Tag Archives: Ann Johnson

Several Dem legislators want to investigate HISD

We’ll see if this goes anywhere. Several Houston-area Democratic legislators are calling for a formal hearing to address “potential violations of state law” in Houston ISD in the aftermath of the Texas Education Agency stripping elected leaders from the school … Continue reading

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Republicans are not going to do anything to loosen abortion restrictions

Even those who want to do so will be forced to back down. The only way forward is to win more elections. When the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion last year, strict abortion bans in more … Continue reading

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Paxton to file criminal complaint against House impeachment managers

My God, this guy is a whiny loser. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was filing criminal complaints Monday against House impeachment managers who released documents that contained his personal address and triggered what he called threats of violence … Continue reading

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More Paxton evidence released

A little late, but here it is. Documents released Tuesday by the House impeachment managers reveal closer ties between the contractor who renovated Attorney General Ken Paxton’s home and Nate Paul, the financially troubled Austin real estate investor who was … Continue reading

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The smallest possible loosening of abortion restrictions

Better than nothing, but not by much. Doctors will have more legal protections to perform emergency abortions under a bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, following numerous reports of medical care being delayed due to confusion over the state’s abortion … Continue reading

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Impeachment in the Senate

Long Trib story about what to expect when the Senate finally takes up the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton. The Senate plans to consider impeachment rules on June 20 and to start the trial by Aug. 28. Yet there are … Continue reading

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Two thoughts on the whole impeachment thing

Let’s start with the obvious, which is the “Why now?” question. A lot of people seem to be mystified. Why, after nearly a decade of Ken Paxton’s criming, did the House General Investigations Committee decide to go all scorched earth … Continue reading

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Meet your Paxton prosecutors

It’s officially handed over to the Senate now. The Texas House on Monday named 12 of its members to prosecute its case against impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state Senate. The House announced a Republican-majority board of managers … Continue reading

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Post-impeachment pre-trial roundup

Some more links of interest relating to the Paxton impeachment-a-thon. I suspect that as more reporters and columnists read the House General Investigations Committee’s report we will see more stories that zoom in on the particulars of his offenses. For … Continue reading

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House impeaches Paxton

For the third time in as many days, I say Wow. In a history-making late-afternoon vote, a divided Texas House chose Saturday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, temporarily removing him from office over allegations of misconduct that included bribery … Continue reading

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House General Investigations Committee votes to impeach Paxton

Once again, I say Wow. In an unprecedented move, a Texas House committee voted Thursday to recommend that Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached and removed from office, citing a yearslong pattern of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking that investigators detailed … Continue reading

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House General Investigations Committee goes hard after Paxton

Wow. A Texas House committee heard stunning testimony Wednesday from investigators over allegations of a yearslong pattern of misconduct and questionable actions by Attorney General Ken Paxton, the result of a probe the committee had secretly authorized in March. In … Continue reading

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Slaton expelled

A fitting end to his disgraceful tenure. The Texas House unanimously voted to expel Bryan Slaton on Tuesday, one day after the Royse City Republican submitted his resignation after an internal investigation determined that he had sex with a 19-year-old … Continue reading

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The last thing we need is more people in the jail

This is a rare place where Democrats have leverage. Make good use of it. With an eye on Harris County, Texas lawmakers are considering new measures aimed at keeping more defendants accused of violent and sexual crimes behind bars as … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: You have to want it first

The Chron endorses Duncan Klussman in CD38, partly by default. When we gave Wesley Hunt our endorsement in the Republican primary, he made it clear he’d rather go without it. Now, in the general election, we are more than happy to oblige him. Democratic challenger Duncan … Continue reading

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State delays report on maternal mortality until next year

Sorry, didn’t get to it, other things to do, you know. Texas health officials have missed a key window to complete the state’s first major updated count of pregnancy related deaths in nearly a decade, saying the findings will now … Continue reading

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A different focus on human trafficking

This story might have slipped past you last week. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee — who was elected on a promise to transform the region’s approach to criminal justice — removed 36 suspected sex workers Thursday from a proposed injunction … Continue reading

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Legislative diversity report 2021

