Category Archives: Election 2018

Runoff races, part 4: Republicans

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Again, not going to spend too much time on this, but here are the US House and State House races for which there are Republican primary runoffs: Dist Candidate March% ========================= CD02 Roberts 33.03% CD02 Crenshaw 27.42% CD05 Gooden 29.97% … Continue reading →

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Runoff races, part 3: Harris County

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not going to give a big windup on this because I think we’re all familiar with these races, but just to make sure we’re on the same page. District Clerk Marilyn Burgess Rozzy Shorter County Clerk Diane Trautman Gayle … Continue reading →

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Runoff races, part 2: Legislative

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one Democratic primary runoff for SBOE, one for Senate, and seven for the House. Here’s a brief look at them. SBOE12 Suzanne Smith Laura Malone-Miller Smith led with 48.12% in March to Malone-Miller’s 26.31%. Smith has the DMN endorsement, … Continue reading →

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Primary runoff early voting begins today

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Early voting for the May 22 Primary Runoff Elections will take place from Monday, May 14 to Friday, May 18. During that period, Harris County voters may vote at any of the 46 polling locations throughout the county. … Continue reading →

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Runoff races, part 1: Congress

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I looked at most of these races after the filing deadline here and here. Here’s a reminder about who’s still in. CD03 Lorie Burch – Finance report Sam Johnson – Finance report First round: Burch 49.61%, Johnson 28.68% Burch was … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Runoff time

Posted on May 12, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron goes for Lizzie Fletcher in CD07. United States Representative, District 7: Lizzie Pannill Fletcher Democrats have a serious chance of knocking Republican Congressman John Culberson out of the seat he has occupied since 2001. The 7th Congressional District … Continue reading →

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A primary runoff threefer

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting chippy in CD02. What started off as a relatively cordial campaign between two Republicans who want to represent parts of Houston in Congress has gotten downright testy as early voting looms. Eight weeks ago, Dan Crenshaw and Kevin … Continue reading →

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The crossover question

Posted on May 10, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From G. Elliott Morris, reviewing the recent AZ-08 special Congressional election: The second thing to learn from AZ-08 helps explain the first: if Democrats aren’t winning because of differential turnout (or, not solely because of differential turnout), why are they? … Continue reading →

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No Metro vote this year

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

One thing that won’t be on your ballot this fall. Voters will have to wait a few more months to decide Houston’s transit future, as Metro officials said Monday they are taking a more deliberative approach to developing a long-term … Continue reading →

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Dallas Republicans ordered to pay legal costs in their failed ballot access lawsuit

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Cue the sad trombone. The Dallas County Republican Party will have to pay more than $51,000 to Dallas County Democrats for attorney fees incurred in defending the GOP’s attempt to remove dozens of Democrats from election ballots. In his final … Continue reading →

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Abbott approves August flood bond referendum

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

One more step forward. Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday approved Harris County’s request to call a multi-billion-dollar bond election to pay for flood control measures on Aug. 25, the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey. By state law, the county needed … Continue reading →

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November special election in HD62

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Because I’m a completist, I bring your attention to news like this. Gov. Greg Abbott has set a Nov. 6 special election to fill former state Rep. Larry Phillips’ seat in North Texas. That’s the same day voters will head … Continue reading →

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Interview with Mike Siegel

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the primary runoffs begins in a week, running from Monday through Friday, with Tuesday the 22nd being the vote-at-your-precinct-location day. I’ll have more information about that later, but for now I have one more interview to present. … Continue reading →

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Beto and Ted

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

¡Dale! U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, has invited U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to participate in six debates with O’Rourke across Texas, two of them in Spanish, during their U.S. Senate race. O’Rourke campaign manager Jody Casey made the … Continue reading →

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May 5 election results

Posted on May 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Martha Castex-Tatum is your winner of the District K special election. She dominated in Harris County with over 65% of the vote, and while she finished below fifty percent in Fort Bend County, she had more than enough votes to … Continue reading →

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Farenthold tells Abbott to go pound sand

Posted on May 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Well, what did you expect? Blake Farenthold — a disgraced former Texas congressman who resigned last month — will not fund the special election to replace himself, he told Gov. Greg Abbott in a letter Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle reported. Abbott … Continue reading →

