Tag Archives: Sylvester Turner

Yeah, we won’t get the CD18 election until November

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the conclusion to draw from this Trib story. Three weeks after U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s death and just over a month before the state’s next uniform election, Gov. Greg Abbott has not yet called a special election to fill … Continue reading →

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An early overview of the CD18 special election

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Whenever it may be. After a whirlwind week of campaign announcements, endorsements and articles by national media, voters in Congressional District 18 could be forgiven for thinking Election Day is right around the corner. In fact, the candidates vying for … Continue reading →

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Menefee and Edwards

Posted on March 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Christian Menefee has gotten off to a strong start in his candidacy for CD18. In his congressional campaign’s first 24 hours, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has raised contributions from more than 5,000 supporters and garnered endorsements from some of … Continue reading →

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Menefee files, Martin announces for CD18

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I woke up to this on Monday. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee announced on Monday his bid for the congressional seat left vacant by the death of Democratic U.S. Rep. and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. “I’m running because working … Continue reading →

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Chron calls for Abbott to get on with it in CD18

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I doubt he’ll listen, but it can’t hurt to try. When the Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee died in July, the 18th Congressional District mourned the loss of a dedicated and longtime public servant. Fortunately, there was already a well-publicized election … Continue reading →

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Remembering Sylvester Turner

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A fine sendoff for a dedicated public servant. Sylvester Turner represented Houston on a national stage for decades as a state representative, mayor and congressman, but on Tuesday he was “Uncle Sylvester.” Turner received one of Houston’s highest honors Tuesday … Continue reading →

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Rep. Turner’s funeral schedule

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s what we know. Funeral services for U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor who died early Wednesday morning, will be held in Houston next week in Acres Homes, the community he called home and always treasured. Turner will lie in … Continue reading →

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Considering the CD18 special election question

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The Press dives right in. Shortly after the news broke Wednesday morning of former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s death, speculation began about a special election for his U.S. Congressional seat — a post he’d held for just two months. Political … Continue reading →

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RIP, Rep. Sylvester Turner

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This came as a total shock yesterday morning. U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor, state legislator and institution in Houston Democratic politics, died early Wednesday morning. He was 70. Turner’s death comes two months into his first term … Continue reading →

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Ismaeli Center update

Posted on February 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

An almost-20-year saga is drawing to a close. I’m excited to see what the end result is. Work has resumed on the massive Ismaili Center near Buffalo Bayou after the death of the Aga Khan IV, the leader of the world’s millions … Continue reading →

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January 2025 campaign finance reports – Senate and Congress

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Harris County offices City of Houston And the cycle starts anew. There will be new names coming and current ones departing in the coming months, but to close the circle here’s where things stood after Election Day. The October … Continue reading →

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2024 was a bad year for traffic deaths in Houston

Posted on February 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Not really a surprise, unfortunately. Asked amid a flurry of design changes and shifts in street policy whether he was abandoning Houston’s goal of eliminating vehicle deaths by 2030, Mayor John Whitmire in February 2024 said a goal for the future … Continue reading →

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January 2025 campaign finance reports – City of Houston

Posted on February 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Harris County offices Continuing with our January campaign finance report review, let’s check in on the current City of Houston elected officials and other people of interest. Candidate Raised Spent Loan On Hand ======================================================= Whitmire 52,900 61,210 0 2,432,442 … Continue reading →

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SCOTx rejects appeal of that zombie ReBuild lawsuit

Posted on February 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

End of the line. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday denied Houston’s motion to appeal a long-standing lawsuit requiring the city to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on street and drainage projects. Friday’s ruling could add yet another financial challenge to a strained city … Continue reading →

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GLO contests the allegations on their Harvey screw job

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Going through the motions here, since we all know that Justice Department investigation will never happen. Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham has penned a letter to federal law enforcement officials encouraging them to reject “unsubstantiated findings” submitted by the U.S. Department … Continue reading →

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Justice Department asked to investigate GLO’s screw job of Houston on Harvey funds

Posted on January 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure that late is actually better than never in this case, but here we are. A complaint stemming from the Texas General Land Office’s allocation of Harvey disaster recovery funds, which originally awarded no money to Houston or Harris … Continue reading →

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Who wants to sell Houston’s water to West Texas?

