changing state of nearly 32 million residents that is one of the world's 10 largest economies. The dominant showing included winning back counties along the border with Mexico — where Republicans had been making inroads with Hispanic voters — and flipping congressional seats even though Republicans gerrymandered the map to give them an upper hand.

“This win is for every Texan who has ever wondered if anyone is ever listening,” Democrat James Talarico said after handily winning his Senate race over Republican Ken Paxton, the state's scandal-plagued attorney general.

“I heard you. We heard you. And tonight, the world hears you," Talarico said.

Texas Democrats hadn’t won a statewide campaign since 1994 and now have breakout stars in Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, who ousted Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a victory that will make her Texas' first Latina governor. They also won the powerful offices of lieutenant governor (Vicki Goodwin unseated longtime Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick) and attorney general (Nathan Johnson defeated Mayes Middleton), widening the validation for Democrats’ long deferred dream that demographic changes in the state would be followed by a shift in political power.

Spotlight on Talarico
Talarico, the 37-year-old state legislator, former middle school teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian, will become Texas’ first Democratic senator since 1993.

A large crowd erupted in cheers at Talarico's watch party in downtown Austin after the race was called.

“We just took back Texas,” Talarico told supporters upon taking the stage.

Talarico will become the Senate’s youngest member and replace longtime Sen. John Cornyn, 74, who lost a bruising GOP primary to the scandal-plagued Paxton, whose nomination bolstered Talarico’s appeal to Republican and independent voters.

Speaking briefly to supporters in Dallas, Paxton acknowledged GOP losses across the map. “We’ve had a difficult night tonight across the country, but it’s not over,” he said.

The heated campaign in Texas, one of the most expensive of the midterms, became partly a referendum on Paxton’s legal, personal and ethical troubles that have shadowed much of his three terms as the state’s attorney general.

Talarico, the grandson of a Baptist preacher, ran a campaign that sidestepped culture-war battles and instead emphasized an economic populist message while skewering Paxton’s history of scandal.

He told crowds that the biggest divide in the U.S. “is not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom.” Rarely maligning the Republican Party as a whole, the Democrat, whose path to victory required converting GOP voters, focused on the top issue of a frustrated electorate: the rising cost of living.

Hinojosa makes history
Hinojosa will become Texas' first Latina governor — and the first Democrat to hold the office since Ann Richards in the 1990s — following a groundbreaking victory that topples one of the nation's most prominent Republican governors and steadfast supporters of President Donald Trump, possibly accelerating the state’s shift to an emerging battleground.

Hinojosa's win served as validation for Democrats' long deferred dream that demographic changes in the state would be followed by a shift in political power. It also elevates Hinojosa, a 52-year-old state legislator from a liberal Austin district since 2017, into a breakout Democratic star, even as she did not have significant support from the national party for her campaign.

“It never bothered me that they doubted me. It bothered me that they doubted us,” Hinojosa told supporters at her victory party in Austin. “Texas, my faith in you never wavered.”

Jumping in the race with little money or name recognition, Hinojosa engineered a plucky and populist challenge, railing against artificial intelligence data centers and corruption to down Abbott. She also proved that money in politics has clear limits. Billionaire Elon Musk had spent tens of millions of dollars to back Republicans, and Abbott's campaign had spent $180 million since last year in what was thought to be a safe path to a fourth term.

But Hinojosa proved durable while simultaneously riding the tailwinds of Talarico's hard-charging Senate campaign, one of the nation's marquee races.

Abbott, who had been seeking a record fourth term, said he called Hinojosa and pledged to help her transition into office.

“Leading this state has been the greatest honor I’ve ever had,” Abbott told supporters as he conceded the race.

Putting the victory into action
How Hinojosa governs is likely to open a dramatic political and cultural shift in the Texas Capitol, which over the last decade has passed one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws, increasingly aggressive immigration crackdowns, and relaxed gun laws even as Texas was the site of some of the nation's worst mass shootings over the past decade.

Democrats didn't win in Texas with promises to turn back the clock on issues like abortion, guns, transgender rights, and diverting public tax money to private education. Instead, they ran on more populist ideas of affordability and railing against artificial intelligence data centers and corruption.

Hinojosa, a state legislator who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley along the border with Mexico, distanced herself from the proud progressive brand she carried in the statehouse. She instead batted away culture war issues for populist stances on an economy battered by Trump's tariffs and an unpopular war with Iran.

“The voters have delivered a mandate for change, and it is change they will get,” Hinojosa said. “We will lead with politics of courage, not convenience. Progress will not be halted by partisanship and Texas will bow to no one.”

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