Category Archives: Election 2010

How many votes did we think we’d need?

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve already established that this election saw an historically high level of turnout in the county, and an historically high level of vote support for Republican candidates. It’s clear that Republican candidates rode a wave of voters who don’t normally … Continue reading →

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Ortiz asks for a recount

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Solomon Ortiz, one of three Texas Congressional Democrats to be defeated on Tuesday, has asked for a recount. U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, trailing Republican challenger Blake Farenthold by 792 votes in the race for Texas’ 27th District, officially announced … Continue reading →

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So where do we go from here?

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

All right, the shock is starting to wear off, so it’s time to take stock of what happened and think about what to do next. As shell-shocked Democrats begin crawling out of their cave, the question they have to confront, … Continue reading →

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What now for Renew Houston?

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to the disposal of the red light cameras and the associated costs of their removal, Mayor Parker and City Council now need to work out the details for Prop 1, which created the dedicated fund for streets and … Continue reading →

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What now for the red light cameras?

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Barring anything unusual, red light cameras will be history in Houston, but their effect will be felt for some time. City Controller Ronald Green said the loss of the devices would amount to a $10 million shortfall in revenues, a … Continue reading →

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Opening thoughts on the carnage

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

In no particular order… – Republicans gain 22 seats in the State House, for a 99-51 advantage. That’s with Pete Gallego, Hubert Vo, and Donna Howard, all of whom had been trailing early, coming back to win. Howard’s margin of … Continue reading →

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I’ve had worse days, but not by much

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So as I write this, it looks like the optimistic projections for the Republicans weren’t optimistic enough. Big wins for them in the state, in Harris County, and in the Legislature, where a circa-2003 partisan mix looks like a good … Continue reading →

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Electronic voting will be the norm today

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From the County Clerk’s office: ELECTRONIC VOTING TO BE THE PRINCIPAL METHOD OF VOTING ON ELECTION DAY IN HARRIS COUNTY Houston, TX– As usual, on General Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010, the eSlate electronic voting system will be the … Continue reading →

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From the “Grant me the grace to accept the things I cannot change” department

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

What’s that old saying? “Could be worse. Could be raining.” As Democrats around the country girded for a midterm GOP tsunami, Bill White and his down-ballot Democratic cohorts spent the weekend tacking up political plywood and looking for signs, any … Continue reading →

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What the polls said

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a roundup of the most recent versions of the most recent polls on the Governor’s race, some of which include one or more other statewide races. We’ll come back to this and see how accurate they were after tomorrow: … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Early voting? Never heard of it

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Somewhat incredibly, there were still endorsements being made over the weekend. Two newspapers finally got around to picking a side in the Governor’s race. The good news is that at least they picked the right one. First up, the Abilene … Continue reading →

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Final early vote wrapup

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As was the case in 2008, we saw record levels of early voting this year in Harris County. As polls closed Friday before Tuesday’s general election, as many as 450,000 people are expected to have cast their ballots early or … Continue reading →

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Last round of polls

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The newspapers have another poll, and I have a question about it. The survey of 673 likely voters found Perry leading Democratic nominee and former Houston Mayor Bill White 49 percent to 37 percent. They are followed by Green Party … Continue reading →

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“The cul-de-sac battleground”

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer has an interesting look at three State House races in suburban areas that were once Republican strongholds but have now become battlegrounds. Two of them are Democratic-held – HDs 52 and 133 – and one (HD105) is still … Continue reading →

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Sign of the times: Prop 3

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Spotted this the other day on Old Spanish Trail just east of SH288: Far as I can tell, the nearest red light camera to this sign is at Wayside and I-45. It’s all I’ve seen of the campaign against Prop … Continue reading →

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Here comes the late money

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The 8 days out finance reports are in, and it’s about what you’d expect. Millions of dollars poured into Texas legislative campaigns during the past month as interest groups tried to maximize their influence and partisans readied for the upcoming … Continue reading →

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The fate of the city propositions

