Tag Archives: Dallas County

Matt Rinaldi holds a swing seat

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Just something to keep in mind. State Rep. Matt Rinaldi’s scuffle Monday with Hispanic lawmakers is already putting a bright spotlight on his House district — and whether he can hold on to it in 2018. Rinaldi, an Irving Republican, … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Dallas county elections

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

One more look at Dallas County, this time with the county-level judicial races. I like to use these partly because they’re a pretty good proxy for partisan preference, and partly because they provide a straight up two-party comparison, which is … Continue reading →

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Our first look at Senate district data

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib looks at the data we now have. In the state Senate, one Republican — Don Huffines of Dallas — is now representing a district that Clinton easily won, while two more — Konni Burton of Colleyville and Joan … Continue reading →

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The people who would have been denied the opportunity to vote in 2016

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

There were a lot of them. At least 16,400 Texans who voted in the November election wouldn’t have been able to cast ballots if the state’s voter identification law had been in full effect, state voting records show. […] Through … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Dallas County statewides

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Last time we looked at the Presidential numbers in Dallas County legislative districts (plus CD32). Today we follow up with a look at the statewide races. I’m going to throw a lot of numbers at you, so please bear with … Continue reading →

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DCCC says it will aim for three Texas Congressional seats

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what this means in practice. The House Democratic campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, announced Monday morning that the party intends to target two longtime GOP incumbents that, until recently, have long been considered locks for re-election: … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Dallas County Presidential numbers

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

News flash: Hillary Clinton won every Dallas County State Rep district. See for yourself: Dist Trump Clinton Johnson Stein ======================================== CD32 117,758 127,824 5,751 1,056 HD100 8,405 33,647 647 217 HD102 24,768 30,291 1,312 287 HD103 8,710 28,689 683 205 … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Texas Congressional districts

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From Daily Kos: Texas’s GOP-drawn congressional map was designed to create 24 safely red seats and 11 safely Democratic districts, with only the 23rd District in the western part of the state being truly competitive. In 2012, Mitt Romney carried … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Don’t be mesmerized by the Clinton/Trump numbers

Posted on December 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the DMN: Donald Trump may have carried Texas and clinched the White House in November, but support for the Republican presidential nominee waned in parts of the Dallas area — news that, in a typical election year, could spell … Continue reading →

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Recount in HD105

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Still not decided yet. The tight Texas House District 105 race between Republican state Rep. Rodney Anderson and Democratic challenger Terry Meza is headed for a recount. Meza trails Anderson by 69 votes, according to the latest Dallas County elections … Continue reading →

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Statewide review: 2016 was like 2008, but not in a good way

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s no point in beating around the bush, so I’ll just come out and say it: Despite the excitement about increases in voter registration and heavy early voting turnout. statewide Democratic candidates outside of Hillary Clinton generally did not do … Continue reading →

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HD105 race remains unresolved

Posted on November 12, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I hadn’t realized this was still an open question. The ballots are still out in the race for Texas House district 105 between Republican Rep. Rodney Anderson and Democratic challenger Terry Meza. The race for the west Dallas County seat … Continue reading →

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Record registration numbers for Harris County

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. As registration closed, Harris County’s voter roster had grown by more than 6 percent since 2014, the steepest increase in 16 years. More than 323,890 new names have been added, bringing the county voter roll to more than 2.2 … Continue reading →

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Reducing pot prosecutions one county at a time

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Some Texas cities are taking direct action to dial back the drug wars and reduce their jail population. As lawmakers have wrestled in recent years with easing restrictions on marijuana use – an issue they likely will confront again when … Continue reading →

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Susan Hawk resigns as Dallas County DA

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Thus endeth her short but incredibly tumultuous time in office. After struggling with mental illness, including three admissions at psychiatric treatment centers, Republican Susan Hawk stepped down from her position as Dallas County District Attorney on Tuesday. “It is with … Continue reading →

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Voter registration numbers keep increasing

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Always good news, though it’s hard to say anything definitive. County elections officials across Texas are reporting a spike in registered voters this election cycle, with one county now exceeding one million registered voters for the first time ever. Earlier … Continue reading →

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More Congressional seats are likely on the way

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

If current trends continue, that is. Texas could pick up two, perhaps three, new congressional seats following the 2020 decennial Census if current population growth continues through the decade, political and demographic experts said Thursday. With continued growth in Texas’ … Continue reading →

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Day Two EV totals for 2016 primaries

