Tag Archives: Jose Menendez

Early voting is up in the special election runoffs

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

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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HD13 runoff date set

We are now all set on special election runoffs. Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday scheduled a Feb. 17 runoff in the special election for Lois Kolkhorst’s old seat in the Texas House. Austin County Judge Carolyn Bilski and Caldwell attorney … Continue reading

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First three runoff dates are set

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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More on the three legislative runoffs

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

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

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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Perry sets HD13 special election date

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

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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Romo to run in SD26

The race to succeed Sen. Leticia Van de Putte just got a little more interesting. Sylvia Romo, former tax assessor-collector for Bexar County, on Tuesday morning entered the race to replace state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, bringing … Continue reading

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Legislative special elections set

Gear up quickly, here they come. Gov. Rick Perry on Monday afternoon set three special elections for Jan. 6, including the race to replace state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. Van de Putte, who lost her bid for … Continue reading

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San Antonio special legislative elections appear to be set

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

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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And the dominoes do begin to fall

Game on. A calf scramble for legislative seats set off by two lawmakers’ decisions to run for San Antonio mayor could produce a rare shakeup in the Bexar County delegation that reports for duty in Austin on Jan. 13. As … Continue reading

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Van de Putte to run for Mayor of San Antonio

Wow. Ending weeks of speculation, state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte said Wednesday she is running for mayor of San Antonio. Just two weeks after a crushing defeat in the lieutenant governor ‘s race, Van de Putte — who is … Continue reading

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If there are dominoes to fall…

…these two would like to be among them. Election season may not be over just yet in San Antonio, where a game of legislative musical chairs could begin if state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte launches a bid for mayor. … Continue reading

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There oughta be an app for your auto insurance

This is a no-brainer. Digging through a cluttered glove compartment to find proof of insurance while a police officer waits may soon be an antiquated frustration in Texas. Lawmakers are considering bills that would allow drivers in the state to … Continue reading

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Voter ID passes the House

As expected. There was a long and often contentious debate, but when you have a 2/3 majority as the Republicans currently do, you usually get what you want. Gov. Rick Perry declared the voter ID issue an emergency issue, which … Continue reading

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More on the microbrew compromise

Brewed And Never Battered gives its report from the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee hearing yesterday. Briefly on HB 602: No one expressed opposition, not even the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas, who have opposed the bill in the … Continue reading

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What to do with the SBOE?

The Lege has many ideas about what to do with the state’s most embarrassing branch of government, some of which are better than others. State Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas), wants the SBOE abolished under his House Bill 881 and all … Continue reading

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Legislation to allow slot machines filed

Fresh from the inbox: BI-PARTISAN LEGISLATION FILED TO ALLOW STATEWIDE VOTE ON SLOTS AT TEXAS TRACKS, INDIAN RESERVATIONS AUSTIN, Texas — Texas State Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen) and Texas State Representative Beverly Woolley (R-Houston) filed legislation today to allow … Continue reading

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How about a temporary sales tax hike?

I am deeply conflicted about this. State Rep. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, has filed a bill to temporarily increase the state sales tax by 2 cents on the dollar for two years. He estimates it would raise $6 billion, which … Continue reading

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LBB recommendations

We’re still waiting on the Pitts “You’re gonna get it good and hard” budget, but until then the Legislative Budget Board has released a list of recommendations for savings, which you can see here, that’s worth reviewing. There’s some good … Continue reading

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Poker bill dies

Last night at midnight was the first major deadline in the House. Any bill that had not been passed on second reading was officially dead for the session, though some may get reincarnated as amendments to already-approved bills. About three … Continue reading

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Poker bill coming to a vote

HB222, the bill that would legalize poker rooms, is on the House calendar for today, so barring a point of order or some other complication it will get a floor vote. It hadn’t looked too good for the bill’s prospects … Continue reading

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CLC gambling update

Today there will be committee hearings on various gambling-related bills. I am reprinting here an email sent by Suzii Paynter of the Christian Life Coalition, which is one of the leading organizations that are fighting the expansion of gambling in … Continue reading

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Poker bill passes out of House committee

I mentioned before that there was a bill to expand legalized poker this session. That bill is HB222 by Rep. Jose Menendez (D, San Antonio). Today it moved a step closer to passage as it was approved by the the … Continue reading

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Response from the racetracks

When I wrote my earlier post about how much revenue expanded gambling would generate for Texas, I said I’d be more than happy to do a similar exercise for someone on the pro-gambling side of things. Sure enough, I got … Continue reading

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Expanded gambling: It isn’t just for race tracks any more

Here’s an update to the story about the big expanded gambling bill that was filed yesterday. Slot machines also would be allowed at the state’s existing race tracks under the proposal by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston; Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas; … Continue reading

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Bills about cellphones and driving

Lots of action in the cellphones and driving front for the Lege this session. In 2007, a proposed law [to restrict cellphone usage while driving] never got beyond a legislative committee. Four months later, a Houston motorist talking on a … Continue reading

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Gambling poll

Got a press release in the mail on Monday that claims there is broad support for expanded gambling in Texas – in particular, allowing slot machines at existing race tracks and on Indian reservations. I’ll point you to Texas Insider … Continue reading

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