Tag Archives: President

Initial thoughts on the 2024 primary

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Some opening considerations as we peruse the final unofficial voting data. Before you read my words, go check out Stace, Campos, Reform Austin, and the Texas Signal. Here we go: – Final turnout in Harris County was 176,396 for Dems … Continue reading →

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Primary 2024 results: Democratic headlines

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

It’s going to be a late night and I have a couple of long days ahead of me, so I’m going to do some quick summaries based on what I now know, and will come back later to fill the … Continue reading →

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Any early thoughts about what primary turnout might look like?

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Why yes I do, thanks for asking. The early indicators are that we are in for lower than usual turnout. With President Joe Biden facing only token opposition in the Democratic primary and Trump pulling away on the GOP side, … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit seeking January 6 emails from Abbott and Paxton can proceed

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a lot of lawsuits out there against the state and/or the likes of Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton. I do my best to be aware of them and keep track of them, but inevitably some things get lost in … Continue reading →

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Appellate hearing of the State Bar discipline lawsuit against Ken Paxton

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Big day. Whether the Texas State Bar can take away Attorney General Ken Paxton’s law license could hinge on whether appellate justices believe the organization is trying to control what lawsuits he files on the state’s behalf — or whether … Continue reading →

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Appeals court reinstated State Bar lawsuit against Brent Webster

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I came across this story from July while writing my post about Ken Paxton’s trial date. A court of appeals reinstated a Commission for Lawyer Discipline action against the first assistant attorney general for his role in the 2020 election-questioning … Continue reading →

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San Marcos settles “Trump Train” lawsuit

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I really hope this leaves a mark, because it should. San Marcos police officers and professional staff must receive training on responding to political violence and voter intimidation and ways to develop community trust as part of a legal settlement … Continue reading →

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Houston “wins” 2028 RNC

Posted on August 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Yippie. Houston will host the 2028 Republican National Convention, landing the high-profile event for the first time in more than 30 years. GOP officials announced the selection Friday during their summer meeting, giving Houston the nod over finalists Nashville and … Continue reading →

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Houston is a finalist for the 2028 RNC

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Whoopie. Houston is a finalist to host the 2028 Republican National Convention and a decision is expected to be made later this month, officials with Houston First Corp. said Thursday. The local government corporation, which markets and operates the city’s … Continue reading →

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Paxton gets to fight his State Bar case after impeachment

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s just one thing after another. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won’t have to fight an ethics lawsuit over his challenge to the 2020 presidential election results until after his impeachment trial. Paxton’s lawyers on Tuesday asked the Fifth Court … Continue reading →

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San Marcos sanctioned in Trump Train lawsuit

Posted on July 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

What a cluster. A federal judge has sanctioned San Marcos for failing to preserve phone and email records from a former employee related to the October 2020 “Trump Train” incident involving a Biden-Harris campaign bus. Campaign staffers and volunteers filed … Continue reading →

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Federal judge rules for third parties in petition access lawsuit

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how much difference this makes. A federal judge in Austin has blocked Texas from enforcing a more than century-old state law that requires third-party candidates to collect petition signatures on paper to qualify for a place on the … Continue reading →

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From the “Obvious reactions to dumb things” department

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Item 1: Former Congressman Will Hurd is running for President. Former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, announced Thursday he is running for president, becoming the first Texan with experience in elective office to enter the Republican primary. Hurd, who represented … Continue reading →

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Paxton not feeling the love in Collin County

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Poor baby. When the Texas House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton in the waning days of a regular legislative session, some Texans were shocked that the 121 “yes” votes included every representative from Collin County, … Continue reading →

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Two 2024 polls

Posted on June 5, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I know, it’s all ridiculously early, but what the heck. Here’s poll #1. The 2024 election is still more than a year out, but a new poll by the University of Texas at Tyler shows Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz … Continue reading →

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Two thoughts on the whole impeachment thing

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start with the obvious, which is the “Why now?” question. A lot of people seem to be mystified. Why, after nearly a decade of Ken Paxton’s criming, did the House General Investigations Committee decide to go all scorched earth … Continue reading →

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One more thing about abortion and polling

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just wanted to add one thing to my earlier post about abortion as a political/campaign issue in Texas in 2023-24. In addition to the question of support for or opposition to abortion, most polls also ask questions about what issues … Continue reading →

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What does abortion as a political issue really look like in Texas now?

