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Traci Jensen

Final filings: We have a statewide Democrat

Dec 10th, 2013
by Charles Kuffner.
7 comments

Boy, I didn’t see this coming.

Judge Larry Meyers

Judge Larry Meyers

Longtime Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Lawrence “Larry” Meyers announced Monday that he is leaving the Republican Party to run as a Democrat for the Texas Supreme Court.

Meyers, of Fort Worth, filed Monday on the last day of filing to seek Place 6 on the Supreme Court, currently held by Jeff Brown.

“I am thrilled to welcome Judge Meyers to the Texas Democratic Party,” Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said. “I am even more excited to know that Judge Meyers doesn’t stand alone. Every day, I hear from real voters that our party represents the strongest path forward for our state.

“Texas is changing and voters will continue ot reject a Republican Party more focused on ideology than ideas.”

Meyers’ party switch makes him the first statewide Democratic officeholder since 1998.

What’s more, since his term on the CCA isn’t up until 2016, no matter what happens in that race he’ll be on the bench at least until then. It’s a little strange having a criminal court judge running for a civil court, but that’s far from the strangest thing that’s happened this cycle. Meyers announced a challenge to Sharon Keller in the GOP primary in 2012 despite having previously been an ally of hers, but as far as I can tell he didn’t actually go through with it; the SOS page for the 2012 GOP primary shows her as unopposed. In any event, welcome to the party, Judge Meyers. Best of luck in your election.

That was the first surprise of the day but it wasn’t the last and may not have been the biggest, for next came this.

U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, has filed to run against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the March GOP primary, joining at least eight other hopefuls vying for the senior senator’s seat, according to a spokesman with the Republican Party of Texas.

Stockman, who had filed for re-election in Congressional District 36, had to withdraw from that race to seek Cornyn’s seat.

In an interview with the website WND, Stockman said he was running because he was “extremely disappointed in the way [Cornyn] treated his fellow congressmen and broke the 11th commandment and undermined Ted Cruz’s fight to stop Obamacare.”

There’s crazy, there’s bat$#!+ crazy, and then there’s Steve Stockman, who does a triple lutz barrel roll with a half-gainer but still sticks the landing. Take that, Louie Gohmert!

GOP political consultant Matt Mackowiak said Stockman faces an uphill battle, from recent investigations into his political and fundraising operation to Cornyn’s “huge bankroll.”

“Now we will find out if Sen. Cornyn is truly vulnerable, which I have doubted,” Mackowiak said, adding, “I predict that not one member of the congressional delegation will support Stockman. Ultimately, he will need outside groups to spend, and that is the most important unknown right now.”

All I can say is that so far, no one has gone broke underestimating the insanity of Republican primary voters. I suppose there’s a first time for everything. In the meantime, I join with PDiddie, Texpatriate, Juanita, and BOR in marveling at the spectacle.

Stockman’s change in office means that he won’t be running for CD36, which means there’s at least a chance Congress could be a tiny bit less wacko in 2015. There are three other Republicans running, and one Democrat.

Meanwhile, Michael Cole has had his eye on the heavily-Republican district since 2012, when he ran as a libertarian. He got about 6,000 votes in that election.

Now Cole, a 38 year old teacher from Orange, Texas, is running again as a Democrat. He says he has a campaign team in place, has been crisscrossing the district, and is about to file his first report on fundraising to the Federal Elections Commission. He said he’d focus on getting things done and charged outgoing Stockman with wasting time on politics.

“I can listen to what my constituents want instead of just showboating against Barack Obama,” he said, noting that his major focus would be on middle class job growth.

The change in candidates doesn’t change the fact that this is a 70% GOP district. But still, a Republican and a Libertarian both turning Democrat to run next year? Not a bad day if you ask me.

Anyway. Here’s the TDP list, which will not include people that filed at their county offices, and the Harris County GOP list; I’ve put the HCDP list beneath the fold, since the updated version of it isn’t online just yet. Stace notes the contested primaries of interest in Harris County, but here are a few other highlights:

– In addition to Larry Meyers, the Dems have two other Supreme Court candidates (Bill Moody and Gina Benavides, who is a Justice on the 13th Court of Appeals) and one CCA candidate (John Granberg for Place 3). Not a full slate, but not too bad. According to a TDP press release, Granberg is an attorney from El Paso (as is Moody, who is a District Court judge) and Benavides is from McAllen.

