Michelle H. Davis

A company worth $9.25 billion showed up in one of the poorest counties in Texas, said we might build here, and walked out with a $220 million public incentive package. Then flew to California. An auction. And Brownsville placed its bid without knowing whether it would win. Cameron County promised a 95% property tax abatement across four phases of development, lasting up to 20 years, valued at $211 million.

Texas has a long and storied tradition of producing political candidates who have absolutely no business running for office, but now and then, someone comes along who is so spectacularly, breathtakingly unqualified that they deserve a little bit of attention. Lauren B. Peña is that someone. Peña is the Republican candidate taking on Greg Casar in TX37, a district so reliably Democratic that the GOP might as well have nominated a walnut.

The previous installment: New Republicans: There Are Always Bigger Nutters - Part One We started this series before the convention, and I have to admit I had so much fun with it that I was anxious to get back to part two. Because when you can’t cry, you have to laugh, and this new cast of Republican characters the GOP primaries have spit out has given us plenty of material.