Tag Archives: Harris County

County Clerk touts curbside voting, asks for more early voting

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: On Friday, July 10, the last day of Early Voting during the July Primary Runoff Elections, the Harris County Clerk’s Office piloted Drive-Thru Voting as an additional option for voters to cast their ballot safely in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Chris Hollins, coronavirus, curbside voting, early voting, Election 2020, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, primaries, runoff, Texas | 4 Comments

HCDE Q&A: Jose Rivera

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As noted before, I am doing written Q&As with candidates for HCDE Trustee Position 7, At Large, whose nominee will be selected by Democratic precinct chairs in August. This is the third and (barring any unexpected late entrants) final entry … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Election 2020, Harris County, HCDE, Jose Rivera, Q&A | 2 Comments

HCDE Q&A: David Brown

Posted on July 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As noted before, I am doing written Q&As with candidates for HCDE Trustee Position 7, At Large, whose nominee will be selected by Democratic precinct chairs in August. 1. Who are you and why are you running for this office? … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged David Brown, Election 2020, Harris County, HCDE, Q&A | Comments Off

HCDE Q&A: Obes Nwabara

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, there are two races on the November ballot for which Democratic precinct chairs will be selecting the nominee in August. One is for County Clerk, and the other is for HCDE Trustee Position 7, At Large. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Election 2020, Harris County, HCDE, Obes Nwabara, Q&A | Comments Off

TEA updates its school-opening guidance

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

They heard the outcry. Facing growing backlash from teachers, parents and health officials, Texas education officials Friday relaxed a previous order that would have given public schools just three weeks from the start of the fall semester to reopen their … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged Aldine ISD, Alief ISD, Association of Texas Professional Educators, coronavirus, Dallas County, Fort Bend ISD, Greg Abbott, Grenita Lathan, Harris County, HISD, Houston, Mike Morath, schools, Spring Branch, Texas, Texas Classroom Teachers Association, Texas Education Agency, TSTA | 2 Comments

Here, have a COVID update

Posted on July 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Things are going great. Texas set yet another record for coronavirus deaths Thursday with 154 — the third day in a row above 100. The previous record was July 8 when 112 deaths were logged, according to a data analysis … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged coronavirus, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, hospitals, Houston, kinsa, quarantine, Texas, Texas College of Emergency Physicians, The COVID Tracking Project, The Lege | 4 Comments

We’re still not doing great with the Census

Posted on July 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still time, but we have a lot of work to do. Despite an extended deadline, local government cash infusions and grassroots campaigns to improve Houston’s 2020 census response rate, almost half of Houston households are still missing from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged Austin, Census, Chicago, coronavirus, Dallas, Fort Worth, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Texas, The Lege | 1 Comment

Interview with Commissioner Rodney Ellis

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Normally, I do candidate interviews for elections, though I do branch out sometimes when there’s an issue or some election-adjacent matter I want to explore. It’s in that spirit that I bring you this conversation I had with Commissioner Rodney … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged Ann Harris Bennett, Commissioners Court, Diane Trautman, Election 2020, elections administrator, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, Harris County Tax Assessor, interviews, Rodney Ellis, Texas, voter registration | 3 Comments

Is it time to step back?

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not a question of whether we want to do this, it’s whether we need to. Houston leaders are calling for another two-week shutdown as dozens of Army personnel are set to arrive Monday to help fight a virus that … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged coronavirus, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Houston, Lina Hidalgo, local control, quarantine, Sylvester Turner, Texas | 1 Comment

Harris County will hire an elections administrator

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Just like that. Harris County became the latest in Texas to adopt an independent administrator model to run elections when the Democratic majority on Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to create the new department. Court members voted 3-2 along party lines … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged Adrian Garcia, Ann Harris Bennett, Chris Hollins, Commissioners Court, Diane Trautman, Ed Emmett, elections administrator, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, Harris County Tax Assessor, Lina Hidalgo, Rodney Ellis, Texas | 3 Comments

2020 primary runoff results: Judicial and county races

Posted on July 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Winding things up… The big, albeit not unexpected, news is that Cheryl Elliott Thornton defeated incumbent Judge Alex Smoots-Thomas, with over 70% of the vote. That honestly comes as a relief. I sincerely hope Judge Smoots-Thomas gets her stuff straightened … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged 14th Court of Appeals, Alexandra Smoots-Hogan, Bridgette Smith-Lawson, Cheryl Elliott Thornton, Chris Diaz, Commissioners Court, Constable, County Attorney, Democratic primary, Diana Alexander, Election 2020, Eric Fagan, Fort Bend County, Geneane Hughes, Harris County, Jennifer Cantu, Jerry Garcia, judicial races, Kali Morgan, Mark Alan Harrison, Michael Moore, recount, runoff, Sheriff, Sherman Eagleton, Tamika Craft, Teiva Bell, Texas | Comments Off

