Tag Archives: Election 2020

One more lawsuit against Texas’ voter suppression law

From Mi Familia Vota: Non-profit civic engagement organization Mi Familia Vota, along with individual voters, filed suit today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio seeking to block a new voter suppression … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Runoff coming in HD118

You’ll be hearing more about this soon enough. Republican John Lujan and Democrat Frank Ramirez are advancing to a special election runoff to fill the seat of former state Rep. Leo Pacheco, D-San Antonio, a seat the GOP is eager … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More redistricting stuff

Just a roundup of some redistricting stories. We’ll start with the DMN. The new map, part of a process of redrawing legislative boundaries every 10 years, makes significant changes in North Texas, where Democrats likely will gain a seat held … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The proposed State House map is out

The last of the bunch. Texas House members on Thursday released the first proposal for a new map redrawing the chamber’s 150-member districts. The initial draft would both increase Republicans’ strength across the state and the number of districts in … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Beto and McConaughey

Our guy has a few thoughts about that other guy. Beto O’Rourke says he is still “very seriously” thinking about running for governor — and that he is not surprised Matthew McConaughey, another potential candidate, is polling so well against … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Beto and McConaughey

A little sandbagging from the SOS on the fraudit

Who’s running this show? In the five days since the Texas secretary of state’s office announced it is auditing the 2020 general election in four counties, local officials indicated they were in the dark about what the reviews would entail. … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

More on the fraudit

My God, Greg Abbott is a wimp. Donald Trump’s letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott demanding he pursue an “audit” of the 2020 election set off a “mad dash” in the governor’s office as aides sought to figure out just … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

First proposed Congressional map is out

It’s a thing. Texas lawmakers on Monday released their first draft of a new congressional map for the next decade that includes two new districts in Austin and Houston — metropolitan areas with diverse populations tht fueled much of the … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Abbott and Patrick whine about State Bar complaint against Paxton

Poor, poor babies. The state’s top officials came to the defense of embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton, saying a state bar investigation into his professional conduct is “politically motivated” and raises questions about the state’s separation of powers. On Friday, … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

So we have a fraudit

What a load of crap. The Texas secretary of state’s office announced late Thursday that it has begun a “full forensic audit” of the 2020 general election in four Texas counties: Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant. But the statement from … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Precinct analysis: Congress, part 2

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial Other jurisdictions Appellate courts, Part 1 Appellate courts, Part 2 Judicial averages Other cities District Attorney County Attorney Sheriff Tax Assessor County Clerk HCDE Fort … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

First new SBOE map proposed

That’s two down, two to go. The Texas Senate on Monday released its first draft of a new map for the State Board of Education, which attempts to reinforce the GOP majority within the 15-member, Republican-dominated entity that determines what … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Republican AG primary just got bigger

The more, the more miserable. Attorney General Ken Paxton just got another Republican primary challenger, but this time it is someone who has been close to him for years: state Rep. Matt Krause. The Fort Worth lawmaker and founding member … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Precinct analysis: Congress, part 1

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial Other jurisdictions Appellate courts, Part 1 Appellate courts, Part 2 Judicial averages Other cities District Attorney County Attorney Sheriff Tax Assessor County Clerk HCDE Fort … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Precinct analysis: Congress, part 1

Special election set for HD118

The last of the vacancies to be filled at this time. Gov. Greg Abbott has picked Sept. 28 as the date of the special election to replace former state Rep. Leo Pacheco, D-San Antonio. The candidate filing deadline is Monday, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Three more lawsuits filed against the voter suppression law

It’s a law now, and the legal machines are humming to do something about it. Though delayed by Democratic quorum breaks, Texas has officially joined the slate of Republican states that have enacted new voting restrictions following the 2020 election. … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Precinct analysis: SBOE

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial Other jurisdictions Appellate courts, Part 1 Appellate courts, Part 2 Judicial averages Other cities District Attorney County Attorney Sheriff Tax Assessor County Clerk HCDE Fort … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