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Today is May Election Day

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Saturday, May 5, 2018 is Election Day for voters in Houston Council Member District K. Voters will determine who will fill the vacancy in the southwest Council District. Polling locations will be open from 7 am to … Continue reading →

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We finally have a White/Valdez runoff debate scheduled

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

About time. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lupe Valdez has accepted an invitation to debate her runoff opponent, Andrew White, on May 11 in Austin, according to her campaign. White, who was the runner-up in the March primary, has been pushing to … Continue reading →

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Firefighters have their signatures

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

On to the next act in this drama. A petition Houston firefighters submitted last summer seeking pay parity with police contains enough valid signatures to trigger a referendum election, City Secretary Anna Russell reported to Mayor Sylvester Turner and the … Continue reading →

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We’ll be voting on flood control bonds in August

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Not my first choice, but it is what it is. Harris County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to seek a special election on Aug. 25 for what likely will be a multi-billion-dollar bond package that, if approved by voters, would be … Continue reading →

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Early voting ends for May 5 elections

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Go vote Saturday if you haven’t voted yet. Voters across southwest Houston will head to the polls Saturday to vote on a replacement for late District K Houston City Councilman Larry Green who died unexpectedly from a drug overdose in … Continue reading →

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Interview with Sri Preston Kulkarni

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The other contender in the Democratic primary runoff for CD22 is Sri Preston Kulkarni, who led the field in March with just under 32%. A graduate of UT, Kulkarni was commissioned as a Foreign Service Officer after college and served … Continue reading →

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Interview with Letitia Plummer

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, I did not do interviews in all of the contested Democratic primaries this year. There were just too many of them, with too many candidates, for me to be able to get to them all in the … Continue reading →

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The timing of a Harvey bond referendum

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

How does August grab you? Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday will consider calling a special election for August 25 — the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey — to ask voters to OK a massive bond referendum for flood control … Continue reading →

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Alvarado claims poll lead in SD06

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: A new Public Policy Polling survey of 589 voters in Texas’s 6th Senate District shows Carol Alvarado leading Ana Hernandez by a 2-1 margin, 38% to 22%. 41% of voters are undecided. Alvarado’s margin is driven by … Continue reading →

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Nine for CD27

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off. Nine candidates have filed for the June 30 special election to finish former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold’s term, according to the secretary of state’s office. The deadline was 5 p.m. Friday. As expected, the group includes the … Continue reading →

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The case against expediting the CD27 special election

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Erica Greider does not approve of Greg Abbott’s actions in CD27. All things considered, then, I find it hard to believe that Abbott’s decision was motivated by his altruistic concern for the Texans who live in this district. What disturbs … Continue reading →

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Count of firefighters’ pay parity petitions needs to be done by Friday

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Or else. Not sure what follows the “or else”, but maybe we won’t have to find out. City Secretary Anna Russell has one week to finish verifying a petition Houston firefighters submitted last summer seeking pay parity with police or … Continue reading →

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Still waiting for those other special elections

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Ross Ramsey returned to a frequent topic a few days ago. State Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, was found guilty of 11 felonies earlier this year. He has not yet faced sentencing and says he will appeal the convictions on … Continue reading →

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Abbott wants to send Farenthold a bill for the CD27 special election

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. Gov. Greg Abbott is demanding that former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold “cover all costs” of the special election to fill his seat using the $84,000 the Corpus Christi Republican used to settle a sexual harassment claim … Continue reading →

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Special election set in CD27

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. Gov. Greg Abbott has called a June 30 special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi. The candidate filing deadline is Friday, and early voting will run from June 13-26, according to the governor’s … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit against Dallas County Democratic candidates dismissed

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that would have removed more than 80 Democrats from the November general election ballot, putting to rest a controversy that threatened to toss Dallas County elections into chaos. State District Judge Eric … Continue reading →

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CD07 candidate forum

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Happening tomorrow, at the Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Road, Houston, Texas 77055, from 6:15 to 8:45. My guess, as this is the way these things tend to go, is that there will be some mix-and-mingle time with the … Continue reading →

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April 2018 campaign finance reports: Congress

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Here are the Q2 finance reports, here are the Q3 finance reports, here are the January 2018 finance reports, and here’s the FEC summary page for Democratic Congressional candidates in Texas. Let’s get to it. Todd Litton – CD02 Lori … Continue reading →

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