Tag Archives: Texas

July 2025 campaign finance reports – Harris County offices

Posted on July 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s mid-to-late July, and you know what that means: It’s campaign finance report season! We’ve got a lot to cover, as there’s more angles and intrigue than usual, certainly a lot more than there was three months ago. I’ll start … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2026 | Tagged Adrian Garcia, Aliza Dutt, Annette Ramirez, Annise Parker, campaign finance reports, Carla Wyatt, Christian Menefee, Commissioners Court, Democratic primary, District Attorney, District Clerk, Ed Gonzalez, Election 2026, Election 2028, Harris County, Harris County Attorney, Harris County Clerk, Harris County Judge, Harris County Sheriff, Harris County Tax Assessor, Harris County Treasurer, HCAD, Kathy Blueford Daniels, Kim Ogg, Lesley Briones, Letitia Plummer, Lina Hidalgo, Marilyn Burgess, Oscar Gonzales, Raquel Boujourne, Richard Vega, Rodney Ellis, Sean Teare, Teneshia Hudspeth, Texas, Tom Ramsey, Warren Howell | Leave a comment

Dispatches from Dallas, July 18 edition

Posted on July 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth: one of our state senators is going for AG; more about the sale of the DMN to … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged Dallas, guest post, linkdump, Texas | Leave a comment

Hands Off Our Districts protest tomorrow

Posted on July 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Dear Democrats, friends and neighbors, We’re asking everyone who believes in fair representation to join us this Saturday at 10:00 AM for the Day of Protest, “Hands Off Our Districts.” In solidarity with community leaders, elected officials, and precinct chairs across Harris County, … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged activism, CD09, CD18, CD29, Congress, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Houston, redistricting, special session, Texas | 2 Comments

Re-redistricting watch: El Paso in focus

Posted on July 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Not a big surprise. President Donald Trump’s request that Texas Republicans seek to create five new congressional seats for the GOP in an upcoming special legislation could involve redrawing boundaries in El Paso, a website focused on Congress says. Diluting … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2026 | Tagged CD07, CD11, CD16, CD19, CD23, Congress, Donald Trump, El Paso, Election 2024, Election 2026, Greg Abbott, redistricting, special session, Texas, Tony Gonzales, Veronica Escobar | Leave a comment

Benjamin Flores

Posted on July 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We have more than one Democrat running for Governor. I first met Ben Flores last fall, at his small pig farm on the outskirts of Bay City, a working-class town about half an hour north of Matagorda Bay. The cybersecurity … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2026 | Tagged Bay City, Benjamin Flores, Bobby Cole, Democratic primary, Election 2026, Governor, Ron Nirenberg, Texas | 5 Comments

The long haul of recovery

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We only really have a best guess as to how many people are still missing from the Hill Country floods. More than 10 days after catastrophic July Fourth floods along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, the official death toll … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged CodeRED, Crockett, FEMA, flooding, Greg Abbott, Guadalupe River, Houston County, Hurricane Harvey, Kerr County, Kerrville, National Emergency Management Association, National Weather Service, NOAA, Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, special session, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, The Lege, tornadoes, Tropical Storm Barry | Leave a comment

Nathan Johnson officially announces for AG

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

He should be a good candidate. State Sen. Nathan Johnson is running for Texas attorney general, the three-term Dallas Democrat announced Tuesday. He told The Texas Tribune that, if elected, he would look to restore “faith and confidence” in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2026 | Tagged Aaron Reitz, Attorney General, Democratic primary, Donald Trump, Election 2018, Election 2026, Joan Huffman, Ken Paxton, Mayes Middleton, Nathan Johnson, SD16, Senate, Texas | 2 Comments

So what’s Colossal Biosciences up to now?

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Always be finding new species to say you’re going to de-extinct. A species of huge, flightless bird that once inhabited New Zealand disappeared around 600 years ago, shortly after human settlers first arrived on the country’s two main islands. Now, a Texas-based biotech company … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged Ben Lamm, Beth Shapiro, Colossal Biosciences, DNA, dodos, elephants, extinction, mammoths, moa, New Zealand, pink pigeon, Texas, tigers | 2 Comments

What the medical marijuana industry wants from the special session

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

To protect their interests, of course. Texas’ medical marijuana dispensaries entered into this year’s legislative session with a two-prong strategy to expand: to loosen the state’s rules on their industry that has made the program largely inaccessible to those who … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged cannabis, Compassionate Use Registry of Texas, Dan Patrick, Election 2026, Greg Abbott, hemp, marijuana, medical marijuana, redistricting, Senate, special session, Texas, Texas Hemp Business Council, THC, The Lege, veto | Leave a comment

Just how intimate are those emails?

