Tag Archives: Libertarian Party

Federal judge rules for third parties in petition access lawsuit

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how much difference this makes. A federal judge in Austin has blocked Texas from enforcing a more than century-old state law that requires third-party candidates to collect petition signatures on paper to qualify for a place on the … Continue reading →

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Libertarians will remain on the ballot

Posted on August 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Too bad, Republicans. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Republican effort to remove a host of Libertarian candidates from the November ballot, saying the GOP did not bring their challenge soon enough. In a unanimous opinion, the all-GOP … Continue reading →

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GOP seeks to knock Libertarians off the ballot

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They tried this in 2020 with no success, but might be better positioned this year. Texas Republicans have filed a petition to knock 23 Libertarian candidates off the November ballot for not paying their filing fees. On August 8, 23 … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Statewide judicial

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 We’re going to take a look at the seven statewide judicial races in this post, with all of the districts considered so far grouped together. You’re about … Continue reading →

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A few observations from the final unofficial countywide data

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is still unofficial, and there will still be some overseas/military ballots to be counted as well as some provisional ballots to be cured, but the count of the votes cast by Election Day is over, and we have the … Continue reading →

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Bloomberg drops some money in the RRC race

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has made a late donation of $2.6 million to the Democratic nominee for railroad commissioner, Chrysta Castañeda, providing a massive fundraising boost in a race for the oil and … Continue reading →

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A matter of timing

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the stated reason why SCOTX overturned the earlier decision that booted three Green Party candidates off the ballot. The Texas Supreme Court in a new opinion Friday explained its decision to reinstate to the November ballot Green Party candidates … Continue reading →

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The Green Party owes Ken Paxton a thank-you note

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

He did them a solid, that’s for sure. In the legal fight to exclude minor party candidates from the November ballot, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton took a flexible view of time and deadlines. After the Texas GOP filed suit … Continue reading →

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SCOTX puts Greens back on the ballot

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That sound you hear is my head spinning. The Texas Supreme Court has ordered three Green Party candidates to be restored to the November ballot after Democrats successfully sued to remove them. Last month, a state appeals court sided with the … 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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State appeals court rules (mostly) against Libertarians in filing fee lawsuit

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the story. It gets into the legal weeds, and I’m going to try my best to clear them out. A state appellate court this week upheld a 2019 law that extended a requirement that candidates pay a filing fee … Continue reading →

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Libertarians will stay on the ballot

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, Republicans. You were too late after all. The Texas Supreme Court on Saturday rejected an attempt by Republicans to kick 44 Libertarians off the ballot in the November elections. Several Republican Party candidates and organizations had sued to remove … Continue reading →

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More on the Republican attempt to defenestrate the Libertarians

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From the Statesman: Republican candidates and organizations are asking the Texas Supreme Court to remove 41 members of the Libertarian Party from the November ballots. All of the Libertarians are ineligible to run, the GOP argues, because they failed to … Continue reading →

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Republicans go to Supreme Court to remove Libertarian candidates

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

If at first you don’t succeed, make up a new statutory deadline that you claim is the real date that matters. About a week after Texas Democrats took several Green Party candidates to court and had them knocked off the … Continue reading →

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Republicans try and fail to remove Libertarian candidates from the ballot

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Patrick Svitek: . Texas appeals court rejects last-minute lawsuits by @NRCC, @TravisGOP to kick Libertarian candidates off November ballot for not paying filing fees: http://search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=fee8c1fc-f70a-4d57-baf0-5775ccdea786&coa=coa03&DT=Opinion&MediaID=9242cd19-73c0-441c-bc1f-786be9ec000f — Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) 12:00 AM – 26 August 2020 The Third Court of … Continue reading →

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Further thoughts on the Dems defenestrating the Green candidates

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

But first, the Chron story about yesterday’s legal action. An appellate court on Wednesday blocked three Green Party candidates from the November ballot because they failed to pay candidate filing fees. The candidates are David Collins, who was running for … Continue reading →

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More challenges to Green Party candidates

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Patrick Svitek: . @ChrystaForTexas, @wendydavis sue to remove their Green Party opponents from the ballot, saying they didn’t pay filing fees on time: http://search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=6f9426d1-7b86-4718-b99a-8356e5d806a6&coa=coa03&DT=Brief&MediaID=297d5426-ee45-4039-8bfc-dc8891686f76 The Green Party candidate in Davis’ race is @Wakely2020, who was the 2016 Democratic nominee … Continue reading →

