Category Archives: Election 2012

Runoff Day

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

At long last, the 2012 primary season is about to be over in Texas, other than perhaps the HCDE race. To say the least, it’s been a long, strange trip, one that I hope goes down in the books as … Continue reading →

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HCDE runoff will be held

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

So ruled a judge yesterday in the ongoing lawsuit filed by the HCDE to void the Democratic primary in Precinct 1 Position 6. The Harris County Department of Education told a federal judge Monday it wants to proceed with the … Continue reading →

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No settlement deal for HCDE election screwup

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Just as well, because this wasn’t a good deal. A proposed settlement hashed out Thursday evening would have seen the Republican race – a blowout victory – stand, and the Democratic race – for which a runoff is under way … Continue reading →

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Congressional runoff stories

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

A couple of Chron stories about area Congressional primary runoffs for your perusal. CD14: Sometimes [CD14 GOP candidate Randy Weber] mentions that he was designated the most conservative member of the Texas House during his two terms in Austin. “We … Continue reading →

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Early runoff voting in perspective

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here are four numbers for your consideration: Year Total votes =================== 2006 13,726 2008 9,670 2010 15,225 2012 14,778 The first three numbers are the complete final turnout figures for the last three Democratic primary runoffs in Harris County. The … Continue reading →

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Precinct 1 Constable runoff overview

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron overview of the Democratic runoff for Constable in Precinct 1 between Alan Rosen and Cindy Vara-Leija. Rosen is an investor and a reserve major with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, who has been a certified peace officer … Continue reading →

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July campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You know the drill by now. Office Candidate Raised Spent Cash Loans ============================================================ Sheriff A Garcia 47,025 41,900 357,818 0 Sheriff L Guthrie 70,176 75,646 33,075 157,000 Sheriff C Pittman 11,309 11,566 5,217 24,000 DA M Anderson 73,888 60,980 33,371 … Continue reading →

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Precinct 2 Constable runoff overview

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron does an overview on one of the two Democratic Constable runoffs. The Democratic runoff for Harris County Precinct 2 constable asks voters to decide which type of experience they value more: law enforcement chops or time as a … Continue reading →

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Runoff turnout

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Who knows what to expect? Texans are voting in July for the first time in decades, the result of a lengthy federal court battle over new political districts that delayed the primary from March 6 to May 29. The unusual … Continue reading →

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July finance reports, other legislative races of interest

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a roundup of campaign finance reports for other legislative races of interest from around the state. Dist Candidate Raised Spent Cash Loans =============================================================== SD10 W Davis (D,I) 824,871 405,628 1,097,238 0 SD10 Shelton (R) 53,293 35,916 301,146 0 SD25 … Continue reading →

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Your vote is worth 30 times what it usually is

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

A little runoff math from the Trib. It is easy to lament low voter turnout. Only 11 percent of the state’s voting age adults showed up for the May primaries. But look at their clout: Every actual voter was making … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: An opponent for Culberson

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron gets around to another race it ignored in May, the Democratic primary in CD07. The winner of the Democratic primary runoff for Texas’ U.S. House 7th District will face quite a battle against incumbent Rep. John Culberson on … Continue reading →

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HCDE sues for new election

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) today filed suit in federal court seeking new elections for Trustees whose district boundaries were wrong in the May 29th primary. HCDE officials learned earlier this week that outdated boundaries … Continue reading →

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July finance reports for area State House candidates

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a brief look at the July campaign finance reports for candidates in area State House races of interest. HD23 Raised Spent Cash Loan Wayne Faircloth 8,320 31,139 36,655 30,000 Bill Wallace 0 0 507 20,500 Craig Eiland 0 0 … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Smith in HD137

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron makes its second runoff endorsement in a race where its original endorsee failed to make it out of the first round. Whoever wins the race for Texas House District 137 will have big shoes to fill, replacing longtime … Continue reading →

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Boundary screwup could affect HCDE race

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is just freakin’ great. Because of a mix-up with the new district boundaries, not everyone who was qualified to vote in a school trustee race was able to and some voters who weren’t supposed to, were allowed to cast … Continue reading →

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Looking back at Romo versus Doggett

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Former CD35 candidate Sylvia Romo does a post-mortem on her unsuccessful run for Congress. “Texas is ready for a qualified Latina congresswoman,” she said. “If I wasn’t the first one, then I hope I opened the door for another woman … Continue reading →

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How many bonds are too many?

