Tag Archives: Election 2012

Interview with Pete Gallego

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There are two Congressional districts in Texas that are on the national radar as November battlefields. One is CD14 thanks mostly to the candidacy of Nick Lampson, and the other is CD23, which flipped to the Democrats in 2006 after … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Perry’s budget suicide pact

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this. Borrowing a tactic from national anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, Gov. Rick Perry used a tax day appearance in Houston to propose a no-new-taxes pledge for Texas lawmakers, a pledge that would, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Interview with Rep. Silvestre Reyes

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

As discussed last week, we now enter a period in which I will be publishing some number of interviews with Congressional candidates in contested Democratic primaries around Texas. There’s a lot of interesting and high-profile races and I’d love to … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The truth is out there on the Ministers for Keryl email

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

In response to my previous post about the homophobic “Ministers for Keryl” email, a couple of commenters said that we didn’t have enough evidence to determine whether or not the email was genuine or spoofed. So, based on that feedback … Continue reading →

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Some useful stuff from the LWV

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here, from the League of Women Voters Houston are a couple of useful documents for you: the Handy Dandy 2012 Primary Guide and the 2012 Directory of Elected Officials. It’s true that you could find this stuff for yourself online, … Continue reading →

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Douglas denies sending anti-gay email

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Keryl Douglas held a press conference Thursday afternoon to discuss the Willie Howard email, and she sent out this statement regarding the matter. Let me begin by stating immediately and unequivocally that I did not write, nor cause to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

The home stretch for interviews

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Barring anything unusual, I’ve done all of the Harris County interviews I’m going to do at this point. You can see who I’ve spoken to and listen to them all on the Harris County primary page. You may have noticed … Continue reading →

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Campaign for Primary Accountability aims at Republicans

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. A Houston-based super PAC aiming to unseat long-time congressional incumbents added Reps. Joe Barton of Arlington and Ralph Hall of Rockwall to its hit list [last week]. The two Republicans join Democrats Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas and Silvestre … Continue reading →

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Interview with Mary Ann Perez

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We come now to my final interview for Harris County and for the State House. Next week I will start running interviews with Congressional candidates from elsewhere in Texas. Today’s candidate for HD144 is Mary Ann Perez. Perez was elected … Continue reading →

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So long, Santorum

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That sound you hear is Texas Republicans crying in their beer. Rick Santorum’s withdrawal today from the 2012 presidential contest makes Texas Republicans, once again, all but irrelevant in their party’s nomination process. The drawn-out nature of the race had … Continue reading →

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Nasty yet nice

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s characterization of the GOP primary race for District Attorney as a nasty fight between polite people strikes me as apt. Complaints about Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos buzz through Houston’s criminal courthouse. Assistant district attorneys, police officers … Continue reading →

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Rally for women’s rights in Austin April 28

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like there’s been an awful lot of these lately. Here’s the next one: Go here to learn more and to register. I’ve generally been skeptical about rallies in the past, but at this point I’m glad to see evidence … Continue reading →

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A little bit of NOM comes to the race for HCDP Chair

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

NOM is the National Organization for Marriage. They are big proponents of “traditional” marriage and opponents of marriage equality, and have been the driving force behind anti-marriage equality initiatives around the country, including California’s notorious Proposition 8. They have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Interview with Ornaldo Ybarra

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This week we return to the State House and wrap up the Harris County interviews for the primary cycle. HD144, which mostly covers the city of Pasadena, is one of the stronger pickup opportunities for Democrats this fall, having been … Continue reading →

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Who testifies about voter ID?

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That was the question before the federal court on Tuesday. U.S. Justice Department lawyers told a federal three-judge panel Tuesday that Texas legislators should not be shielded from testifying in a voter ID case. But lawyers for state Attorney General … Continue reading →

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Harris County voter registration lawsuit settled

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For now, at least. Something tells me we have not heard the last of this. Harris County officials and the Democratic Party have settled an ongoing legal dispute over denial rates of new voter registration applications – at least for … Continue reading →

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

Interview with Phillip Andrews

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Wrapping up this week’s worth of Congressional interviews we have Phillip Andrews, who is also running for CD07. Andrews is the President and CEO of Daugherty International, which supplies private security forces, and is also the manager of his wife’s … Continue reading →