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This Chron story could easily have been headlined “A bunch of people take wild guesses about what will happen to the city ballot propositions”. Political analysts say the fate of the three propositions may be tied together for some Houstonians … Continue reading →

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Ryan issues opinions about poll watching

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan has issued a couple of opinions relating to poll watching that may help clear things up a bit. The first opinion has to do with where poll watchers may and may not go: Poll watchers … Continue reading →

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Beware the stock photo

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the best press release I received today, from the campaign of Rick Molina in HD144. The front cover of a direct mail piece for endangered incumbent Ken Legler shows a photo of a doctor, standing with blue collar and … Continue reading →

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Early voting: The Democratic voters start to show up

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

After one full week of early voting, the proportion of votes coming from Republican State Rep districts was tilted about two percentage points more towards the GOP than it was in 2006. I’ve argued that this is nothing to be … Continue reading →

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Dry Dallas update

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of money being spent to remove alcohol sales restrictions in Dallas. The group behind next month’s ballot measures to expand the sale of alcohol in “dry” areas of Dallas has raised nearly $1 million – mainly from grocery stores, … Continue reading →

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TDP to get KSP’s financial records

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Houston tea party spinoff King Street Patriots will grant the Texas Democratic Party access to its financial records, forestalling an injunction hearing that had been set for Monday afternoon in Austin, according to TDP. According to a TDP news … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: One more

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I was wrong when I said the Chron was done with endorsements. I’d forgotten that they hadn’t endorsed in the one contested County Commissioner race. They have now rectified that. In two terms on the five-member Harris County Commissioners Court, … Continue reading →

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Still not mentioning the Libertarian numbers

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s one Trib story about their most recent poll (summary here, crosstabs here), that barely mentions the most remarkable numbers from it. The voters who identify with the Tea Party overwhelmingly favor Republicans in statewide races, with more than 80 … Continue reading →

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Blast from the past, RRC edition

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

TPJ tells me something I didn’t know about Republican candidate for Railroad Commissioner David “My party is my qualification” Porter. Porter has been the treasurer of the Texas Republican Legislative Campaign Committee (TRLCC) since 2006. That’s when school-voucher activist James … Continue reading →

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Once again, I’ll take the under

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a bizarre new UT/Texas Trib poll that’s so odd I can’t even come up with a good introduction for it, so I’m just going to jump straight to the weirdness: Republican Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, Bill … Continue reading →

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One week of early voting

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start with the breakdown of the early voting numbers after one full week: 2010 Overall Strong R = 47.7% Medium R = 9.4% Medium D = 17.9% Strong D = 22.9% Total R = 57.1% Total D = 40.8% … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: State House

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I think this list of State House recommendations wraps up the endorsements for the Chron. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other races left for them to do. Anyway, in twelve contests they went with … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: What took them so long?

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Nearly a full week into early voting, the last of the five major dailies, the Star Telegram, endorses Bill White. The hard economic reality of 2010 is that Texans deserve a governor who can work effectively on a national level. … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Early voting theme song

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Have you voted yet? If not, here’s a little ditty to hum as you enter the polling place. Pretty catchy for an unapologetic political screed, if you ask me. Thanks to Juanita for the catch.

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Endorsement watch: Congress

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing to see here. Six contested Congressional races in Harris County – the 7th CD, in which there is a write-in candidate but no Democrat on the ballot, is not included – six recommendations for the incumbents. Had there been … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Janiece Horn

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates on the November ballot. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. These Q&As are primarily intended for candidates who were … Continue reading →

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Hey, big secret spender

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I know you’re as shocked as I am to learn that there are unknown entities spending large quantities of money in this election. Campaign finance watchdogs say the tactic conceals important information about who is backing a political cause, but … Continue reading →

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Overview of the HISD Trustee race

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron overview of the HISD Trustee special election in District 8. There are five candidates actually running, though there is a sixth on the ballot: Roberto Centeno, 61, lives in Museum District Judith Cruz, 35, lives in Eastwood … Continue reading →

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