Category Archives: Election 2008

Straight ticket voting trends

One last look at partisan voting trends this decade, with a peek at how straight ticket voting has changed over time. This one is a bit trickier to determine, since it’s not tracked by the Secretary of State. You have … Continue reading

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Population and voting trends: 2004 and 2008 judicial elections

So we’ve seen how county returns changed in the Presidential election between 2004 and 2008. Obviously, there are many factors that can affect a Presidential election, even when there’s not really an active campaign going on in the state. How … Continue reading

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Population and voting trends: 2004 and 2008 Presidential election

Taking a look at the voting trends in the fastest growing counties made me want to know more about this, so I broke out the spreadsheets and took a look. I’ll present the results in a three-part series, starting today … Continue reading

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Joe Agris

I read with great interest this feature story on Houston plastic surgeon Joe Agris, who was a longtime collaborator with the late Marvin Zindler in getting medical help to indigent children. I did so partly because Agris is a fascinating … Continue reading

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Both sides may claim victory, but that doesn’t mean they both achieved it

As you know, last week there was a settlement reached in the lawsuit against the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office over allegations that they improperly rejected thousands of voter registration applications last year. Shortly after that agreement was signed, the … Continue reading

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Settlement reached in Harris County voter registration lawsuit

You may recall the lawsuit that was filed back in December against Paul Bettencourt and the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office over allegations that thousands of voter registration applications were rejected for frivolous reasons. That lawsuit has now been settled. … Continue reading

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TPJ files complaint with Ethics Commission against Craddick

Texans for Public Justice has filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission against former Speaker Tom Craddick, alleging that he obfuscated campaign donations made to several Democratic supporters of his prior to the 2008 primaries. From their press release … Continue reading

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On the matter of turnout

This Star-Telegram story about turnout in the 2008 election versus turnout in the 2004 election has got some people talking. The presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain sent more Texans to the polls last year, but the state … Continue reading

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Presidential results by Congressional district

Swing State Project has compiled a list of Presidential results by Congressional district, for all 435 DCs around the country. I’ve pulled out the Texas numbers and put them in a Google spreadsheet for ease of viewing. Here are a … Continue reading Continue reading

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Presidential results by Congressional district

Swing State Project has compiled a list of Presidential results by Congressional district, for all 435 DCs around the country. I’ve pulled out the Texas numbers and put them in a Google spreadsheet for ease of viewing. Here are a … Continue reading

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Precinct data: The City Council districts revised

Last week, I presented data on the 2008 election results by City Council district and by city of Houston/not City of Houston. I said at the time that the measurement was a bit rough because precinct boundaries do not conform … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: The City Council districts revised

Last week, I presented data on the 2008 election results by City Council district and by city of Houston/not City of Houston. I said at the time that the measurement was a bit rough because precinct boundaries do not conform … Continue reading Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: The City Council districts

I’d been wondering for a long time how the 2008 vote broke down by City Council districts, as well as for the city of Houston versus non-Houston Harris County. I finally did something about it awhile ago and made a … Continue reading

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Jim Sharp investiture

Jim Sharp, who was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November, has asked me to pass along an invitation to his investiture, which will be held this Thursday, February 12, at 4 PM in the Gerald Treece Courthouse … Continue reading

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Jim Sharp investiture

Jim Sharp, who was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November, has asked me to pass along an invitation to his investiture, which will be held this Thursday, February 12, at 4 PM in the Gerald Treece Courthouse … Continue reading Continue reading

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Representative Walle

Really nice story in (somewhat oddly) the lifestyle section of the paper about freshman Rep. Armado Walle, who won the Democratic primary against long-term incumbent and former Craddick D Kevin Bailey last year. Walle has a great from-the-bootstraps story to … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

Supreme Court declines to hear TDP’s appeal in voting machine suit

No surprise. The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to revive the Texas Democratic Party’s lawsuit complaining that eSlate voting machines widely used in the state don’t properly record straight-party votes. The court declined without comment to hear the case. Democrats … Continue reading Continue reading

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Pierre claims uncounted votes in his lawsuit

Here’s an update on Democratic judicial candidate J. Goodwille Pierre, who filed a lawsuit in December claiming that votes were improperly rejected in his race, which he lost by 230 tallies to incumbent Judge Joseph “Tad” Halbach. The Harris County … Continue reading Continue reading

