Category Archives: Election 2004

Sometimes being first is better than being correct. I point you to a tidbit in this story about Republican agida over immigration for an example. President Bush has been courting Latino voters for years, as both a gubernatorial candidate and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the things that was hotly debated in the aftermath of the 2004 elections was whether Martin Frost’s campaign for the 32nd CD had a positive effect on downballot races, or if the resources he expended only benefitted his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As promised, I’ve done a fuller analysis of HD47, the State House district which has just been abandoned by incumbent Republican Terry Keel. You can see all of my data in this spreadsheet. Here’s an executive summary. Overall, as expected, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the promised link to that Texas Monthly article on Hubert Vo. It’ll be up till Monday, at which point I’ve been asked to take it down, so read it now while you can. The piece is in the June … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I received an email this morning from the folks at Texas Monthly to tell me about an article from their upcoming June issue that might (and does) interest me. From the email: “Get Out the Vo” is a story by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg Moses is still wading through documents from the Heflin Challenge, and he keeps putting out useful and interesting articles on what he’s found. Stay on top of it all here, here, here, and here. One of the better questions … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg Moses continues his in-depth look at the original documents in the Heflin challenge, and discovers that some of the voters whom Andy Taylor claimed were illegal were not in the official list that Paul Bettencourt compiled, which leads to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg Moses has two more articles as a result of his study of the original documents in the Heflin challenge, and he has concluded that Andy Taylor is guilty of attempting to violate the civil rights of some voters, specifically … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg Moses of the Texas Civil Rights Review has embarked on his study of the original documents in the Heflin electoral challenge. Today he reports on the case of one deposed voter who answered the questions the way they deserved … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Sam Heldman, I see this assertion from David Van Os: I carried 17 rural counties that Kerry-Edwards lost, and ran ahead of the ticket statewide and in every region. Well, hey, there’s nothing like digging into election return data … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Let me just say that it’s a good thing I wasn’t eating when I stumbled across Andy Taylor’s op-ed on “voting irregularities” in today’s Chron. It’s as bad, as self-serving, and as disingenuous as you’d expect from Taylor. Greg has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Texas Civil Rights Review, which contributed several useful articles about the Heflin challenge while it was going on, has filed an Open Records request for the original files of evidence submitted in the case. They’re still interested in pursuing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kristen Mack writes about Larry Veselka and Andy Taylor, the two lawyers involved in the Heflin challenge and notes that for their roles – Taylor for taking up “a cause that made some Republicans uneasy”, and Veselka for winning – … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Pink Dome picks up a quote from the conclusion of the Heflin Challenge that I had missed: Republican Party officials praised Mr. Heflin’s efforts against what they called “illegal voting and election fraud” and called on the Legislature to take … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Now that the Heflin Challenge is officially over, Rep. Hubert Vo can focus on the job he was sent to Austin to do. “I feel very much relieved. Now I can focus on my work,” Vo, 48, said. Members from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg Moses reads through the Hartnett report (PDF) and finds some items that undoubtedly will not get any further attention now that the Select Committee on Election Challenges’ meeting will be a formality, but should. Check it out. On a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Talmadge Heflin has withdrawn his challenge after Discovery Master Will Hartnett recommended that it be dismissed. Hartnett concluded that Heflin had produced “no evidence of any intentional voter fraud” that would have affected his Nov. 2 loss to Vo in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rep. Will Hartnett is scheduled to release his report on the Heflin challenge this morning. This news brief indicates that Rep. Hubert Vo will be declared the winner, though with a slightly decreased margin of victory. I have been informed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg and Cate tell you what you need to know about this story in which voters from HD149 were alleged to have been illegally moved into HD137. To answer Greg’s question about how this affects the Heflin challenge, I recall … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We’ll have to wait till next week to find out what will happen with the Heflin challenge. State Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, who is gathering evidence for a House committee that will consider Heflin’s charge that he lost because of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron, which you may recall endorsed Talmadge Heflin for the November election, calls him the poorest loser and urges him to drop his electoral challenge against Rep. Hubert Vo. I don’t know much about the International Labor Communications Association, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The next step in the Heflin challenge will be taken by Discovery Master Will Hartnett, who will issue his recommendations on Wednesday. Along the way, he rejected some bogus evidence presented by Team Heflin. Hartnett, R-Dallas, ruled as irrelevant testimony … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Lawyers for Talmadge Heflin and Hubert Vo had their day in the House yesterday. Heflin’s lawyer, Andy Taylor, maintains that Vo’s “razor close” victory margin was decided by illegal ballots, and that the election otherwise would have gone to Heflin. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s showtime today in the Heflin-Vo election contest, and you can add Select Committee on Election Contests Chair Terry Keel to the list of Republicans making reasonable public statements about the whole thing. “You are going to have to have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The end of Talmadge Heflin’s crusade to regain his seat can’t come soon enough for the voters who have been singled out by Heflin and Andy Taylor. Ignatius Okeze has been voting since he became a citizen in 1998 — … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Lawyers for both Talmadge Heflin and Hubert Vo have filed their briefs in the election contest, and Andy Taylor is still beating the “irrefutable evidence of massive fraud!” drum. I’ve seen a copy of Vo’s brief, and I have to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Andy Taylor, chief mouthpiece for Talmadge Heflin, was supposed to have a press conference this afternoon at 2:30 in which he would present irrefutable evidence that those nasty Democrats stole the HD149 election from poor ol’ Talmadge. He’s been saying … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the advantages of occasionally dawdling before posting on something is that sometimes someone else will do the heavy lifting for you, which Greg has done on this story regarding the state of the Heflin challenge. Basically, he covered … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Byron, former State Supreme Court Justice Rose Spector is mulling a run at the newly open HD121 seat. Spector, one of the last Democrats to hold statewide office in Texas, is the second potential Democratic contestant for the special … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Sure does look like Andy Taylor’s wild claims of massive fraud in the Heflin-Vo race are melting away, doesn’t it? This article says that maybe a hundred noncitizens applied to vote in Harris County, a third of whom were rejected … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Developing, as they say, at The Red State. Suspicion all along has been that like Jack Stick, Eric Opiela’s challenge was a stalking horse for Talmadge Heflin and his quest to overturn the election of Hubert Vo, but if both … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Like Greg, I note that three of the four people quoted in this Chron story about subpoenas being sent to testify before the State House in the Heflin contest voted for the Republican. I think that ought to put a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Keir Murray, a familiar name but a new blogger around here, reports a conversation he had with a state senator, who thinks the House may override the result of the Hubert Vo-Talmadge Heflin election. I spoke last night with a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Former Rep. Jack Stick has dropped the challenge of his electoral loss to Mark Strama. The former legislator calls the voting system in Travis County problematic and chaotic and he’ll continue to review the system. Stick plans to submit his … Continue reading → Continue reading →