Category Archives: Election 2003

Remember those anonymous attack mailers from late in the 2003 municipal elections, the ones from a group calling itself “Citizens for a Better America” (not this group, mind you)? I wrote about their sleazy mailers, in which those who funded … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Nearly three months after the election, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal has finally issued a report which clears Texans for True Mobility of lawbreaking during the runup to the rail referendum. Texans for True Mobility violated no state campaign … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Bill White Era has officially begun in Houston. He’s got an awful lot on his plate, as you can see from his to-do list. Given the magnitude of his victory, the broad base of his support, and the current … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Yellow Dog comes this analysis of the 2003 Houston Mayoral race. I kind of wish now that I’d looked for this earlier, because the cited paper by Richard Murray no longer appears to be posted at the stated URL. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The recount is over in the City Council District G race, and the winner is the same: Pam Holm, now by 24 votes instead of 27 over Jeff Daily. After Friday’s recount, final but unofficial results had Holm at 18,412 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

When you lose by 27 votes out of over 36,000 cast, asking for a recount should be expected. Houston City Council candidate Jeff Daily, who narrowly lost in a runoff election to Pam Holm, on Wednesday filed an anticipated recount … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There may be a recount in the City Council District G election, where Pam Holm won by a 27-vote margin over Jeff Daily. The timing is perfect, coming on the heels of yet another report that electronic voting machines, including … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron has a nice profile of incoming First Lady Andrea White, who comes across as a down-to-earth type who’ll be more visible than Frances Brown but less, um, colorful than Elyse Lanier. I had the opportunity to meet her … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Received in the mail today: A postcard from the Adrian Garcia campaign which said “We’re tired of late attacks” on one side and which had a message from Houston Police Officers’ Union President Hans Martuciuc on the other defending Garcia’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

John Williams has a good analysis of Bill White’s mayoral victory, which he attributes to good planning, hard work, and of course, money. Williams correctly notes that the latter is an ingredient to success but by no means a guarantee: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Wow. Even George Strong’s projection was pessimistic. Annise Parker won by as big a margin, too, and Ron Green knocked off Bert Keller. Only Peter Brown’s close loss kept this from being a clean sweep. Today was a good day. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The 2003 election season comes to a close today. Look on the bright side: even if your candidates lose, at least you won’t be getting any more campaign mailers (six for me yesterday) or phone calls (three yesterday, two recorded … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The latest poll gives Bill White a failry comfortable lead going into tomorrow’s runoff election. White narrowly led Sanchez in the Nov. 4 voting, 38 percent to 33 percent. Going into the runoff, White has a 53 percent to 35 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I guess things were a little too quiet in the City Council District H runoff. City Council candidate Adrian Garcia was disciplined for misplacing drug evidence, causing two accidents and missing work in his early days as a Houston police … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Orlando Sanchez may not have scraped the bottom of the barrel yet, but he’s within reach. Mayoral candidate Orlando Sanchez went on the attack Monday, attempting to link the owner of the company for which opponent Bill White works to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Both Mayoral candidates got front page coverage in yesterday’s Chronicle as the runoff campaign enters its final week. (Aside: Early voting ends tomorrow, so get out there and vote while you still can!) The side-to-side articles were in the “contrast … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Who needs to endorse a candidate when you can get both of them to agree to a set of ideals as Sylvester Turner did? Standing with U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Rep. Al Edwards at the Four Seasons … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tim Fleck has already covered the story of Hispanic voters abandoning Orlando Sanchez in favor of Bill White, and now today John Williams picks up the ball in a story entitled “Hispanic vote key to mayoral runoff victory”. Exit polling … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After a week off, Bill White and Orlando Sanchez are back on the campaign trail. There was the usual carping between camps, but the real news is here: White, meanwhile, worked on making inroads with Houston’s African-American population, which gave … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The sleazy anti-Adrian Garcia mailer that went out in the days before the election did not have their intended effect, as Garcia was the leading vote getter and the candidate that everyone believes was behind the mailer failed to make … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And so now the candidates who couldn’t quite clear the 50% pole are gearing up for the runoff. Bill White and Orlando Sanchez are all about the money right now. White, CEO of the Wedge Group, an investment consortium, indicated … Continue reading → Continue reading →

If they mayoral runoff leaves you cold, there will be other races to settle in December as well. The Comptroller’s race is down to Annise Parker versus Bruce Tatro. Parker had 42%, Tatro 21%, and three other candidates had between … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Bill White led the pack, but as expected there will be a runoff, with White facing Orlando Sanchez. Sylvester Turner finished third, which has to be a tough blow for him. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, White had 38 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s Election Day, and if conditions aren’t ripe today for good turnout, no such conditions exist: A warm, sunny day, a very high-profile mayoral race, an almost-as-high profile referendum, and only one unopposed candidate on the ballot. Early voting is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You may wonder why I’m spending so much time and figurative ink on the smear job against Adrian Garcia, which is something that maybe five people reading this have a direct stake in. I’m pissed that someone who may or … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After I received the second anti-Adrian Garcia flyer from the group that’s masquerading as “Citizens for a Better America”, I searched the Chronicle’s archives to get some context on one of the quotes they’re using to smear Garcia. I’ve now … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Bill White continues to be the frontrunner in the latest poll taken on the upcoming election. In the race to replace term-limited Mayor Lee Brown, White has 35 percent support while Sanchez has 25 percent and Turner has 19 percent. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s another anti-Adrian Garcia mailer going around, also purportedly from “Citizens for a Better America”, and this time it came to my mailbox. Unlike the previous flyer, this one actually attacks a part of Garcia’s record, but it’s still amazingly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I went and voted this morning, so all you candidates out there can stop calling and mailing me, at least until the runoffs begin. My slate of candidates is remarkably similar to Greg Wythe‘s. Here’s how I voted: Mayor: Bill … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In the final televised debate before the election (and may I say that with all the debates and candidate fora we’ve had, no one can legitimately claim to be unfamiliar with the three hopefuls), Bill White and Orlando Sanchez stepped … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Election day is a week from today, so the most expensive mayoral race in Houston’s history is, well, not exactly drawing to a close, but about to enter a new phase. Greg notes that Sylvester Turner has the most cash … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, we’ve seen the Sanchez and White camps go negative lately, and now there’s a flyer being circulated by some fringe elements which accuses Bill White and several City Council candidates of conspiring to “eliminate black leadership”. After a decorous … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As I mentioned earlier, I got a call from Diana Davila Martinez after I’d published an email from Diane Mosier of the Greater Heights Democratic Club. Ms. Davila Martinez objected to some of the things that had been said about … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t know how many people get mail from the Houston Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus PAC and the Harris County GOP PAC on the same day, but it sure feels special to be in that group. The HCGOPers endorsed … Continue reading → Continue reading →