Tag Archives: Congress

Sen. Eckhardt will run for CD10

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Game on. State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt launched her campaign for Texas’ 10th Congressional District on Monday, saying voters in the district, long held by Republicans, deserve choices. The Austin Democrat’s announcement comes a month and a half after Rep. Michael … Continue reading →

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October 2025 campaign finance reports – CD18

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I looked at the October campaign finance reports for Congress and Senate last week, but didn’t include CD18 because they had a later deadline for reporting. Today we get to catch up on that. The April reports for Congress and … Continue reading →

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October 2025 campaign finance reports – Senate and Congress (Not CD18)

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I’m doing this one a little differently, for two reasons. One is that I want to include non-Democratic candidates in the CD18 special election, just so we’re all on the same page. And two, as of this past weekend when … Continue reading →

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Early voting for the November 2025 election begins tomorrow

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Harris County Clerk’s Office (HCCO) urges voters to take advantage of Early Voting, which starts Monday, October 20, and ends Friday, October 31. Ballot Items Include 17 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution 18th Congressional District Houston City Council At-Large Position … Continue reading →

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UH/Hobby poll of CD18: Menefee 27, Edwards 23, Jones 15

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I figured there’d be another poll of this race from them. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards are leading the crowded race to fill Texas’ 18 Congressional District seat, according to a new … Continue reading →

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Interview with Jolanda Jones

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We come to the end of the line of my interviews for this cycle. I’ll be back in the saddle soon enough for the 2026 primaries, but today we are finishing off the interviews for CD18. In a race with … Continue reading →

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Interview with Christian Menefee

Posted on October 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Our next candidate for CD18 is another familiar name and the first person to formally announce their candidacy for this seat. Christian Menefee has been elected twice as Harris County Attorney – he had to resign to run for CD18 … Continue reading →

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Interview with Isaiah Martin

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Next up for the special election in CD18 is Isaiah Martin, who like Amanda Edwards had filed to run in the 2024 primary while then-Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee was running for Houston Mayor, but then dropped out and endorsed Jackson … Continue reading →

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Interview with Amanda Edwards

Posted on October 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This week we will focus on the election we’ve been waiting for the longest, the special election in CD18 to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Sylvester Turner. There’s a big field for this race but … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Chron for Menefee in CD18

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Special election endorsement #2 is in the books. Let’s get this out of the way: the 18th Congressional district is a storied district with a rich legacy of trailblazing Black Houston leaders from Barbara Jordan to Mickey Leland and Sheila … Continue reading →

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Wesley Hunt says he’s running for Senate

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Sure, why not? Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, entered the Republican primary for U.S. Senate on Monday, complicating an already contentious race between two of the biggest names in Texas Republican politics. Hunt, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has laid the groundwork for … Continue reading →

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Texas Victory Consulting poll of CD18

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is interesting on a couple of levels. As the community prepares to decide who will represent Congressional District 18, understanding current voter preferences is essential. This poll, fielded September 27 to October 2, 2025, conducted with 557 respondents between … Continue reading →

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A brief news roundup from the current redistricting trial

Posted on October 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

What the label says, three news stories I could find that had coverage of the redistricting trial. From the Trib. When Texas first proposed redrawing its congressional map earlier this summer, critics decried it as a political power-grab to appease … Continue reading →

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Redistricting trial 2.0 begins

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off. This week, a trio of federal judges will consider whether Texas can use its new congressional map in the 2026 election, marking the first legal test for the districts produced by a summer of intense partisan clashing. … Continue reading →

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State files its response to the redistricting lawsuit

Posted on September 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

They’re playing the oldies, not the new tune that the Trump Justice Department tried to woo them with. Texas officials acknowledged in a new court filing that the Justice Department’s rationale this summer for pushing them to redraw the state’s … Continue reading →

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Sen. Sarah Eckhardt may run for CD10

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt of Austin said Wednesday she is seriously considering a run for Congress in the GOP-leaning district being vacated next year by 20-year Republican Michael McCaul, saying its time for candidates in her party to … Continue reading →

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Still more on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I once again call your attention to an episode of CityCast Houston, in which host Raheel Ramzanali chats with the host of the CityCast Las Vegas podcast about the experience they’ve had with Elon Musk and the Boring Company and … Continue reading →

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Powered by People gets another win in court

