Tag Archives: Election 2008

There’s always an excuse to not do it

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, but this sounds like carping to me. Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia has nearly tripled the number of investigators assigned to an expanded Office of Inspector General to handle what he described as a “tremendous” backlog of unresolved complaints … Continue reading →

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Early voting schedule and locations for District H

Posted on April 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the District H special election begins three weeks from tomorrow, on Monday, April 27. The Harris County Clerk has posted the early voting schedule and locations (PDF) for this election. Briefly summarized, it is as follows: For … Continue reading →

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DCCC targeting CD10

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good to hear. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will begin running radio ads next week in the districts of six Republicans, all of whom voted against the economic recovery package. One of the six targeted districts, though, sticks out from … Continue reading →

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Lampson to NASA?

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Former Rep. Nick Lampson, who was a big advocate for NASA while he was in Congress, is now on the short list to become NASA’s administrator. The 64-year-old Stafford Democrat, whose Houston-area congressional district included Johnson Space Center, has joined … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The City Council districts

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’d been wondering for a long time how the 2008 vote broke down by City Council districts, as well as for the city of Houston versus non-Houston Harris County. I finally did something about it awhile ago and made a … Continue reading →

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Cornymandias

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Look on his works, ye Mighty, and despair! Texas Sen. John Cornyn is threatening “World War III” if Democrats try to seat Al Franken in the Senate before Norm Coleman can pursue his case through the federal courts. Cornyn, the … Continue reading →

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Regional crime lab

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This has been talked about for some time, and not unexpectedly it’s starting to move forward. After years of scandal at crime labs across the state, local officials have proposed opening a regional lab based at the Harris County Medical … Continue reading →

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Bruno and Dr. No

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Um, wow. Presidential candidates will do almost anything for publicity. But Ron Paul’s appearance in Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming Bruno movie suggests he draws the line at making sex tapes with gay Austrian TV hosts. In a five-minute scene, comedian … Continue reading →

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Red, white, blue, and hopefully back

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m glad to see that the KUHT political program The Connection: Red, White, and Blue is on its way back to the airwaves after an unplanned hiatus followed by a bit of a kerfuffle. It fills a very useful niche … Continue reading →

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Candidate interview: Rick Rodriguez

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, there is a special election coming up in City Council District H to fill the seat that was vacated by now-Sheriff Adrian Garcia. There are nine candidates running for this seat, and as has been my custom … Continue reading →

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There is a solution, you just don’t see it

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sen. John Cornyn, apparently with some free time on his hands, takes his turn tackling the pernicious issue of Democrats winning judicial races – er, the problem of partisan judicial elections. I’ll give him credit for this much – he … Continue reading →

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Voter ID: On to day two

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like things wrapped up in the Senate at about 2:30 AM. It’s not clear to me if they got through all of the expert testimony, or if they plan to get to the public testimony, assuming anyone who signed … Continue reading →

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Dewhurst makes the case against Voter ID

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That wasn’t his intent, of course, but it’s clear to see in his plea for a “compromise” on the measure that the more people like Lt. Gov. Dewhurst argue for voter ID legislation, the more obvious it is that they’re … Continue reading →

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Help celebrate 27 for 27

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The following is a message from the TexBlog PAC and my much younger colleague, Matt Glazer.

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Another City Council lineup update

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Time for our periodic check on who’s running for what this fall. The Memorial Examiner gets us started. Five confirmed candidates are vying to replace Lawrence in District A. Jeff Downing, Amy Peck, Bob Schellkopf, Brenda Stardig and Alex Wathen … Continue reading →

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Bradford announces for At Large #4, Pennington announces in G

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We know he had been contemplating the possibility, but now former HPD Chief C.O. Bradford has made it official: He’s going to run for the open At Large #4 City Council seat. From his email: Chief Bradford has been a … Continue reading →

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Van de Putte profile

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Really nice article in the SA Current about San Antonio’s Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, the Democratic caucus leader and a rising national star who had a pretty busy year in 2008 and may be headed for bigger things next … Continue reading →

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CSI: Needs Improvement

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like Gil Grissom got out at just the right time. Crime labs nationwide must be overhauled to prevent the types of mistakes that put innocent people in prison and leave criminals out on the street, researchers have concluded. A … Continue reading →