– Kinky Friedman has a second opponent for Ag Commissioner, Hugh Asa Fitzsimons III. Either the Dems got used to the idea of Friedman on the ballot or they failed utterly to find an opponent for him that isn’t some dude. I never thought I’d say this, but as things stand today I’d vote for Kinky.

– Another press release from the TDP makes a nice-sounding claim:

Today, the Texas Democratic Party announced its slate of candidates for 2014. Texas Democrats are fielding more candidates for statewide office in this election cycle than any time since 2002.

In addition to the statewide slate, the party devoted significant time to recruiting for down ballot races, and announced challengers in State Senate districts 10 and 17, and a full slate of candidates to the State Board of Education.

The party spent significant time recruiting Justices of the Peace, County Constables, County Judges, County Commissioners and others in places like Lubbock, Wichita Falls, San Angelo and across Texas.

I like the look of that. I wish they had more information in that release, but it’s an encouraging sign regardless.

– There will not be a rematch in CD33 between Rep. Marc Veasey and Domingo Garcia. As a fan of Rep. Veasey, I’m glad to hear that.

– Rep. Harold Dutton did file for re-election in HD142. Some people just can’t be rushed, I guess. Rep. Carol Alvarado joined Rep. Alma Allen in drawing a primary challenger, as Susan Delgado filed at the last minute in HD145. I’ll be voting for Rep. Alvarado, thanks. Oh, and the GOP did find a challenger for HD144 – Gilbert Pena, who lost in the primary for that district in 2012.

– Dems did not get candidates foe each local judicial race, but there are a few contested judicial primaries. Yes, that’s a little frustrating, but people will run where they want to run.

– No one is running against Commissioner Jack Morman, and no one else is running for County Judge. Alas. Ann Harris Bennett has an opponent for County Clerk, Gayle Mitchell, who filed a finance report in July but has been quiet since.

– Possibly the biggest surprise locally is that outgoing CM Melissa Noriega filed for HCDE At Large Position 7, making that a three way race with Traci Jensen and Lily Leal. I will have more on that later.

I’m sure I’ll have plenty more to say about many of these races soon. Here’s the Chron story for now, which doesn’t add anything I didn’t already have here. What are your thoughts about the lineups?

(more…)

Susan Criss to file in HD23

Dec 7th, 2013
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

Some excellent news from the inbox, via Carl Whitmarsh:

Susan Criss

For fifteen years I was honored to wear a black robe for the people of Galveston County. Four times I raised my hand and swore, so help me God, to faithfully execute the duties of the office of the 212th District Court of Galveston County, Texas and to the best of my ability protect, preserve and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of Texas.

While I dearly love this job it is time for me to serve my community in a different capacity. In order to do that I am required by law to resign from this position before December 9, 2013. I sent a letter to Governor Perry resigning from this bench effective at 5 pm December 6, 2013. I ask that he appoint someone to fill this term.

On Sunday December 8, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. I will file for the office of State Representative of District 23 at the Texas Democratic Party office in Austin.

For a decade and a half I administered justice to the best of my ability. I tried to be fair to everyone who appeared before my bench. When I was a young prosecutor Judge Raymond Magee told me that the man who drives to the courthouse in a pickup truck deserves the same justice as the man who drove there in a Cadillac. I never forgot his words and aspired to live up to them every day.

I was addressed as “Your Honor”. That was an appropriate term but not because I was special. It truly was my greatest honor to be able to serve the people of Galveston County in our justice system. I loved this job, the people I worked with, the lawyers who appeared before me and the people I served.

One sign on the door of my courtroom reads “This court belongs to the people.” The other has a quote by Sam Houston, “Do right and risk the consequences.” Both signs reflect my beliefs about justice and about government service.

The pink granite building in Austin also belongs to the people, the ones who drive Cadillacs, the ones who drive pickup trucks and the ones who cannot drive at all.

The people of District 23 deserve strong effective representation in the Texas House. I am excited about working hard to ensure that District 23’s voices are heard in Austin

She also posted that on her Facebook wall, along with that badass picture embedded above. I had wondered if anyone had filed in HD23, and I’m delighted to see a positive answer to that. Retaining this seat that’s being vacated by Rep. Craig Eiland will not be easy, but Judge Criss is as strong a candidate as one could want to make the effort. The Chron has picked up the story, and PDiddie was on it before that.