Today is Primary Runoff Day

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Last chance to vote for your party’s nominees. From the inbox: Today, Tuesday, July 14th, is Election Day for the July 2020 Primary Runoff Elections.Voters can cast their ballots anytime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at any of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, Bexar County, Chris Hollins, coronavirus, early voting, Election 2020, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, primaries, Tarrant County, Texas, turnout | Comments Off

AG sides with Mayor Turner in GOP convention litigation

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

But only in a limited and technical way, so cool your jets. The Texas Attorney General’s Office on Saturday sided with Mayor Sylvester Turner in a legal dispute over the state Republican Party’s in-person convention, arguing that the Texas Supreme … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Attorney General, coronavirus, Election 2020, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Houston, Houston First, Ken Paxton, lawsuit, Lina Hidalgo, Republican Party, Steven Hotze, Sylvester Turner, Texas | 1 Comment

The hidden toll

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Another reason why the reported death count from COVID-19 is too low: People who didn’t know they were infected and die at home may never be tested or counted. As coronavirus cases surge, inundating hospitals and leading to testing shortages, … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged Centers for Disease Control, coronavirus, Harris County, Harris County Medical Examiner, HFD, hospitals, Houston, quarantine | 14 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Final Totals: Democrats carry the day

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s going to be a numbers-heavy post. Let’s start with Texas Elects, giving us a penultimate day summary: Early voting in person ended today (Friday) for the July 14 primary runoff and special elections. Through yesterday (Thursday), 532K people have … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, coronavirus, early voting, Election 1990, Election 1994, Election 2002, Election 2014, Election 2018, Election 2020, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, MJ Hegar, primaries, Ron Kirk, Royce West, runoff, Senate, Texas, turnout | 8 Comments

Move to Collin County on hold, Paxton judge recuses himself

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Stay with me here. The Harris County state district judge who handed Attorney General Ken Paxton a big win by moving his criminal case back to Collin County two weeks ago is now recusing himself because Paxton’s office is representing … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Attorney General, bail, Brian Wice, Collin County, Court of Criminal Appeals, First Court of Appeals, Harris County, Ken Paxton, Kent Schaffer, lawsuit, Servergy, special prosecutor, Texas | 1 Comment

Greg Abbott has no one to blame but himself

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s be very clear about this. Gov. Greg Abbott is under increasing political fire from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats as he responds to a sharp rise in coronavirus deaths — a record 112 on Wednesday and 106 on … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Charles Perry, coronavirus, Donald Trump, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Lina Hidalgo, local control, Montgomery County, polls, quarantine, Republican Party, Shelley Luther, special session, Texas, The Lege | 8 Comments

How can you vote if you currently have coronavirus?

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There is one way, if it is approved. Thousands of Harris County voters who recently have tested positive for coronavirus and now are quarantined should be allowed to vote online in the primary runoff election, County Attorney Vince Ryan argued … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Chris Hollins, coronavirus, Dallas County, Ebola, Election 2014, Election 2020, Harris County, Harris County Attorney, Harris County Clerk, online voting, primaries, runoff, Secretary of State, Texas, turnout, Vince Ryan | Comments Off

A new homelessness initiative

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Harris County Commissioners Court voted unanimously on Tuesday to authorize $18 million for a two-year program serving the homeless as advocates project a rise in homelessness with the novel coronavirus. The program is the county’s most ambitious partnership with … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged Adrian Garcia, Coalition for the Homeless, Commissioners Court, Congress, coronavirus, economy, Harris County, homelessness, Houston, Medicaid, quarantine, stimulus, Sylvester Turner | Comments Off

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Thursday: In which I get a look at the vote rosters

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

What’s a vote roster, you say? It’s a detailed list of everyone who voted in a particular election. You can find some recent ones, mostly pertaining to the 2020 elections so far, here. I’ve used the rosters from past elections … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, coronavirus, early voting, Election 2020, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, lawsuit, primaries, runoff, Texas, turnout | 4 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Wednesday: This is all the vote by mail we’re going to get

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to start this update off with a bummer of a legal analysis from Vox’s Ian Millhiser: The Texas case, meanwhile, is Texas Democratic Party v. Abbott, and the stakes in that case are simply enormous. Texas law permits voters … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, coronavirus, early voting, Election 2020, face masks, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Greg Abbott, Harris County, lawsuit, primaries, runoff, SCOTUS, TDP, Texas, turnout | Comments Off

GOP declines Turner’s invitation to cancel their convention

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The ball is back in your court, Mr. Mayor. The Texas Republican Party is proceeding with an in-person convention next week in downtown Houston, a rejection of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s formal request Monday to move the event online amid a … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged coronavirus, David Persse, Election 2020, face masks, Greater Houston Partnership, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Houston, Houston Department of Health and Human Services, Houston First, Lina Hidalgo, quarantine, Republican Party, Sylvester Turner, Texas | 11 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Tuesday: A history of Democratic primary runoffs

