Tag Archives: Republican Party

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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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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Gallup’s poll of Latinos in Texas

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this. Texas Hispanics are decidedly Democratic in their political party preferences, 46% to 27%, but that 19-percentage-point Democratic advantage is much smaller in Texas than the average 30-point gap Democrats enjoy among the … Continue reading →

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Pay no attention to Mark Jones

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is a really bad idea. At least for the time being, the Republican primary is the decisive election for the governance of Texas. In contrast, the most pressing issue facing Houston-area Democratic primary voters will be whether they prefer … Continue reading →

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January campaign finance reports for Harris County legislative candidates

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This could take awhile, and that’s with me limiting myself to contested races. First, the Senate. SD04 Brandon Creighton Steven Toth SD07 Paul Bettencourt James Wilson Jim Davis SD15 John Whitmire Damian LaCroix Ron Hale SD17 Joan Huffman Derek Anthony … 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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Chron overviews of the other candidates for Governor

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

On the Republican side, everybody wants to be the next coming of Ted Cruz. As Attorney General Greg Abbott sweeps toward the GOP nomination for governor, other Republicans are reminding voters that he’s not alone in the party primary. Waging … Continue reading →

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What is the sound of one politician switching?

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It depends. When Lawrence Meyers won a seat on the statewide Court of Criminal Appeals in 1992, he was the first Republican elected to the state’s highest criminal court. This month he made history again. After switching parties, Meyers, who … 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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How to assess the odds in HD134

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texpatriate informs us that two-term Rep. Sarah Davis will be getting a primary challenger in HD134 – Bonnie Parker, who lost to Davis in the 2010 primary, and who will unsurprisingly be attacking Davis from the right. There are three … Continue reading →

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Barton versus Cornyn?

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Warren Throckmorton: There is a lot of chatter these days among tea partiers in Texas about who should run against John Cornyn in the 2014 Senate primary. Despite a conservative voting record, Cornyn is being targeted by the tea party … Continue reading →

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Why some polls are less accurate than others

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The local GOP had a rally Monday night that among other things featured a “straw poll” of the faithful to see who their preferences were in the upcoming primary election. Harris County Republicans worked to energize their base on Monday … Continue reading →

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In case Greg Abbott just isn’t right-wing enough for you

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Meet his latest challenger. A tea party activist and frequent guest on Fox News has entered the race for governor in Texas, offering an alternative on the right of frontrunner Greg Abbott. Lisa Fritsch, an author and conservative radio host … Continue reading →

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The execution drug shortage

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I find myself morbidly fascinated by this. Forced to repeatedly alter the formula of its lethal injections as drug makers curb sales to executioners, Texas prison officials are stockpiling an array of alternate pharmaceuticals, none of which yet has been … Continue reading →

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Chan challenges Campbell in SD25

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

An awful candidate against an awful incumbent. Two months after stirring national controversy by condemning homosexuality, Councilwoman Elisa Chan has decided to leave the council to run for the Texas Senate in 2014, challenging District 25 state Sen. Donna Campbell … Continue reading →

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How city candidates have voted in past primaries

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is great to see. The Harris County Democratic Party does not endorse candidates in the non-partisan City of Houston elections; however, in an effort to keep you informed as to which candidates are Democrats and which are not, we … Continue reading →

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Dark money

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a small step, if it’s allowed to be taken, but the bill to require donor disclosure on so-called “dark money” is a step in the right direction. Senate Bill 346 takes direct aim at the cloak of anonymity that … Continue reading →

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Who’s afraid of Battleground Texas?

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Republican Party of Texas for one, if you believe their fundraising appeals. In a heated fundraising letter sent this week to donors statewide, the Texas GOP calls the new Democratic voter-mobilization effort “a clear and present threat to you … Continue reading →

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Some things can’t be rebranded

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Louie Gohmert, ladies and gentlemen. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) warned Wednesday that “radical Islamists” are being “trained to act like Hispanic[s]” and cross the U.S.-Mexico border. “We know Al Qaeda has camps over with the drug cartels on the other … Continue reading →

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Trib poll shows Perry leading Abbott

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Make of this what you will. Gov. Rick Perry would defeat Attorney General Greg Abbott by a nearly 3-to-1 margin if a Republican gubernatorial primary were held today, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Such a contest … Continue reading →

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Messing with the primaries

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s like deja vu all over again. State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, has filed a bill to move up the primary one month in even-numbered years, to the first Tuesday in February. Patrick said people in both parties should support … Continue reading →

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A Republican view of 2014 in Harris County

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Big Jolly is feeling pessimistic about his team’s chances in Harris County next year. Now let’s look at who will be on the playing field for us. There will be a lot of statewide action, with unknown Dems – let’s … Continue reading →

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How the so-called “fiscal cliff” might affect Texas

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There is of course a very simple way to avoid this. If President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans cannot avoid tripping off the edge of the so-called fiscal cliff, then the Texas budget could be more than $1 billion short … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: City propositions

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And we come to the city of Houston bond referenda, of which there were five on the ballot. Here’s the usual breakdown of them: Dist A Yes A No B Yes B No C Yes C No D Yes D … Continue reading →

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How’s that GOP Latino outreach going?

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There are issues. On Election Day, it became clearer than ever how important Hispanics, as the fastest growing portion of the U.S. population, are to national political success. Republican Mitt Romney earned only 27 percent of Latinos’ support in his … Continue reading →

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Who doesn’t like parks?

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The usual suspects – cranks, malcontents, and the Harris County GOP, that’s who. Proposition B on the Nov. 6 ballot asks you to pay for part of that plan, of course. Not with increased taxes, though, [Mayor Annise] Parker insists. … Continue reading →

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A national view on redistricting

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Atlantic has an interesting view of the redistricting process. Every 10 years, after U.S. census workers have fanned out across the nation, a snowy-haired gentle­man by the name of Tom Hofeller takes up anew his quest to destroy Democrats. … Continue reading →

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2012 Republican primary runoffs

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

All the results are here. In the end, Ted Cruz won a pretty solid victory. I’ll note that in the last two publicly released polls, PPP had Cruz up by 10, whereas Baselice & Associates claimed Dewhurst was up by … Continue reading →

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Election night returns

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For your convenience: Statewide Democratic results Looks good for Paul Sadler. Going to be a long night in CDs 23 and 33. Statewide Republican results Ted Cruz has a modest early lead. Wackjob John Devine is leading Supreme Court Justice … Continue reading →

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Runoff Day

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

At long last, the 2012 primary season is about to be over in Texas, other than perhaps the HCDE race. To say the least, it’s been a long, strange trip, one that I hope goes down in the books as … Continue reading →

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HCDE runoff will be held

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

So ruled a judge yesterday in the ongoing lawsuit filed by the HCDE to void the Democratic primary in Precinct 1 Position 6. The Harris County Department of Education told a federal judge Monday it wants to proceed with the … Continue reading →

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Devine versus Medina

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

So why did onetime District Court Judge and frequent candidate John Devine decide to challenge Supreme Court Justice David Medina in this year’s GOP primary? A couple of his colleagues in Harris County offer a reason that isn’t very flattering. … Continue reading →

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Yvonne Gutierrez: Republican support for women’s health?

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. We all know there is a lot at stake for the 2012 election cycle. All eyes are on Washington but the … Continue reading →

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