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Posts Tagged ‘Election 2008’

More early voting

Early voting continues to go gangbusters in Harris County – here’s my updated spreadsheet for your perusal. The numbers are certainly impressive, but to keep things in perspective, it’s an increase of about 20% over 2008, whereas 2008 was more than double the turnout of 2004 through Day Four. Year Day 4 total =================== 2004 [...]

Everybody loves early voting now

From the County Clerk’s office: The Chief Election Officer of the County, Stan Stanart, announced [Monday night] that Harris County voters set a new record for voting during the first day of Early Voting in person. 47,093 persons voted on Monday, shattering the November 2008 first day total of 39,201. “We had a record breaking [...]

Early voting begins today

Shamelessly stolen from Greg, here’s a convenient Google map of the early voting locations in Harris County: For the more traditional view plus hours and other information, visit Harris Votes. I intend to bring the girls with me when I vote this year, so I may have to do it over the weekend or next [...]

YouGov: Romney 55, Obama 41

YouGov has an updated poll of Texas. Republican challenger Mitt Romney gets a solid majority of the votes of likely voters over Democratic President Barack Obama in Texas, 55% Romney to 41% Obama, in a YouGov poll of 958 likely voters from the Lone Star state (recontacted from an initial September poll). In the race [...]

Which way for Hays?

I have two things to say about this. Two years after Republicans trounced Democrats in Hays County, the GOP again is aiming to win. Ten incumbents are running for re-election in Hays County races, but the six Republican candidates are all unopposed. All four Democratic incumbents, however, have drawn Republican challengers, including Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe, [...]

30 Day finance reports, Harris County candidates

Here’s a look at the 30 day campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates. All reports can be found by going to the Harris County Clerk campaign finance reports page. Candidate Office Raised Spent Loans Cash ========================================================== Garcia Sheriff 192,670 120,957 0 388,197 Guthrie Sheriff 158,700 48,633 171,000 98,152 Alessi Sheriff 1,019 2,007 700 1,719 [...]

Another reason why math is your friend

The Statesman asks the question whether the newly-drawn HD48 in Travis County might be easier for a Republican challenger to win, then never gets around to providing the simplest answer to that question. Starting in April and carrying on through the dog days of summer, Republican Robert Thomas has worn out the soles of his [...]

Mail ballots

Campos has been tracking mail ballot requests to the Harris County Clerk. Here is what the County put out yesterday evening: As of this evening we have approved 71,101 applications and sent out 67,376 ballots. We have received 19,468 voted ballots returned. 25,848 have been generated by the GOP and 20,866 by Dems. In an [...]

Pro tip: Vote only once

Oops. After the Fort Bend Star received a tip about the Republican candidate for Fort Bend County Precinct 1 Commissioner, the Star conducted an in-depth review of Bruce Fleming and his wife, Nancy Fleming’s voting record. Our research found that for several years Fleming voted both in Bucks County, Pa. and in Fort Bend County. [...]

How about those judicial races?

The Chron takes a look downballot. Democratic judges who surprised Harris County in a 2008 rout because of strong turnout for Barack Obama are bracing for a tough fight in November after seeing the GOP, which had a clean sweep in 2010, continue to bolster its position statewide. In the county’s 23 contested state district [...]

Endorsement watch: Civil courts, part 1

The Chron gets started on candidate endorsements with a first look at the civil court races. They made recommendations in seven of the 14 District Civil Court races, and in five of those seven they endorse the Democratic incumbent for re-election. Civil District Court 11: Incumbent Judge Mike Miller, a Democrat and a four-year bench [...]

Once again on bail and jail overcrowding

Grits returns to a familiar topic. Harris County has successfully reduced its jail population in the last couple of years to the point where they no longer must ship inmates to jails in Louisiana and other Texas counties due to overcrowding. And despite Chicken-Little pronouncements from the police union and tuff-on-crime zealots, the sky didn’t [...]

Traci Jensen’s challenge

I got the following from the Traci Jensen campaign the other day: This past Wednesday morning, Traci and her Republican opponent Donna Bahorich participated in the Greater Houston Partnership’s “Meet the Candidates: State Board of Education” forum. This was the first time Traci and Bahorich had ever met. Three candidates running in two other area [...]

New pollster says Romney leads 55-40 in Texas

It would figure that the day after I complain about a lack of polling data in Texas we get a fresh poll result for the state. Thanks to a lopsided lead among white voters, Romney is leading President Barack Obama 55-40, according to a poll from Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, which carries out surveys [...]

“Waiting for Godot” in Texas

I have three things to say about this. “It’s only a matter of time.” For more than a decade, that thought has provided solace to the out-of-power Democrats who dream of turning Texas blue, much like it was before Ronald Reagan won the state in 1980. The appeal for Democrats is obvious. If President Obama, [...]

A look at HD136

The Statesman takes a look at the new State Rep. district in Williamson County. All county and state elected officeholders from Williamson County are Republicans. The party has long dominated the area. But Democrats are eyeing the new district as a potential weak spot in the Republican stronghold, counting it among a handful of districts [...]

Waiting for an investment

Some day, the national Democratic Party will make an investment in Texas rather than just use us as a glorified ATM. Just don’t ask me when that day will be. Texans have become accustomed to occupying the nosebleed seats at the Democratic National Convention, extras in a production that favors states that are solidly blue [...]

