Tag Archives: Election 2011

Where the line is

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Me, July 17: I disagree that anyone who might think about challenging the Mayor will wait two years before taking action. They’ll simply wait to see how Parker does in November. Like all three of her predecessors in the term-limits … Continue reading →

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Interview with Larry Green

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

District K is one of the two new Council seats that resulted from the redistricting plan this year. You’d think a brand new seat like that would draw a crowd, but this new district has basically drawn a crowd of … Continue reading →

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A closer look at finance reports: Spending on consultants

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Now that we’ve looked at who gives to candidates in Houston, let’s take a look at what those candidates spend their money on. Broadly speaking, your main forms of expenditures include overhead (rent, food, office supplies, transportation, webhosting, etc), advertising, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Interview with CM James Rodriguez

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

CM James Rodriguez is running for his third term in District I. He was Chief of Staff for his predecessor, Rep. Carol Alvarado, so he has actually been serving the district a lot longer than that. Rodriguez has been in … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Look at me! Look at meeeeee!

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I have one thing to say about this. With three months until election day, attorney Benjamin Hall still hasn’t declared whether he’s running against Mayor Annise Parker. “I have not taken myself out of the contest,” Hall told me late … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Oliver Pennington

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

CM Oliver Pennington was elected in 2009 as the Council member for District G. Pennington was a partner at the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, where he specialized in various aspects of municipal law. He’s also a graduate of … Continue reading →

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A closer look at finance reports: Elected officials

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to contributions from PACs, there was another class of donor that I thought was worth highlighting: Elected officials and candidates for public office. Basically, the idea is to see who “the establishment” is supporting, to see what we … Continue reading →

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Sumners v Sullivan?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this would be entertaining. County tax assessor-collector Don Sumners thinks Houston City Councilman Mike Sullivan may be preparing to take a run at him in next year’s GOP primary, and Sullivan isn’t denying it. Sumners took a swipe or … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Brad Bradford

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

CM C.O. “Brad” Bradford is in his first term of service in At Large #4. A former Chief of Police with HPD and the Democratic nominee for District Attorney in 2008, CM Bradford has been one of the more high … Continue reading →

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A closer look at finance reports: PACs

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Having taken the time to download all of those campaign finance reports for the city of Houston elections, which you can view on my 2011 Election page, I wanted to see what I could learn from all this data. So … Continue reading →

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Update on HISD and HCC finance reports

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I had mentioned before that it was hard to find campaign finance reports for HISD and HCC Trustees. I now have some updated information about this, so I wanted to share it with you. First, HISD Trustee Anna Eastman (who … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Ed Gonzalez

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

CM Ed Gonzalez was elected to complete the unexpired term of now-Sheriff Adrian Garcia in June of 2009, and is now running for his second full term on Council. He’s a former homicide investigator for HPD, and was elected by … Continue reading →

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A word about endorsements

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As I have done in prior elections, I will be keeping track of endorsements for the 2011 elections. You can argue all you want about the value of endorsements – clearly, some are more valuable than others, and some mean … Continue reading →

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Those darned propositions

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Houston voters can be forgiven if they feel a bit confused. They voted down red-light cameras, but the cameras are on. They may have heard the mayor say that voting for a … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Wanda Adams

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

CM Wanda Adams was first elected in District D in 2007, and is now running for her third term. She was employed by the City of Houston before being elected to Council, so it was interesting to get her perspective … Continue reading →

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The non-filers

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We are now more than a week beyond the deadline to file campaign finance reports for City of Houston elections. The following candidates for city office have not yet filed a campaign finance report for July: Michael Williams, At Large … Continue reading →

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The other races

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to the city of Houston races, I am trying to follow the HISD and HCC Trustee elections as well. I say “trying” because there’s just no information out there that I can find. For one thing, though there … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Melissa Noriega

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Council Member Melissa Noriega was elected to finish the unexpired At Large #3 term of Shelley Sekula Gibbs in June of 2007, and has been re-elected for full terms twice since. She’s the chair of the Public Safety and Homeland … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Tuesday late filers report

