Category Archives: Election 2008

My plaintive cries have finally been heard. Harris County voters are on the verge of favoring a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in 44 years — putting the area out of step with the rest of Texas, according … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As they did with CDs 22 and 10, the Chron has an overview of the race for CD07, and it’s a good one. The 50 Republicans gathered in Pat Wood’s spacious living room in Houston’s Memorial area heard their congressional … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here are your Early Voting numbers for Harris County through Day Four. The totals have crept up a bit each day, which differs from 2004 where the highs were on Tuesday and Thursday, and the lows were Monday and Wednesday. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Want to know why Harris County has barely more registered voters this year than it did four years ago despite having hundreds of thousands more people now? Watch this KHOU Defenders story, then read Part Two, and find out. It’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron goes for Ed Emmett. While building an effective working relationship with the evenly divided partisan commissioners, he tackled the politically touchy question of ethics reform. Serving on a court often accused of maintaining a pay-to-play culture in which … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t recall seeing a Chron story based on what happened during the editorial board interview before, but here’s one now, about the District Clerk’s race. The county district clerk’s race centers on improving the office’s ability to accept electronic … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I may not get my wish for a poll of Harris County before Election Day, but we have at least gotten one last set of Texas results from Rasmussen. It’s a somewhat mixed bag. First, the Presidential matchup: John McCain … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron has a pretty good overview of the CD22 race, one of three high-profile Harris County-area Congressional races; they had an overview of the CD10 race yesterday, and proimise a CD07 overview tomorrow. I just want to highlight one … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yet another strong day of early voting, with 43,782 ballots cast in Harris County. That’s up slightly from yesterday, and as before, more than double the total from same day in 2004. As you can see in the spreadsheet, it’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the Chron story about that ugly attack mailer in HD144. What stands out to me is the reaction by all those who are in one way or another responsible for it: The mailing is criticial of Democratic House candidate … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Note: This entry is part of a series of written Q&As with judicial candidates who will be on the ballot in Harris County. I am also doing recorded interviews with non-judicial candidates. 1. Who are you, and what are you … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron, perhaps recognizing that it needs to pick up the pace a bit, made endorsements in the six races for the First and Fourteenth District Courts of Appeals. They went with four incumbent Republicans, and two Democrats: Mary M. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Day One was not a fluke. The first day of early voting in the state’s most populous counties drew 156,417 more voters than on the kickoff day of voting four years ago. The Secretary of State’s Office has kept day-by-day … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It gave me great pleasure to sit down with Richard Morrison, who is running for Fort Bend County Commissioner in Precinct 1, for an interview. Morrison was the first candidate I ever interviewed, back in 2003 as he was beginning … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron may have taken yesterday off, but they make up for it today with two good endorsements. First, in what I had termed their easiest call of the bunch, they tap Adrian Garcia for Harris County Sheriff: In the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

While we wait for the Chron to get back in the game, here’s three Austin endorsements for Larry Joe Doherty in CD10. First, the Statesman: [Incumbent Rep. Mike] McCaul is an engaging, interesting former prosecutor with the U.S. Department of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ah, there’s nothing like the last two weeks of a campaign to bring out the truly special campaign tactics. Here’s Harvey Kronberg catching one such example near here. In a year potentially sitting on the powder keg of racial politics, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the Chron story about Day One of early voting in Harris County. A total of 39,201 votes were cast Monday in Harris County, a record turnout almost double that of 2004’s first day and one that was mirrored across … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Really, Houston Chronicle? No endorsements today? Let’s review the bidding so far, and see which offices have and have not had a recommendation from the Chron: 1. President and Vice President – Done 2. US Senate – No endorsement yet. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So the Republicans are offically worried about a Dallas-style sweep of the local elections, especially the judiciary, but they’re doing their best to maintain a stiff upper lip. That fear is reinforced by local Democrats vetting and policing their candidates … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have to admit, I hadn’t expected there to be much in the way of issues in the race for District Clerk, at least outside of the normal functioning of the office. But today at a press conference, Loren Jackson … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Fresh from the County Clerk’s office: As of 6:51 pm on Oct. 20th 2008, the Harris County Clerk’s early voting statistics showed that 39,201 persons had been processed for voting in Harris County on the first day of early voting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Republican soap opera in SD17 takes an even more melodramatic turn. Joan Huffman and Austen Furse, Republican rivals for state Senate whose surrogates have engaged in a bitter war of words previously documented on this blog, had a talk … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is it. Time to vote. Stace was there for last night’s rally at Discovery Green – there will be a similar rally tonight in Austin. Everything you need to know about early voting for Harris County is here (PDF). … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve said before that I’ve been a longtime fan of Rep. Nick Lampson, going back to 1996 when I donated to his campaign to unseat the loony one-term Rep. Steve Stockman. Though I admit that some of his votes this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As expected, the Chron endorses Pat Lykos for District Attorney. The next chief of the Harris County District Attorney’s office must plunge into a multilevel rehab job. Despite a staff that boasts many superb professionals, former DA Chuck Rosenthal managed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As we’ve seen in other races, Democratic candidates have been able to keep up with, even surpass, Republican incumbents in fundraising. That’s also true in the State Supreme Court races. According to Texans for Public Justice, the three Republican incumbents … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a few campaign ads running locally, beneath the fold. A lot of these run on cable in select areas only. See what you think. Continue reading →

For the first time in my life, the Houston Chronicle endorses a Democrat for President. After carefully observing the Democratic and Republican nominees in drawn-out primary struggles as well as in the general campaign, including three debates, the Chronicle strongly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I was going to write something about the latest outbreak of Republican-on-Republican violence in the SD17 special election, as told by Gary Polland and Robert Miller (see beneath the fold), but frankly I don’t think I can do any better … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There was a debate over the referendum to modify the term limits ordinance in San Antonio last week. Voter turnout has fallen since term limits were enacted in San Antonio, as have the number of individuals who enter City Council … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just some reminders about upcoming events. Like this: And this. Plan your days accordingly. And for those of you in Dallas, while it’s not an event, the Dallas County Coordinated Campaign has some Meet the Candidate videos for your viewing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You’re going to hear a lot of exhortations to vote early over the next two weeks. But if you registered to vote near the deadline, you may not be able to, at least right off. The voters will be allowed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another day, two more good endorsements by the Chron: Joe A. Montemayor for State Representative District 127: Although this northeast Harris County district running from Kingwood to Baytown has been represented for eight terms by Republican incumbent Joe Crabb, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →