Monthly Archives: September 2020

Interview with Elizabeth Hernandez

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

How I proceed with doing candidate interviews can vary from election to election. The last couple of even-year cycles, I’ve focused more on the primaries than the general, because there have been so many highly competitive primaries. Even there, I … Continue reading →

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CD10 poll: McCaul 45, Siegel 43

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

One more Congressional district polled. A new internal poll from the Democratic nominee for Texas’ 10th Congressional District, Mike Siegel, showed the race against Rep. Michael McCaul within just two points. The poll found a narrowing lead for McCaul, who … Continue reading →

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Paxton opposes Hotze mandamus to curb early voting

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Reform Austin: In a brief filed with the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argues that the GOP group suing Gov. Greg Abbott to prevent him from extending early voting for the November election has no standing … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Carol and Borris

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is another easy call. When Carol Alvarado was elected to represent state Senate District 6 in a special election in 2018, she already had an impressive record under her belt. After serving on Houston City Council and as the … Continue reading →

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PPP/TDP: Trump 48, Biden 48

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

More polls. A new poll of likely voters found that President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are tied in Texas. The poll, commissioned by the Texas Democratic Party through Public Policy Polling, is the latest reflecting a dead … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Election 2022, The making of the President | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Of course the Fifth Circuit paused the straight ticket voting ruling

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Water is wet, the sky is blue, the Fifth Circuit gives Ken Paxton whatever he asks. A federal appeals court on Monday put a temporary hold on a lower court’s ruling last week that reinstated the practice of straight-ticket voting, … Continue reading →

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Hotze’s latest Supreme Court gambit

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

He has nothing else to do, clearly. A litigious conservative activist in Houston, the Harris County Republican party, and a number of Republican officials and candidates are asking the Texas Supreme Court to limit in-person and absentee voting options for … Continue reading →

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Castaneda on the air

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

More of this, please. Chrysta Castañeda, the Democratic candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, is investing in six figures worth of television ads in the Houston area starting Friday. Castañeda is facing off against Republican Jim Wright, best known for … Continue reading →

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Interview with Julie Oliver

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

If the story of the 2018 Congressional elections in Texas was the unprecedented number of serious candidates and their equally unprecedented success at fundraising, the story of 2020 is how many of those Congressional races are seen as credibly winnable … Continue reading →

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Paxton appeals stright ticket voting ruling

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Letting no moss grow. The Texas Attorney General’s office filed an appeal and motion to stay Saturday following a federal judge’s order to reinstate straight ticket voting ahead of the November general election. Lawyers representing the Texas Secretary of State … Continue reading →

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The people responded to the call for poll workers

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

In Harris County, bigtime. Muhammed Nasrullah was ready to call it quits. After working as an election judge in every Harris County contest since 2004, the COVID-19 pandemic discouraged the 67-year-old retired mechanical engineer from signing up again. He is … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Endorsement watch: Ed and Kim

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is an easy call. Anyone who has been led by personal experience or the events of the past year to conclude that cops are callous and jaded hasn’t meant Ed Gonzalez. The compassionate approach of this 51-year-old homicide detective-turned-city … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for September 27

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We don’t have Election Day, we have Election Season. That’s a good thing, and it’s been a thing for decades now. “A group of some of the most revered and longest-active environmentalists issued a dire warning to the next generation … Continue reading →

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Hey, look, it’s online voter registration!

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And they said it couldn’t be done. When Jarrod Stringer updated his driver’s license address in 2014, the Texas Department of Public Safety website asked if he wanted to register to vote. He clicked yes and thought he was registered. … Continue reading →

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October Census deadline restored

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good news, though as with everything we can’t be sure just yet that it’s for real. A federal judge in California late Thursday blocked the Trump administration from stopping the 2020 Census count next week, saying it should continue until … Continue reading →

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Trib overview of CD24

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The focus of this story is mostly on Democrat Candace Valenzuela, as it should be. She experienced homelessness at a young age. She worked several odd jobs throughout high school and college to make ends meet. A high school car … Continue reading →

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A new way to deliver rural Internet access

