Tag Archives: Jared Woodfill

Judge or jury ruling on HERO should come soon

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the other big lawsuit action on Friday. A district judge offered little insight Friday as to whether he will grant a jury trial to conservative critics who have sued the city over its controversial equal rights ordinance. During a … Continue reading →

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First HERO repeal petition hearing today

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Have I mentioned that this is a really busy month for big ticket courtroom action? Conservative opponents suing the city over its equal rights ordinance are pushing, along with several City Council members, for the upcoming case to go before … Continue reading →

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Woodfill gets another injunction

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

WTF? A state district judge on Wednesday ordered the city of Houston to stop offering health and life insurance benefits to the same-sex spouses of married employees, but city attorneys say they plan an immediate appeal that, once filed, could … Continue reading →

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Jared Woodfill sues again

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Dude is obsessed. Former Harris County GOP Chair Jared Woodfill isn’t giving up on his fight to block the city of Houston from providing benefits to the same-sex spouses of employees. After Mayor Annise Parker extended benefits to same-sex spouses … Continue reading →

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City files amended petitions

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: As follow up to a promise made earlier in the week, the City of Houston has revised its subpoenas in the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) repeal petition case. The disputed request has been narrowed to focus … Continue reading →

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Steven Hotze in his own words

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Media Matters sat in on a conference call of professional haters, and, well, see for yourself. Fox News hero and prominent Texas conservative Dr. Steven Hotze warned supporters during a conference call that gay activists want to overturn laws prohibiting … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit over same sex benefits for city employees moved back to state court

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance and the efforts to put a repeal referendum on the ballot have been one of the big local stories this year, but you may recall that before we were all talking about … Continue reading →

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HERO repealers try their luck with the Supreme Court

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Because sure, why not? Opponents of Houston’s equal rights ordinance have asked the Texas Supreme Court to force the city secretary to certify the signatures on a petition they submitted seeking to trigger a repeal referendum on the law. Houston’s … Continue reading →

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HERO repeal hopefuls try another venue

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever. Conservative opponents of Houston’s equal rights ordinance have asked an appeals court to force the city secretary to certify the signatures on their petitions to force a repeal referendum on the November ballot. Equal rights ordinance critics filed a … Continue reading →

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HERO repeal lawsuit moves back to state court

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Are we dizzy yet? Conservative activists seeking to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance trumpeted a small victory Thursday when a court hearing resulted in the ordinance being suspended pending an Aug. 15 hearing. Mayor Annise Parker, anticipating a lawsuit, … Continue reading →

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HERO repeal lawsuit moved to federal court

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And the bad guys are very unhappy about it. Conservative activists seeking to repeal Houston’s equal rights ordinance accused the city of stalling the issue Wednesday after city lawyers moved the opponents’ lawsuit over rejected ballot petitions from state to … Continue reading →

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Petition deadline coming

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Scott Braddock takes a look at the petition effort to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which must turn in its homework this week. Opponents led by longtime – and now former because he was recently ousted – Harris County … Continue reading →

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Who stands with Jared?

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I noted yesterday that soon-to-be-former Harris County GOP Chair Jared Woodfill is busy trying to gather petition signatures to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. Here’s the beginning of his pitch: I want to thank all of you who stood … Continue reading →

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Yes, Greg Abbott opposes the HERO

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

He just doesn’t want to be forced to admit it. When the Houston City Council passed its nondiscrimination ordinance including gay and transgender protections, top Democratic statewide candidates such as Sen. Wendy Davis were quick to celebrate. “All people should … Continue reading →

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How can we miss you if you won’t go away?

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Denise Pratt is a gift that keeps on giving. Denise Pratt may not be gone just yet. Two days after announcing her immediate resignation as presiding judge of the 311th family District Court – and the suspension of her re-election … Continue reading →

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A new day for the Harris County GOP?