It’s a tiny bit more diverse, but not by much. In a perennial takeaway of The Texas Tribune’s demographic analysis, the Texas Legislature remains mostly white and male. When the 2021 legislative session begins Tuesday, 3 of every 5 lawmakers … Continue reading

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Please stop with the straight ticket voting anecdotes

Either bring me some real data or leave these just so stories alone. Judging from Donald Trump’s unpopularity in Dallas County, Morgan Meyer and Angie Chen Button should have been doomed this November. Meyer and Button are the only two … Continue reading

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A few observations from the final unofficial countywide data

This is still unofficial, and there will still be some overseas/military ballots to be counted as well as some provisional ballots to be cured, but the count of the votes cast by Election Day is over, and we have the … Continue reading

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Omnibus Election Day post

I was up really late last night, and there’s still a lot of votes to be counted. The SOS website was mostly trash, but a lot of county election sites took their sweet, sweet time even reporting any Election Day … Continue reading

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30 Day 2020 campaign finance reports: State races, part 2

Continuing to look at the 30-day campaign finance reports. A lot of candidates have been reporting big hauls, especially in the hot State Rep races. As before, I will split these into four parts. Part one, with statewide, SBOE, and … Continue reading

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There’s so much more money in Texas races

Item one: It’s the question that many, many people have raised — often as a joke — for years. But the combination of changing demographics, chaos among the state Republican ranks, and the ongoing struggles of President Donald Trump’s campaign … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: The Susan Collins of Texas

Three things in life are certain: Death, taxes, and certain Chron endorsements. The voters in state House District 134 — a swing district that covers all or parts of River Oaks, Bellaire and Meyerland and includes the Texas Medical Center … Continue reading

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Why endorse Sarah Davis?

It’s a good question. Planned Parenthood’s Texas political arm on Thursday endorsed state Rep. Sarah Davis, rebuffing abortion rights activists who had lobbied the group to deny political support for the Houston Republican. The efforts to deny Davis the endorsement … Continue reading

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Now we’re getting favorable State House polls

From the inbox: A recent poll of Texas House District 126, conducted for Democratic challenger Natali Hurtado’s campaign shows her essentially tied with Republican incumbent Sam Harless. The poll of 401 likely voters, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, showed Hurtado … Continue reading

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July 2020 campaign finance reports: State races, part 2

Let’s move on to finance reports from the State House, which I will break up into two parts. Today’s look is on the various races in the greater Houston area, and after that I’ll look at the other races of … Continue reading

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A slightly less rosy view of Democratic prospects

Here’s the latest race ratings from Texas Elects: Texas Election Source has updated 27 race ratings based on the latest polling, July campaign finance reports and primary runoff results. Twenty of those races moved one column toward the Democrats’ advantage. … Continue reading

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2020 primary results: State races

I’m going to direct you to the Texas Tribune results page, which combines both parties’ results and is a couple orders of magnitude less sucky than the revamped SOS election night results pages. Good Lord, whoever designed that “upgrade” from … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Some State Reps

The Chron made seven endorsements in contested Democratic State Rep primaries on Thursday, plus two in contested Republican State Rep primaries. This must be Part One, because there are multiple races left for them to do. I’ll get to that … Continue reading

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Chron overview of HD134

Is this the year Sarah Davis loses? That’s the question. The March primaries are weeks away, but the first question at a recent forum for the three Democrats running to unseat state Rep. Sarah Davis centered on November: “How do … Continue reading

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January 2020 campaign finance reports: State House, part 1

I’m going to take a two-part look at the finance reports in State House districts. Part One will be from Harris County, looking at both contested primaries and contested November races. Part Two will focus on races in the counties … Continue reading

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Interview with Ann Johnson

The next three weeks will focus on the three highest-priority legislative races in the Houston area. The road to a Democratic State House, and all the good things that go along with it, go through HDs 134, 138, and 26. … Continue reading

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Filing update: Focus on Harris County

One more look at who has and hasn’t yet filed for stuff as we head into the final weekend for filing. But first, this message: Hi y’all, as we approach the filing deadline in Texas, this is a reminder that … Continue reading

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