Tag Archives: Mayor

League of Women Voters candidate debates

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The League of Women Voters of Houston Education Fund will hold a series of debates for candidates running for Council and Mayor, starting this evening. From their press release: The League of Women Voters of Houston Education Fund is pleased … Continue reading →

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How many votes will it take?

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Nancy Sims has a lament about the upcoming city elections. What disturbs me most is the complete lack of interest I’m seeing and hearing from my friends, co-workers, students and people I encounter daily. Everyone wants to complain about the … Continue reading →

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The 70 Percent Solution

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Where have I heard this before? November’s election really is about 2013, said lawyer, lobbyist and blogger Robert Miller. He speculates that the mayor needs to win big against low-profile opponents in November to discourage stronger candidates from running against … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker campaign finance data

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, in my analyses of the campaign finance reports for July, I skipped over Mayor Parker’s report because it was just too damn big for me to plow through. Well, Sue Davis of the Mayor’s campaign heard my … Continue reading →

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Where the line is

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Me, July 17: I disagree that anyone who might think about challenging the Mayor will wait two years before taking action. They’ll simply wait to see how Parker does in November. Like all three of her predecessors in the term-limits … Continue reading →

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Look at me! Look at meeeeee!

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I have one thing to say about this. With three months until election day, attorney Benjamin Hall still hasn’t declared whether he’s running against Mayor Annise Parker. “I have not taken myself out of the contest,” Hall told me late … Continue reading →

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Those darned propositions

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Houston voters can be forgiven if they feel a bit confused. They voted down red-light cameras, but the cameras are on. They may have heard the mayor say that voting for a … Continue reading →

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Finance reports and the Mayor’s race

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Finance report updates: David Robinson has filed his corrected report, which includes the $53,095.57 cash on hand total that was omitted in the original. There were no other changes made. Mayoral candidate Kevin Simms has now filed his report. He … Continue reading →

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The anti-gay stuff has already started

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

For the most part, we didn’t see any nasty homophobia in the 2009 Mayoral election until the runoff, at which point it oozed out from several locations. This time around, the gay bashers aren’t wasting any time. First, usual suspect … Continue reading →

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More campaign finance reports for July

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Following up on the earlier post, here are some more highlights from the July campaign finance reports for City of Houston elections. All reports can be found on my 2011 Election page. – Since I dinged Al Hoang for not … Continue reading →

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Some early fundraising numbers

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the day that campaign finance reports are due for candidates in this November’s city of Houston elections. Some early filer’s reports are already up on the city’s Campaign Finance webpage. I’ve uploaded copies of these reports to my … Continue reading →

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The 2011 interview season has begun

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As of this week, I will begin interviewing candidates for the 2011 elections. At the top of the site, you can see the 2011 Election page, where I will be keeping track of interviews, endorsements, campaign finance reports, and possibly … Continue reading →

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The Mayor and the firefighters

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Despite the tone of this, I wouldn’t make too much of it. While looking for tens of millions of dollars through a combination of cuts, deferrals, savings and fee hikes, Mayor Annise Parker repeatedly has identified the Houston Fire Department … Continue reading →

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Apparently we do have an opponent for the Mayor

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Deputy Fire Chief Fernando Herrera, who had previously said he was 95% sure he wasn’t running for Mayor, has now decided that he will in fact run for Mayor. Houston Fire Department Deputy Chief Fernando Herrera plans to formally announce … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker officially kicks off her re-election campaign

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We were out of town over the weekend, so I missed this. An Easter weekend campaign event replete with rousing speeches, dogs of both the hot and four-legged variety and a kids’ Easter egg “scramble” kicked off Mayor Annise Parker’s … Continue reading →

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The State of the City 2011

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting a little better, but we’re still not close to being in good times. The city of Houston’s budget deficit for the coming fiscal year has been whittled to roughly $80 million from $130 million, Mayor Annise Parker said … Continue reading →

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Do we have an opponent yet for the Mayor?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Probably not. Houston Fire Department Deputy Chief Fernando Herrera has filed papers appointing a treasurer for a mayoral campaign fund-raising committee. He was the Republican candidate for District 148 state representative in 2010. He lost to incumbent Jessica Farrar. However, … Continue reading →