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The mind reels. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doesn’t want to reveal months of communications with Elon Musk or representatives from the tech mogul’s companies, arguing in part that they are of a private nature, not of public interest and potentially embarrassing. Musk had an … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged Attorney General, Elon Musk, Greg Abbott, lobbyists, special session, Supreme Court, Texas, Texas Public Information Act, The Lege | Leave a comment

RIP, David Adickes

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A giant has passed. David Adickes, the painter and sculptor responsible for some of Texas’s most popular public art, died on Sunday at the age of 98. His eight-decade career took him from a modest childhood in Huntsville to the … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged David Adickes, Giant Presidential Heads, Houston, obituaries, Texas | 1 Comment

There’s still flooding in the Hill Country

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It keeps raining. Emergency crews suspended their search for victims of catastrophic flooding in Central Texas on Sunday morning amid new warnings that additional rain would again cause waterways to surge. It was the first time a new round of … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Camp Mystic, CodeRED, Comal County, Dan Patrick, FEMA, flooding, Guadalupe River, Hurricane Harvey, Kerr County, Kerrville, National Emergency Management Association, National Weather Service, NOAA, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, The Lege, Tropical Storm Barry | 5 Comments

Paxton divorce filings sealed

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. A state district court judge in Collin County agreed Friday to seal all records relating to divorce proceedings between Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. Angela Paxton, according to reports by The Dallas Morning News and … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged Angela Paxton, Attorney General, divorce, impeachment, Ken Paxton, Senate, Texas | 1 Comment

Why does Greg Abbott hate FEMA?

Posted on July 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, FEMA loves Texas, so… Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to request federal assistance last week after devastating floods hit the Texas Hill Country. But the Republican governor is simultaneously helping the Trump administration find ways to “wean off” … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Camp Mystic, cloud seeding, CodeRED, Dan Patrick, Donald Trump, drought, FEMA, Flood Information & Response System, flooding, Greg Abbott, Guadalupe River, Heart O' the Hills, Kerr County, Kerrville, National Emergency Management Association, National Weather Service, NOAA, Rainmaker, RFK Jr, Senate, Sid Miller, South Texas Weather Modification Association, special session, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, The Lege, Tropical Storm Barry, Upper Guadalupe River Authority, water | 1 Comment

This session’s fight over casinos was mostly billionaire-on-billionaire violence

Posted on July 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A good read from Texas Monthly about how Miriam Adelson tried to throw a bunch of money around and hire every lobbyist in the state to get casino gambling on the ballot, only to run into a different billionaire throwing … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged Andy Abboud, casinos, Dan Patrick, gambling, Greg Abbott, Miriam Adelson, Texas, The Lege, Tim Dunn | 1 Comment

Opening look at the re-redistricting effort

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

They’re coming for our districts. More than one million Houstonians could have new congressional representation as early as next year under Gov. Greg Abbott’s push to redraw the state’s political maps. Abbott has ordered the Texas Legislature into a special … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2026, That's our Lege | Tagged Al Green, Beto O'Rourke, CD02, CD07, CD08, CD09, CD10, CD18, CD22, CD28, CD29, CD33, CD34, CD36, CD38, Congress, Donald Trump, Election 2018, Election 2024, Election 2026, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Galveston, Greg Abbott, Justice Department, Kamala Harris, lawsuit, Lizzie FLetcher, MALDEF, precinct analysis, redistricting, SCOTUS, special session, Sylvia Garcia, Ted Cruz, Texas, Voting Rights Act | 3 Comments

No more backup power mandates for senior living places

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

That’s our Legislature, y’all. In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, thousands of seniors across the Houston region were stuck in buildings without power or air-conditioning, often left to fend for themselves in the sweltering summer heat. The suffering galvanized Houston-area Democrats to once again fight for what had repeatedly failed: … Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina, That's our Lege | Tagged blackouts, Carol Alvarado, Commissioners Court, derecho, Harris County, Harris County Fire Marshal, HHSC, Houston, Hurricane Beryl, Jeffrey Barry, nursing homes, Texas, Texas Assisted Living Association, The Lege | 1 Comment