In other filing news, we have a couple more contested primaries in Harris County. An Azuwuike Okorafor, who may be this attorney, has filed to challenge Rep. Alma Allen in HD131. Allen easily turned back a campaign by Council Member Wanda Adams in 2012, so barring anything unexpected I don’t think this time will be any different. Also, a Lily Leal, who may be this person, filed to run for HCDE Trustee At Large Position 7, which is the seat formerly held by Jim Henley for which 2012 SBOE candidate Traci Jensen filed earlier in the period.

Democrats now also have a candidate for County Judge. Unfortunately, that candidate is Ahmad Hassan, the former Republican (he ran against Sheila Jackson Lee in 2006) who ran for County Judge in 2008 and 2010, losing in each primary to David Mincberg and Gordon Quan, respectively. He’s a perfectly nice person but has no real qualifications for this job or understanding of what it is – give a listen to the interview I did with him in 2010 to see what I mean. I don’t think there’s much appetite among Dems to run against incumbent County Judge Ed Emmett, and I can’t blame them – Emmett is generally well-liked, very well-funded, and was easily the top Republican votegetter both times he was on the ballot. I think 2014 is more likely to be a good year in Harris County than not, and while I expect Ed Emmett to run ahead of the GOP pack, it’s certainly possible he could lose. If he lost to a Mincberg or a Quan that would be one thing. Losing to Hassan would not be a good thing, and would invite comparisons to Jim Foster. This is one primary race that I would very much prefer to be a contested race.

Elsewhere, Trail Blazers confirms that LaRouchie wacko Kesha Rogers has indeed filed to run for the Senate. I will reiterate what I said yesterday that it’s everyone’s job to make sure she doesn’t make it to a runoff, let alone wins the nomination. Ignorance cannot be an excuse, y’all. BOR reports that the Democrats “will indeed be fielding several statewide judicial candidates, who are in the process of gathering the signatures required to run”. I have heard that El Paso District Court Judge Bill Moody was running again, and I had heard there were at least some other Supreme Court candidates out there, but that’s all I know. No clue whether we’ll have any CCA candidates. Finally, Tom Pauken has ended his quest for the GOP gubernatorial nomination on the very reasonable grounds that he had no chance of winning. I can’t claim to have been a fan, but it was better to have more critics of Greg Abbott out there, so to that extent I’m sorry to see him go. Texpatriate has more.

Kim Ogg officially files for DA

Nov 21st, 2013
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

This is the marquee matchup in Harris County in November, at least so far.

Kim Ogg

Kim Ogg, the only Democratic yet to announce a bid for Harris County district attorney, said Monday that most voters do not identify with a particular party when it comes to criminal justice races.

“I think the race for Harris County’s criminal district attorney is potentially less partisan than other traditional legislative races,” Ogg said at her official filing at the Harris County Democratic Headquarters.

The former prosecutor who ran Crime Stoppers of Houston from 1999 to 2006 also said recent gains made by Democrats give her confidence.

“I think Harris County poses the greatest opportunity to reflect the change that’s happening in Houston, in Texas and in America,” Ogg said. “So I look forward to representing the Democratic Party as their nominee after the (primary) election in March.”

[…]

[On Monday,] Ogg said she would return the office to the [“trace case”] policy begun by [Pat] Lykos, whose position was that a tiny amount, less than 1/100 of a gram, was not enough to be tested by the prosecution and defense.

See here and here for the background. As you know, I support the Lykos “trace case” policy, so I am glad to see Kim Ogg take that position. I will be very interested to hear what she has to say about reviewing cases under the mandate of SB344 as well.

In related news, I get a daily report from the HCDP about who has filed for what, and I can report that Judith Snively has filed to run for District Clerk. Snively was a candidate for Harris County Criminal Court #3 in 2010 and did us all the favor of defeating Lloyd Oliver for the nomination in that race. Incumbent District Clerk Chris Daniel has a primary challenger, Court Koenning, but I was not aware of any Dem running for this office until just recently. Two candidates for other offices that had previously made their intentions known, David Rosen for Treasurer and Traci Jensen for HCDE Position 7 At Large, have also officially filed, and Ann Harris Bennett, who will run for County Clerk, sent out an email announcing that she will file on December 7. All incumbent Democratic State Reps except for Harold Dutton have filed so far. Finally, we have our first two legislative challengers, as an Alison Ruff has filed for HD134 and a John Gay filed for the open HD129. I had been aware of another person looking at the HD134 race, though she has since decided against it, but Ms. Ruff is a new name to me. Anyone out there know anything about her?

