Category Archives: Election 2009

McGuff interviews the Mayor

Mayor Annise Parker discusses her social media strategy with Mike McGuff: Interesting stuff. Among other things, the Mayor mentions that a new and improved City of Houston website is on its way. I can’t wait to see it.

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Boycott us, please!

Now this is something I can really get behind. If you think the folks in Haiti are having a rough time, just wait until Houstonians feel the economic effects of Pastor David Grisham’s boycott against our city of sin. Launched … Continue reading

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Houston Area Table meeting Tuesday

If you’re getting tired of reading what I’ve got to say and would rather hear me say it out loud, come to the Houston Area Table meeting this Tuesday, January 19 and see if I sound any better that way. … Continue reading

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The inauguration

Here was my view of today’s inaugural festivities: Click the photo for a larger version. Tiffany and I were seated next to Martha, who has some pictures as well as a post about Mayor Parker’s inaugural address. It was an … Continue reading

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Parker to be officially sworn in today

Possibly by the time you read this, we will have a new Mayor. In private ceremonies at City Hall, state District Judge Steven Kirkland, an old friend and former campaign manager, was scheduled to administer the oath of office [to … Continue reading

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Annise Parker: Texas Progressive Alliance’s Texan of the Year

The Texan of the Year Award is voted on annually by the members of the Texas Progressive Alliance, the largest state-level organization of bloggers, blogs, and netroots activists in the United States. This year’s winner is Houston Mayor-Elect, Annise Parker: … Continue reading

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HCAD rules for Hoang in homestead dispute

On Christmas Eve, the Chron reported that Council Member-Elect Al Hoang and his wife had claimed homestead exemptions on two separate houses, one in Houston and one in Pearland. Now the Harris County Appraisal District has verified Hoang’s explanation about … Continue reading

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From one Mayor to another

One week from today, we’ll be swearing in Annise Parker as our new Mayor. In advance of that, State Sen. Kirk Watson, who was once the Mayor of Austin, offers a few words of advice to the Mayor-Elect. Not that … Continue reading

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Chron raises questions about Al Hoang’s residency and campaign finance reports

The main question I have is why is this story just being published now, on Christmas Eve, and not before either of the elections? Houston City Councilman-elect Al Hoang and his wife claimed homestead exemptions on two separate homes, according … Continue reading

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Runoff precinct analysis, HISD I

To wrap up my series of precinct analyses from the 2009 Houston runoffs, we turn now to the HISD Trustee race in District I. I’ve added a sheet to the Google spreadsheet I put together for the District Council analysis … Continue reading

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Another view of city voting

I’ve been showing data about how the city elections broke down by Council district, but there are other ways to look at it as well. This presentation, which was sent to me by Joaquin Estevan DeLeon, is an analysis of … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis, District Council races

In addition to the five citywide runoffs, there were two runoffs in district Council races, in A and F. In each case, they were run in territory that, judging by the citywide results, were modestly (F) or very (A) friendly … Continue reading

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Runoff precinct analysis, At Large Council races

Continuing on with the precinct analyses from the runoff, here’s a look at the City Council At Large races. First up, At Large #1: Dist Derr Costello Derr% Cost% ==================================== A 7,200 8,160 46.9 53.1 B 5,737 4,859 54.1 45.9 … Continue reading

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The transition team

Meet the team that will help Mayor-Elect Annise Parker get the ball rolling. State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, one of the only area political heavyweights to endorse Parker, will lead efforts on intergovernmental relations. Coleman also has been involved in … Continue reading

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Runoff precinct analysis, Controller’s race

Picking up from where I left off yesterday, here’s the breakdown of the Controller’s race by Council district. For comparison purposes, here’s the November analysis. Dist Green Khan Holm Green % Khan % Tot votes ========================================================= A 4,685 6,750 7,125 … Continue reading

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Runoff precinct analysis, Mayor’s race

All right, I now have a copy of a draft canvass report from Saturday’s election, courtesy of the Harris County Clerk’s office. As before, I will be going through it to see what I can learn from it. First up … Continue reading

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Chief Hurtt to step down

We all knew this was coming. Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt is planning to resign at the end of the year, two days before Mayor-elect Annise Parker takes office. Hurtt, who has been Houston police chief for almost six years, … Continue reading