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Falkenberg postmortems the changing of the guard at the Harris County GOP. Now that [Paul] Simpson defeated [Jared] Woodfill in the Republican primary election earlier this week, [Rep. Sarah] Davis is hoping her past experience with him is prologue. … Continue reading →

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Primary results: Harris County

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The big news here is that there were no surprises on the Democratic side, in particular no unpleasant surprises. By far the best news was that Kim Ogg easily bested Lloyd Oliver in the primary for DA, with over 70% … Continue reading →

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Harris County GOP to yell at cloud on Monday

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lone Star Q: Calling gay people “sodomites” and U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia a “would-be dictator,” the Harris County Republican Party announced it will host a news conference Monday morning in response to Garcia’s ruling Wednesday striking down Texas’ bans … Continue reading →

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Next steps in the Texas same sex marriage lawsuit

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

In case you were wondering, Attorney General and candidate for Governor Greg Abbott will appeal Wednesday’s historic ruling striking down Texas’ constitutional amendment barring same sex marriage. The state of Texas has officially given notice that it is appealing a … Continue reading →

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First day of early voting

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Here are the Day One primary early voting totals, which was reasonably heavy and which went according to prediction, with most of the votes on the Republican side. The Chron preview story lays it out. Early voting for the March … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of Harris County GOP Chair race

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This race has provided quite a bit of entertainment for us armchair types. The race to head the Harris County Republican Party is about as far down the ballot as you can get. As such, it typically generates neither news … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: EQTx for Davis

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Sarah Davis, that is. A gay rights group Tuesday backed its first Texas Republican in a primary election, for better or worse. State Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, will find out in March if the endorsement, from Equality Texas, … Continue reading →

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Abbott inserts himself in Houston same sex benefits lawsuit

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed briefs arguing that a state court should be given an opportunity to declare Houston’s new policy of granting benefits to some same-sex partners of employees unlawful under Texas’ marriage laws. … Continue reading →

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City benefits for same sex spouses back on

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

For now, at least. A federal judge ruled Thursday that same-sex couples legally married in other states can keep health and life insurance benefits that were extended to spouses of city of Houston employees in November. […] [Noel] Freeman’s husband’s … Continue reading →

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City moves anti-same sex spouse benefits lawsuit to federal court

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Mayor Annise Parker and the city of Houston have moved a lawsuit challenging same-sex benefits out of Republican Judge Lisa Millard’s court after she allegedly halted the benefits without giving the city proper notice. City Attorney David Feldman filed … Continue reading →

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More on the local GOP’s lawsuit against same sex spouse insurance benefits

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Family Court? What’s up with that? City Attorney Dave Feldman said Wednesday that the city of Houston and Mayor Annise Parker were not given notice before a family district court judge halted a recent policy change extending health and life … Continue reading →

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Harris County GOP sues over same sex spouse benefits for city employees

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

When Mayor Parker announced that legally married same sex spouses would be eligible to be added to city employees’ health insurance plans, I was certain that there would be legal action taken against that decision. The Harris County GOP has … 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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Moving the focus back to un-crowding the jails

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a positive development. Newly appointed Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson on Wednesday pledged to curb the increasing number of low-level felons being sentenced to serve misdemeanor time in the county jail rather than going to prison, known … Continue reading →

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Everybody loves early voting now

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the County Clerk’s office: The Chief Election Officer of the County, Stan Stanart, announced [Monday night] that Harris County voters set a new record for voting during the first day of Early Voting in person. 47,093 persons voted on … Continue reading →

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Stimulate the economy with marriage equality

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

​If New York can do it… New York City made quite a bit of money on gay marriage — 200,000 bucks, in fact. Cash flow into the city’s marriage bureau shot up since August, when same-sex nups got enacted, according … Continue reading →

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Harris County GOP to harass Mayor Parker about gay marriage

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it. The Harris County Republican Party is calling on its members to tell the mayor to back off on same-sex marriage. In an email blast sent out Monday, Chairman Jared Woodfill asks recipients to call or email the mayor … Continue reading →

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The plaintiffs’ proposal for the Lege

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I know it will break your heart to hear that Harris County GOP Chair Jared Woodfill is a little peeved at Greg Abbott and Steve Munisteri because he thinks the Abbott map makes Harris County too Democratic. What got Woodfill … 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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