Category Archives: Election 2005

Both Kristin Mack and Houtopia write about the City Council At Large #2 race and its future implications. Says Houtopia: We will likely never know why SEIU chose to invest so heavily in one candidate in one race, so we … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It was Ana Hernandez over Laura Salinas in HD143, Sue Lovell over Jay Aiyer in the only close vote in At Large #2, Anne Clutterbuck over George Hittner in District C, Jarvis Johnson (the only runoff candidate to win after … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Regular voting for the runoff elections will be tomorrow from 7 AM to 7 PM. If you plan on doing your civic duty then, here’s one last roundup of news stories on the races for City Council, HD143, and HISD. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Also in the Examiner are statements by Anne Clutterbuck and George Hittner for those of you who still haven’t made up your minds in that runoff. You can also catch them tonight on Texas Politics – The Real Deal, with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today is the last day for early voting in the city of Houston for the runoff elections. Polls are open until 7 PM. After that, you have to vote in your home precinct on Saturday. As a reminder, here are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

To the surprise of no one, business has been slow at the early voting locations so far. Turnout for Saturday’s six runoff elections probably will be about 10 percent of registered voters, election officials say. Reasons include holiday distractions, low … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Three more days of early voting. One week till the runoff. We’ll all need the break that Christmas will provide. Couple things happening beneath the radar that you ought to know about. First, a little while back the question of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Got three pieces of mail yesterday relating to the upcoming runoff elections. Two were positive: one from Jay Aiyer, one from Natasha Kamrani. The third was a straight-on attack piece, saying that Kamrani did not vote in several recent elections, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Early voting begins today for the City of Houston runoff elections, which will be held on Saturday, December 10. If you live in the City of Houston, you have a vote to cast, for the City Council At Large #2 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Apparently, the Texas Ethics Commission’s clearing of two Katy ISD officials of charges that they used district computers to urge employees to vote for incumbents in a school board election is not the end of the story, for the Fort … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember how, when I made my endorsements for the 2005 elections, I advised skipping over City Council At Large #3 because neither incumbent Shelley Sekula Somethingorother nor challenger James Partsch-Galvan was worth a vote? Well, Galvan’s recent “endorsement” of Sue … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Unlike the November election, the Chron wastes no time in handing out endorsements for the December 10 runoffs. In half of the races, they get to stick with the person they touted originally: Jay Aiyer in City Council At Large … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In today’s column on the unpredictability of local runoff races, Kristin Mack notes a storm brewing in the Council At Large #2 race, now between Jay Aiyer and Sue Lovell: The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) contributed $10,000 to Lovell’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Back in May, there were complaints raised about improper politicking in Katy’s ISD elections. Today, the Texas Ethics Commission cleared the accused of wrongdoing, but that may not be the end of it. Fred Hink, a 2004 school board candidate, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The runoff elections for the City of Houston municipal races that went into overtime will be Saturday, December 10, with early voting from November 30 to December 6 (all info courtesy of a phone call to the Harris County Clerk’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

State Rep. Mike Krusee was a big proponent of Propositions 1, 3, and 9, all three of which he authored or sponsored. So what does it mean then when one learns that all three were rejected by Williamson County, his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Lots of good news for Democrats around the country. Both governorships that were up for grabs remained in Democratic hands, as Jon Corzine won easily in New Jersey and Tim Kaine completed his comeback win in Virginia. (Note to Rick … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Seven of the nine ballot propositions were ratified yesterday, with Props 5 and 9 going down and the others all winning, most easily. I’m actually a little surprised at Prop 5’s defeat. It was a rare amendment that had some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Let’s take a look at what happened yesterday, starting with the Houston elections. Greg has a slightly early but essentially accurate picture of the city elections, while final results for Harris County can be found here. (Yes, the layout of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We all know what today is, right? And we all know where to go and what to do, right? (Assuming we haven’t done it already, that is.) So therefore there’s no need for me to tell you that you can … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So far this afternoon, we’ve received four robocalls advocating a vote this way or that. The elections may not be on the airwaves for the most part, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out there. I have a feeling we’ll … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So we come to the end of another election season, with the usual grassroots campaigning going on over the weekend. Though there’s always hope, at least until the early returns are announced, pretty much everyone expects the loathsome Prop 2 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

City Controller Annise Parker is running unopposed for reelection, so the profile on that race didn’t appear till today and really isn’t about her campaign anyway. Parker, a lesbian who became Houston’s first openly gay elected official when she won … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kristin Mack mentioned in Friday’s column that Bill White will have a live webcast at 12:30 PM on Election Day, November 8. Part of this webcast is intended to be interactive, with Mayor White responding to feedback from any interested … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Though it’s sadly a little late to affect early voting, the Citizens Transportation Coalition has put together a nice questionnaire for local candidates regarding various issues of mobility, including public transportation, toll road accountability, regional planning, and more. Check it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kristin Mack writes about the Bill White buzz. Mayor Bill White says he is not running for governor in 2006. Well, he doesn’t say that exactly. What he says, when asked, and it has come up lately: “I intend to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just when I proclaim that the Chron is really truly finished with its 2005 endorsements, they go ahead and cross me up by finally evaluating the last three Constitutional amendments on the ballot. I’m not sure what took them so … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have no idea what took them so long, but the Chron has finally rectified its most puzzling (to me, anyway) omission of the endorsement season by giving its seal of approval to incumbent City Council member Toni Lawrence in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron puts what I believe are the wraps on its endorsements for 2005 by giving its recommendations in the HISD trustee races, choosing Richard Cantu in HISD1 and challenger Daisy Maura in HISD9. They did the one contested HCC … Continue reading → Continue reading →

At long last, here’s my list of recommendations for the 2005 elections. I’m only going to make choices for races that will be on my ballot, and as James Campbell wrote today, these are just recommendations, not commands. Mayor – … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today I present the second Q&A session with a candidate for HISD trustee in position 1. My first such interview, with Richard Cantu, can be found here. Today’s subject is Natasha Kamrani. Early voting has already started, so if you … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ll say this for Save Texas Marriage: They’ve stirred up the pot something fierce. An organization of heterosexuals opposed to amending the Texas constitution to ban gay marriage is accused of using automated phone messages to mislead voters. In tape … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After a two-day hiatus, the Chron gets back in the endorsement business, as they recommend incumbents Adrian Garcia and Carol Alvarado for City Council Districts H and I, respectively. Garcia’s a slamdunk, as Alvarado would have been prior to the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

For the second consecutive day, there are no endorsements in the Chron’s op-ed pages (though there is the anticipated Rosa Parks obituary), which leads me to wonder if they’ve done all the endorsing they plan to do. Why that would … Continue reading → Continue reading →