2014 Democratic lineup updates

Oct 28th, 2013
by Charles Kuffner.
7 comments

In honor of Peggy Fikac, an update on who is running for what as a Democrat in 2014. Starting at the top, folks who attended the HCDP Johnson-Rayburn-Richards event on Saturday had the opportunity to meet Maxey Scherr, a 33-year-old attorney from El Paso who will be filing to run for Senate against John Cornyn. Art Pronin has a couple of pictures of her on his Facebook page – see here and here, assuming his security settings allow for that, and see here for a brief bio and video. I had a chance to meet Maxey on Friday thanks to Barbara Radnofsky, who was hosting her and introducing her around. She would be a first-time candidate, which is daunting to say the least at a statewide level, but she has some connections that will serve her well to get going. She is friends with both Rep. Beto O’Rourke and former Rep. Silvestre Reyes, and is good friends with and a former schoolmate of the daughter of John Cook, the former Mayor of El Paso who is now the Democratic candidate for Land Commissioner. Scherr’s father James Scherr is a fixture in politics there and will apparently take a year off from his position as senior partner at their law firm to fundraise for her. I think she has the potential to raise a few bucks, which will be worth keeping an eye on. Rick Noriega took in about $4.5 million over the course of his candidacy in 2008; I think Scherr can top that. I also think she can take advantage of advances in technology and changes in the electorate and how to reach them to stretch those dollars farther. I expect her to run a progressive campaign geared at least in part towards voters of her own cohort, which is something we’re not used to seeing in this state and which ought to provide a good contrast to an old-boy establishment figure like Cornyn. Look for more information and a formal announcement from Maxey Scherr shortly.

A bit farther down on the ticket, BOR confirmed something that I first reported two weeks earlier, that former Fort Bend Democratic Party Chair Steve Brown is exploring a run for Railroad Commissioner. From BOR:

Steve Brown

In our exclusive interview, Mr. Brown spoke with me about his political history, including having served in the Clinton White House and how he was elected as chair of the Fort Bend County Democratic Party in 2010. He resigned the Chairmanship earlier this year when he began considering a run for elected office. He stated that he wanted to run for Texas Railroad Commissioner because the Commission needs an advocate for regular Texans while making sure people who are doing the right things in regards to oil and gas production are not being punished.

Mr. Brown stated his preference to see the Commission change its name to reflect that it is a regulatory commission over the energy sector, and not railroads. He also stated his desire to see stronger ethics rules implemented over the Commissioners. When asked about Republicans who cited federal oversight was a job killer, Mr. Brown responded that people who used that excuse were not being creative when it came to finding solutions. He pointed out again that one of the roles of a Commissioner is to punish bad actors who violate laws, not to give everyone a free pass.

Stephen Brown has been a great advocate for the Texas Democratic Party as Fort Bend County’s Chairman and served the Party with distinction and honor.

There’s an interview at the link, so go give it a listen. With Scherr and Brown jumping in, the one remaining hole among the non-judicial offices is Lt. Governor, where we are still waiting on a decision from Sen. Leticia Van de Putte. While she waits, as noted by PDiddie, Maria Alvarado, the 2006 Democratic candidate for Lt. Gov., has announced her candidacy. Good for her and all, but with all due respect, I’m still waiting for Sen. Van de Putte.

That still leaves judicial candidates. Via both Maxey Scherr and Attorney General candidate Sam Houston, whom I saw briefly on Saturday evening, El Paso District Court Judge Bill Moody, the top Democratic votegetter in 2006, will be running for Supreme Court again. Sam Houston told me that the TDP was working with other candidates for Supreme Court and that he expected the Dems to field a full slate there, though he didn’t know what was going on with the Court of Criminal Appeals. This is the first news I’ve heard about the statewide judicial races, and it’s reasonably encouraging. If you have heard anything about these races, please leave a comment and let us know.

