Tag Archives: redistricting

Abbott vetoes THC bill and calls special session

Posted on June 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Waited till the last minute because he’s such a drama queen. Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday vetoed a contentious state ban on THC products and shortly after called a special legislative session asking lawmakers to instead strictly regulate the substance. … Continue reading →

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No one knows what Greg Abbott will do, special session edition

Posted on June 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll probably know something by the end of the day today, but beyond that who knows. Gov. Greg Abbott seemed to get everything he wanted out of the Texas Legislature this year. “Without a doubt, this is the best session … Continue reading →

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Tarrant County plaintiffs amend their complaint

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From the Lone Star Project: Attorneys acting on behalf of an expanded list of citizen plaintiffs have amended claims against MAGA County Judge Tim O’Hare and Tarrant County Texas for the adoption of a mid-decade County Commissioners Precinct map that … Continue reading →

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KP George switches parties

Posted on June 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Hilarious. Fort Bend County Judge KP George has made the switch from Democrat to Republican as he faces felony charges of money laundering. George stated that he is joining the Republican Party because, “The Democratic Party has embraced a corrupt … Continue reading →

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The other redistricting matter

Posted on June 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a story from the Fort Worth Report on the redistricting trial going on in El Paso, with a focus on the effect in Tarrant County. Federal judges in El Paso are reviewing a lawsuit that alleges Texas redistricting architects … Continue reading →

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Republicans not saying anything about the re-redistricting proposal

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A mostly no news update. Texas Republicans were evasive Thursday about a request from the White House to redistrict the state ahead of the 2026 midterm elections after exiting a meeting in Washington to discuss the proposal. President Donald Trump’s … Continue reading →

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More on the re-redistricting proposal

Posted on June 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Votebeat addresses a few questions. How do Texans in Congress feel about the proposal? On Capitol Hill, members of the Texas GOP delegation huddled Monday night to discuss the prospect of reshaping their districts. Most of the 25-member group expressed … Continue reading →

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Texas Congressional Republicans considering a new map for 2026

Posted on June 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

WTF? President Trump’s political team is encouraging Republican leaders in Texas to examine how House district lines in the state could be redrawn ahead of next year’s midterm elections to try to save the party’s endangered majority, according to people … Continue reading →

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Tarrant county does mid-decade redistricting and gets sued over it

Posted on June 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

First there was this. The Tarrant County Commissioners Court could get a bigger conservative majority next year under a new map passed Tuesday. Republican Commissioners Manny Ramirez, Matt Krause and County Judge Tim O’Hare voted to adopt the map. Democratic … Continue reading →

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Long-awaited Texas redistricting trial begins

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Been waiting a long time for this one. Questions over whether Latinos had their voting power diminished in the Dallas area will be a focus of a federal trial in El Paso that begins Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, … Continue reading →

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Spring Branch ID to appeal redistricting verdict

Posted on May 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Spring Branch ISD officials plan to appeal last month’s federal ruling that the district violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by holding at-large elections, the board president said Monday night after an executive session discussion. While awaiting … Continue reading →

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Spring Branch ISD ruled to have violated the Voting Rights Act

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And they are ordered to adopt single-member districts. A federal judge found Spring Branch ISD violated the Voting Rights Act and ordered the west Harris County district to overhaul its system so that the voices of Hispanic voters can be heard, but … Continue reading →

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Some plaintiffs drop out of redistricting litigation

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Unfortunate but not unexpected. Two months before a scheduled trial, a coalition of voting rights groups is withdrawing from a long-running challenge to the political maps Texas drew after the 2020 U.S. census, which the groups said diluted the voting power of … Continue reading →

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Justice Department drops Texas redistricting lawsuit

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t say I’m surprised. The U.S. Justice Department withdrew from a lawsuit alleging that Texas’ legislative and congressional district maps drawn after the 2020 U.S. census discriminated against Latino and Black voters by denying them an equal opportunity to participate … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: President 2024

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I know you’ve been waiting for this, and now here it is, the 2024 precinct data for Harris County. We’ll start at the top, with the Presidential race. Dist Trump Harris Lib Grn ========================================= CD02 101,141 73,399 1,112 1,027 CD07 … Continue reading →

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The South Texas Congressional races

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Feels like I’ve heard less about them this year than in 2022, but as the story notes, the Dems are on offense this time. It’s déjà vu in South Texas. Texas’ two most competitive congressional races will feature rematches from … Continue reading →

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On longshot candidates

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron looks at candidates running in districts they are highly unlikely to win. I have a few thoughts. In the 2022 election, a Houston Chronicle analysis found only about 5% of Texans lived in districts with competitive races for … Continue reading →

