Tag Archives: John Carter

First proposed Congressional map is out

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a thing. Texas lawmakers on Monday released their first draft of a new congressional map for the next decade that includes two new districts in Austin and Houston — metropolitan areas with diverse populations tht fueled much of the … Continue reading →

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July 2021 campaign finance reports: Congress

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s July, and that means its campaign finance report season. I’m going to do a tour through the finance reports as I have done before, beginning with Congressional reports. I have posted reports from January 2021, which is the completion … Continue reading →

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A closer look at county races, Part 1

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

In this series of entries, I’m going to take a trip through the local election results pages on some counties of interest, to get a closer look at how they went this year and how that compares to 2016. We … Continue reading →

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CD31 poll: Carter 43, Imam 37

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Another interesting Congressional race poll. With less than two months to go until Election Day, an increasing number of eyes are looking toward Texas, where Republicans are fighting to keep their grip on the once-reliably conservative state. There is perhaps … Continue reading →

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Who will carry the flag in CD31?

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This primary interests me mostly to see if we can get a truly viable challenger in this district or not. No one person has emerged yet, that’s for sure. Democrats who want to be Republican U.S. Rep. John Carter’s challenger … Continue reading →

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The evolving CD31 candidate landscape

Posted on November 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We have a lot of Democratic candidates raising 2018-type money in the big, targeted Republican-held Congressional districts. Some have clear frontrunners, at least based on money raised – Wendy Davis in CD21, Sri Kulkarni in CD22, Gina Ortiz Jones in … Continue reading →

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PPP: Competitive Congressional districts are competitive

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Some nice data points for you. A handful of Republican-held House seats in the Texas suburbs represent fertile ground for competitive races in 2020, according to recent Democratic polling. The surveys in six GOP districts, shared first with CQ Roll … Continue reading →

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Rep. Mac Thornberry to retire

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Six down. U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon, announced Monday that he will not seek reelection in 2020, making him the sixth GOP congressman from Texas to say he’s retiring in recent weeks. “It has been a great honor for me … Continue reading →

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How many Congressional seats are really in play for Texas Dems?

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

By one measure, more than you probably think. From Jonathan Tilove of the Statesman: Last weekend, I read an interview in Salon with Rachel Bitecofer, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. She is also an … Continue reading →

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We’ll have a much better idea of who the candidates are soon

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are a lot of people filing to run for Congress as Democrats. It remains to be seen how many of them are viable. Three times as many Democrats have already filed to run for Congress in Texas this year … Continue reading →

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Where the Republicans think they’re vulnerable

Posted on April 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Always good to get the opposing perspective on these things. Eight House Republicans, including the three from districts won by Hillary Clinton in 2016, have been named to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s list of incumbents expected to face tough … Continue reading →

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Just a reminder, Will Hurd is still a Republican

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That means he does Republican things. Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd said he would vote for Donald Trump in 2020 over his friend, former Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, should he decide to run and win the Democratic Party’s nomination. … Continue reading →

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More looking forward to 2020

Posted on February 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna have some more of that sweet Congressional election action. Smelling blood after picking up two Texas congressional seats in November – along with Beto O’Rourke’s narrow loss in the U.S. Senate race – House Democrats [recently] announced six new … Continue reading →

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MJ Hegar considers a Senate run

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Now we’re getting somewhere. Military veteran MJ Hegar, a former U.S. House candidate, is seriously considering a run for the Democratic nomination to take on U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in 2020. Hegar, who served in the Air Force in Afghanistan, … Continue reading →

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The first targets for 2020

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve already agreed that the 2020 election season has begun, so a little attack advertising over the shutdown seems like a good play National Democrats have five Texas Republican congressmen in their crosshairs as they begin the 2020 election cycle … Continue reading →

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What if he does it anyway?

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That’s my question. Gov. Greg Abbott, the state’s two Republican U.S. senators and a bipartisan group of 20 U.S. House members released a letter stating their staunch opposition to raiding Texas’ hard-fought Harvey money. “Recent reports have indicated that your … Continue reading →

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Who might be next to retire from Congress?

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We may see some more exits in the coming years, some voluntary and some not. Retirement talk is generally speculative until an incumbent makes an official announcement. But many Republican operatives bet that U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, the most senior … Continue reading →

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The next round of redistricting is going to be even more fun

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Close races do complicate things. Texas Republicans collected half of the votes statewide in congressional races this month. ­But even after Democrats flipped two districts, toppling GOP veterans in Dallas and Houston, Republicans will control 23 of the state’s 36 … Continue reading →

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CD31 “live poll” Carter 53, Hegar 38

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Not a great result in CD31, where Democratic challenger MJ Hegar and her fundraising and amazing vidoes have moved this race against Rep. John Carter into lean-Republican territory on multiple forecasters’ lists, with two minor caveats and one addendum. Nate … Continue reading →

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Henry Cuellar does his thing

Posted on September 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

And it’s annoying as usual. A new report has left many Democratic House insiders perplexed and frustrated with one of the most powerful Texas Democrats in Congress: U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. Politico reported Tuesday that Cuellar had”invited supporters to … Continue reading →

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Another look at MJ Hegar

Posted on September 1, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of this is stuff we’ve seen before, but there are a couple of points worth mentioning. Flipping a conservative stronghold like Texas’ 31st Congressional District, centered on Round Rock, would qualify as the high-water mark of any “blue wave” … Continue reading →

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Trump’s Texas beneficiaries

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Six Texas Republican in Congress received a show of financial support from their party’s leader this week. President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign announced Thursday that it was donating the maximum contribution possible to around 100 House and Senate Republican … Continue reading →

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Dems keep posting very strong finance reports

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. There are few bigger warning signs for a member of Congress that their re-election may be in doubt than when a challenger outraises them. In Texas, it just happened to seven incumbents, all Republicans. Since last week, when U.S. … Continue reading →

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The story behind the MJ Hegar video

Posted on July 11, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Cool little “making of” feature. Mary Jennings “MJ” Hegar, a 42-year-old mother and Republican turned “independent Democrat” running for Congress in Texas, is an Air Force veteran and retired Air National Guard helicopter pilot who didn’t let an abusive biological father, … Continue reading →

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Three more Dems top $1 million in Q2

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

In the morning there was Gina Ortiz Jones. Gina Ortiz Jones, the Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, raised more than $1.2 million over the last three months, a huge haul that far outpaces the fundraising by her … Continue reading →

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Filing roundup: Other Congressional races, part 1

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We already knew this, but just a reminder there’s at least one Democratic candidate in all 36 Congressional districts in Texas. In deep-red Texas, Republicans will have to fight for every congressional seat in next year’s midterm elections. For the … Continue reading →

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A third PPP Congressional poll in Texas

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a Public Policy Polling Twitter thread of interest. I’ve highlighted the specific relevant tweets. The generic ballot polling certainly looks great for Democrats, but how is that playing out at the district level? We've polled 36 GOP held Congressional … Continue reading →

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More on Democratic Congressional candidate fundraising

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From the Statesman, with a focus on Austin-area candidates, but also with a more holistic view of what the atmosphere is like. “Trump’s lower than average net approval ratings for a Republican in Texas, as well as anger and dismay … Continue reading →

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MJ Hegar in CD31

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Very cool. In a Texas congressional district that includes one of the country’s largest military bases, a military hero is betting she can stage a political upset. Air Force veteran MJ Hegar is launching a Democratic challenge against U.S. Rep. … 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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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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Your Texas Republican delegation in action

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

David Weigel tells us what some of our Republican Congressfolk have been up to. Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.), who has introduced a bill that would require future presidential candidates to provide proof of U.S. citizenship, has collected four more co-sponsors — Reps. … Continue reading →

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