Finally, in Harris County, we now have a Democratic candidate for the At Large HCDE Trustee position that Jim Henley vacated in June. Traci Jensen, who ran for the State Board of Education in 2012 and who had expressed interest in being appointed to fill Henley’s seat, announced on Facebook that she would run for the position. Rumor has it that former Trustee Michael Wolfe, who was ousted by Diane Trautman last year, is seeking to reclaim a spot on the Board, so having a strong and well-qualified candidate like Jensen will be important.

Last but not least, Glorice McPherson is out collecting signatures to run for County Commissioner in Precinct 2, which would be against Jack Morman. McPherson ran against Steve Radack in 2012 in CC3, which puzzled me a bit at first, but her voter registration card indicates she lives in CC2, so I presume she moved in the last year or so. A lot of people have been talking about running in CC2 so I don’t expect this will be the last word, but for now there is at least one candidate in the race.

That’s all I’ve got. If you have any further rumor, innuendo, or actual fact about 2014, leave a comment and pass it on. Remember, the filing period begins November 9, so there’s hardly time to catch one’s breath after this election before the next one gets going.

Here are the HCDE hopefuls

May 11th, 2013
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

JimHenley

Via Stace, here are the six finalists to succeed HCDE Trustee Jim Henley, who is resigning his position as of when a replacement is chosen:

  • Davetta Daniels, who ran for HISD Trustee against Paula Harris in 2007 and 2011
  • Sue Deigaard, who has been active in matters relating to public education funding
  • Louis Evans, UH-D Executive Director, Distance Learning and former HCDE Board member in Position 4, Precinct 3
  • Rey Guerra, engineer, community activist, and guest blogger
  • Traci Jensen, 2012 candidate for SBOE 6
  • Mubeen Khumawala, a former teacher at YES Prep who is now a project analyst for Deloitte

I know Sue, Rey, and Traci, and think any of them would be fine. Stace is supporting Rey Guerra; as he notes, the current Board lacks Latino representation. According to the Board Vacancy FAQ, the successor will be chosen at the next HCDE Board meeting on May 21. If you have a preference, you might want to contact your precinct Board member and the two remaining At Large members (Diane Trautman and Debby Kerner) and let them know.

Precinct analysis: The range of possibility

Nov 29th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

Here’s a look at selected districts in Harris County that shows the range of votes and vote percentages achieved by Democratic candidates. I’ve thrown in the Obama and Sam Houston results from 2008 for each to provide a comparison between how the district was predicted to perform and how it actually did perform. Without further ado:


HD132       Votes    Pct
========================
Garcia     22,336  43.52
Ryan       20,945  40.63
Bennett    20,454  40.35
Obama      21,116  40.29
Oliver     19,873  38.52

08Obama    18,886  39.60
08Houston  18,653  40.60

HD132, which runs out to the western edge of Harris County, incorporating parts of Katy, is a fascinating district. For one thing, as Greg showed, there are these fairly large blue patches out that way, surrounded otherwise by a sea of red. Much of that blue is in HD132, which is why this district wound up overperforming its 2008 numbers by about a point. As Greg said in reply to my comment on that post, you could build a pretty reasonable Democratic district out that way if you were in control of the mapmaking process. In fact, the non-MALDEF intervenors in the San Antonio lawsuit did propose a map that drew HD132 as a lean-Dem district. It wasn’t addressed by the DC court in its ruling denying preclearance on the maps, so we won’t see any such district this decade, but just as the old 132 came on the radar in 2008, the new HD132 should be viewed as an attainable goal, perhaps in 2016. Take the continued population dynamics of Harris County, add in a good candidate and a concerted voter registration/GOTV effort, and I think you could have something.