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District Clerk update

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Nice article in Texas Lawyer about what’s been going on in the Harris County District Clerk’s office under Loren Jackson. Lawyers handling civil suits in Harris County district courts will soon have fewer excuses for missing a court hearing. On … Continue reading →

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If you’re going to reform it, reform it right

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I agree with State Supreme Court Justice Wallace Jefferson that the way we elect judges in Texas needs reform. I just don’t think he’s proposing a real fix for the problem he’s identified. Texas remains one of only seven states … Continue reading →

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SJL rumors

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Vince reports that “sources tell him” that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who happens to be my Congressperson, is going to leave that job to work for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. I suppose that’s plausible – as Vince notes, SJL … Continue reading →

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Jim Sharp investiture

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Jim Sharp, who was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November, has asked me to pass along an invitation to his investiture, which will be held this Thursday, February 12, at 4 PM in the Gerald Treece Courthouse … Continue reading →

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Rep. Thibaut

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Nice article in the Observer about freshman State Rep. Kristi Thibaut, whom the paper has tagged as a “woman to watch” for this session. I had the pleasure of meeting Rep. Thibaut back before she first ran for office, and … Continue reading →

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Pete Sessions and the Taliban

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Pete Sessions in CD32 is the chair of the NRCC this cycle. He’s also…well, see for yourself. Frustrated by a lack of bipartisan outreach from House Democratic leaders, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, … Continue reading →

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That Gallup poll of partisan preferences

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure by now you’ve seen that Gallup poll, which measured party affiliation in all 50 states and showed Democrats to have a slight edge, by a 43-41 margin, over Republicans in Texas. For a discussion of the methodology, you … Continue reading →

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City Council lineup update

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Via Carl Whitmarsh, we have a third potential candidate for the to-be-open Council seat in District A, attorney Alex Wathen. Wathen joins Bob Schoelkopf and Jeffrey Downing in eyeing that seat. Wathen has been a candidate for City Council before … Continue reading →

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Harris County tackles jail overcrowding

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Well, what do you know? Harris County’s burgeoning jail population is expected to swell to 12,600 this spring, prompting newly elected officials to take a fresh look at ways to alleviate overcrowding, including releasing low-risk offenders. The new sheriff, district … Continue reading →

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Derr files, Bradford contemplates

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Karen Derr made her treasurer’s report filing on Thursday last week, becoming at least the second candidate for District H to do so. I know that Maverick Welsh has filed his report, and I know that as of Friday, Ed … Continue reading →

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Here we go again with City Council redistricting

Posted on January 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Or at least, here we go again with arguing about when we should be redrawing City Council lines. Mayor Bill White’s decision to delay redrawing the boundaries of City Council districts has angered numerous community activists, who say his stance … Continue reading →

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Chron coverage of yesterday’s SBOE actions

Posted on January 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story about yesterday’s happenings at the State Board of Education, in which the good news was that the anti-science “strengths and weaknesses” language had been removed from the curriculum, and the bad news was that a subsequent … Continue reading →

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Election challenge in HD11

Posted on December 18, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Brian Walker, the losing Republican challenger to State Rep. Chuck Hopson in the second closest election of the year in HD11, has filed paperwork for an election contest in the House. From the Quorum Report: After the recount, Hopson beat … Continue reading →

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Huffman defeats Bell

Posted on December 16, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. The Democrats had the votes in November, but thanks to the Republican ringer, that wasn’t good enough. My sincere thanks to Chris Bell for all he did. He deserved better. Congratulations for Sen.-elect Joan Huffman on her victory. May … Continue reading →

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Today is Runoff Day

Posted on December 16, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this is it. Today is officially the last day of the Election 2008 cycle in Texas as Chris Bell goes up against Joan Huffman for SD17. I caught one of Huffman’s ads on the tube last night. It’s more … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: North by northwest

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve speculated that there won’t be much Congressional action in Harris County in 2010. Certainly, CD22 is unlikely to be seriously challenged, and I doubt anyone will have the stomach or the wallet to make like Michael Skelly in CD07, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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