Tag Archives: campaign finances

Another FEC complaint filed against Cruz

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’re up to two. The Texas Democrats have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging presidential contender Sen. Ted Cruz and his associates violated campaign finance laws. The complaint, dated April 22, asserts that Cruz national co-chair, J. … Continue reading →

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The Rodeo had an extra clown this year

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

OK, it was a rodeo in Mississippi, but I wasn’t going to ruin a good headline. The point is, that clown’s name was Sid Miller. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller used a combination of taxpayer money and campaign funds to … Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How is Ken Paxton paying for his defense?

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Nobody really knows. Well, nobody who isn’t Ken Paxton, anyway. How Paxton is paying for his criminal defense — a legal tab estimated to easily exceed a million dollars — is one of the ongoing puzzles in the case against … Continue reading →

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Lee’s campaign finances

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Among other things, Commissioner El Franco Lee leaves behind a lot of money in his campaign finance account. When Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee died unexpectedly Sunday, he left friends and allies in mourning, political hopefuls jockeying for his … Continue reading →

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

The incumbents’ advantage

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Is it about to become that much harder to vote incumbent city officials out of office? The already difficult task of ousting incumbent Houston officeholders likely has become even tougher. City elected officials now have an extended runway to accumulate … Continue reading →

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

On judicial elections and campaign finance

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Ross Ramsey raises an interesting point. It might seem silly to elect people who promise they won’t represent you, their political party or their donors, but that’s what we expect judges to do. They’re supposed to apply the law, and … Continue reading →

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Ethics reform dies its expected death

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The only surprise is that it took this long. With no collective will to expose dark money contributions in Texas, a major ethics overhaul was snuffed out in the waning hours of the 2015 legislative session. “It’s dead,” Rep. Byron … Continue reading →

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Feldman’s parting memo

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Outgoing City Attorney David Feldman shares his thoughts on the state of the city’s campaign finance rules as he makes his exit. City Hall began its attempt to use a federal court ruling declaring its own election rule unconstitutional to … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

City does a 180 on campaign finances

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Not all losses in court are created equal. City officials will argue that the city’s election ordinance is unconstitutional as part of a strategy to strengthen their position in a lawsuit that could shape the early stages of this year’s … Continue reading →

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

Injunction granted against Houston fundraising blackout period

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a whole new ballgame out there. A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a law limiting when candidates in Houston municipal elections can raise money, prompting a scramble to contact donors sooner than campaigns had intended. The injunction, two … Continue reading →

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First city campaign finance lawsuit action this week

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As you may recall, City Council candidate Trebor Gordon filed a lawsuit last month alleging that the city of Houston’s campaign fundraising blackout period was illegal. This week, a federal judge is expected to rule on a request for a … Continue reading →

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Great moments in false equivalence

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The headline reads Money from disputed tax bills flowing to candidates for top tax chief, and then the story tells us that more than 99% of that money is going to one of those candidates. Business entities and taxpayers are … Continue reading →

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Steve Stockman’s ongoing FEC issues

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

“Steve Stockman” and “ethical issues” go together like peanut butter and jelly. For a congressman who has overseen four campaign committees in two decades, Rep. Steve Stockman is having a hard time dissolving his troubled congressional campaign. Now a lame … Continue reading →

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The money is the problem

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A story of interest from North Carolina. The ad first appeared on television the Friday before last, a black-and-white spot charging that Justice Robin Hudson coddled child molesters and “sided with the predators” in a North Carolina Supreme Court dissent. … Continue reading →

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Alameel wants a refund

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. Just like his first run for office in 2012, David Alameel’s second bid for public office is drawing questions about his past campaign donations. Alameel, the owner of a multimillion-dollar chain of dental clinics that caters … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Stockman and Bitcoin

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Somehow, this doesn’t surprise me. U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, a Friendswood Republican with a history of flouting campaign finance laws, entered a new legal gray area this week when he announced his campaign can now accept donations in Bitcoin, a … Continue reading →

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Judge Pratt update

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The most embattled Family Court judge in Harris County is still on the ballot, in case you were wondering. Embattled state District Court Judge Denise Pratt, accused of falsifying court records to cover up tardy rulings, intends to remain on … Continue reading →