HD134       Votes    Pct
========================
Garcia     36,781  48.07
Ryan       35,431  45.96
Johnson    36,366  45.35
Obama      34,561  42.49
Bennett    29,843  39.47
Oliver     25,886  33.79

08Obama    39,153  46.50
08Houston  33,667  42.60

I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find a district with a wider vote spread than HD134. A couple things stand out to me. One is that four years ago in the old 134, President Obama ran five points ahead of Democratic judicial candidates. I haven’t done the math on the judicials this time around – even in Excel/Calc, it gets mighty tedious after awhile – but I’d bet money that’s not the case this year. I’d call this evidence of Obama losing ground with Anglo voters in Texas, as he did nationwide. Note also that Adrian Garcia did not carry HD134 this time around, unlike in 2008 when he was the only Democrat besides then-Rep. Ellen Cohen to win it. (Michael Skelly, running in CD07, carried the portion of HD134 that was in CD07, which was most but not quite all of it.) Garcia’s overall performance was a couple of points lower this year, but this shows how tough HD134 really was, something which I think wasn’t fully appreciated by most observers. Ann Johnson ran hard and did a good job, but the hill was too steep. I’m sure HD134 will remain a tempting target, but the name of the game here is persuasion, not turnout, and that’s a harder task.


HD135       Votes    Pct
========================
Garcia     23,507  44.91
Ryan       21,620  41.26
Obama      21,679  40.37
Bennett    20,786  40.26
Morgan     20,997  39.63
Oliver     20,119  38.42

08Obama    20,430  38.70
08Houston  19,912  39.50

Another not-on-the-radar district that wound up being better for Dems than you would have expected. As with HD132, this would be a good place to focus registration and turnout energies going forward.


HD137       Votes    Pct
========================
Garcia     15,682  67.58
Ryan       15,498  65.88
Wu         15,789  65.72
Obama      15,899  65.25
Bennett    14,875  64.63
Oliver     14,700  62.62

08Obama    16,755  62.30
08Houston  16,008  62.40

I haven’t looked this deeply at all of the Democratic districts, but the early indicators are that Democratic candidates generally outperformed the 2008 numbers in the districts that were considered to be competitive. Even by the 2008 numbers, HD137 wasn’t particularly competitive, but with a first-time candidate in an open seat against someone who’d won elections in the same general vicinity before and who could write his own check, who knew what could happen. Rep.-elect Gene Wu had a strong showing in a district where all Dems did well. I mean, if Lloyd Oliver outperformed Obama 08, you know Democrats kicked butt in this district.


HD144       Votes    Pct
========================
Garcia     13,555  57.96
Ryan       12,668  53.96
Bennett    12,382  53.63
Perez      12,425  53.35
Obama      12,281  51.47
Oliver     11,966  51.07

08Obama    11,983  48.00
08Houston  13,129  54.50

The disparity between Obama and Sam Houston in 08 makes it a little hard to pin this district down as overperforming or underperforming. It’s fair to say that Rep.-elect Mary Ann Perez won by a more comfortable margin than most people, myself included, might have expected, and it appears that Obama closed the gap a bit this year. This will surely be a race to watch in 2014, whether or not the district gets tweaked by the courts or the Lege. (The DC court rejected the intervenors’ claims about retrogression in HD144, in case you were curious.) Oh, and I hadn’t thought about this before now, but Perez’s win means that there will need to be a special election for her HCC Trustee position in 2013. I have no idea off the top of my head what the procedures are for that.


HD145       Votes    Pct
========================
Alvarado   20,829  68.86
Garcia     19,180  67.67
Ryan       17,860  63.04
Obama      17,890  61.13
Bennett    17,252  61.90
Oliver     16,778  59.22

08Obama    16,749  57.10
08Houston  17,315  61.70

Rep. Alvarado was unopposed, so the percentage shown for her is her share of all ballots cast in HD145. I was a little concerned about the possibility of Republicans maybe stealing this seat in a special election if Rep. Alvarado wins in SD06 – one possible incentive for Rick Perry to shake a leg on calling that special election is that he could then call the special election for HD145 in May if that seat gets vacated, as surely that would guarantee the lowest turnout – but I’m less concerned about it looking at these numbers. Yes, I know, the electoral conditions would be totally different, but still. By my count there were 7,013 straight-ticket Republican votes in this district and 12,293 straight-ticket D votes. I think even in a low-turnout context, that would be a tall order for a Republican candidate.


HD148       Votes    Pct
========================
Farrar     25,921  64.56
Garcia     23,776  63.87
Ryan       22,413  59.91
Obama      22,393  57.92
Bennett    21,061  57.80
Oliver     19,848  53.34

08Obama    22,338  57.50
08Houston  21,887  59.20

Rep. Farrar had a Green opponent but no R opponent, so as with Rep. Alvarado her percentage is that of the total number of ballots cast. Again, one’s perception of this district as slightly overperforming or slightly underperforming for Dems depends on whether one thinks the Obama or Houston number from 2008 is the more accurate measure of the district from that year. Given the re-honkification of the Heights, I feel like this district needs to be watched in the same way that HD132 needs to be watched, only in the other direction. I feel certain that if there is to be any change in the makeup of HD148, it will happen a lot more slowly than in HD132, but nonetheless it bears watching. I’ll reassess in 2016 as needed. Oh, and there were 9,672 straight-ticket Republican votes to 13,259 straight-ticket D votes here, in case you were wondering.


HD149       Votes    Pct
========================
Vo         25,967  61.12
Garcia     25,056  60.64
Ryan       24,325  58.61
Obama      24,770  57.72
Bennett    23,659  57.64
Oliver     23,337  56.27

08Obama    24,426  55.50
08Houston  23,544  56.30

If you wanted to know why I tend to worry less about Rep. Hubert Vo than I do about some other Dems and districts, this would be why. Anyone who can outdo Adrian Garcia is someone with strong crossover appeal. Note again the general overperformance of Dems here compared to 2008. Consider this some evidence of Asian-American voters trending even more blue this cycle.


SBOE6       Votes    Pct
========================
Garcia    229,058  43.48
Ryan      216,249  40.88
Jensen    207,697  40.58
Obama     215,053  39.33
Bennett   199,169  38.27
Oliver    188,555  35.69

08Obama   224,088  40.80
08Houston 210,965  40.20

I was hopeful that Dems could build on 2008 in this district, but it wasn’t to be. I think the potential is there going forward, but it will take time and resources. Traci Jensen was a great candidate, who ran hard as the first Democrat in SBOE6 in over 20 years, but there’s only so much you can do in a district twice the size of a Congressional district without a Congressional-size campaign budget.


CD07        Votes    Pct
========================
Garcia     99,355  43.93
Ryan       93,819  41.30
Obama      92,128  39.13
Bennett    84,451  37.73
Cargas     85,253  37.44
Oliver     79,037  34.83

08Obama    96,866  40.40
08Houston  88,957  39.10

As with SBOE6, a small step back in performance instead of the step forward I had hoped for. Not sure if it was something John Culberson did to enable him to run ahead of the pack instead of lagging behind it as he did in 2006 and 2008, or if James Cargas’ weak performance had something to do with the ridiculously bitter primary runoff he was in. Be that as it may, I don’t expect much if anything to be different in this district in the near future.

Overview of SBOE6

Nov 2nd, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

The Memorial Examiner takes a look at the race in SBOE6 between Republican Donna Bahorich and Democrat Traci Jensen.

Bahorich is former district director for state Sen. Dan Patrick (R-District 7) and says her experience with the state legislative process adds to her qualifications for the post. A former manager at Mountain Bell, she home-schooled her sons until they reached high school and founded the non-profit Home Ed Plus to provide supplemental classes for other home school families.

Bahorich said she is a collaborator who will bring all groups involved with education together to help set policies for the state.

“About half on the board have been teachers. What I bring to the board, in addition to my work with home schooling, is my experience on the whole picture, through legislative process. I have a global view of how we need to be going about our work that’s been missing from the board. My opponent is focused on the classroom, she doesn’t know legislative process,” Bahorich said.

Traci Jensen

Jensen was inspired to run for the SBOE seat following its controversial decisions involving the state social studies curriculum in 2010. A former classroom teacher in Aldine ISD, Jensen has a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. As a visiting professor at University of Houston until last year, she worked with educators across the city, state, the nation, and internationally concerning the improvement of learning and developing curriculum.

Jensen wants to end the culture wars that politicize subject matter. She advocates more creative instruction choices for teachers.

“My concern is making sure we are public education advocates, not political advocates. The state board should be advising legistors and advocating for parents and teachers,” Jensen said. “She (Bahorich) has a completely political background working for Dan Patrick for years, and she’s not worked in classorooms or in the schools.”

Might be nice if someone would ask Bahorich what she thinks about vouchers, since her former boss plans to push for them next year. I mean, if we’re going to divert public funds to private schools, does that mean that the private schools need to follow the curriculum set by the SBOE? I’m sure there are other questions pertaining to this as well.

