Tag Archives: Election 2020

Precinct analysis: Appellate courts, part 1

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial Other jurisdictions My next two posts in this series will focus on the 1st and 14th Courts of Appeals. These courts are a little strange … Continue reading →

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A closer look at the Aguirre/Hotze debacle

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This WaPo story was pointed out in the comments here, and it’s worth your time to read. I should note that while the Houston Chronicle has not (at least so far) identified the air conditioning repairman that Aguirre attacked, this … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS mostly punts on Census apportionment shenanigans

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

They seem to be hoping that the problem will solve itself, while applying a partisan litmus test to when it is appropriate for them to step in. The Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to Donald Trump’s final sabotage of the … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Other jurisdictions

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial You may be wondering “Hey, how come you haven’t reported on data from SBOE and State Senate districts?” Well, I’ll tell you, since the SBOE … Continue reading →

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TDP asks SCOTUS to review age discrimination claim in mail voting

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Today, the Texas Democratic Party and voters filed their final brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking its review of the case filed last Spring which challenged the constitutionality of Texas’s law that limits voting by mail, … Continue reading →

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Aguirre’s arraignment

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The latest update on the Aguirre/Hotze fever-dream “vote fraud” case. An ex-Houston police officer on Friday swore he is “done” with private investigations after being arrested and charged with assaulting an air conditioning repairman he claimed was involved in a … Continue reading →

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Springer defeats Luther in SD30

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Congratulations. State Rep. Drew Springer of Muenster prevailed over fellow Republican Shelley Luther in a special election runoff for a state Senate seat that was animated by Gov. Greg Abbott and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Luther is the … Continue reading →

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It’s runoff day in SD30

Posted on December 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Truly the final election of 2020. Gov. Greg Abbott stayed out of the September special election for a Texas state Senate seat in rural North Texas, content to let his coronavirus response become a flashpoint between two members of his … Continue reading →

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Hotze spews some BS

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That could be a perennial headline, like a pinned tweet, but here it’s for a specific purpose. Conservative activist Steven Hotze said Wednesday he does not know if the former Houston police captain he hired to investigate voter fraud really … Continue reading →

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Can Ken Paxton be sanctioned for his seditious lawsuit?

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

One group is going to try. I wish them luck. A national lawyers group on Monday called for professional licensing bodies to investigate what it called a “breach of ethical rules” by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 17 of … Continue reading →

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The real danger of unhinged conspiracy theories

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Because sometimes malevolent people act them out, with potentially deadly consequences for others. An air conditioning repairman was driving in south Houston around 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 19 when a black SUV rammed the back of his truck. When he … Continue reading →

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The Lege will start out with masks

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it goes from there. People attending the opening day of the 2021 legislative session will be required to wear a mask and asked to take a coronavirus test ahead of the event, the chair of the House … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Statewide judicial

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 We’re going to take a look at the seven statewide judicial races in this post, with all of the districts considered so far grouped together. You’re about … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Comparing to 2012 and 2016

Posted on December 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts I had meant to get to this last week, but SeditionPalooza took up too much of my time, so here we are. The intent of this post is to compare vote … Continue reading →

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Tarsha Jackson wins District B runoff

Posted on December 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The long saga comes to an end. . Congratulations @tarshajackson for winning the #DistrictB runoff election. I look forward to working with you as we continue to build a city of hope and opportunity for all. — Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) … Continue reading →

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Now we wait on SCOTUS

Posted on December 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas filed its reply to the defendants’ responses to its democracy–killing lawsuit, and, well, it’s something. This brings us the Texas AG Ken Paxton’s reply–or, rather, replies, as there are multiple filings, including a motion to enlarge … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters, The making of the President | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

“Natasha Ruiz” indicted

Posted on December 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

At long last, an update to the weirdest local election story of the year. A grand jury has indicted two Houston residents on election fraud charges, accusing them of orchestrating a phony candidacy of a woman that forced longtime state … Continue reading →

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The states respond to Paxton