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On PACs in city elections

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Politics looks at something we haven’t seen much of in city elections – PACs that are candidate-specific instead of being centered on a referendum. Among the topics bandied about last week was why [Ben] Hall and District A candidate … Continue reading →

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Abbott and CPRIT

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the Things Greg Abbott Should Have Been Doing Instead Of Filing All Those Lawsuits Against The Obama Administration, But Didn’t Do department. In the more than four years he served on the state cancer agency’s governing board, Texas Attorney … Continue reading →

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More leftover campaign cash

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron writes about a subject I’ve covered before. Former Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs of Houston used leftover campaign funds to buy a life membership in the National Rifle Association. Former Rep. Martin Frost of Dallas paid a $6,000 Federal Election … Continue reading →

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Politicians come and go, but campaign cash is forever

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It seems that way, anyway. With the defeat of several incumbents in last week’s primaries, there’s a lot more unneeded campaign war chests lying around. Millions in unspent contributions have long lurked in former state lawmakers’ campaign bank accounts, often … Continue reading →

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HISD considers revamping ethics rules

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This all seems like a good idea. Houston school trustees, who now may accept campaign cash from anyone at any time, would face new restrictions under a proposal meant to curb improper influence in the school district’s business deals. The … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Will the Lege change the rules about corporate campaign contributions?

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I think the answer to that question is probably “No”, but given the Citizens United ruling and the effect it had in the 2010 election, one cannot rule it out. Immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, the Texas Ethics … Continue reading →

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Here come the nukes

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. Texas can import low-level radioactive waste from 36 other states, a commission run jointly by Texas and Vermont decided Tuesday in Andrews County. The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission vote was a decisive victory for Waste Control Specialists, … Continue reading →

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A little nuclear waste in your stocking

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a reason why stories like this tend to appear just before a big holiday weekend. Potentially sidestepping political obstacles, a commission overseeing radioactive waste disposal could decide in early January to open a radioactive waste dump in West Texas … Continue reading →

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Bell scores $2 million verdict against RGA

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Chris Bell racks up his second legal victory related to a lawsuit stemming from the 2006 Governor’s race. A state district judge Tuesday ruled that the Republican Governors Association violated state campaign finance laws and ordered it to pay Chris … Continue reading →

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Dirty deals, done dirt cheap

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So I missed this DMN story from the weekend about Rick Perry’s excellent fortune in the real estate market. Three years after Gov. Rick Perry’s biggest real estate score, questions persist about whether the governor benefited from favoritism, backroom dealing … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

No tech vendor contributions to HISD trustees

Posted on May 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This seems straightforward enough. Houston school board members can no longer accept unlimited contributions from technology vendors after federal regulators alleged HISD violated competitive bidding and gift-giving rules. The new policy, which board members discussed Thursday, relates to the federal … Continue reading →

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Disclose, please

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This is a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough by itself. The U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for corporations to pour money into influencing Texas elections, but the state ethics commission today is taking up a … Continue reading →

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What to do with all that leftover campaign cash?

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Trib explores the question of what happens to the money after a candidate drops out or an incumbent retires. Let’s say you’re a donor to a candidate or an elected official who quits a race mid-campaign or chooses … Continue reading →

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Improving campaign finance disclosure

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is a step in the right direction. The [Texas Ethics Commission] adopted new rules last week that, beginning this summer, will require anyone running for office to use 19 defined subject categories to describe any goods, services or other … Continue reading →

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Eight days out finance reports, District Council candidates

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

To wrap up our tour of the finance reports for the city runoffs, here’s a look at the two District Council races. First, District A, in which Lane Lewis is up against Brenda Stardig: Candidate Raised Spent Loans Cash PAC … Continue reading →

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Eight days out finance reports, Parker and Locke

Posted on December 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Among other things, Friday was the eight days out campaign finance reporting deadline for the city runoffs. The Chron reports on the Mayoral candidates. Both sides aggressively asked for volunteers and donors before the Wednesday deadline. Election rules allowed Parker … Continue reading →

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Has the TEC grown some teeth?

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Well, no. But they do seem to be levying bigger fines, so maybe their gums are a little harder. By every measure, the agency is issuing more — and larger — fines, the records show. “There’s been a shift to … Continue reading →

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