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Interview with Lissa Squiers

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

My next interview for CD07 is with Lissa Squiers. Squiers was a write-in candidate for this office in 2010 after deciding that incumbent Rep. John Culberson should not go unchallenged by a progressive. Squiers has been active with Occupy Houston, … Continue reading →

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Open The Taps voters’ guide for 2012

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Want to know how your preferred legislative candidates stand on the important issue of beer freedom in Texas? Then the Open The Taps Voters Guide for 2012 is for you. As a reminder, Open The Taps is about the following: … Continue reading →

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Patterson wants to vote out anti-open beach Supreme Court justices

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Fine by me. Voters should replace the five members of the Texas Supreme Court who issued an opinion weakening the state Open Beaches Act, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said Monday. “We now have private beaches in Texas where the public … Continue reading →

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Interview with James Cargas

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We come now to the three-way race for the nomination in CD07. The first candidate in this diverse primary is James Cargas. Cargas is an attorney with a background in environmental and energy law who has done two stints in … Continue reading →

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Interview with KP George

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There are many contested Democratic Congressional primaries around the state this year, but in a sense the most important one is for a race that’s not on any national list of races to watch. I’m talking about the CD22 primary, … Continue reading →

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Interview with Nick Lampson

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I still have one more State House primary to cover, that being the one in HD144, but the way things worked out I wound up doing interviews with local Congressional candidates first, so I’m going to run those this week. … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

If it were good for Travis it would be good elsewhere as well

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This article asks if Travis County is better off being split into five different Congressional districts. Seems to me that’s a question that answers itself, but I’ll play along. The voters and geography of Travis County are split among five … Continue reading →

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Presidential Pinterest

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

A while back I wondered if political campaigns would try to leverage Pinterest as part of their social media strategy. At least one well-known campaign has now jumped on it. In case you missed it, Barack Obama [Tuesday] officially became … Continue reading →

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There’s only one Democrat running in CD22

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We all need to be clear about that. Both candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the congressional seat famously held for two decades by Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, are unusual. K.P. George’s background makes him an improbable … Continue reading →

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Interview with Sarah Winkler

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Wrapping up a week of conversations with candidates who hope to succeed Rep. Scott Hochberg in HD137, today we have Sarah Winkler. Winkler has served on the Alief ISD Board of Trustees since 1997 and on the Texas Association of … Continue reading →

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Interview with Jamaal Smith

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing with the candidates who hope to succeed Rep. Scott Hochberg in HD137 we have Jamaal Smith, whom you may remember from his time as Executive Director of the HCDP and as the Deputy Campaign Manager and Campaign Manager from … Continue reading →

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Interview with Gene Wu

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The second candidate running to succeed Rep. Scott Hochberg in HD137 that I interviewed is Gene Wu. Gene is currently a felony prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s office, and he also has legislative experience, having previously been the … Continue reading →

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Interview with Joseph Carlos Madden

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one open Democratic seat in Harris County for the State House: HD137, in which State Rep. Scott Hochberg decided not to run for re-election. There are four Democrats vying to succeed Rep. Hochberg, and I will be presenting their … Continue reading →

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The Congressional Geezer Caucus

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The DMN notices that a sizable portion of Texas’ Congressional delegation is, um, old. Of the most populous states, Texas has the oldest congressional delegation, averaging nearly 63 years old, while the average for Congress as a whole is about … Continue reading →

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Electing educators

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds good, but there are a couple of things missing. More than a dozen Republicans and Democrats who have sat on school boards are running for the Texas House this year, and a backlash over spending cuts and standardized … Continue reading →

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What radicals?

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I was reading this Patricia Kilday Hart column about how nobody outside Texas paid attention to the sonogram bill until the Virginia brouhaha and the Doonesbury series, which is a good albeit frustrating read, when I came across this bit … Continue reading →

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Early Childhood Intervention

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

When we say that the budget was balanced on the backs of children and the poor, this is the sort of thing we’re talking about. Lawmakers last year slashed funding for the statewide [Early Childhood Intervention] program by 14 percent. … Continue reading →

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