Posted on September 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is all still temporary and preliminary, but it’s also still good. Every time it looks like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is getting the best of Beto O’Rourke in court, the former El Paso congressman pulls off another victory. … Continue reading →

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The redistricting litigation strategy

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s what we’ve got. Outgunned in the national redistricting war, Democrats are launching a multipronged legal battle to try and prevent GOP gains ahead of next year’s midterms. It stands to be a grueling, lengthy and costly process for Democrats … Continue reading →

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More on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Insecure man makes defensive response to fair questions about his wild idea. Film at 11. Billionaire Elon Musk is taking issue with a recent investigation by the Houston Chronicle and The Texas Newsroom that raised questions about a flood tunnel … Continue reading →

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A pair of CD18 polls

Posted on September 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I am just passing these along out of curiosity. Special election polling is very tricky since you just don’t know what the electorate will look like. These are internal campaign polls, which are always inherently suspect. Nobody is particularly visible … Continue reading →

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A brief note about a poll

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This poll. Only one-third of Texas voters approve of the GOP-led effort to redraw the state’s congressional map, according to a recent statewide poll, which found that independent and Democratic voters overwhelmingly opposed the mid-decade redistricting and would rather give … Continue reading →

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Let’s find a Democrat for CD35

Posted on September 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve gotta compete in these redrawn districts. While a number of Republicans are eyeing [the redrawn CD35] — in addition to the Texas GOP’s preferred candidate — Democrats have been slow to line up for the open seat. But San … Continue reading →

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Interview with Vincent Sanders

Posted on September 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, there is a hearing scheduled to begin October 1 in federal court to hear arguments about the new Congressional map. The original group of plaintiffs against the current map, whose trial was finally heard in May, subsequently … Continue reading →

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The CD18 lineup

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Wednesday was also the filing deadline for the CD18 special election. Amanda Edwards has a photo of the SOS proclamation that includes a listing of the candidates and their parties. This Community Impact story also has the lineup and campaign … Continue reading →

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Missouri gets in the mid-decade Trump redistricting game

Posted on September 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From The Downballot. Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe has summoned lawmakers for a special session beginning on Wednesday, during which he wants them to adopt a new congressional gerrymander that would flip Missouri’s 5th District from blue to red. Democrats, however, … Continue reading →

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Paxton throws a fit over being slowed down by Republican judges

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

There sadly isn’t a good straight news (non-paywalled) story about this, but Raw Story has a decent summary. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took to X on Wednesday to rage against state appeals court judges after they paused discovery in … Continue reading →

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What the Lege has done since redistricting

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Just a couple of headlines to ponder, now that the redistricting bill has been signed. Texas House greenlights ‘bounty hunter’ abortion pill ban Texas House OKs transgender bathroom ban after years of GOP attempts Yep, definitely doing the hard work … Continue reading →

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Do we still want flood tunnels if Elon is building them?

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating stuff. The devastating flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 killed dozens of people, inundated hundreds of thousands of homes and left the community desperate for a solution. Since then, local flood experts have extensively studied the … Continue reading →

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Hearing set on new Congressional map

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go A federal judicial panel will hear arguments beginning Oct. 1 for an injunction against the implementation of new congressional boundaries approved by the Texas Legislature. According to three lawyers who were in the El Paso courtroom Wednesday … Continue reading →

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The scramble begins

Posted on August 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Barring judicial action that I have said I don’t expect, the new Congressional map will be in place for the 2026 election. That means that a lot of people who are not now in Congress will be gearing up to … Continue reading →

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Motion to block implementation of new map filed

Posted on August 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Once again, from the inbox: Today, plaintiffs supported by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) filed a preliminary injunction to block the implementation of HB 4, which further gerrymanders the Texas congressional map.  After filing a supplemental complaint in the U.S. … Continue reading →

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New legal challenge filed against redistricting map

Posted on August 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Fron the inbox: Today, plaintiffs supported by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) initiated a legal challenge against the newly enacted congressional gerrymander in Texas in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, asking the court to strike … Continue reading →

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The Alvarado filibuster

Posted on August 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it on. State Sen. Carol Alvarado of Houston plans to filibuster the House-passed redistricting map during floor debate on Friday in a last-ditch effort to delay passage of the plan to create five new winnable seats for the GOP. … Continue reading →

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