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is a semi-regular tracker of late campaign finance report filings for City of Houston elections. I’ll keep this up until either everyone has filed, or we all get sick of it and I move onto other trivial obsessions. With … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Stephen Costello

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We begin the 2011 election interview season with first term Council Member Stephen Costello, elected in 2009 in At Large #1. He had a mission in mind when he ran for office, and that was a plan to fund street … Continue reading →

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Finance reports and the Mayor’s race

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Finance report updates: David Robinson has filed his corrected report, which includes the $53,095.57 cash on hand total that was omitted in the original. There were no other changes made. Mayoral candidate Kevin Simms has now filed his report. He … Continue reading →

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Constitutional amendments for 2011

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There will be ten constitutional amendments on the ballot this November. I may revise this opinion later, but my initial impression is that none of them are particularly controversial or momentous. No cancer bonds, no tort “reform”, no gambling – … Continue reading →

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The anti-gay stuff has already started

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

For the most part, we didn’t see any nasty homophobia in the 2009 Mayoral election until the runoff, at which point it oozed out from several locations. This time around, the gay bashers aren’t wasting any time. First, usual suspect … Continue reading →

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More campaign finance reports for July

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Following up on the earlier post, here are some more highlights from the July campaign finance reports for City of Houston elections. All reports can be found on my 2011 Election page. – Since I dinged Al Hoang for not … Continue reading →

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Some early fundraising numbers

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the day that campaign finance reports are due for candidates in this November’s city of Houston elections. Some early filer’s reports are already up on the city’s Campaign Finance webpage. I’ve uploaded copies of these reports to my … Continue reading →

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San Marcos takes a step forward on smoking ban

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A non-binding step, anyway. Presented with four ways to proceed with a potential public smoking ban, the San Marcos City Council opted late Tuesday to move forward with putting a nonbinding referendum before voters in November. Assistant City Manager Collette … Continue reading →

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The 2011 interview season has begun

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As of this week, I will begin interviewing candidates for the 2011 elections. At the top of the site, you can see the 2011 Election page, where I will be keeping track of interviews, endorsements, campaign finance reports, and possibly … Continue reading →

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Still no statewide smoking ban

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Last Tuesday, just before the special session ended, the Trib summarized where the effort to pass a statewide smoking ban stood. Bill: SB 28 would institute a statewide ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and many public places. If passes, supporters … Continue reading →

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More on the red light camera ruling

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I said before that what happens next with the red light camera ruling is a political decision. Here’s how that’s shaping up. City Attorney Dave Feldman said Friday’s ruling will force the city to choose from canceling the contract with … Continue reading →

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CM Jones speaks about the OIG report

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

She didn’t say much, however. Councilwoman Jolanda Jones said Monday she believes she “will have acted within the acceptable standards of conduct” once all the facts are out concerning an Office of Inspector General investigation that found she used city … Continue reading →

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Inspector General cites CM Jones

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ouch. Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones used city employees to help run her personal law practice and instructed her staff not to meet with investigators looking into her alleged misconduct, the city’s inspector general has determined. For three of the … Continue reading →

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The Empty Lot Primary

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is an awesome idea. A political consultant is launching a Web site aimed shaming political candidates into limiting the posting of signs to addresses where the residents actually endorse their candidacies. Greg Wythe’s emptylotprimary.tumblr.com invites people to submit photos of campaign signs … Continue reading →

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HCC redistricting update

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The last of the HCC public meetings on redistricting is tonight at 7 at HCC – Northeast College (map here), so those of you that are into that sort of thing should make plans to attend. There is now a … Continue reading →

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HCC redistricting

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Turns out that the HCC Trustees have done some work on redistricting for themselves. Their meeting agenda for May 19 lists “Resolution Accepting Draft Plans for Redistricting of HCCS Board of Trustees Districts and Confirming Public Hearings” as the fourth … Continue reading →

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