On turnout and 2012

The watchword you have been hearing and will be hearing about this November’s election is “turnout”, specifically whether Team Obama can match or at least approach the success it had in turning out minority and younger voters. Here at home the question is whether there will be another “Obama wave” to carry Harris County for [...]

Sadler’s challenge

Democratic Senate hopeful Paul Sadler is a strong candidate with limited resources. Where have I heard that before? In Victoria on a recent Saturday afternoon, the candidate for the U.S. Senate had the crowd on its feet, the shouts and applause washing over the meeting room like waves on the nearby Gulf. As he wrapped [...]

Courting the Ron Paul voters

Good luck with that. Libertarian presidential candidate and would-be spoiler Gary Johnson smoked out new campaign cash here this week. But his hopes are just a pipe dream unless he wins over Republican voters loyal to never-say-quit candidate Ron Paul. “Hundreds” of Republicans have promised Johnson they will switch his way if the Republican National [...]

Runoff Day

At long last, the 2012 primary season is about to be over in Texas, other than perhaps the HCDE race. To say the least, it’s been a long, strange trip, one that I hope goes down in the books as a bizarre aberration, never to be repeated or approximated. If you have not voted yet [...]

Early runoff voting in perspective

Here are four numbers for your consideration: Year Total votes =================== 2006 13,726 2008 9,670 2010 15,225 2012 14,778 The first three numbers are the complete final turnout figures for the last three Democratic primary runoffs in Harris County. The fourth number is the turnout for early voting through four days for this year’s Democratic [...]

Your vote is worth 30 times what it usually is

A little runoff math from the Trib. It is easy to lament low voter turnout. Only 11 percent of the state’s voting age adults showed up for the May primaries. But look at their clout: Every actual voter was making a decision on behalf of nine people. In the runoff voting that starts next week [...]

How many bonds are too many?

We may find out this November. Houston voters may face a dizzying array of decisions in November as the city, school district and community college system seek authority to borrow more than $2 billion for construction work. The multiple measures have the potential to transform the nation’s fourth-largest city with upgraded parks, libraries, grade schools [...]

Interview with State Sen. Wendy Davis

I didn’t have the room in my schedule during the TDP convention to contemplate trying to arrange a bunch of interviews, but if there was one person I hadn’t spoken to this cycle that I really wanted to it was State Sen. Wendy Davis. Elected in 2008 in a red-leaning district, Sen. Davis quickly established [...]

GOP results, statewide

Full, though not necessarily the most up to date, results, are here. The Trib and the Observer have good roundups as well. – Mitt. Yawn. He was at just under 70% statewide, with Ron Paul getting 11% and Rick Santorum 8%. You have to wonder what might have been if Santorum had held on through [...]

The Trib’s strange samples

Here’s the UT/Texas Trib poll result the Trib should have reported: Q19. If the 2012 general election for U.S. president were held today and Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee, would you vote for [randomize] Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, someone else, or haven’t you thought enough about it to have an opinion? 1. Mitt Romney [...]

Early voting after one full week

Here are your seven day early voting totals for the 2012 primaries, and some historical context to go along with them. Year 7 day Early 7 day % Final 7 day % Early % ============================================================== 2004 R 11,330 28,217 38.91% 82,212 13.78% 34.32% 2004 D 8,607 22,523 38.21% 78,692 10.94% 28.62% 2008 R 28,773 66,375 [...]

Early voting begins today

Feels weird to be talking about early voting for the primaries now, doesn’t it? Well, ready or not after all this time and all these twists in the road, here we are. Here are your early voting locations and schedule. I note with interest there is a new EV location in the Galleria area – [...]

The other PPP April polls

In addition to their Presidential poll, Public Policy Polling asked about the Senate race and the future of Rick Perry. In their poll of the GOP Senate primary, they see things tightening up. Every time PPP polls Texas the Republican Senate primary gets closer and closer. What was a 29 point lead for David Dewhurst [...]

Harris County rejecting fewer voter registrations

In other lawsuit-related news: Harris County officials have rejected far fewer would-be voters since 2008, but Democrats are demanding more proof that voter rolls are not being illegally suppressed – particularly among Hispanics – as another U.S. presidential election approaches. The two sides [met] in secret mediation Friday as Democratic officials seek assurances the county [...]

Interview with Rep. Borris Miles

State Rep. Borris Miles is in his second term representing HD146, though his terms were not consecutive. He knocked off longtime Rep. Al Edwards in 2006, lost a rematch in 2008, then won again in 2010. He will face Edwards for a fourth time this May. Miles is a former police officer who owns an [...]

Texas will be relevant to the GOP nomination circus after all

After Mitt Romney’s unimpressive showing on Tuesday, the race for the GOP Presidential nomination continues to slog on with no clear end in sight. Which is good news, I guess, if you’re a Texas Republican because it means that your vote on May 29 will matter. And polls right now are showing a tight race [...]

Good news and bad news

Good news. Big news today: Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald is stepping down from his position. At a press conference today, he announced today that he will either run for the 17th Legislative District, anchored in Bastrop and currently held by Republican Tim Kleinschmidt, or for the 27th Congressional District, currently held by Republican Blake [...]