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Walker withdraws election contest

That didn’t last long. Losing HD11 candidate Brian Walker has withdrawn his election challenge to State Rep. Chuck Hopson. State Rep. Chuck Hopson says he’s home free. Hopson, D-Jacksonville, says he was notified by Speaker Tom Craddick’s office [Monday] afternoon … Continue reading Continue reading

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Election challenge in HD11

Brian Walker, the losing Republican challenger to State Rep. Chuck Hopson in the second closest election of the year in HD11, has filed paperwork for an election contest in the House. From the Quorum Report: After the recount, Hopson beat … Continue reading

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Huffman defeats Bell

Alas. The Democrats had the votes in November, but thanks to the Republican ringer, that wasn’t good enough. My sincere thanks to Chris Bell for all he did. He deserved better. Congratulations for Sen.-elect Joan Huffman on her victory. May … Continue reading

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Today is Runoff Day

Well, this is it. Today is officially the last day of the Election 2008 cycle in Texas as Chris Bell goes up against Joan Huffman for SD17. I caught one of Huffman’s ads on the tube last night. It’s more … Continue reading Continue reading

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Some dirty tricks in the SD17 runoff

PDiddie reports: Some Democrats — I am one — are getting late-night robo-calls (11:00pm-2:00am) about ethics complaints against an unnamed candidate in the SD-17 runoff. Since this slime is NOT coming from the Chris Bell campaign, it’s obviously the latest … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2008 | 3 Comments

Gallegos and Van de Putte criticize DSCC

This will surely ruffle a few feathers. Two prominent Hispanic Democratic officials from Texas harshly criticized an arm of their national party today for skipping over the state when it provided funding muscle for U.S. Senate candidates across the country. … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2008 | 3 Comments

Dems drop legal challenge to Harper-Brown

The recount in HD105 is over, and now so is the legal wrangling, at least as far as the outcome of that race is concerned. State Democrats will not seek a restraining order against Dallas County elections officials over votes … Continue reading Continue reading

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One hundred feet

Oops. Joan Huffman’s campaign for state Senate appears to have broken the law against campaigning on property where voting is taking place, Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman said today. Republican Huffman, opposing Democrat Chris Bell in next Tuesday’s state Senate … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2008 | 2 Comments

Lawsuit filed over rejected voter registrations

J. Goodwille Pierre, who lost his Harris County judicial race by 230 votes, has filed a lawsuit claiming that improperly rejected voter registrations and provisional ballots cost him that election. [H]is lawsuit focuses instead on Harris County voting controversies being … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2008 | 2 Comments

Followup on the Libertarian effect in the House

In addition to the possible HGLBT endorsement backlash effect, another thing I talked about before the election that I said I’d look at again afterward was the Libertarian effect on the State House. You may recall that an emissary for … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

Get on the bus for Bell

Are you in Austin wishing you could be in Houston to help Chris Bell?, Well, your wish has come true. The Travis County Democratic Party and Education Austin are proud to help Congressman Chris Bell by providing a blockwalking bus … Continue reading Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: North by northwest

I’ve speculated that there won’t be much Congressional action in Harris County in 2010. Certainly, CD22 is unlikely to be seriously challenged, and I doubt anyone will have the stomach or the wallet to make like Michael Skelly in CD07, … Continue reading Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: The appeals courts

Somewhat lost in the shuffle of the near-Democratic sweep of the Harris County judiciary this year was the near miss in the five races for the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals, which cover Harris and nine surrounding counties. Jim … Continue reading Continue reading

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Early voting is going on now in SD17

Today is Day Two of early voting in the SD17 runoff, which continues through Friday. As a reminder, you can find early voting locations for Harris County here, and for Fort Bend County here; locations for Galveston County are at … Continue reading Continue reading

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Bettencourt speaks

The Chron is finally able to reach Paul Bettencourt for a comment on his sudden resignation. “I’ve had a wonderful 10 years of service with great people at the office who have done good things for the taxpayers of Harris … Continue reading Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Bell again

The Chron re-endorses Chris Bell in the runoff for SD17. With his commitment to bolstering public education, reining in college tuition increases, and controlling skyrocketing insurance premiums, the Chronicle believes that Chris Bell is the best candidate to represent the … Continue reading Continue reading

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