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We may find out this November. Houston voters may face a dizzying array of decisions in November as the city, school district and community college system seek authority to borrow more than $2 billion for construction work. The multiple measures … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Better late than never

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron finally gets around to making an endorsement in the HCDE race for Precinct 1, Position 6. If you’ve never heard of the Harris County Board of Education, don’t feel bad. Even among people who care about school boards, … Continue reading →

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Devine versus Medina

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

So why did onetime District Court Judge and frequent candidate John Devine decide to challenge Supreme Court Justice David Medina in this year’s GOP primary? A couple of his colleagues in Harris County offer a reason that isn’t very flattering. … Continue reading →

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Sullivan submits his resignation

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

As promised. Councilman Mike Sullivan submitted his resignation Wednesday, fulfilling a promise he made to leave Council if he won the Republican primary in the county tax assessor-collector race. He did win on May 29. His resignation is effective on … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Who’s your fourth choice?

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron endorses a new candidate for the CD36 Republican primary runoff. Two survivors emerged from the crowded May Republican primary race to fill the new congressional seat for U.S. District 36, one of four new congressional districts added to … Continue reading →

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Paul Sadler: How would you spend $25 million?

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. For $25 million you could buy a seriously luxurious private jet – in fact, you could buy a small fleet of … Continue reading →

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We apparently will have a candidate in SBOE1 after all

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib reviews the bidding on the Martha Dominguez situation in SBOE 1. According to the Texas Election Code, primary candidates have until 63 days before the primary election to apply to have their name withdrawn (this year it was … Continue reading →

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Making open beaches a campaign issue

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is great. The Texas Supreme Court’s decision weakening the state Open Beaches Act has become a key issue in the race for one of the two contested Supreme Court seats in the Nov. 6 election. San Antonio attorney Michele … Continue reading →

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HISD planning bond election

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The fall ballot gets a little longer. The Houston Independent School District is preparing to ask voters to fund up to $1.8 billion in bonds to replace and upgrade aging campuses. Superintendent Terry Grier has said the bond referendum – … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The two races we’re all glad to see the end of

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For my last look at precinct data from the Harris County Democratic primary of 2012, let’s see what happened in the two most contentious races on the ballot: Elaine Palmer versus Steven Kirkland, and Keryl Douglass versus Lane Lewis. First … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: That mysterious Democratic DA primary

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We return to Democratic primary results and to the Harris County canvass as we take a look at the race everyone is trying to understand, the Democratic DA primary. Here’s what the numbers look like: Dist Oliver Fertitta Oliver % … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: GOP President and Senate in Harris County

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Though I didn’t have one originally, I now have a canvass of the GOP primary in Harris County from this year. Since it’s impossible for me to have data and not do something with it, I’ve taken a look at … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: GOP Senate

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’m just going to give highlights from this one. I only have the Democratic canvass for Harris County, so this is county by county data only. You can see the spreadsheet here. – David Dewhurst had a majority of the … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Democratic Senate primary

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

After the May 29 primary, runnerup Senate candidate Grady Yarbrough said he did as well as he had because he “went directly” to counties where there is “a heavy Hispanic and African American population”. I don’t remember him ever being … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The “not Obama” vote, such as it was

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I now have my hands on a draft canvass for the Democratic primary in Harris County, and you know what that means: Precinct data! I’ll be doing various analyses over the week so we can get a better idea of … Continue reading →

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Interview with State Sen. Wendy Davis

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I didn’t have the room in my schedule during the TDP convention to contemplate trying to arrange a bunch of interviews, but if there was one person I hadn’t spoken to this cycle that I really wanted to it was … Continue reading →

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Sadler and the Senate runoff

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

One of the two candidates in the Democratic runoff for US Senate was at the TDP convention last week. U.S. Senate candidate Paul Sadler, who still faces a runoff fight with a candidate who’s a complete unknown, told reporters on … Continue reading →

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