Category Archives: Election 2014

Planned Parenthood comes out swinging

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good to see. Planned Parenthood’s political arm is embarking on the most aggressive campaign it has ever waged in Texas, with plans to spend $3 million to turn out voters for Democratic candidates including Sens. Wendy Davis for governor and … Continue reading →

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Collier hits the road

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Talking taxes, and our state’s screwed-up appraisal process. With about as many local candidates as voters in attendance, the Travis County Democratic Party hosted a “town hall” on property tax reform Friday morning, where everybody agreed with would-be County Commissioner … Continue reading →

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Fracking ban on the ballot in Denton

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This has the potential to be even bigger than the HERO repeal referendum. Voters will decide whether this North Texas college town will become the state’s first city to ban hydraulic fracturing. After a public hearing Tuesday night that stretched … Continue reading →

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The relevant numbers in the finance reports

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The headlines will say one thing but you need to dig a little deeper to get the picture. Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott has amassed a $35.6 million war chest in his campaign for Texas governor, a figure his aides … Continue reading →

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Sam Houston enters the chemical disclosure fray

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Sam Houston, Democratic Nominee for Texas Attorney General, today promised to reverse the current AG’s letter ruling on the release of the locations of dangerous chemicals, putting the safety of our families and children first. “I have … Continue reading →

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Believing in – and lying about – monsters

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This Chron editorial about the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance and the frenzied, fanatical opposition to it gets right to the heart of the matter. On its face, there is nothing controversial in the NDO. One could even claim that it … Continue reading →

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Is this really the end for Kinky Friedman?

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll believe it when I see it on my 2018 ballot. It’s been more than a month since he lost his bid to be the Democratic nominee for Texas agriculture commissioner, and the cigar-smoking author-musician can’t shake the loss — … Continue reading →

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The Trib on the AG race

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

What do you do when you have an ethically compromised candidate on your ticket? Thank your lucky stars that you’re the majority party and hope like hell the challenger can’t get any traction. A political candidate’s troubles are supposed to … Continue reading →

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Close enough for Greg Abbott

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

What more do you need to know? Attorney General Greg Abbott first stirred things up by saying the state would not release information about the locations and amounts of hazardous chemicals held by private companies, reversing nearly three decades of … Continue reading →

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Davis takes her attack on Abbott’s chemical info obstruction on the road

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Keeping it going. Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis on Tuesday recalled the deadly explosion just up the road in West as she lambasted her GOP opponent for governor, Attorney General Greg Abbott, over his decision restricting disclosure of information about chemical … Continue reading →

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Davis presses the attack on Abbott’s obstruction on chemical info

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I know, it’s a little lazy of me to do a post based on a campaign email, but this missive from the Wendy Davis campaign is the best roundup of the incendiary chemical disclosure issue and the potential fallout from … Continue reading →

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One point of perspective on the repeal petitions

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story about the HERO-haters turning in their repeal petitions. Opponents of Houston’s new non-discrimination ordinance Thursday turned in well more than the minimum number of signatures needed to trigger a November vote on whether to repeal the … Continue reading →

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Get ready to defend the HERO

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Surrounded by members of the community who are impacted by the ordinance, Mayor Annise Parker announced today that the City will mount a vigorous effort to defend Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance from being repealed. “The Houston I … Continue reading →

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Petition deadline coming

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Scott Braddock takes a look at the petition effort to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which must turn in its homework this week. Opponents led by longtime – and now former because he was recently ousted – Harris County … Continue reading →

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Greg Abbott sure doesn’t like whistleblowers

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

He sure does seem to have a lot of them, though. The office of Attorney General Greg Abbott — the Republican gubernatorial candidate — is appealing a whistleblower’s lawsuit and $1.2 million verdict, arguing that an El Paso jury was … Continue reading →

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Convention coverage

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Wendy and Leticia and a whole host of others rally the crowd in Dallas. Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte shared the spotlight at the Texas Democratic Party convention on Friday night, promising to change the direction of the … Continue reading →

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The enduring mystery of Lawrence Meyers

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

People are still speculating about why the enigmatic CCA Judge switched parties. Lawrence “Larry” Meyers did something last year that no other politician in Texas has done in nearly two decades: He became a statewide Democratic officeholder. As Democrats gather … Continue reading →

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What would you have done differently?