Dispatches from Dallas, July 12 edition

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth: an attack on an ICE facility near Fort Worth; what’s being done about flooding and emergencies in … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged Dallas, guest post, linkdump, Texas | 1 Comment

Hill Country flood roundup

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Just some articles of interest, no real thread. Climate Change Helped Fuel Heavy Rains That Led to Devastating Texas Flood Climate scientists said the torrential downpours on July 4 exemplify the devastating outcomes of weather intensified by a warming atmosphere. … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Camp Mystic, climate change, CodeRED, Dan Patrick, DOGE, DPS, FEMA, Flood Information & Response System, flooding, Greg Abbott, Guadalupe River, HEB, Homeland Security, James Avery, John Nielsen-Gammon, Kerr County, Kerrville, Kristi Noem, National Emergency Management Association, National Weather Service, NOAA, San Angelo, San Antonio, Senate, special session, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, Texas Water Development Board, The Lege, Tropical Storm Barry, Upper Guadalupe River Authority | 1 Comment

Measles update: There’s good news and there’s bad news

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The good news. Texas health officials on Tuesday said the county at the center of the state’s measles outbreak is no longer classified as an outbreak county. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported no new cases of measles … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Centers for Disease Control, coronavirus, El Paso, FDA, Gaines County, Kansas, Lamar County, lawsuit, measles, Mexico, New Mexico, Oklahoma, RFK Jr, Texas, Texas Department of State Health Services, vaccinations | Leave a comment

Paxtons getting divorced

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Whoa. State Sen. Angela Paxton announced Thursday she has filed for divorce from her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation,” Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, said in a post … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged Angela Paxton, Attorney General, divorce, impeachment, Ken Paxton, Senate, Texas | 4 Comments

So now the Lege will get involved

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

As I said yesterday, I don’t know if Greg Abbott would have called a special session to address the great tragedy happening in the Hill Country if one hadn’t already been on the calendar for other reasons. He didn’t call … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege, The great state of Texas | Tagged Camp Mystic, CodeRED, Dan Patrick, DOGE, DPS, Dustin Burrows, FEMA, Flood Information & Response System, flooding, Greg Abbott, Guadalupe River, Heart O' the Hills, Joe Moody, Kerr County, Kerrville, National Emergency Management Association, National Weather Service, NOAA, Paul Bettencourt, Phil Bedient, Rafael Anchia, San Angelo, San Antonio, Sarah Eckhardt, Senate, special session, SSPEED, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, Texas Water Development Board, The Lege, Tropical Storm Barry, Upper Guadalupe River Authority, Wes Virdell | 2 Comments

Abbott adds redistricting and wingnut priorities to special session agenda

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And also some flooding stuff, which was clearly top of mind for him. Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday unveiled a jam-packed agenda for the upcoming special legislative session, calling on lawmakers to redraw Texas’ congressional maps and address several unfinished … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged abortion, California, Constitution, Court of Criminal Appeals, flooding, Gavin Newsom, Gene Wu, Guadalupe River, Ken Paxton, Kerr County, lobbyists, mifepristone, redistricting, special session, Texas, The Lege | 3 Comments

The flood warning history of Kerr County

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

They’ve tried for awhile to get some funding for a flood warning system. They’ve failed every time. Nearly a decade before catastrophic flash flooding killed at least 75 people in Kerr County, including 27 children, several local officials were hard … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Camp Mystic, CodeRED, Comfort, Dan Patrick, DOGE, DPS, FEMA, Flood Information & Response System, flooding, Greg Abbott, Guadalupe River, Gulf of Mexico, Homeland Security, Hurricane Beryl, Hurricane Harvey, Ken King, Kendall County, Kerr County, Kerrville, National Emergency Management Association, National Weather Service, NOAA, Phil Bedient, San Angelo, San Antonio, Senate, special session, SSPEED, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, Texas Water Development Board, The Lege, Tropical Storm Barry, Upper Guadalupe River Authority | 10 Comments

Fifth Circuit keeps SB4 block in place

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of good news. A Texas law that would deputize state and local police to question and arrest people they suspect of being in the country illegally was blocked once again. The law would also authorize local judges to … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters | Tagged ACLU of Texas, American Gateways, Bastrop County, Congress, Donald Trump, DPS, El Paso, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Greg Abbott, Harris County, Hidalgo County, immigration, Joe Biden, Justice Department, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, lawsuit, MALDEF, McLennan County, Mexico, SCOTUS, Senate, Steve McCraw, Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, The Lege | Leave a comment

