Category Archives: Election 2004

Andy Taylor, lawyer for Talmadge Heflin, is still being cagey regarding strategy to cope with Heflin’s electoral loss to Hubert Vo. Because of the narrow margin, Heflin and his attorney were still considering late Tuesday whether to ask for a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Washington Post takes note of the bluing of Dallas County and the election of Lupe Valdez as its Sheriff. Check it out. Via Vince, who’s back in the blogging saddle again now that his duties with the Bob Glaze … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The votes have been counted, but we still don’t know for sure what will happen in the race for HD149 between Hubert Vo and Talmadge Heflin. “It’s not over yet,” Vo said. “I am proud of the results. I feel … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Now that we’ve established that Kristen Mack was correct regarding an election challenge being decided in the House rather than in the courts, I’m starting to find out more about how that process might work if Talmadge Heflin goes that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We have a winner, pending any recounts or other challenges. With the last votes finally counted late Monday, Democratic newcomer Hubert Vo nudged Republican incumbent Talmadge Heflin out of the Texas House of Representatives seat he has held for 22 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s an even more razor-thin margin, but Hubert Vo is still in the lead in HD149. Houston political newcomer Hubert Vo clung to a narrow lead Monday night in his bid to unseat the state House’s most powerful GOP committee … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kos had an interesting post a couple of days ago regarding gains made by Democrats in state legislatures around the country. As silver linings go, that one’s pretty good. For one thing, state legislators should be a big part of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We should find out today if Hubert Vo’s lead in the HD149 race will stand up. Officials began but didn’t finish counting the county’s 3,000 absentee ballots on Sunday. They planned to finish on Monday as well as count 4,000 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Backers of City Prop 2 are in the corner and looking for a way out. Prop 2 was a charter amendment put on the ballot by citizen petition. It called for a cap on all city revenues, such as taxes, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The expected recount final count (see update at bottom) in the extremely tight Vo-Heflin race will take place this weekend. Democratic businessman Hubert Vo apparently defeated Heflin in Tuesday’s election by just 52 votes — a margin that narrowed to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Backers of City Proposition 2 are mad that they won’t get their way. Houston officials say they wrote Tuesday’s Proposition 1 tax cap in a way that specifically meant that the competing Proposition 2 revenue cap couldn’t be enforced if … Continue reading → Continue reading →

State Democrats celebrate the still-unofficial pickup in the House. Seeking victory wherever they could find it, Democrats Wednesday were claiming their first net increase — a gain of one — in the Texas House in more than 30 years and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I had thought that John Kerry would do better in all three of the big urban counties – Bexar, Dallas, and Harris – than Al Gore did. (That he was going to kick butt in Travis County was never a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

All right, enough time in the funk for me. Let’s look back at a few of the things that went well, a few places where we need to do (much) better, and a few opportunities for 2006. First things first, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Sadly, I was wrong to predict that this would be the year that the Harris County Democratic Party won a countywide race. Kathy Stone came closest, losing 52-48; the other judicial candidates all scored in the 46-47% range. Reggie McKamie … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Chet Edwards was the only one of the five endangered Democratic incumbents to survive, as he topped Arlene Wohlgemuth by a 51.17-47.45% margin. Nick Lampson and Martin Frost came closest, but neither came particularly close; both lost by about 10 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We’re off to watch returns at the Get Donkey! household. I’ll try to check in before heading over to KPFT to make my media debut. The Burnt Orange guys will be posting results, so keep an eye on them. Oh, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Turnout is indeed high in Houston. How heavy, we’ll see. Andrew has some projections from around the state. One hour till we start seeing some results here… Continue reading →

I know what Ezra means when he talks about feeling a strange calm today. Actually, for me, it’s more like the feeling I used to get as a big test that I’d really studied for was being handed out. Confident, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After beautiful weather throughout the early voting period, the Houston area has had severe thunderstorms since yesterday. It didn’t rain all day everywhere, but it did rain a lot, and it was pretty heavy at times. If we get anything … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just a few Congressional race stories to tide you over until it’s all over… MyDD suggests that President Bush’s campaign stop tonight in Dallas is recognition that Pete Sessions is in trouble against Martin Frost. I sure hope that’s right. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the things we’ve heard way too much of this election season is that there erally isn’t a pro-Kerry vote, there’s just an anti-Bush vote. My response to that is “So what?” One of the other things we’ve heard … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s coming down to the wire in the hot race for HD149. “I’m everywhere I can be,” said Republican state Rep. Talmadge Heflin, who is facing a strong challenge from his Democratic opponent, Hubert Vo. “Monday will be a long … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I agree with Kos: Any article that calls Tom DeLay embattled is one that I will enjoy reading. One point of interest: DeLay has represented his district since 1984 and is accustomed to rolling up big victories. He got 60 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Poll: Texas Democrats feel ready for comeback They haven’t held statewide office since 1998. They lost control of the state Legislature in 2002. And last year many of them got drawn into congressional districts where it will be almost impossible … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Burnt Orange, Greg Wythe, and George Strong all have some Election Day predictions. I’m not going to go there, for the simple reason that it’s never a good idea to bet with your heart and not your head. Anything I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Thursday was the fourth straight day in Harris County that the number of people voting early exceeded the day before. Over 54,000 ballots were cast here on the penultimate day, bringing turnout to nearly 19%. We’re still pikers compared to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tiffany arrived at the West Grey Multipurpose Center around 9:30 to vote, but left after being told it was a 3 hour wait. Rob was already in line then; he comments here that he got there at 8:30 and it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Christian Science Monitor sees some surprises in the works for the Congressional elections, even in Texas. On the House side, the conventional wisdom is that a turnover is out of reach for Democrats. Still, the past couple of weeks … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is it – it’s either today or Tuesday. Expect long lines and be patient. Forty-nine thousand people voted in Harris County on Wednesday, the third straight day this week that the already-heavy turnout has increased. Tiffany will be heading … Continue reading → Continue reading →

If you haven’t voted early yet in Harris County, prepare for a wait. It’s much heavier this week than last. People are lining up to vote early in record numbers throughout Harris County, reinforcing predictions of a high turnout by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tom DeLay, less than two weeks ago, on why he wouldn’t debate Richard Morrison: “His name ID is nothing.” DeLay must now be assuming that people know who Richard Morrison is, because he’s got an attack ad running that links … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, I did my civic duty this morning at the Fiesta on Kirby, which is a couple of blocks from where I work. I arrived at about 6:50, and there were already 20 people lined up ahead of me. We … Continue reading → Continue reading →

An earlier injunction against a Republican PAC has been overturned by the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Supreme Court today overturned a lower court ruling that had ordered a Republican political action committee to stop raising or spending corporate money … Continue reading → Continue reading →