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

In my earlier post about what the likely Biden/Trump rematch looks like in Texas, I said that abortion really wasn’t tested here as a political issue in 2022. I said I’d like to see it be a real focus for … Continue reading →

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Two “Trump Train” defendants settle

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Two of the eight Trump supporters accused of participating in a “politically-motivated conspiracy” by closely following, honking at and slowing down a campaign bus for President Joe Biden on a Texas highway in the weeks leading up to the … Continue reading →

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On the (likely) future Biden/Trump matchup

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s way too early to pay any attention to state polling, but there are a few general principles to discuss here. President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid on Tuesday, setting up a potential rematch with former President Donald Trump … Continue reading →

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Is it finally the time for Julian Castro?

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This story is mostly about Ted Cruz and whether he might run for President again in 2024; the tone of the story is that he probably won’t. No one cares about that, but because it is a story about 2024 … Continue reading →

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State Bar lawsuit against Paxton survives motion to dismiss

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton must face an ethics lawsuit by state attorney regulators over a case he brought challenging results of the 2020 election, according to a court ruling posted on Monday. Judge Casey Blair on Friday … Continue reading →

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No 2024 DNC for Houston

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise. The Democratic National Convention told Houston officials this week the city will not host Democrats’ national convention in 2024. Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office confirmed Thursday that Houston no longer is in the running. The snub leaves New … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed to keep The Former Guy off the 2024 ballot

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. Former president Donald Trump is facing a legal challenge to his 2024 bid for the presidency from a fellow Republican. John Anthony Castro, an attorney from Texas and long-shot candidate for president in 2024, filed the … Continue reading →

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Yep, still no voter fraud found

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

So says the official 2020 election audit. Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was neither widespread voter fraud nor other serious issues in Texas’ 2020 elections, according to an audit of four of Texas’ largest counties released Monday … Continue reading →

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Electoral Count Act included in must-pass budget bill

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not nearly enough to shore up voting rights, but it’s still vitally necessary and clearly the best we could do. After months of negotiations, it now appears to be official: The Electoral Count Reform Act has hitched a ride … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Beto versus the spread

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY Beto versus Abbott So last time we saw the numbers for the 2022 Governor’s race. But what numbers need in order to be meaningful is context, and that means other numbers to compare them to. We’re going to do … Continue reading →

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State and county election result relationships: Tarrant County

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

In years past, Tarrant County was a pretty close bellwether for election results in the state of Texas. From 2004 through 2016, the closeness of their Presidential numbers with the statewide numbers was eerie. But since 2018 the talk has … Continue reading →

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Yes, we’re talking about Texas Senate 2024

Posted on December 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Gromer Jeffers points out that Ted Cruz may run for both President and re-election to the Senate in 2024, which he can do under the law that was passed to allow LBJ to run for Vice President in 1960 (and … Continue reading →

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We do need to find someone to run against Ted Cruz

Posted on November 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know who that ought to be yet, but surely someone is out there. Ted Cruz said on Saturday that he would seek a third term in the U.S. Senate in 2024, though he also did not rule out … Continue reading →

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Christopher Busby: The Case for Texas Democratic Optimism

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: The following is a guest post that was submitted to me. I occasionally solicit guest posts, and also occasionally accept them from people I trust.) The election came and went with a similar story. Texas Democrats just started to … Continue reading →

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State and county election result relationships, part 3: Other county races

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Part One Part Two Last time we looked at judicial races, which for all of the complaints about not knowing the candidates and just going by partisan labels have produced a consistent range of outcomes over the years. Some people … Continue reading →

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State and county election result relationships, part 2: Judicial races

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

In Part One of this series, we looked at the relationship between statewide results and Harris County results for statewide candidates. In the last three elections, statewide Democratic candidates have done on average more than nine points better in Harris … Continue reading →

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State Bar complaint against Ted Cruz was dismissed

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This story ran a few days ago. A lawyer group that brought ethics complaints against Trump attorneys is trying to make it tougher for lawyers to use the legal system to overturn elections. The group, called the 65 Project, aims … Continue reading →

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