On the value of disaster warnings

Posted on July 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s hard to know where to start with this. For the last three days, state Rep. Wes Virdell has been out with first responders in Kerr County as they searched for victims and survivors from the devastating floods that swept … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged Camp Mystic, Dan Patrick, DOGE, DPS, FEMA, flooding, Guadalupe River, Gulf of Mexico, Homeland Security, Hurricane Beryl, Ken King, Kerr County, Kerrville, National Emergency Management Association, National Weather Service, NOAA, San Angelo, San Antonio, Senate, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, The Lege, Tony Tinderholt, Tropical Storm Barry, Wes Virdell | 9 Comments

Hill Country flood update 2

Posted on July 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A brief overview of the situation, written on Sunday at noon. The death toll rose to 68 as a result of the Fourth of July floods along the Guadalupe River, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. That includes 28 children. There were … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Camp Mystic, DOGE, DPS, FEMA, flooding, Guadalupe River, Gulf of Mexico, Heart O' the Hills, HFD, Homeland Security, Hurricane Beryl, Kerr County, Kerrville, National Emergency Management Association, National Weather Service, NOAA, San Angelo, San Antonio, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, Tropical Storm Barry | 4 Comments

Hill Country flood update

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The situation remains very bad, with a significant potential to get much worse. The official death toll from the catastrophic floods that hit the Texas Hill Country rose to 27 as of Saturday morning, according to the Kerr County sheriff’s … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Camp Mystic, DOGE, DPS, FEMA, flooding, Guadalupe River, Gulf of Mexico, HFD, Hurricane Beryl, Kerr County, Kerrville, National Weather Service, NOAA, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management, Tropical Storm Barry | 6 Comments

Paxton drops his latest whistleblower appeal

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see if this time it sticks. Texas will pay $6.6 million to four former top deputies to Attorney General Ken Paxton who say they were fired after reporting their boss to the FBI. This years-long legal saga reached its … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Attorney General, Blake Brickman, bribery, David Maxwell, Election 2026, FBI, impeachment, John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, lawsuit, Mark Penley, Nate Paul, primaries, Ryan Vassar, Senate, Supreme Court, Texas, Texas Whistleblower Act, The Lege, Travis County | Comments Off

California threatens retaliatory re-redistricting

Posted on July 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a thing they could do. House Democratic leadership, rank-and-file members and aides to at least one blue state governor have been meeting to decide how to retaliate if Texas Republicans follow through on the White House’s push to reshape … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged California, CD07, CD15, CD16, CD23, CD28, CD32, CD34, Congress, Donald Trump, Election 2026, Gavin Newsom, Greg Abbott, Julie Johnson, Lizzie FLetcher, redistricting, special session, Texas, Veronica Escobar | 1 Comment

The Hill Country floods

Posted on July 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Just terrible. At least 13 people are dead and dozens more are missing — including more than 20 children who were staying in area summer camps — as heavy rains caused “catastrophic” flooding along the Guadalupe River, with parts of … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged DPS, flooding, Guadalupe River, HFD, Kerr County, Kerrville, Texas, Texas Department of Emergency Management | 14 Comments

A sudden surge in potential candidates

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg may be running for Governor. Sources say former Mayor Ron Nirenberg has been telling fellow Democrats he’s considering a run for governor in 2026 — a potentially grueling race against the formidable Republican Gov. … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2026 | Tagged Beto O'Rourke, Bobby Cole, Colin Allred, Democratic primary, Donald Trump, Election 2026, Governor, Greg Abbott, James Talarico, Joaquin Castro, John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, Lite Gov, Nathan Johnson, polls, primaries, Roland Gutierrez, Ron Nirenberg, Senate, Terry Virts, Texas, Vikki Goodwin | Comments Off

Dispatches from Dallas, July 4 edition

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth, it’s time to catch up on all the things that have been happening since I took the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged Dallas, guest post, linkdump, Texas | 1 Comment

Measles update: Yes, there are still new cases being reported

Posted on July 3, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s still a thing. The Texas Department of State Health Services says three new measles cases have been detected in the last week in connection to an outbreak in West Texas. The state has been tracking case numbers since the … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Arizona, Austin Public Health, Bexar County, Canada, Centers for Disease Control, Colorado, coronavirus, El Paso, Gaines County, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Lamar County, measles, Mexico, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, RFK Jr, Texas, Texas Advanced Computing Center, Texas Department of State Health Services, UT, vaccinations | Comments Off

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