First two lawsuits filed against the voter suppression bill

No time wasted. The top elections official in Harris County and a host of organizations that serve Texans of color and Texans with disabilities have fired the opening salvos in what’s expected to be an extensive legal battle over Texas’ … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on First two lawsuits filed against the voter suppression bill

Of course there’s time for a stupid election “audit” bill

Of course there is. Fresh off their success passing legislation to tighten Texas voting laws, Republicans in the Texas Senate are working to hastily push through a bill filed just two days ago that would pave the way for county … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

It doesn’t matter what the polls say about the voter suppression bill

Here’s another poll to demonstrate why. A new survey from Rice University underscores the deepening partisan chasm over provisions in the controversial GOP priority elections bill. For example, 46 percent of Harris County Republicans polled who participated in the county’s … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on It doesn’t matter what the polls say about the voter suppression bill

January 6 committee seeks answers from Paxton

Good. Play hardball and do not let him get away with anything. The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has requested communications between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Trump White House officials in the … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters, National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on January 6 committee seeks answers from Paxton

The real reason (that we already know) why Greg Abbott hates mask mandates

He’s pandering to the base. I mean, duh! When Texas had its first big surge of COVID hospitalizations, Gov. Greg Abbott responded by shutting down bars and mandating masks. As the second surge hit, Abbott put in place an automatic … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A look ahead to Commissioners Court redistricting

As we know, the Census redistricting data is out, and that means a whole lot of map-drawing is in our future. The main focus on this will be in Austin where the Congressional and legislative maps are re-drawn, but those … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A response to Paxton’s response

As you may recall, back in June we learned about a State Bar of Texas complaint against Ken Paxton for his ridiculous and seditious lawsuit that attempted to overturn the 2020 Presidential election. That complaint was filed by four people: … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jake Ellzey wins CD06 special election runoff

I confess, I had totally forgotten about this. State Rep. Jake Ellzey of Waxahachie beat fellow Republican Susan Wright on Tuesday to succeed her late husband, U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, and pull off a major upset against a candidate … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

July 2021 campaign finance reports: Congress

It’s July, and that means its campaign finance report season. I’m going to do a tour through the finance reports as I have done before, beginning with Congressional reports. I have posted reports from January 2021, which is the completion … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sure, let’s have a fraudit here in Texas

What could possibly go wrong? Republican House members are seeking a forensic audit of the November election results, but only in Texas’ largest counties that mostly went for Democrat Joe Biden. Legislation filed by Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, requires … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sure, let’s have a fraudit here in Texas

Another State Bar complaint against Paxton

He certainly deserves all the trouble this has brought him. Whether any of it leads to actual consequences, we’ll have to see. Four former presidents of the State Bar of Texas joined a group of high-profile lawyers on Wednesday to … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Michelle Beckley announces for Congress

Interesting. State Rep. Michelle Beckley, one of the House Democrats who is camped out in Washington, D.C., announced Tuesday that she is challenging U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, a national Democratic target. Beckley unveiled her plans in a video … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Virus And The Vote

As you may recall, there were a lot of concerns going into the 2020 election about the potential for things to go horribly wrong. Books were written about the weak points in our bizarre and super-distributed system for running and … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Virus And The Vote

The arrest of Hervis Rogers is a travesty

You should be very mad about this. A Houston man who made headlines last year for standing in line six hours to vote at Texas Southern University was charged this week by Attorney General Ken Paxton with casting that ballot … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Precinct analysis: State House district changes by county

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial Other jurisdictions Appellate courts, Part 1 Appellate courts, Part 2 Judicial averages Other cities District Attorney County Attorney Sheriff Tax Assessor County Clerk HCDE Fort … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sen. Jane Nelson to retire

More changes coming. State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, announced Monday she is not running for reelection. Nelson has been the top budget writer in the Senate and is the most senior Republican in the chamber. “It has been a … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sen. Jane Nelson to retire

Chron story on Odus Evbagharu

Some good stuff here. When Odus Evbagharu, a 28-year-old legislative staffer and campaign organizer, took the reins of the Harris County Democratic Party Sunday evening, he inherited a party that stands on some of its firmest footing in years, despite … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Chron story on Odus Evbagharu