Political Consultant Convicted of Coercion in 2020 Texas House Race: DA

Voters cast ballots in Manassas, Va., in a file image. (Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images)

A political consultant was convicted of coercion for a scheme that was designed to affect the outcome of a Texas state race during the 2020 election cycle, Harris County officials said.

Democratic consultant Damien Jones, 38, of Houston, was convicted of coercion of a public servant for sending anonymous threatening text messages to then-State Rep. Gina Calanni, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. Those messages, Ogg said, were designed to get Calanni to resign and not run for reelection in District 132.

He made those threats just days before the 2020 election filing deadline, Ogg added.

“At a time when threats against public servants are at an all-time high, it is critical to hold accountable those who would try to subvert the will of the people by coercing a state representative into dropping out of an election,” Ogg told local media outlet ABC13. “We thank the jurors for their service.”

Jones had served as a regional political director for former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-Texas) failed bid for the U.S. Senate. He also worked with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Jones, who was indicted in late 2020, was convicted of a Class A misdemeanor and faces up to one year in the Harris County Jail and up to a $4,000 fine. He also received one year of probation.

Meanwhile, his attorney, Oliver Jason Brown, suggested to the Chronicle that Jones’s constitutional rights were violated.

“This is a First Amendment case,” Brown said. “People need to take caution, that based off of conviction and how the law is written, you could theoretically charge anyone who threatens to bring hatred, contempt or embarrassment on a public official. That’s how the law is written. It’s written incorrectly.”

The message to Calanni was actually “a heads up,” Brown added. “She was getting a heads up that was what they were going to run. She took it as a threat, and now he’s criminally convicted.”

Jones’s messages “crossed the line into criminal conduct. By trying to coerce a politician into resigning, he illegally sought to influence an election,” prosecutor Michael Levine told local media.

“This goes beyond just expressing your opinion. This was a threat,” prosecutor Kimberly Smith told Click2Houston. “This is a prime example of showing that no matter what your profession is, you are going to be held responsible for what you say and do.”