Category Archives: Election 2008

Oh, my. Texas Democratic Party officials are asking a federal judge in Houston to block what they call illegal moves by Harris County voter registrar Paul Bettencourt as the last few votes are added to the totals from the Nov. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Democratic challenger Bob Romano, the trailing candidate in the exceedingly close HD105 race, has asked for a recount. Democrat Bob Romano said this afternoon he will ask for a recount in his bid to unseat Republican State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The 29-vote lead that Rep. Linda Harper-Brown had in her re-election effort in Irving’s HD105 got a little smaller but did not go away. Republicans held their one-seat advantage in the Texas House late Monday as incumbent Linda Harper-Brown maintained … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Back in August, a couple of sitting Republican judges, Mike Miller Mark Davidson and Sharolyn Wood, broke with recent history and became the first GOP judicial candidates in some time to seek the endorsement of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Clearly, we have not had enough stories about what a terrible thing the Democratic near-sweep of the local judiciary was. A bit like the weather, partisan judicial races seem to be something many people complain about but few do anything … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Gary Polland used to be the chair of the Harris County GOP. He’s not too happy with the result from Tuesday and he’s letting everyone know it. The Harris County GOP under Chairman Jared Woodfill failed because it had the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

At this point, all the early and Election Day votes have been counted, and only provisional ballots remain. In the closest of the 27 countywide judicial elections, Republican state district Judge Elizabeth Ray trailed Democratic challenger Josefina Muniz Rendon by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The runoff between Chris Bell and Joan Huffman for the open SD17 seat is underway. “We are very generous in our funding of public education,” Republican Joan Huffman said. “We just do a really bad job of spending that money … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Congratulations to Vince Ryan, who I think will do a bang-up job as the new Harris County Attorney. Many Harris County residents may have been saying “Vince who?” when they learned that voters ousted a Republican incumbent and elected the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Precinct level data won’t be available for some time, but let’s revisit my discussion of the big counties with the numbers that are currently on the Secretary of State homepage. Here’s that spreadsheet again, updated to include 2008 numbers. Note … Continue reading → Continue reading →

That’s the question a lot of people are asking. Where were the voters who supposedly were going to push election turnout in Harris County to breath-taking heights? They stayed away from the polls, leaving turnout only 2 percentage points beyond … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron reprises a theme it sounded prior to the election. The mood was somewhat somber and confused today at the Harris County Civil Courthouse, a day after voters gave nearly half the incumbents their walking papers. “Though we anticipated … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Still working through a backlog of random observations from last night… – Is it just me, or does anyone else have a hard time believing it’s actually all over? – One way of looking at how Harris County is changing: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just some observations before I can get my hands on precinct data… – First and foremost, let me say Congratulations to all the winners. This was a long and hard-fought campaign, and everyone involved deserves our praise and thanks for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s been a hellaciously long day, and I’m going to work tomorrow. Yeah, I know, brilliant move on my part. Here’s a wrapup of what has happened, with much more to come once I regain my senses. – With 869 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Republicans are making up some ground in Harris County. Hard to know which precincts have reported and which haven’t, but with about a third of the boxes in, the straight ticket advantage is down a bit to 46,000 for the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In case you hadn’t noticed, Fort Bend County was essentially 50-50 (PDF) after early voting. Democrats had a 3000 vote advantage in straight ticket ballots. Republicans are catching up a bit in the E-Day results so far, but it’s clear: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Some good news for the Dems around the state: They lead in seven takeover races for the State House: Joe Moody (El Paso), Chris Turner (Tarrant County), Diana Maldonado (Williamson County), Robert Miklos, Carol Kent, and Bob Romano (Dallas County), … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here. And it’s very good news for the Democrats. The first number you need to know: Straight party Republican Party – 208,962 Democratic Party – 258,053 That’s 55% Dem, and that 50,000 vote advantage is carrying them to leads in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In preparation for tonight’s Election Dissection Blogger-rama, here are a few useful links to bookmark: Election Night Results, hot off the presses from the Secretary of State. Harris County election night results. Hit “Refresh” often. For you Twitter users, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

LIsa Falkenberg gets old school. Those of us who passed on early voting and will trek to the polls today have been deemed by some pundits and professors procrastinators, indecisive or indifferent. I’m not offended. If you think about it, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, I thought I was done with interviews for this cycle, but as you saw yesterday that wasn’t quite the case. It is unequivocally so now, and as such I will now re-present my complete list of interviews for the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a guide to all the judicial Q&As I did for this cycle, sorted by the type of court for which the candidate is running: Judge Jim Jordan, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Martin Siegel, Court of Appeals, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

With early voting all finished, let’s take a minute and ponder the possibilities for the Presidential race in Texas. I’ll leave it to Greg to ponder the whys and wherefors of Texas’ evolving suburbs. I’m just interested in some numbers. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dwight tells about the Twitter vote report, which aims to capture in real time reports about voting conditions, technical problems, and so on. You can go to that page for a feed of what’s being reported, and if you yourself … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t know what else there is to say after this incredible Presidential campaign except “Just vote”. You know what’s at stake. You know who’s saying what. You know what you need to know, and now you need to do … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Wow. Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade is predicting that 68 percent of eligible Texans will vote this presidential election – outdrawing the George W. Bush and John Kerry contest by 12 percentage points. “There is a lot of energy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s your proof. For other foolishness, see here and here. Feel free to contribute in the comments. He-didn’t-ask-but-I’ll-say-anyway: I think Obama wins Harris County with 52% of the vote, and I think Democrats win a majority of the county races … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, I thought I was done with interviews for this cycle, then an opportunity to chat with Mark Thompson, the Democratic candidate for Railroad Commissioner presented itself, and I was able to get it done. Thompson was not who I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

With early voting over, we’re kind of in a dead spot news-wise, much like the Sunday before the Super Bowl. There are a few things to think about as we wait for Tuesday. Democratic Chairman Gerald Birnberg said excitement about … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I suppose one of the side benefits of a massive increase in early voting is that scurrilous last-minute attack mailers like this one from Jayne Davis, wife of Rep. John Davis in HD129, will have less impact than it would … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I get a ton of email every day, including a bunch of press releases from various candidates, interest groups, and whatnot. Some get read, a few get used, many get tossed aside as I have no interest in the sender … Continue reading → Continue reading →