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday I said that the turnout so far in the 2020 Democratic primary runoff was already historic. Today I’m going to show my work on that. Herewith is the 21st century history of Democratic primary runoff turnout for Harris County: … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, coronavirus, early voting, Election 2002, Election 2006, Election 2008, Election 2010, Election 2012, Election 2014, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, face masks, Governor, Greg Abbott, Harris County, lawsuit, primaries, Railroad Commission, runoff, Senate, Texas, turnout | 3 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Monday: A statewide look

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not going to keep track of what day number we’re at now, as it doesn’t really make sense anymore. But what we can do right now is have a look at how each party is doing with mail votes. … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, coronavirus, early voting, Election 2020, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, lawsuit, primaries, runoff, Texas, turnout | 1 Comment

How Texas screwed it all up

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a more succinct headline for this story about how Texas went from having a low COVID-19 infection rate to one of the worst in the country. And the vast majority of the responsibility for this is on Greg Abbott. … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged coronavirus, Dan Patrick, Donald Trump, Election 2022, face masks, Governor, Greg Abbott, Harris County, hospitals, Houston, Lina Hidalgo, local control, quarantine, Shelley Luther, Steven Hotze, Texas | 5 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Day Five/Six: Apples and Oranges

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We are at the end of the first official early voting week for the 2020 primary runoffs. At this point, there have been five actual early voting days, as Friday and Saturday the polls were closed for the Independence Day … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, coronavirus, early voting, Election 2020, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, lawsuit, primaries, runoff, Texas, turnout | Comments Off

Of course there’s a lawsuit against Abbott’s mask order

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And of course it involves the usual suspects. The day Gov. Greg Abbott’s mandate that face masks be worn in most public places across Texas went into effect, a GOP activist and group of conservatives filed a lawsuit in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Cathie Adams, coronavirus, face masks, George Floyd, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Jared Woodfill, lawsuit, Lina Hidalgo, Rick Green, Steven Hotze, Texas | 4 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Day Four: Driven by Democrats

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting took Friday and yesterday off, but resumes today. Here’s where we stand after the first four days: Election Mail Early Total Mail % =========================================== D primary 15,101 25,254 40,355 37.4% R primary 16,528 24,778 41,306 40.0% D runoff … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, early voting, Election 2020, Harris County, primaries, runoff, Texas, turnout | Comments Off

State GOP will have its convention

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I hope they don’t kill any convention or hotel workers as a result. Beyond that, I don’t know what to say. The Texas GOP’s executive committee voted Thursday night to proceed with plans to hold the party’s in-person convention in … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged coronavirus, Diana Fite, Election 2020, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Houston, Houston First, quarantine, Republican Party, Texas, Texas Medical Association | 2 Comments

Abbott finally issues a mask order

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Better late than never, but it’s pretty damn late. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a nearly statewide mask mandate Thursday as Texas scrambles to get its coronavirus surge under control. The order requires Texans living in counties with 20 or more … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged coronavirus, Dan Patrick, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, hospitals, Jared Woodfill, lawsuit, Lina Hidalgo, local control, PolicyLab, quarantine, Steven Hotze, Texas | 6 Comments

How it’s going at the hospitals

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

In a word, it’s bad. At Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital on Sunday, the medical staff ran out of both space for new coronavirus patients and a key drug needed to treat them. With no open beds at the public hospital, … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged Anthony Fauci, coronavirus, Dan Patrick, emergency rooms, face masks, Harris County, HFD, hospitals, Houston, Medical Center, quarantine, Samuel Pena, Texas | 7 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Day One: People seem to like this vote by mail thing

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Big surprise, am I right? Harris County voters cast more than 51,000 ballots Monday in the primary runoffs, an eye-popping total that exceeded turnout for entire runoff elections in some recent years. Combined with a robust in-person turnout, voters had … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, Chris Hollins, coronavirus, early voting, Election 2016, Election 2020, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, primaries, runoff, turnout | 5 Comments

Maybe that Republican convention won’t happen after all

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

First, there was this. The Texas Medical Association is encouraging Texans to practice social distancing, stay home when possible and wear masks to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. But despite the potential mixed message it may send, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged Bob Hall, coronavirus, Diana Fite, Election 2020, face masks, Harris County, Houston, quarantine, Republican Party, Sarah Davis, Texas, Texas Medical Association | 1 Comment

Hey, how about trying that local control thing again?

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like it might be worth a shot to led Mayors and County Judges lead on coronavirus response again, since they’ve done so much better a job of leading than Greg Abbott has. As Texas grapples with soaring coronavirus cases … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Bexar County, Clay Jenkins, Congress, coronavirus, Dallas County, face masks, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Houston, Jared Woodfill, lawsuit, Lina Hidalgo, local control, mixed drinks, Nelson Wolff, quarantine, restaurants, Sam Biscoe, Sylvester Turner, Tee Allen Parker, Texas, Texas Bar and Nightclub Alliance, Travis County | 4 Comments

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