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SAISD’s Trustee elections

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know much about San Antonio ISD or the makeup of its board, but I know they’re about to have some very interesting elections next month. Name the ills of a typical inner-city school district and San Antonio has … Continue reading →

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Proposed new City Council map is out

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Feast your eyes: Numbers and a sideways view of the map can be seen here. You can also see these docs plus a map of current Council districts at Houston Politics. A few rough observations: – The first thing you … Continue reading →

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Locke and Lanier endorse Parker

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

More support for Mayor Parker’s re-election bid. Mayor Annise Parker on Wednesday scored the endorsements of her 2009 opponent Gene Locke and former Mayor Bob Lanier, two of Houston’s most prominent power brokers, as she prepares to ask voters for … Continue reading →

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Meet the new historical districts

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Not so different from the old historical districts. After months of petition drives and acrimonious public testimony over the protection of old Houston neighborhoods, the only change to the six historic district maps headed to the City Council on Wednesday … Continue reading →

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So will we have a Mayor’s race or not?

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We’re now more than a month into the city election fundraising season, and as of this week the only person to file a declaration of Treasurer for the office of Mayor is the incumbent, Annise Parker. As of this time … Continue reading →

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“Brutal” budget cuts proposed

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This looks really bad. Mayor Annise Parker began to outline budget cuts on Thursday that could result in layoffs of more than 2,300 city employees, telling department heads that erasing an estimated $130 million gap will require “extremely tough, if … Continue reading →

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Council redistricting will be messier than it needs to be

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston City Council is set to start their discussion about redistricting, but some people want them to stop. Councilman Mike Sullivan views expansion as a function of mayor-council politics, and he opposes it. Houston’s residents, Sullivan said in an impromptu … Continue reading →

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Leppert says he’s officially in for Senate

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. In the final hours of his incomplete term, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert told News 8 Friday morning he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for United States Senate. Leppert announced his intentions during a Friday morning taping … Continue reading →

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Dan Barrett for Fort Worth

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m delighted to see this. Democrat Dan Barrett, a lawyer and former state representative, is planning to file as a candidate for Mayor of Fort Worth. “I think its time for a new direction,” Barrett said. “The other candidates in … Continue reading →

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Castro running for re-election

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Not that this was a surprise, but now it’s official. Under picture-perfect skies and surrounded by his family and young people he called the future of San Antonio, Mayor Julián Castro formally launched his re-election bid Sunday. He chose Café … Continue reading →

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A very early look at 2011 fundraising

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A couple of weeks ago I took an early look at the 2011 city elections, but there was a key ingredient missing in that analysis: Money. The fundraising season for city candidates, which has been closed since last January, will … Continue reading →

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Dallas Mayor Leppert officially not running for re-election

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Mayor Tom Leppert, a successful business executive who rose from political unknown to become one of Dallas’ most powerful mayors, has confirmed he will not seek re-election in May but will pursue “other ways to add value to … Continue reading →

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Quittencourt

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I have one thing to say about this: Many things about Paul Bettencourt have been true for as long as he has inhabited public life. The former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector hates when public money is spent on professional sports … Continue reading →

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A very early look at the 2011 elections

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Texas on the Potomac lists 11 national races of interest for 2011. Well, of interest to some – outside of the Dallas Mayoral race, none of these mean much to me, and that’s only if incumbent Tom Leppart leaves to … Continue reading →

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What we have here is failure to communicate

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been pondering this Rick Casey column about the issues of communications and Council relations in Mayor Parker’s office. I don’t have much to add to it at this time. I’ve had some conversations with people in recent days that … Continue reading →

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Council shakeup

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Things are getting mighty interesting down at City Hall. Mayor Annise Parker has parted ways with two major conservatives on the Houston City Council, removing Councilman Mike Sullivan from his role overseeing redistricting and accepting the resignation of Councilwoman Anne … Continue reading →

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KHOU polls Mayor Parker’s job performance

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

She did pretty well. A majority of voters in Bayou City approve of Mayor Annise Parker’s job performance, according to an exclusive 11 News/KUHF-Houston Public Radio poll released Tuesday. Rice University’s Center for Civic Engagement conducted the poll, which surveyed … Continue reading →

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