Tag Archives: Joe Biden

Mifepristone access banned and expanded

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

So as you might have heard, this happened on Friday. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas stayed the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of abortion drug mifepristone nationwide Friday, including in blue states with robust abortion protections. The … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead to the inevitable litigation over a trans sports ban

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The feds have weighed in. The Department of Education on Thursday formally proposed a rule change to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools, that would be at odds with anti-trans bills being signed into … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: State House 2022

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We have data. Texas Democrats and Republicans are beginning to gear up for a presidential election cycle in which opportunities to flip seats for Congress and the Legislature appear limited. It’s a natural outcome after Republicans redrew legislative and congressional … Continue reading →

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The unhinged abortion pill lawsuit hearing

Posted on March 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

What a shitshow. The future of medication abortion in the United States remains up in the air after a federal judge heard arguments Wednesday in a suit challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s long-standing approval of mifepristone. U.S. District Judge … Continue reading →

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The hearing for that unhinged abortion pill lawsuit is today

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Like I said, brace yourselves. A federal judge in Texas will hear arguments Wednesday in a closely watched dispute that could halt distribution of a key drug used for medication abortion and disrupt access nationwide, even in states where reproductive rights are protected. … Continue reading →

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The unhinged abortion pills lawsuit will take place in darkness

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing about this is good. The Texas judge who could undo government approval of a key abortion drug has scheduled the first hearing in the case for Wednesday but took unusual steps to keep it from being publicized, according to … Continue reading →

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What will it take to keep those ten appellate court benches we won in 2018?

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As you may recall, Democrats won a ton of Appellate Court races in 2018. Ten of them, in fact, five each on the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals, the first such victories since winning a lone bench in 2008. … Continue reading →

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What I want from the next HCDP Chair

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, the Harris County Democratic Party will soon have a new Chair. And as you know, I am a Democratic precinct chair, which means I’m one of the several hundred people that will vote on who that is. … Continue reading →

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Can we finally end Ken Paxton’s egregious court-shopping?

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

File this under “About damn time”, even if it eventually comes to naught. As soon as President Joe Biden entered the White House, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an unprecedented campaign of obstruction to block his agenda in the … Continue reading →

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Mifepristone can now be offered at retail pharmacies

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good news, for at least some of the country. For the first time, retail pharmacies, from corner drugstores to major chains like CVS and Walgreens, will be allowed to offer abortion pills in the United States under a regulatory change … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The better statewide races

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY Beto versus Abbott Beto versus the spread Hidalgo versus Mealer As noted before, Greg Abbott got 490K votes in Harris County, far less than the 559K he received in 2018 running against Lupe Valdez. Of the other six races … Continue reading →

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Ike Dike authorization officially passed

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Took a roundabout route to get there, but here we are. With the stroke of a pen, President Joe Biden authorized a $34 billion proposal to build a massive storm surge protection system on the Texas coast and around Galveston … 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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Ken Paxton’s hatred of LGBTQ+ people continues unabated

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Item #1: Texas attorney general’s office sought state data on transgender Texans. Employees at the Texas Department of Public Safety in June received a sweeping request from Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office: to compile a list of individuals who … 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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HISD to get funding for electric school buses

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news. Houston Independent School District is hopping on the city’s net-zero carbon emissions bus, so to speak, thanks to more than $6.2 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. The funds are part of the EPA’s Clean … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: How the 2022 Harris County State Rep candidates did versus the 2020 and 2018 results

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I still don’t have a full canvass of Harris County, so I’m looking around to see what kind of analyses I can do in the meantime. For this post, I’m comparing how the candidates in the contested State Rep contests … 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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Forced birther lawsuit targets abortion pills

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Did you think you were going to have a nice, peaceful Thanksgiving week? Sorry, no can do. Abortion opponents who helped challenge Roe v. Wade filed a lawsuit Friday that takes aim at medication abortions, asking a federal judge in … 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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Trump judge blocks student loan forgiveness order

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Same crap, different day. A federal judge in North Texas ruled on Thursday that President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program is “unlawful,” the latest challenge to the policy that has seen several attacks from conservative groups. U.S. District Judge … Continue reading →

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Some opening thoughts on the 2022 election

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Done in the traditional bullet-point style. There may or may not be a part 2 to this, depending on the usual factors. – Obviously the overall result was disappointing. It was harder to see a Beto victory this year from … Continue reading →

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Taking seriously the threat of election violence

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is the reality we face. U.S. security agencies have issued a heightened threat advisory, warning of a potential attacks on political candidates, election officials and others. The alert came Friday, the same day that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband … Continue reading →

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What will Tarrant County do this year?

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Hoping for a blue result at the top and at least closer races below it, but we’ll see. Eight years after voting for Gov. Greg Abbott, Angela Martinez found herself waiting in line Tuesday to snap a photo with Beto … Continue reading →

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Univision: Abbott 46, Beto 42

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Another registered voters poll, with a supersample of Latino respondents. Republican Governor Greg Abbott leads Beto O’Rourke in the Texas governors’ race by more than four points, even though the Democrat has more support among Latinos and Blacks. The increase … Continue reading →

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UT/Texas Politics Project: Abbott 54, Beto 43

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not great. With in-person early voting set to begin in Texas on October 24, the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll finds Gov. Greg Abbott leading Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke in the gubernatorial race, 54%-43%, among Texans likely to … Continue reading →

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You can be gay, you just can’t act gay

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

So rules a notoriously anti-gay Trump judge, narrowing a SCOTUS ruling from just two years ago at the behest of the usual suspect. A federal judge has ruled that Biden administration guidelines requiring employers to provide protections for LGBTQ employees … Continue reading →

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The Biden marijuana pardons

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A pretty big deal. Calling the criminalization of marijuana a “failed approach,” President Joe Biden announced a pardon of all federal marijuana possession charges Thursday — and urged governors to follow suit with state-level convictions for marijuana possession. The federal … Continue reading →

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Spectrum News/Siena College: Abbott 50, Beto 43

Posted on September 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A new pollster enters the chat. Less than two months from Election Day, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has a seven-point, 50-43%, lead over Democratic challenger, former Congressman, Beto O’Rourke. In the race for Lieutenant Governor, incumbent Republican Dan Patrick is … Continue reading →

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The Biden student loan forgiveness plan will help a lot of Texans

Posted on September 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Hope they’re all voters, because it’s very clear who is on their side and who is against them. More Texans would benefit from President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loan debt than residents of nearly any other state — … Continue reading →

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DMN/UT-Tyler: Abbott 47, Beto 38

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Insert shrug emoji here, and insert link to the unreadable DMN story here. I’ll give you the main results of interest and then a few comments after that. Abbott 47, Beto 38 Patrick 39, Collier 28 Paxton 37, Garza 30 … Continue reading →

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UT/Texas Politics Project poll: Abbott 45, Beto 40

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Feels kind of familiar. Gov. Greg Abbott leads his Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke by 5 percentage points, according to a new poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. The survey found that Abbott received … Continue reading →

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Echelon Insights: Abbott 48, Beto 46

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Make of this what you will. It’s a national poll plus samples of likely voters in a variety of states, some red and some blue and some purple, including Texas. The numbers of interest for us: Do you have a … Continue reading →

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