Tag Archives: Diego Bernal

Cornyn-Murphy gun bill gets final passage

Posted on June 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What great timing, huh? Exactly one month after a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers in a Uvalde elementary school, the most significant new gun laws in decades were headed to President Joe Biden’s desk on Friday … Continue reading →

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Cornyn’s gun control bill passes the Senate

Posted on June 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Happy to have had my cynicism proven wrong. Exactly four weeks after a teenage gunman armed with a semiautomatic rifle massacred 19 elementary schoolers and two teachers in Uvalde, the U.S. Senate voted 64-34 Tuesday night to advance a bipartisan … Continue reading →

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Day 17 quorum busting post: Testify

Posted on July 31, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Ladies and gentlemen, Ms T. State Rep. Senfronia Thompson described to a U.S. House committee on Thursday occasions in 2010 and 2012 when white Republican poll watchers showed up at a Houston polling place where she and many other Black … Continue reading →

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Day 13 quorum busting post: Just a reminder, the voter suppression bill still sucks

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll get to that in a minute, but first there’s this bit of business. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, signed a civil warrant for the arrest of state Rep. Philip Cortez, a San Antonio Democrat who rejoined his colleagues … Continue reading →

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Legislators call for no STAAR test this year

Posted on November 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Fine by me, and very fine by my kids. A bipartisan group of 68 Texas House representatives signed a letter calling on the Texas Education Agency to cancel the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam or at minimum … Continue reading →

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Van de Putte has her eye on Castro’s seat

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

With seemingly-informed speculation that Rep. Joaquin Castro will run for Senate in 2020, someone else will need to run for the Congressional seat he’d be abandoning. That speculation has now begun, with some familiar names in the conversation. Former state … Continue reading →

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On special election runoff turnout and HD125

Posted on February 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I figured a story like this was inevitable after Round One of the HD125 special election, in which Republican Fred Rangel got 38% of the vote and four Democrats combined to take the rest, with three of them being close … Continue reading →

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Falling short on college readiness

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Not good. A majority of students at the top-rated high schools in Texas are likely to need remedial course work when they get to college because they don’t score well enough on entrance exams, a Hearst Newspapers analysis of newly … Continue reading →

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School districts don’t need gift registries

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They need to have their needs met by the state. Texas school districts ravaged by Hurricane Harvey still need thousands of textbooks, dictionaries and other instructional resources, so the state’s education agency is borrowing a page from the wedding industry … Continue reading →

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House still opposes vouchers

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Keep on keeping on, y’all. The top House education leader said Sunday that “private school choice” is still dead in the lower chamber. “We only voted six times against it in the House,” House Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty … Continue reading →

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LGBT anti-discrimination bills voted out of House committee

Posted on May 7, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

One bit of good news this week. In an unprecedented vote, a House committee on Wednesday approved two bills to prohibit housing and employment discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Dallas Republican Rep. Jason Villalba split with his … Continue reading →

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More reasons not to put people in jail

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We shouldn’t put people in jail for owing fines. In January, state Rep. James White, R-Hillister, filed House Bill 1125, which would ban Texas judges from jailing people for an offense that is punishable only by a fine. State Rep. … Continue reading →

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Publisher of crappy Mexican American Studies textbook defends said textbook

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not that crappy, she swears. The publisher of a proposed Mexican-American studies textbook that scholars, elected officials and Hispanic activists have decried as racist and inaccurate is defending the high school text ahead of a public hearing on the … Continue reading →

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Overview of two Bexar County legislative primaries

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The turnover of Bexar County’s Democratic legislative caucus continues apace. With the departures in 2015 of Mike Villarreal and Jose Menendez (succeeded by Diego Bernal and Ina Minjarez, respectively) and the departures this year by Joe Farias, Trey Martinez-Fischer, and … Continue reading →

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Would you like to sit in armed or unarmed?