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Still more on Parker’s win

Hereare a couple of photo slide shows from the Annise Parker victory party on Saturday, from TPM and Hair Balls, the latter of which has some pix from the Gene Locke event as well. And BOR has a recording of … Continue reading

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Mayor Parker hits the ground running

Mayor-Elect Annise Parker talks to the Chron and tells us again what she intends to do after she’s sworn in. “One of the reasons I’m not having that big, excited, happy feeling is that there is a lot of work … Continue reading

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How others are viewing the election

This AP story about the Mayoral runoff election contains a paragraph you won’t see very often. Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker after … Continue reading

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Initial thoughts on the runoffs

I’ll go through them one race at a time, with the unofficial vote totals minus Montgomery County for each. Once I have precinct results, I’ll go through those and do a more detailed analysis. Mayor Annise Parker – 81,971, 52.78% … Continue reading

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Runoff results open thread

As tonight is Lights in the Heights, I will be paying attention to things other than election results this evening. Assuming you’re not at an election night party, you can follow results as they are posted here or on the … Continue reading

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Vote today!

Today is Runoff Day. If you did not vote during Early Voting, this is your lasr chance. The following is from the Harris County Clerk’s office: Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, the chief elections officer of the County, made available … Continue reading

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Mayoral miscellania

A few links of interest about the Mayor’s race. Because I know you haven’t read enough about it already. Nancy is ready for all the third-party attacks in the race to stop. Here’s an interview with Annise Parker at Open … Continue reading

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Chron on the Jones pileup

Here’s the Chron story about the mailers being sent out opposing Jolanda Jones. The effort by five council members to oust Jones, arguably the most controversial and well-known figure on council, was virtually unprecedented in the past several decades, according … Continue reading

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KHOU/KUHF poll gives Parker a big lead

This was the top story on the 5 PM news. The final 11News/KUHF Houston Public Radio poll shows Controller Annise Parker has a 13-point lead over former City Attorney Gene Locke. In the poll, which was conducted this week by … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Another takeback

Got a press release yesterday from Lane Lewis announcing that he had won an endorsement that had previously gone to his opponent. HARRIS COUNTY COUNCIL OF ORGANIZATIONS RESCINDS STARDIG ENDORSEMENT Houston, Texas – City Council District A candidate Lane Lewis … Continue reading

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One last look at the early voting numbers

Here is a copy of that Johnston report I’ve been referring to, updated through the end of early voting. A few things to note. – The total number of people who voted in the City of Houston election through the … Continue reading

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Holmes fibs about his donation history to Hotze

As we know, Ned Holmes, the finance chair for the Gene Locke campaign, made a $20,000 donation to Steven Hotze’s Conservative Republicans of Harris County PAC just before Hotze sent out his homophobic mailer to voters. Holmes claims that the … Continue reading

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Eight days out finance reports, District Council candidates

To wrap up our tour of the finance reports for the city runoffs, here’s a look at the two District Council races. First, District A, in which Lane Lewis is up against Brenda Stardig: Candidate Raised Spent Loans Cash PAC … Continue reading

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Runoff EV wrapup

The final tally is in, and after 13,534 in person votes were cast today, a total of 66,909 have been counted so far. This compares to 80,516 early votes for the November election. Except it doesn’t, since that total represents … Continue reading

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Jolanda versus the world

If you’re on Carl Whitmarsh’s mailing list, you’ve probably seen this, which is one of several mailers being sent out by the Jack Christie campaign. That one is going to the Heights, Montrose, and District C. The others are this … Continue reading

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Eight days out finance reports, At Large candidates

Continuing on with our look at the eight days out reports, here’s how things stack up for the At Large Council candidates in the runoffs. Candidate Raised Spent Loans Cash PAC $$ PAC % =============================================================== Derr 26,692 13,034 5,000 5,487 … Continue reading

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Locke backers funded Hotze

Nice. The finance chairman and a finance committee member of Gene Locke’s mayoral campaign helped bankroll the conservative political action committee that sent out an anti-gay mailer targeting City Controller Annise Parker and other municipal candidates earlier this month, according … Continue reading

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