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Green Party candidate for Supreme Court withdraws

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not an election without a bit of ballot drama. Charles Waterbury, the Green Party candidate for Texas Supreme Court chief justice, has dropped out of the race after an opponent questioned his eligibility to run. Waterbury’s withdrawal notice was … Continue reading →

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The fifty percent challenge

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

An interesting point from Amy Walters. President Trump is at the most precarious political moment of his presidency. Or at least, the most precarious since the summer and fall of 2017 when, in the wake of Charlottesville, the failure to … Continue reading →

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That’s a weird definition of “thriving”

Posted on December 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Surrounded by fellow Libertarians during a 2018 election night watch party at a rented Airbnb in Fort Worth, Eric Espinoza, who was running for state Rep. Jonathan Stickland’s seat, saw a Facebook … Continue reading →

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I’m not that worried about the Green Party effect in Texas

Posted on September 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not nothing, but it’s unlikely to be much. Texas House Bill 2504, passed along party lines by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature in May and signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in June, lowers the threshold that minor political parties … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Libertarians and Greens sue over the petition process for ballot access

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see about this. Ahead of the 2020 election cycle, a group of Texans, along with a number of nonmajor political parties, have sued the secretary of state’s office, alleging that Texas election law discriminates against third-party and independent candidates … Continue reading →

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A strange way to improve ballot access

Posted on May 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hard not to see partisan motives in this. A bill on track to reach Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk appears designed to make it easier for Green Party candidates and harder for Libertarian candidates to get on the Texas ballot in … Continue reading →

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No Greens

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t honestly say I’m sorry. When Texans head to the ballot box this November, they’ll be able to vote for Republicans, Democrats or Libertarians. If they want to choose a candidate affiliated with another political group, they might have to … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect the Kathie Glass effect to be much

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like every four years we talk about the possible effect of third party candidates on various races. Usually, it’s in the context of legislative races, where some candidates have won with less than 50% in recent years and one … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Third parties revisited

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Politico has a question. Is Austin’s Travis County the nation’s Libertarian Party stronghold? The co-founders of a Libertarian political action committee based there make that case, arguing that the Texas locale is the “most Libertarian large county in America.” Wes … Continue reading →

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The third parties

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

While I work my way through the precinct data in Harris County, we can keep looking at the county data for Texas from last week’s election. Here are the top and bottom ten counties by percentage of the vote for … Continue reading →

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Courting the Ron Paul voters

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. Libertarian presidential candidate and would-be spoiler Gary Johnson smoked out new campaign cash here this week. But his hopes are just a pipe dream unless he wins over Republican voters loyal to never-say-quit candidate Ron Paul. … Continue reading →

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From the “Grant me the grace to accept the things I cannot change” department

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

What’s that old saying? “Could be worse. Could be raining.” As Democrats around the country girded for a midterm GOP tsunami, Bill White and his down-ballot Democratic cohorts spent the weekend tacking up political plywood and looking for signs, any … Continue reading →

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Still not mentioning the Libertarian numbers

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s one Trib story about their most recent poll (summary here, crosstabs here), that barely mentions the most remarkable numbers from it. The voters who identify with the Tea Party overwhelmingly favor Republicans in statewide races, with more than 80 … Continue reading →

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Once again, I’ll take the under

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a bizarre new UT/Texas Trib poll that’s so odd I can’t even come up with a good introduction for it, so I’m just going to jump straight to the weirdness: Republican Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, Bill … Continue reading →

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Will there be a Libertarian effect in the Governor’s race?

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Hard to say, but the odds that there would be at least one article about the possibility of a Libertarian effect in the Governor’s race were pretty close to 100%. [Kathie] Glass, 56, is a Houston civil lawyer and Libertarian … Continue reading →

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Revisiting the Libertarian effect

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

While we still don’t know what the deal will be with the Green Party, we may wonder what of that other third party on the ballot? Ross Ramsey takes a look at the Libertarian Party and the effect its candidates … Continue reading →

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Hey, remember when Kinky Friedman wanted you to believe he was a Democrat?

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a reason why some of us never believed a word he said. I figure he’ll reinvent himself again in 2012 as a Green, thus completing his tour of the Texas political world. Some people just don’t know when to … Continue reading →

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