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Now we wait for SCOTUS. I sure hope they’re quick about it. Each of the four battleground states targeted by a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn President Donald Trump’s election defeat issued blistering briefs at the Supreme Court on Thursday, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters, The making of the President | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Patrick will push to lower the Senate threshold for voting on bills

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Completely unsurprising, except that I’d have thought he’d go all the way. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced Wednesday that he wants to lower the threshold of support legislation needs to make it on to the Senate floor to match the … Continue reading →

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HISD Board selects a successor for Wanda Adams

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Meet Myrna Guidry. Houston ISD trustees unanimously voted Tuesday to appoint lawyer Myrna Guidry to the board seat vacated last month by Wanda Adams, who represented parts of south Houston. Trustees considered eight applicants over two days before landing on … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Commissioners Court and JP/Constable precincts

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts We now zoom in for a look at various county districts, which are also called “precincts”. I don’t know why we have County Commissioner precincts and JP/Constable precincts to go along with regular voting … Continue reading →

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We still have to talk about Paxton’s ridiculous and anti-democratic lawsuit

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

At least for one more day. President Donald Trump on Wednesday latched on to a longshot Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn a presidential election that handed the White House to Joe Biden. Legal experts say Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters, The making of the President | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

TDP will review what happened in the 2020 election

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I support this. The head of the Texas Democratic Party has appointed a committee to take a “deep dive” on what went wrong in the November election after a group of executive committee members wrote to him demanding answers, reforms … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: State Rep districts

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts We move now to State Rep districts, which is my usual currency since they provide complete coverage of the county with no partial pieces. You can also get a much more nuanced view of how things have … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton sues other states to overturn their election results

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s as stupid and pernicious as it sounds. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing four battleground states — Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — whose election results handed the White House to President-elect Joe Biden. In the suit, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters, The making of the President | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Precinct analysis: Congressional districts

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction All right, let’s get this party started. In the past I’ve generally done the top races by themselves, but any race involving Trump provides challenges, because his level of support just varies in comparison to other Republicans depending on … Continue reading →

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2020 precinct analysis: Introduction and overview

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

So I finally got a full canvass of the 2020 election in a nice and convenient spreadsheet form. I spent a fair amount of the Thanksgiving week doing what I usually do with it, to generate totals for all of … Continue reading →

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Counties of interest, part seven: West Texas

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Part 1 – Counties around Harris Part 2 – Counties around Dallas/Tarrant Part 3 – Counties around Travis Part 4 – Counties around Bexar Part 5 – East Texas Part 6 – Central Texas Last entry in this series, and … Continue reading →

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How is the Lege going to operate?

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s going to be an interesting session. In the most detailed public glimpse yet at how the 2021 legislative session might play out during a pandemic, the chair of the committee that handles administrative operations in the Texas House told … Continue reading →

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Birds of a feather

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sweet. A pro-Trump group that promised to challenge the Nov. 3 election results and expose fraud was sued by a North Carolina money manager who donated $2.5 million to the cause but says he didn’t get his money’s worth. Fred … Continue reading →

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Counties of interest, part six: Central Texas

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Part 1 – Counties around Harris Part 2 – Counties around Dallas/Tarrant Part 3 – Counties around Travis Part 4 – Counties around Bexar Part 5 – East Texas We move on now to counties in Central Texas, which for … Continue reading →

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Commissioners Court rejects Paxton allegation about Elections Administrator

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Straight to the point. The Democrats on Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday rejected an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in which he said they illegally created an independent elections office and hired an administrator. The move invites … Continue reading →

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Counties of interest, part five: East Texas

Posted on December 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Part 1 – Counties around Harris Part 2 – Counties around Dallas/Tarrant Part 3 – Counties around Travis Part 4 – Counties around Bexar The next three entries in this series will look at regions, and counties of interest within … Continue reading →

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Keith Nielsen resigns

Posted on December 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Better late than never, I guess. Harris County Republican Party Chairman Keith Nielsen resigned Monday, the party’s secretary confirmed, ending a brief tenure dogged by his social media post that displayed a Martin Luther King Jr. quote next to a … Continue reading →

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