Tag Archives: Bill White

How was there still an active lawsuit over the 2004 revenue cap referendum?

Posted on April 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I am gobsmacked. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday struck down part of Houston’s revenue cap, creating the possibility that the city may have to comply with an even more stringent cap in the future. Elected officials in Houston long have blamed … Continue reading →

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A few words about Lee Kaplan

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, I dunno. During the early stages of a mayoral race, polls carry little significance and every candidate says they are organizing a diverse coalition of supporters. There often is only one indicator to differentiate contenders from also-rans: money. Fundraising enables … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The better statewide races

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY Beto versus Abbott Beto versus the spread Hidalgo versus Mealer As noted before, Greg Abbott got 490K votes in Harris County, far less than the 559K he received in 2018 running against Lupe Valdez. Of the other six races … Continue reading →

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Some opening thoughts on the 2022 election

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Done in the traditional bullet-point style. There may or may not be a part 2 to this, depending on the usual factors. – Obviously the overall result was disappointing. It was harder to see a Beto victory this year from … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

State and county election result relationships, part 2: Judicial races

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

In Part One of this series, we looked at the relationship between statewide results and Harris County results for statewide candidates. In the last three elections, statewide Democratic candidates have done on average more than nine points better in Harris … Continue reading →

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HD142 and the case of the mystery candidate

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

WTF? Long time Democratic State Representative Harold Dutton was forced into a runoff Tuesday night, but a ghost candidate may have helped make that happen. Dutton, who has long represented House District 142 in northeast Houston, already faced a formidable … Continue reading →

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January 2020 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We’re done with the 2019 Houston election cycle, but there are still things we can learn from the January 2020 campaign finance reports that city of Houston candidates and officeholders have to file. Other finance report posts: My two-part look … Continue reading →

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City wins final judgment in revenue cap lawsuit

Posted on November 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Wow, is this ever a blast from the past. The city of Houston has prevailed in a lawsuit challenging the amount it can collect in property taxes, ending 14 years of litigation over a set of measures approved by voters … Continue reading →

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Checking in on the Mayor’s race

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Remember the Mayor’s race? Yeah, that. “The candidates have been running for months but were focused on fundraising and defining their message,” said Nancy Sims, a Houston political analyst. “Labor Day is when people tune into the election.” The stretch-run … Continue reading →

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We have a consent decree

Posted on July 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It appears to be a done deal. Houston would add $2 billion to its planned sewer system improvements over the next 15 years under a proposed deal with state and federal regulators that is expected to produce higher water bills … Continue reading →

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We’re about to find out how much we’ll pay to fix Houston’s sewer system

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Be prepared. Houston would ramp up spending on its sewer system by $2 billion over 15 years under a proposed deal with state and federal regulators that is expected to produce higher water bills as soon as next year. The … Continue reading →

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Cornyn still thinks he may face Beto

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

He could be right, but I would not expect it. Beto O’Rourke has ruled out another run for the Senate, and as he edges closer to a bid for president, Texas Democrats are still searching for someone to challenge Sen. … Continue reading →

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The Beto-Abbott voters

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Barring divine intervention, Greg Abbott will handily beat Lupe Valdez — the only real question is by how much. The floor, if there is one, is Wendy Davis’ crushing loss to Greg … Continue reading →

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Now how much would you pay to fix Houston’s sewer system?

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We may be about to find out. Federal and state authorities sued the city of Houston over its long-running struggle to limit sewage spills on Friday, marking the beginning of the end of a years-long negotiation that could force the … Continue reading →

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NBC News: Cruz 49, O’Rourke 45

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s been three weeks since our last poll result. In a head-to-head match up, Cruz held a 4-point lead over O’Rourke. Forty-nine percent of respondents backed Cruz, compared to 45 percent who supported O’Rourke. Six percent of respondents remain undecided. … Continue reading →

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Republican reactions to Beto’s fundraising

Posted on July 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The interesting bits of this story: El Paso Democrat Beto O’Rourke, the underdog challenger to Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, recently burnished his grass-roots credentials by completing a tour of all 254 counties in Texas. Now O’Rourke has proven his fundraising chops as … Continue reading →

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UT/Trib: Cruz 41, O’Rourke 36, part 2

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We pick up where we left off. Republican Ted Cruz leads Democrat Beto O’Rourke 41 percent to 36 percent in the general election race for a Texas seat in the U.S. Senate, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune … Continue reading →

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Looking back at 2010 and 2014

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve talked a lot about polls in the past week, so I thought I’d take a minute and look back at the polling data that we had as of this time in the 2010 and 2014 elections, to see if … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The revenue cap and the police

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s something. Not what I want, but something. Mayor Sylvester Turner used his third State of the City speech to call — again — for the city to be able to collect more revenue than allowed by the property tax … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Happy tenth birthday, Discovery Green

Posted on April 21, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

What a great addition it has been. Discovery Green opened a decade ago this weekend, drawing 25,000 people to the long-dormant east side of downtown to gawk at parading Clydesdales, dogs in costumes, a puppet show, a magician, musicians and … Continue reading →

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Some people sound very threatened by that Quinnipiac Texas Senate poll

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

This is almost funny. In its first-ever Texas poll, Quinnipiac University deemed the Senate race “too close to call” in reporting that 47 percent of Texas voters surveyed back Cruz and 44 percent support O’Rourke, an El Paso congressman. The … Continue reading →

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City reaches settlement in pension projection lawsuit

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Old story, new development. Houston has agreed to settle a lawsuit it filed four years ago against an actuarial firm whose predictions it blamed for contributing to the city’s multi-billion-dollar pension crisis for $40 million. The city’s outside counsel, Susman … Continue reading →

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Already projecting ahead to November turnout

Posted on February 17, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Some in the political chattering class think the end results in Harris County this yearwon’t be all that different than what we’ve seen before. Harris County may be awash in Democratic hopefuls for the upcoming primary elections, but don’t expect … Continue reading →

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Pension bond sales proceed

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

But it was close, which both boggles my mind and annoys the ever-loving crap out of me. The City of Houston can move forward with its plan to sell $1 billion in bonds on Friday as part of Mayor Sylvester … Continue reading →

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At some point we will be able to stop talking about who may run for Governor as a Democrat

Posted on November 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

That day is December 11. I am looking forward to it. With less than a month before the filing deadline, the most prominent declared candidate for Texas governor is probably Andrew White, the son of former governor Mark White. White, … Continue reading →

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Abbott v Davis

Posted on November 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting real out there. In what promises to deepen divisions in the Texas Republican Party, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday endorsed a GOP challenger to incumbent state Rep. Sarah Davis of Houston. Abbott gave his public thumbs-up to Susanna … Continue reading →

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2017 EV daily report: Day 8, and one more look at a way to guess turnout

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here are the numbers through Monday. Now that we are in the second week of early voting, when the hours each day are 7 to 7, these reports arrive in my inbox later in the evening. Here are the daily … Continue reading →

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July 2017 campaign finance reports – City of Houston

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s continue our survey of campaign finance reports with reports from the city of Houston. Name Raised Spent Loans On Hand ================================================ Turner 520,430 138,068 0 1,643,519 Stardig 59,470 36,402 0 102,289 Davis 5,500 13,231 0 147,050 Cohen 5,000 8,382 … Continue reading →

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Do we really have to have a pension bond vote?

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

So as we know, the Houston pension reform bill that passed contains a provision that requires a vote on the pension obligation bonds that Mayor Turner intends to float as a down payment. Pension obligation bonds have been floated in … Continue reading →

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Bathroom bills and business interests

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly’s Dave Mann reviews the Republican schism over the bathroom bill and comes to the same conclusion as I have. At the moment, the Legislature—and the Republican party, for that matter—has settled into an uneasy stalemate between Patrick’s right-leaning … Continue reading →

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Smoke-free Houston, ten years later

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: It’s been 50 years since the release of the Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health and the harmful consequences from the use of tobacco. 2016 marks the 10th year of the adoption of Ordinance No. 2006-1054 … Continue reading →

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Mayor Turner announces pension fund deal

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Negotiators for the City, the Houston Police Officers’ Pension System, the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund and the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System have developed Preliminary Points of Understanding on a structural approach to long term, … Continue reading →

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Houston’s anti-pollution ordinance killed by Supreme Court

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. In passing two ordinances designed to regulate air pollution, the city of Houston overstepped its authority and illegally subverted state law, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling is a victory for a coalition of industrial facilities whose … Continue reading →

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Our partisan Mayoral runoff

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I’m shocked, shocked to find that there are partisan interests in the Mayoral runoff. Even though Houston elections officially are nonpartisan, the contest between Bill King and Sylvester Turner has evolved into a test of party might as voters prepare … Continue reading →

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