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From Houstonia: Imagine it’s a Saturday afternoon. You stop into Whataburger to pick up lunch with your kids in tow, the only thing on your mind remembering which kid doesn’t want ketchup on his burger, which kid only wants ketchup … Continue reading →

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Rep. McClendon to step down

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

She’ll be missed. State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, a San Antonio Democrat and 19-year veteran of the Texas House who tenaciously championed social justice reform, said Wednesday that she is not running for re-election. McClendon was elected in 1996 to … Continue reading →

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More thoughts on the special election results

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There has been very little news about the four legislative special elections that were decided last week, other than the brief hubbub over what the result in SD26 meant. Among other things, I’ve been looking for any kind of reporting … Continue reading →

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Views differ on SD26

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From Campos. Before the State Senate District 26 Special started, Rep. José Menéndez and fellow Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer were both good elected officials and good Democrats. This morning they are still good elected officials and good Democrats. Somebody had … Continue reading →

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Special election runoff results

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here you go, from the Secretary of State webpage. SD26 Trey Martinez Fischer 9,623 40.95% Jose Menendez 13,888 59.04% HD123 Diego Bernal 5,170 63.66% Nunzio Previtera 2,950 36.33% HD13 Carolyn Cerny Bilski 4,763 42.85% Leighton Schubert 6,350 57.14% HD17 John … Continue reading →

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Early voting is up in the special election runoffs

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Make of that what you will. If three days of early voting are any indication, the tense runoff fight for the state Senate 26 seat between Trey Martinez-Fischer and José Menéndez is attracting more voters than cast ballots in the … Continue reading →

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Early voting for special election runoffs has begun

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It began yesterday, but I forgot to queue up a post in time to mention it. Here’s some relevant information for those of you who need to get out and vote in one or more of these runoffs. For SD26 … Continue reading →

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First three runoff dates are set

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott completes a bit of business left to him by Rick Perry. Gov. Greg Abbott has scheduled runoffs from the Jan. 6 special elections for Feb. 17, according to his office. The decision officially sets head-to-head match-ups in state … Continue reading →

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On playing small ball

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Campos reacts to Mayor Parker’s future statewide plans. And here again is my small ball take from a few weeks ago: It is time for small ball instead of the big inning. In baseball, small ball is a strategy where … Continue reading →

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More on the three legislative runoffs

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the Chron/Express News on the Bexar County races. In the Senate contest, Martinez Fischer and Menéndez, both D-San Antonio, are vying to replace District 26 state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, who’s exiting the Legislature to run for mayor … Continue reading →

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All special elections will go to runoffs

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the Bexar County Elections webpage: STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 26 VOTE FOR 1 Votes Pct (WITH 322 OF 322 PRECINCTS COUNTED) Al Suarez (DEM) . . . . . . . . 644 3.39 Alma Perez Jackson (REP) . . … Continue reading →

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Special elections roundup

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I haven’t seen any newspaper endorsements in the special elections that will conclude on Tuesday. I can tell you that the Texas Parent PAC has endorsed Diego Bernal in HD123 and John Cyrier in HD17. In the absence of further … Continue reading →

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Interview with Diego Bernal

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

For the second biennium in a row, there are legislative special elections going on during what many of us think of as the Christmas break. That’s not so great for the people involved in those campaigns, since it’s hardly a … Continue reading →

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Perry sets HD13 special election date

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

For all the writing I’ve done about the various legislative special elections, I’d almost forgotten that this one was still out there. Just hours after Lois Kolkhorst was sworn in as the newest state senator Monday, Gov. Rick Perry called … Continue reading →

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Overview of the Bexar County special legislative elections

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From The Rivard Report: Texas House District 123 Former District 1 City Councilmember Diego Bernal resigned his city seat in mid-November to launch his campaign for Villarreal’s former seat. His VoteDiego website offers voters his positions on a number of … Continue reading →

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San Antonio special legislative elections appear to be set

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Rumor has it. State Rep. Mike Villarreal said Friday that Gov. Rick Perry has set Jan. 6 as the date for a special election to fill his position in the state House and a Senate seat being vacated by Leticia … Continue reading →

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Bexar legislative shuffle update

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The two candidates that we thought were running for HD123 have officially announced that they are running for HD123. Two Democrats announced this weekend that they’re running for Texas House District 123, the San Antonio seat that state Rep. Mike … Continue reading →

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Diego Bernal to run for HD123

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Diego Bernal, a civil rights attorney elected to the District 1 City Council seat in 2011, will leave the office on Tuesday to run in a yet-to-be-called special election for the Texas House of Representatives. “I’m stepping down,” Bernal … Continue reading →

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Villarreal to launch his mayoral candidacy

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We’re going to be talking a lot about Houston’s mayoral race next year, but six months before we elect a new Mayor San Antonio will elect one as well. The current frontrunner – and only declared candidate so far – … Continue reading →

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Enforcing a new payday loan ordinance

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker’s proposed payday lending ordinance will be up before Council today, though it might wind up being delayed until the new Council is sworn in. It’s not clear yet how the vote might go, but in the meantime it’s … Continue reading →

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