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty cool. From his 500-acre spread in Paige, just 50 miles east of Austin, Francisco Artes can send an email, check a website or two and conduct a chat session. But there are some days when streaming video or participating … Continue reading →

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Straight ticket voting reinstated (for now)

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That was unexpected. Less than three weeks before early voting begins in Texas, a U.S. district judge has blocked the state from eliminating straight-ticket voting as an option for people who go to the polls this November. In a ruling … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Trib overview of the Senate race

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It really comes down to the top of the ticket. There’s no getting around it. Even before a pandemic struck, protests over racial justice took to the streets and a vacancy opened on the U.S. Supreme Court, this year’s U.S. … Continue reading →

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And the PAC12 flip flops, too

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Everyone’s playing football again. The Pac-12 will play a seven-game conference football season beginning Nov. 6, the league announced Thursday. The decision, voted on by the Pac-12’s CEO group on Thursday, represents an official reversal after the conference announced in … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Three more for the Lege

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

In numerical order… Rep. Jon Rosenthal, HD135: As a political novice Jon E. Rosenthal pulled off one of the biggest upsets of 2018 when he knocked off 12-term Republican Rep. Gary Elkins to win the state House District 135 seat … Continue reading →

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NYT/Siena: Trump 46, Biden 43

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The second of two polls from yesterday, both of which are interesting in their own way. The NYT story about the poll, which included results from Iowa (Biden leading by3) and Georgia (tied), is behind their firewall, so I’ll give … Continue reading →

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Quinnipiac: Trump 50, Biden 45

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here we have a new Quinnipiac poll, one of two that came out yesterday, and it’s a bit of a puzzle. In Texas and Ohio, two states where President Trump won easily in 2016, the president holds a slight lead … Continue reading →

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The 2022 election has officially started

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And Joe Jaworski is the first candidate out of the box. Joe Jaworski, a mediator and former Galveston mayor, is not a fan of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican first elected to statewide office in 2014. “I have … Continue reading →

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The HCDE makeover

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

One more world to conquer in Harris County. The future looked bleak for Texas’ last remaining county education department in early 2019. After years of state-level efforts to abolish the Harris County Department of Education, a new majority of trustees … Continue reading →

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Hotze and crew appeal to SCOTX to stop the extra week of early voting

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is facing a lawsuit over his extension of early voting for the November election from prominent members of his own party — including state party Chairman Allen West, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller … Continue reading →

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Let’s not overstate the no-straight-ticket effect

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

With all due respect, this is some ado about not very much. With straight-ticket voting no longer an option in 2020, the Harris County Clerk estimates the average resident will spend a significantly longer time in the voting booth this … Continue reading →

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Is the GOP punting CD07?

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s one possible interpretation of this, though probably not the most likely. The National Republican Congressional Committee has canceled about $2 million worth of advertising it had reserved for campaigning in the Houston television market, according to several Democratic and … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of September 21

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance mourns the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Bar owners still mad at Abbott

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t blame them, but the situation is complicated. As Gov. Greg Abbott outlined his latest reopening plan this week, bar owner Greg Barrineau watched in disbelief. Abbott, who announced that Texas restaurants could expand dine-in service to 75% capacity, said … Continue reading →

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Interview with Rashad Lewis

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Moving closer to my home base but staying in mostly rural territory, we visit CD36 where Rashad Lewis is running on the Democratic ticket. Lewis is a former city council member in Jasper, where he won as a write-in candidate … Continue reading →

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Sixteen point six million

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s our current total of registered voters in Texas. Texas has once again shattered vote registration records, adding more than 1.5 million voters since the last presidential election. Texas now surpassed 16.6 million voters, according to the latest numbers announced … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect any surprises in the judicial races

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a simple reason why the Democratic candidates and incumbents are expected to win all the judicial races in Harris County, as they did in 2016 and 2018. I’ll tell you why in a minute, but see if you can … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: The Susan Collins of Texas

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Three things in life are certain: Death, taxes, and certain Chron endorsements. The voters in state House District 134 — a swing district that covers all or parts of River Oaks, Bellaire and Meyerland and includes the Texas Medical Center … Continue reading →

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