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Some finance and fundraising bits

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Colin Allred keeps raking it in. U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised $30.3 million for his Senate campaign in the third quarter of the year, outpacing U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s haul over the same three-month period, according to figures announced by … Continue reading →

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Spring Branch ISD single member district lawsuit trial concludes

Posted on September 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Now we wait. The federal trial between Spring Branch ISD and a parent alleging the district violated the Voting Rights Act sheds light on what the plaintiffs characterized as vast inequities fueled by a lack of elected representation from the … Continue reading →

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Rep. Nehls sued for allegedly having a homophobic workplace

Posted on August 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

It sure has been a year for Rep. Troy Nehls, hasn’t it? A gay former staffer for U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Richmond, sued the congressman’s office Friday, saying he was effectively forced from his job after a history of homophobic … Continue reading →

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Full Fifth Circuit overturns Galveston redistricting ruling

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Terrible. They’re just making this shit up as they go. Distinct minority groups cannot join together in coalitions to claim their votes are diluted in redistricting cases under the Voting Rights Act, a divided federal appeals court ruled Thursday, acknowledging … Continue reading →

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July 2024 campaign finance reports – State offices

Posted on July 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Senate and Congress For the first time in awhile that I can remember, there’s not really a state or statewide legislative race generating much interest in Harris County. The candidates and incumbents for the Court of Appeals benches have … Continue reading →

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Full Fifth Circuit hears Galveston redistricting case

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Always hard to feel any optimism when these guys are involved. Conservatives on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals occasionally sounded like Fox News talking heads Tuesday as they weighed whether coalitions composed of multiple minority groups are protected under … Continue reading →

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There’s only one way forward after this primary

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The worst people you know had a very good week last week. It’s likely to get better for them after the runoffs. These headlines capture the essence of it: ‘Disastrous’: A shaken Texas House prepares for rightward shift after record … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit does its thing with Galveston redistricting

Posted on December 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Death, taxes, and the Fifth Circuit being terrible. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a new political map imposed on Galveston County by a lower court from taking effect. Plaintiffs are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to … Continue reading →

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Galveston ordered to use its current map for 2024

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Pending the Fifth Circuit, of course. A federal judge ruled Galveston County must keep its old commissioner precinct map in place for the 2024 election while a federal appeals court mulls overturning its precedent and allowing new maps which do … Continue reading →

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Yet another effort to kill the Voting Rights Act

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder that the Fifth Circuit isn’the only home for terrible appellate judges. A divided federal appellate panel took a pipe to the knees of the Voting Rights Act Monday, handing down an eyebrow-raising decision that would severely curtail … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds (*) Galveston redistricting ruling

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

With an asterisk, as noted in the title. A federal appeals court Friday ruled that Galveston County commissioners violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act by eliminating the only majority-minority district in its latest redistricting process. The 5th Circuit Court of … Continue reading →

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Galveston redistricting ruling paused

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Fifth Circuit strikes again. Less than a week after a federal judge ruled Galveston County’s precinct maps violated the Voting Rights Act, the U.S Fifth Circuit Court issued a stay on the order. U.S. Circuit Court Judge Jeffery V. … Continue reading →

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Galveston County redistricting ruled illegal

Posted on October 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Galveston County Commissioners Court violated the Voting Rights Act when it approved a 2021 map that greatly limited voting power for Black and Latino voters in the county, a judge ruled Friday. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge … Continue reading →

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Galveston redistricting lawsuit gets underway

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This could be a big one. n the home of Juneteenth, the culmination of Galveston County’s decade-long effort to undermine the political power of Black and Latino voters is on trial. In the only county-level redistricting case which the federal … Continue reading →

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Louisiana’s turn to (maybe) fix its racial gerrymander

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

They’re on the clock. The Supreme Court on Monday denied Louisiana’s attempt to block a lower court’s order that it redraw its congressional maps. That court found that the state had likely diluted the power of Black voters in violation … Continue reading →

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Another look at Texas redistricting litigation after the Alabama SCOTUS ruling

Posted on June 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

An explainer from the Trib. The state faces an assortment of legal challenges to its congressional and statehouse maps, including allegations of intentional discrimination, vote dilution and racial gerrymandering. For example: In the Rio Grande Valley, the plaintiffs allege map-drawers … Continue reading →

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Will the SCOTUS ruling on Alabama redistricting affect Texas?

Posted on June 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start here. In a surprise win for voting rights activists, the U.S. Supreme Court breathed new life into the Civil Rights Act and may have paved the way to end Texas’s gerrymandered district. The case, Allen v. Milligan, came … Continue reading →

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