Tag Archives: Election 2008

Kinky for Ag Commish, Sam Houston (maybe) for AG

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

One and a half candidate announcements to note from the weekend. First, from the Trib, is the quadrennial appearance of Kinky Friedman. Singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist and former Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman will run for the Democratic nomination to … Continue reading →

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Still no injunction in voter registration lawsuit

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Unfortunate. A district judged erred by partially blocking the enforcement of new Texas voter registration laws while a lawsuit alleging that the laws suppress voting goes forward, a federal appeals court has ruled. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. … Continue reading →

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Have you gotten your text from the Ben Hall campaign?

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Ben Hall campaign sent out this press release on Tuesday: The Ben Hall for Mayor campaign has launched a new initiative to reach Houston voters and communicate with them on a platform where they already spend a lot of … Continue reading →

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Callegari to retire

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We will have at least one open State House seat in Harris County next year. State Rep. Bill Callegari, a Katy Republican who chairs the House Committee on Pensions and the House Research Organization, said Monday that he wouldn’t seek … 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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BGTX and Anglo women voters

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The San Antonio Current has a great story on what Battleground Texas is up to, and why more than just increasing turnout is needed to turn Texas blue. The Democrats can take Texas in 2016 if they can tap into … Continue reading →

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What it takes to win statewide

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Via Ed Kilgore comes this analysis that tries to paint an especially bleak picture for Texas Democrats in 2014. First of all, Democrats have yet to win more than 44 percent of the total vote in any recent statewide election … Continue reading →

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What are the odds for Wendy?

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

After a week of Democratic energy and exhilaration like we haven’t seen in a long time here thanks to the Wendy Davis filibuster, there are a lot of people who’d like to see Sen. Davis run for Governor. No doubt … Continue reading →

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What the future may hold for Wendy Davis

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Patricia Kilday Hart has her take on the Wendy Davis phenomenon, including the reaction of some Republicans to it. For both proponents and opponents of SB 5, the legislation that would have banned abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy and … Continue reading →

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Redistricting deal in the works?

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Color me skeptical of this. The contours of an agreement might have emerged Monday as a special committee of the Texas House debated maps of congressional and legislative districts. A Republican lawmaker and an attorney for the Mexican American Legislative … Continue reading →

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Taking back the Texas Senate

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Colin Strother says the Democrats should not overlook opportunities to make gains in the upper chamber of the Legislature. The conventional wisdom is that Democrats need a miracle to pick up any single seat, much less turn the chamber Blue. … Continue reading →

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Another petition filed against Lehmberg

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The filer is a former colleague as well as a former opponent of Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg. Rick Reed, who ran against Lehmberg in 2008 and is now a defense attorney in Austin, filed the petition with the district … Continue reading →

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Should Travis County DA Lehmberg resign?

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Perspectives on that are colored by politics right now. While Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg sought to put her weekend drunken driving arrest behind her, debate over her political future reached the State Capitol on Monday, where lawmakers weighed … Continue reading →

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Early voting safe for now

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Glad to hear it. A bill that would slash the number of days allowed for early voting is likely to be pulled after scathing testimony Monday from opponents who said the bill was discriminatory and retrogressive. House Bill 2093, by … Continue reading →

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Nate Silver takes another look at Texas

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s always about the numbers. Since President Obama’s re-election in 2012, Republicans have worried about what an increasingly diverse electorate will mean for their future as a national party. Democrats, meanwhile, have started talking about turning ruby red states like … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Congressional overs and unders

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

To wrap up my look at 2012 versus 2008 results for all the new districts, here’s how the 36 Congressional districts compared. Dist McCain Pct Obama08 Pct Romney Pct Obama12 Pct RIdx DIdx ============================================================================== 01 178,520 68.85% 78,918 30.44% 181,833 … Continue reading →

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Battlegound Texas officially launches

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You have probably heard by now that Battleground Texas has officially launched. Spearheaded by organizers of Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012 — when Republican nominee Mitt Romney handily carried the Lone Star State — a new push, called “Battleground Texas,” … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Comparing 2012 and 2008, Senate and SBOE edition

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

To follow up on my previous examination of how the 2012 election returns looked in State House districts compared to the 2008 returns, I now have the data to look at other types of districts as well. You can find … 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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Precinct analysis: Comparing 2012 and 2008

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Though the data isn’t yet posted on individual members’ webpages, I have gotten a copy of the 2012 election results by State Rep district, for which there was much rejoicing. The first question of interest is how much the 2008 … Continue reading →

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Last day of early voting in SD06 today

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the last day for early voting in the SD06 special election. Voting has not been terribly brisk so far. Through Monday there have been 7,178 total votes cast. You can see the daily figures here. Monday was a … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of SD06

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The day before early voting begins in the SD06 special election (which is today), the Chron previews the race. It has a lot of stuff we already know, and it mostly focuses on the two frontrunners, Sylvia Garcia and Rep. … Continue reading →

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White Ds and non-white Rs

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

A few points to make about this. White Democrats are an increasingly vanishing species in the Texas Legislature, where there will be only 10 when the new legislative session starts in early January. The face of the Legislature has undergone … Continue reading →

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Trib overview of SD06 special election

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For all the delays in getting this called, the special election in SD06 is one month from today. The Trib takes a look. State Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, and Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat and former Harris County commissioner, are vying … Continue reading →

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Once more to the judicial elections well

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I swear, I thought I was done talking about judicial elections, at least for now until one or more of the bills that would affect them comes up in the Lege, but then there was this op-ed in the Chron, … Continue reading →

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It’s the vote spread that matters

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I had an email conversation with Judge Mark Davidson regarding my post about straight-ticket voting and its effect on judicial races. He said I misunderstood the point he was trying to make in that Chron story. From his email, quoted … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: A closer look at the Latino districts

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a more in-depth look at the Latino districts in Harris County. I’m particularly interested in the question of how President Obama did in comparison to the other Dems on the ballot, since as we know he lagged behind them … Continue reading →

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Straight ticket voting and judicial races elsewhere

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You may be wondering, after reading my post about straight ticket voting and judicial races if the same thing is true in counties other than Harris. I got to wondering that myself, so I checked out the results from a … Continue reading →

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Getting out the vote in Bexar County

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Stace pointed me to this Express News story about the Bexar County Democratic Party’s ground game for the November election. Many factors influence the outcome of an election, and precise analysis is not always available. But putting $600,000 into a … Continue reading →

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Pity the poor judges

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s hard out here on a judge. For longer than anyone remembers, you had to be a Democrat to be a district judge in Texas – or just about any other political office. When the Democratic Party split apart in … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The range of possibility

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a look at selected districts in Harris County that shows the range of votes and vote percentages achieved by Democratic candidates. I’ve thrown in the Obama and Sam Houston results from 2008 for each to provide a comparison between … Continue reading →

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We should expect boring Congressional races for the foreseeable future

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That’s my takeaway after reading this. For Pete Sessions, election night ended with yet another resounding send-off to Washington. He won a ninth term, with 58 percent of the vote. But an analysis by The Dallas Morning News raises questions … Continue reading →

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Demographic change in the Panhandle

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

What’s happening in other parts of Texas is happening in West Texas, too. Whites no longer are the majority group in 17 counties in the Texas Panhandle/South Plains region, including Potter County, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. And based … Continue reading →

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Precinct data: County Commissioner precincts

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I wish they called County Commissioner precincts by some other name, because it’s confusing to refer to them as such when one is discussing canvass data, which is data from the thousand-plus voting precincts in Harris County. But that’s the … Continue reading →

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