Usually, the city election season doesn’t get into full swing until summertime, safely after the legislative session has ended. But clearly, it’s on in District I. Houston City Council District I candidate Graci Garces is calling for opponent Ben Mendez’s apology after Mendez — or someone with his campaign — allegedly e-mail blasted a photo [...]
Posts under ‘Election 2013’
Ana Reyes makes history in Farmers Branch
I didn’t pay much attention to Saturday’s elections, since there was nothing on the ballot for me and there were few races of interest around the state. One place where there were races worth watching was in Farmers Branch, and the news from there was excellent. Ana Reyes became the first Hispanic to win a [...]
Mayor Parker kicks off her campaign
It’s the time of the season for Mayor Parker, who has a serious challenger this time, but also a stronger hand to play. In her tenure, Parker has given teeth to the city’s historic preservation rules, broken a deadlock with Harris County to help build the Dynamo stadium, gave scandal-ridden Metro new leaders and revised [...]
Ben Hall’s tax problem
Oops. A campaign video shows Ben Hall, the former city attorney who is now running for mayor, sitting in a classroom amid a group of schoolchildren as his voiceover talks about the importance of education. “Our children are our future,” Hall says, with music swelling in the background. “They deserve the very best education that [...]
An early look at At Large #3
A little while back, Campos listed all of the people who had filed designations of treasurer for city office, which is the step you need to take before you can raise any money for a campaign. As expected, the field for City Council At Large #3, the only open At Large seat, is already crowded. [...]
Endorsement watch: Planned Parenthood gets an early start
From the inbox on Friday: Today the Board of Directors of the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast ACTION FUND Inc, (PPGCAF) voted to endorse the following candidates for the November City Election. Each of the endorsed candidates has demonstrated a strong commitment to the health and well being of Texas women and families. PPGCAF encourages all [...]
An opponent for the Controller
Big Jolly reports on a new candidate. There are two powerful elected positions in the City of Houston: Mayor and City Controller. So naturally I was curious when I heard that someone was going to challenge the incumbent Controller Ronald Green. Meet Bill Frazer. The press release announcing his candidacy stated: “The Controller is an [...]
On African-American turnout in city elections
Bill King makes an observation about Ben Hall’s chances in the upcoming Mayoral election. When Lee Brown was elected mayor in 1997, many pundits predicted that with Houston’s growing minority community, Houston had seen its last white mayor. That, of course, proved not to be the case as Bill White and Annise Parker defeated minority [...]
Sen. Sylvia Garcia
Sylvia Garcia has been sworn in to succeed the late Mario Gallegos in SD06. Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, took her place in the Texas Senate chamber Monday to succeed the late Mario Gallegos. “We have 31 members. We are complete,” said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, said, “Mario would [...]
Hall makes his announcement
Game on. Former Houston City Attorney Ben Hall formally launched his mayoral campaign against incumbent Annise Parker Wednesday night, decrying the burden of taxes and fees he said are driving city residents to the suburbs, and saying Houston’s mayor must have a grander vision. Parker, also on Wednesday, accepted the endorsement of the Houston Police [...]
Sen.-elect Garcia ready to get going
The only thing holding Sen.-elect Sylvia Garcia back at this point is the bureaucracy. “Sylvia’s well poised to have an impact in the senate. For one thing, Senate districts are too big to ignore,” [Democratic political consultant Harold] Cook said. “When you come to Austin and you make a good case for yourself and your [...]
Sylvia Garcia wins SD06 runoff
Congratulations, Sen.-elect Sylvia Garcia. Former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia beat State Rep. Carol Alvarado in the runoff race for the Senate District 6 seat, according to preliminary results. Garcia earned 53 percent of the vote, compared to Alvarado’s 47 percent with 95 percent of precincts counted, according to the Harris County Clerk. Shortly after [...]
Today is Runoff Day in SD06
From the inbox: Harris County’s Chief Election Official Stan Stanart reminds eligible voters in State Senate District 6 that the last day to vote in the Special Runoff Election is Saturday, March 2, 2013. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and voters must vote at their precinct polling location. “If you [...]
Early voting ends in SD06
Early voting ended in the SD06 runoff yesterday. As of when I went to bed, the final daily totals had not been sent out – the daily totals as of Monday, which are here, hit my inbox at 9:30 AM Tuesday, so I don’t really expect them till some time today. I’ll update this post [...]
Day One runoff EV totals
Here’s your Day One runoff EV report for the SD06 election. For comparison purposes, here’s the final report from the first round. This isn’t apples to apples, of course, because there were 12 EV days in Round 1 whereas there will only be seven days this time, but note that the in person total yesterday [...]
Early voting starts today for SD06 runoff
It’s runoff time for SD06. Early voting begins today and runs through Tuesday, February 26. Here are the early voting locations, which are the same as they were for the first round: Location Address 1 Harris County Administration Building 1001 Preston, 1st Floor Houston TX 77002 2 Holy Name Catholic Church 1912 Marion Street Houston [...]
Kubosh is in for Council
This happened on Friday. Michael Kubosh, part of the fighting brothers who finally rid Houston of red-light cameras, is announcing today he’s running for an at-large city council seat. Kubosh will announce he’s running for Melissa Noriega’s at-large seat (she is term-limited out), and an eclectic cast of Houston politicos will be there, according to [...]