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Falkenberg remembers the Wendy Davis filibuster and complains about what has and hasn’t happened between then and the one-year commemoration of it. You don’t just dust off a social movement because a year has passed and you need to … Continue reading →

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The filibuster one year later

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It still resonates. And I believe it will continue to resonate for a lot longer. The thousands of Texans whose screaming protest of anti-abortion legislation brought the Capitol to a standstill June 25 will mark the one-year anniversary much more … Continue reading →

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Great moments in false equivalence

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The headline reads Money from disputed tax bills flowing to candidates for top tax chief, and then the story tells us that more than 99% of that money is going to one of those candidates. Business entities and taxpayers are … Continue reading →

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On defining success

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It depends on what your goals are. Suppose you were a Texas Democrat and a realist. You want your candidates to win in November and to break the spirit-killing string of losses that started after the statewide elections in 1994. … Continue reading →

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Of course some people will split their votes

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s just a matter of how many of them do so, and if the races in question are close enough for it to matter. Democrats are hoping the Republicans will eventually make some of the mistakes Democrats themselves made back … Continue reading →

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Perry appoints Pratt replacement

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Gov. Rick Perry on Friday appointed Houston family lawyer Alicia Franklin as presiding judge of Harris County’s 311th state District Court, a position left vacant in March after the resignation of disgraced freshman jurist Denise Pratt. Franklin won … Continue reading →

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I repeat: Greg Abbott owns the RPT platform

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is what I’m talking about. At its state convention in Fort Worth last week, the Texas GOP amended its platform to include support for reparative therapy “for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle.” In response … Continue reading →

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UT/Trib poll: Abbott 44, Davis 32

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever. Republican Greg Abbott leads Democrat Wendy Davis by 12 percentage points in the race for governor, according to a new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. That result is close to the 11-point spread, also in Abbott’s favor, in the … Continue reading →

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Yes, Greg Abbott owns the RPT platform

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, Greg. You can mumble all the vague platitudes you want, but this baby’s all yours. In the wake of the GOP’s approval of a platform that includes a hardline stance on immigration, Attorney General Greg Abbott finds himself at … Continue reading →

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A tale of two perspectives

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Democratic perspective. Much has been written about the importance of groups like suburban women and Hispanics in the 2014 Texas governor’s race. But Democrat Wendy Davis said this week in her first interview of the campaign focused on LGBT … Continue reading →

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Burnam drops electoral challenge

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A good decision, in my opinion. After months of legal wrangling, state Rep. Lon Burnam announced Thursday that he will not continue with his challenge of his primary election loss. Shortly after losing on March 4 by 111 votes to … Continue reading →

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The Latino Victory Project

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I like the sound of this. Building on record-breaking fundraising numbers, an expanded donor base and a historically high number of Latino voters in the 2012 presidential election, a progressive Latino group is set to officially begin efforts to expand … Continue reading →

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Who stands with Jared?

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I noted yesterday that soon-to-be-former Harris County GOP Chair Jared Woodfill is busy trying to gather petition signatures to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. Here’s the beginning of his pitch: I want to thank all of you who stood … Continue reading →

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TM talks to Mike Collier

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

He’s a really impressive candidate. What I’ve been surprised by in the past two years is how much farther right the state has gotten, even compared to someone like Rick Perry, who has, I think, been conservative by any normal … Continue reading →

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Yes, Greg Abbott opposes the HERO

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

He just doesn’t want to be forced to admit it. When the Houston City Council passed its nondiscrimination ordinance including gay and transgender protections, top Democratic statewide candidates such as Sen. Wendy Davis were quick to celebrate. “All people should … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick loves the Latinos

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Can you feel the love? State Sen. Dan Patrick’s victory over incumbent David Dewhurst in the Republican runoff for lieutenant governor on Tuesday night came as no surprise. And while the conciliatory tone that marked his victory speech — in … Continue reading →

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Probably the last thing I’ll write about Jim Hogan

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

At least, I hope it’s the last thing, because there ain’t much to say. Texas Democrats are not holding their breaths for a win for the office held by Republicans since Perry ousted Jim Hightower in 1992. Democratic consultant Jason … Continue reading →

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