Posted on January 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I have questions. Gov. Greg Abbott is said to be exploring a plan to buy water from Houston and send it to West Texas — a potentially contentious idea that comes as he has teased “totally transformative” measures in the … Continue reading →

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Whitmire’s first year

Posted on January 3, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has a story about how Mayor Whitmire’s first year has gone, and I’ll get to that shortly, but first I want to look at this story, about his efforts to get help from the state government for the … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead for Rep.-elect Sylvester Turner

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This article starts off with a look back at the career of former State Rep and Mayor, now US Rep-elect Sylvester Turner and his relationship with the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, and then gets into what he will face … Continue reading →

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The next phase of the effort against homelessness

Posted on November 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it goes. Mayor John Whitmire stood Thursday afternoon on a stage in City Hall, alongside a screen with a bold proclamation. “In Mayor Whitmire’s first term, Houston can be the first major city to end street homelessness,” … Continue reading →

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Why are we subsidizing privatized HOA trash collection?

Posted on October 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Whitmire says he’s on the lookout for waste in the budget. May I suggest he look here? Houston has subsidized the private trash collection of some affluent neighborhoods for almost 40 years, a policy that could complicate the city’s … Continue reading →

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October 2024 campaign finance reports – Senate and Congress

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’re about to get into early voting, so you don’t need much of a preamble here. Just one final check-in on the finance reports for our Senatorial and Congressional candidates. The July 2024 reports for both are here, the April … Continue reading →

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Interview with Sylvester Turner

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure that by now you are well familiar with the story of CD18 after the passing of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in July. As such, you know that former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is now the Democratic nominee for … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Mayor Turner for CD18

Posted on September 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron is getting an early start on endorsements this year. Dabbing at his eyes, former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner recalled the final conversation he had with the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in an interview with KHOU11’s Len Cannon. … Continue reading →

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CD18 special election lineup set

Posted on August 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

It’s Erica Lee Carter and two people you’ve never heard of. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s daughter, Erica Lee Carter, will be the only Democrat on the ballot seeking to finish the late congresswoman’s term, priming Carter for a few … Continue reading →

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Turner wins CD18 nomination

Posted on August 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

It was very close. Several dozen precinct chairs Tuesday night elected former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to be the Democratic nominee for Congressional District 18, replacing the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on the Nov. 5 ballot. The vote means … Continue reading →

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The CD18 candidate forum

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This was a well-organized event, and my kudos to everyone who put it together in such a short period of time. I just have a couple of comments. Candidates vying to fill the congressional seat of the late U.S. Rep. … Continue reading →

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Two more small updates on CD18

Posted on August 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I learned two things of interest from this Houston Landing story about the CD18 situation. The bulk of the story is about the candidate forum today and the recent Zoom interviews that candidates did (see here for more on each), … Continue reading →

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July 2024 campaign finance reports – City of Houston

Posted on August 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Senate and Congress State offices Harris County offices No preambles here. This used to be a dead time in the city electoral cycle, as no one was allowed to fundraise until the January of the election year. That’s long … Continue reading →

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Two small updates on the CD18 race

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From this Trib overview of the five candidates “with extensive elected experience” in the CD18 race: Since the candidate selection is internal within the party, there is no formal filing process for candidates and precinct chairs could theoretically choose anyone. … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: SJL’s kids for Turner

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Over the past several weeks we’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and love from the residents of the 18th Congressional District. Countless people have reached out to express not only condolences for our mother’s death, … Continue reading →

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The election to nominate a candidate in CD18 has been set

Posted on August 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Per an email that I got yesterday from the HCDP, the Executive Committee meeting of CD18 precinct chairs to fill the vacancy on the November ballot will be next Tuesday, August 13, at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, with the meeting … Continue reading →

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The lost Harvey recovery funds

Posted on August 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good job on the audit front. Now let’s see what we can learn from this. Houston lost at least $8.5 million in potential reimbursements for a federally funded Hurricane Harvey home repair program due to missed deadlines and filing errors, … Continue reading →

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The potential candidates so far for CD18

Posted on July 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron lists a few, but I can and will tell you there are others. The campaign to replace the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in Congress is playing out behind the scenes, with potential candidates calling precinct chairs … Continue reading →

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