And we come to the city of Houston bond referenda, of which there were five on the ballot. Here’s the usual breakdown of them:
Dist A Yes A No B Yes B No C Yes C No D Yes D No E Yes E No
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126 720 231 725 239 711 228 671 275 604 342
127 10,728 13,251 10,015 14,121 9,564 14,299 9,464 14,517 6,752 17,158
129 12,592 8,536 12,244 8,976 11,924 9,074 11,978 9,188 9,169 11,926
131 19,375 8,878 20,694 7,808 19,547 8,223 19,495 8,404 19,192 8,770
132 276 132 281 136 269 144 259 156 217 197
133 31,386 19,808 32,668 19,184 29,304 21,291 27,775 23,065 21,907 28,628
134 37,134 18,433 40,946 15,768 36,140 18,775 33,942 21,283 27,591 27,116
137 12,712 5,596 13,374 5,154 12,719 5,404 12,303 5,939 11,205 6,968
138 9,992 6,797 9,915 7,032 9,427 7,274 9,210 7,585 7,370 9,361
139 15,034 8,819 16,117 8,048 14,893 8,702 14,848 8,822 13,931 9,847
140 5,010 2,437 5,234 2,242 4,922 2,396 4,851 2,485 4,545 2,844
141 8,627 4,459 9,419 3,833 8,935 3,912 8,976 3,912 9,478 3,547
142 8,460 3,908 9,168 3,372 8,631 3,533 8,659 3,573 8,979 3,310
143 5,961 2,659 6,237 2,404 5,914 2,540 5,854 2,612 5,506 3,032
144 1,441 744 1,468 716 1,430 732 1,382 780 1,219 941
145 12,561 5,897 13,434 5,163 12,483 5,757 12,235 6,066 10,936 7,380
146 25,928 11,707 27,810 10,225 26,063 10,913 25,585 11,518 24,641 12,598
147 28,731 12,830 31,836 10,453 29,314 11,721 28,501 12,736 27,160 14,174
148 21,916 10,805 23,752 9,472 21,140 11,140 20,626 11,872 17,233 15,126
149 10,212 4,831 10,605 4,590 10,045 4,840 9,766 5,166 8,863 6,077
Greg has a map for Prop B, for those of you who like pictures to go with the numbers. All five bond issues passed, with Harris County percentages ranging from 68.06 for Prop B to 55.55% for Prop E. The city does of course extend into Fort Bend and Montgomery Counties, but I’m not including those precincts in my analysis. For what it’s worth, the Fort Bend precincts voted overwhelmingly for the bond issues, and the Montgomery County precincts also supported all five bonds. Of interest is the fact that the bond issues generally did well in the Republican State Rep districts in Houston. This is of interest because the Harris County GOP passed resolutions opposing all bonds on the ballot. To whatever extent they publicized that opposition, it had little effect. Only Kingwood (HD127) opposed the bonds, which isn’t really a surprise given that Kingwood would oppose a resolution declaring that puppies are adorable if it was a city of Houston resolution. OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration – Kingwood did support the two Houston charter amendments – but still. HDs 129 (Clear Lake), 133 (Memorial/Westchase), and 138 (Spring Branch) supported all but Prop E, while HD134 supported all five. Note that HD138 largely overlaps Council District A, home turf of CM Helena Brown. If Helena Brown’s constituents were voting for the bonds, that should tell you how seriously the Harris County GOP’s resolutions were taken.
More broadly, there was a whole lot of ink spilled during the election season about ballot fatigue and conservative anti-government surges and fragile economies and what have you, and in the end none of it mattered. All the bonds, including the HISD and HCC bonds that will lead to tax increases, passed easily. All of them did well in Republican areas despite the official opposition of the Harris County GOP. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to rethink that narrative about people being tired of government spending and demanding cutbacks. Maybe, just maybe, that’s a load of hooey.
Clearly i think you are right. The people wanted the bonds and they didnt care about the tax increase. Nothing else to say.
I have a hunch that official GOP opposition to HISD, city, and HCC bonds hurt GOP candidates somewhat, as supporters of each set of bonds came to identify the GOP as broadly against their interests.
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