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here you go: Year Dem GOP ======================= 2008 19,578 8,654 2012 8,135 17,846 2016 14,001 19,376 For your reference, the 2016 totals are here, and the 2012 totals are here. I don’t have daily EVPA totals from the Harris County … Continue reading →

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State of Texas sues VW

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Bandwagon time! Following in the footsteps of Harris County and the city of Dallas, the state announced Thursday it is suing Volkswagen in connection with the German automaker’s admitted use of software that allowed its vehicles to circumvent emissions limits. … Continue reading →

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What Dallas County can teach us about jail overcrowding

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Why can’t Harris County be more like Dallas County, at least in this regard? Dallas County’s jail population has hit an all-time low. That means more spacious jail tanks and fewer bologna sandwiches. If the trend continues, it could add … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect the Harris County Clerk to be ready for the SCOTUS same sex marriage ruling

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Press follows up on a question that we have examined before. [Harris County Clerk Stan] Stanart isn’t planning on staying open later or doing anything to prepare to handle an influx of same-sex couples should the Supremes decide in … Continue reading →

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One Ratliff wants to come back

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Rubber match in HD115. Bennett Ratliff will run for the Dallas-area House seat he lost to state Rep. Matt Rinaldi by just 92 votes in the 2014 GOP primary, the Coppell Republican announced Monday. “What the district has noticed is … Continue reading →

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TPJ refiles complaint against Paxton

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see if they have any better luck this time. Texans for Public Justice on Monday re-filed its criminal complaint against Attorney General Ken Paxton with local prosecutors in Dallas and Collin Counties, arguing the latter should recuse himself because … Continue reading →

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On BGTX, Wendy Davis, and the future

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This has been a pretty busy Christmas break, as far as blog-worthy news has gone, so in order to preserve the small illusion that I’m taking a breather and recharging my batteries, I’m just going to give three quick thoughts … Continue reading →

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How much do payday lenders suck?

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This much. Pursuing, or even threatening, criminal charges against payday and title borrowers is strictly prohibited by Texas law, with very few exceptions. The Texas Constitution unequivocally states, “No person shall ever be imprisoned for debt.” But new research released … Continue reading →

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What will the clerks do?

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some of Texas’ county clerks are making plans to accommodate same-sex marriage license applicants in the event that federal judge Orlando Garcia lifts the stay on his ruling that tossed out the state’s ban on same-sex nuptials. Some other clerks … Continue reading →

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A look at how Democratic legislative challengers did against the spread

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s been long enough since the election that I feel like I can go back and look at some numbers. Not a whole lot of good out there, but we’ll try to learn what we can. To start off, here … Continue reading →

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The Battleground effect in legislative races

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

So here’s a crazy idea. Rather than judge Battleground Texas by our own beliefs about how things should have gone, what say we take a look at the actual numbers of a few races and see what they tell us? … Continue reading →

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First impressions of the 2014 results

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

My initial thoughts, for what they are worth. – Let me begin by saying that for all the criticism I had of the UT/Texas Trib’s polling and the skepticism of Internet-sample methodology, they were fairly accurate in the end. In … Continue reading →

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The two Dallas districts to watch

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

There’s HD105: Hispanics make up 41 percent of Irving’s population — up from 31 percent in 2000 and 16 percent in 1990, when the white population topped 71 percent, according to figures from 2010, the latest available. White residents make … Continue reading →

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2014 Day Three EV totals

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

But first, a little angst. I feel a bit uncomfortable after Day Two of Early Voting in Person. Here are a couple of concerning tweets from yesterday: Scott Braddock ‏@scottbraddock 2h2 hours ago Those Harris County early vote totals are … Continue reading →

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More on the voter registration numbers

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Wayne Slater has a contrarian perspective on the voter registration numbers. Getting new voters begins with registering new people. When the secretary of state last week announced a record-high 14 million Texans are registered to vote, Battleground Texas trumpeted that … Continue reading →

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Voter registration numbers are up

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news here. The number of Texans registered to vote in the state’s five largest counties increased by 2 percent since 2012, a reversal of the decline in total voter registrations that was seen before the last midterm election. … Continue reading →

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It’s about more than the Davis campaign

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Gromer Jeffers highlighted something recently that I think hasn’t gotten enough attention. In her race for Texas governor, Wendy Davis’ sisters have her back. I’m not talking about her biological family. Davis is getting support from a group of female … Continue reading →

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