Amy Peck announces for A
From the Inbox: Amy Peck Announces Candidacy for Houston City Council District A I am very excited to announce my candidacy for Houston City Council, District A. Over the last few years, I have been asked to run again by many people in the district, and I am honored to accept the responsibility that comes [...]
We have a runoff date
It’s earlier than I thought it would be. Gov. Rick Perry on Friday set a March 2 special runoff election to fill the open seat created by the death of the late state Sen. Mario Gallegos. The race, between State Rep. Carol Alvarado and former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, will occur just six days [...]
Brenda’s back
But will Helena Brown be in trouble? Brenda Stardig will launch her campaign Saturday to retake the District A Houston City Council seat that she lost two years ago to Helena Brown. The announcement came Sunday in the form of an invitation to a family “campaign kickoff” barbecue from 4-7 p.m. at the American Legion [...]
It’s Sylvia versus Carol in the runoff
Pretty much as expected. Here’s the vote totals from the County Clerk: Candidate Votes Pct ========================= Garcia 7,416 45.37 Alvarado 6,803 41.62 Bray 1,014 6.20 Olmos 461 2.82 Martinez 403 2.47 Reyes 125 0.76 Selva 73 0.45 Delgado 52 0.32 Two points of interest here. One is that the Election Day vote total was 7,747, [...]
Election Day in SD06
It’s highly unlikely that this will settle anything, but today is Election Day in SD06. If you live in SD06 and have waited till today to cast your ballot, you can find your polling place here or here. I’ve already done my spiel about turnout and finance reports, so let’s see what the media has [...]
Final SD06 early voting turnout
Here’s the final daily record of early voting in SD06. Tuesday was the strongest day as expected, with a bit over 1,000 ballots being cast, but that just got the total to 8,245. With four more days for mail ballots to arrive, I’d guess the number will ultimately be about 8,500 when the first results [...]
January finance reports for Houston offices
Previously, I gave the July campaign finance numbers for Houston elected officials who are eligible for the ballot this fall. Here now are the cash on hand figures from the January reports, with all incumbents and a few assorted extras thrown in: Dist Name Cash on hand ================================= Myr Parker 1,043,827 Ctrl R Green 35,753 [...]
Last day of early voting in SD06 today
Today is the last day for early voting in the SD06 special election. Voting has not been terribly brisk so far. Through Monday there have been 7,178 total votes cast. You can see the daily figures here. Monday was a little slow because of MLK Day and no mail ballots arriving – we’ll see if [...]
More on Hall’s announcement
Here’s the full Chron story from the weekend about Ben Hall’s announcement that yes, he really is running for Mayor this year. “Hall is a formidable challenger but is a long shot to unseat the mayor,” University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus said in an email. Rottinghaus noted Hall’s funding capability, his vision and [...]
Hall is in
It’s on. Former Houston City Attorney Benjamin L. Hall III announced his candidacy for mayor Wednesday, choosing a slogan of “Hall for All!” and emphasizing his ability to unite people. Hall said he filed a form designating a campaign treasurer late Tuesday, the first formal step in his bid to unseat Annise Parker this fall. [...]
January reports for SD06 candidates
Stace beat me to the punch in reporting on the January campaign finance reports for SD06, so I’ll have to one up him by being more obsessive thorough in bringing the numbers. So here we go. Seven of the eight candidates filed a January report for the race. Susan Delgado was the lone exception, but [...]
One more election for 2013
There will be another special election in November to replace a departing member of the HCC Board of Trustees. The Houston Community College board will have two new faces after trustee Richard Schechter submitted his resignation and Mary Ann Perez was elected to the state House. HCC trustees will swear in former trustee Herlinda Garcia [...]
Three days of early voting in SD06
I’m not sure that the Chron’s classification of early voting so far in SD06 is accurate, but I’m not sure how I myself would characterize it since we have so few precedents to draw on. Three days into early voting, the race to replace the late state Sen. Mario Gallegos continues to heat up, as [...]
A first look at the 2013 elections
It is 2013, right? So while we have the SD06 special election and the new legislative session to worry about, it’s not too early to start talking about the 2013 elections. Let’s start with a peek at the campaign finance reports from last July of the Houston officeholders who will be on the ballot this [...]
Endorsement watch: Why not both?
I should have seen this coming. [Sen. Mario] Gallegos’ passing opened the Senate District 6 seat after the deceased man polled 70 percent in the November general election against a Republican opponent. No fewer than eight candidates are seeking to replace him in the Jan. 26 special election. From among that number, we encourage District [...]
Interview with Carol Alvarado
The special election in SD06 to succeed the late Sen. Mario Gallegos is Saturday, January 26, and early voting for this election begins Wednesday, January 9. There are two serious candidates in this race, former County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia and State Rep. Carol Alvarado. I published an interview with Commissioner Garcia on Monday, and today [...]
Chron overview of SD06
The day before early voting begins in the SD06 special election (which is today), the Chron previews the race. It has a lot of stuff we already know, and it mostly focuses on the two frontrunners, Sylvia Garcia and Rep. Carol Alvarado, so I’m not going to recapitulate that. There are a couple of interesting [...]