On a side note, this is the first truly contested election in SBOE6 in at least 20 years. Terri Leo had a Libertarian opponent in 2008, but before that every Republican running in SBOE6 going back to 1992 – Jack Christie in ’92 and ’94. Chase Untermeyer in ’98, and Leo in ’02 and ’04 – were unopposed. That’s as far back as the SOS archives go – if you know the history from before that, leave a comment and let us know. Campos has more.

All the interviews for 2012

Oct 22nd, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

As we begin early voting for the November election, here are all the interviews I conducted for candidates who are on the ballot as well as for the referenda. These include interviews that were done for the primary as well as the ones done after the primary. I hope you found them useful.

Senate: Paul Sadler – Web – MP3

CD02: Jim Dougherty – Web – MP3

CD07: James Cargas – Web – MP3

CD10 – Tawana Cadien – Web – MP3

CD14: Nick Lampson – Web – MP3

CD20: Joaquin Castro – Web – MP3

CD21: Candace Duval – Web – MP3

CD23: Pete Gallego – Web – MP3

CD27: Rose Meza Harrison – Web – MP3

CD29: Rep. Gene Green – Web – MP3

CD33: Marc Veasey – Web – MP3

CD36: Max Martin – Web – MP3

SBOE6: Traci Jensen – Web – MP3

SD10: Sen. Wendy Davis – Web – MP3

SD25: John Courage – Web – MP3

HD23: Rep. Craig Eiland – Web – MP3

HD26: Vy Nguyen – Web – MP3

HD127: Cody Pogue – Web – MP3

HD131: Rep. Alma Allen – Web – MP3

HD134: Ann Johnson – Web – MP3

HD137: Gene Wu – Web – MP3

HD144: Mary Ann Perez – Web – MP3

HD146: Rep. Borris Miles – Web – MP3

HD147: Rep. Garnet Coleman – Web – MP3

HD150: Brad Neal – Web – MP3

Harris County Sheriff: Sheriff Adrian Garcia – Web – MP3

Harris County District Attorney: Mike Anderson – Web – MP3

Harris County Attorney: Vince Ryan – Web – MP3

Harris County Tax Assessor: Ann Harris Bennett – Web – MP3

HCDE Position 3, At Large: Diane Trautman – Web – MP3

HCDE Position 6, Precinct 1: Erica Lee – Web – MP3

Harris County Commissioner, Precinct 4: Sean Hammerle – Web – MP3

Constable, Precinct 1: Alan Rosen – Web – MP3

HISD Bond Referendum: Interview with Terry Grier – MP3

City of Houston Bond and Charter Referenda: Interview with Mayor Annise Parker – MP3

HCC Bond Referendum: Interview with Richard Schechter – MP3

Metro Referendum: Interviews with David Crossley, Gilbert Garcia and Christof Spieler, Sue Lovell, and County Commissioner Steve Radack

Endorsement watch: For reason

Oct 13th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

In making their endorsements in State Board of Education races, the Chron “supports an incumbent who has fought for reason and clarity, and two challengers who would be fresh voices of reason”. As well they should.

In District 4, Lawrence Allen, the Democratic incumbent, fought to see that slavery wasn’t downplayed as the chief cause of the Civil War. As one of two African-Americans on the board, he’s offered a crucial minority perspective. As a former teacher and principal and current director of special projects for the Houston Independent School District, he knows how schools work. And as son of state Rep. Alma Allen (D-Houston), he has valuable ties to the Texas Legislature.

Traci Jensen

In District 6, Traci Jensen, the Democratic challenger, is a former Aldine classroom teacher who earned a Ph.D in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston, and now works with a UH program that coaches new teachers. She is smart as a whip, an expert in curricula, and promises to see that the board has a “clear, concise educational direction, not an ideological agenda.”

Dexter Smith

In District 8, Democrat Dexter Smith has taught third and fourth-grade social studies for 12 years, and is now pursuing his principal certification. His opponent, the current board chair, has a long history of votes aligned with the ideological majority. Smith promises to do better, making sure, for instance, that people appointed to review curricula are mainstream experts in their fields. And he vows to help legislators understand how proposals would affect real-world classrooms.

Smith is running against Barbara Cargill. He has a tougher electoral task than Jensen does. I did not get a chance to talk with him, so refer to that Texas Freedom Network voters guide to the SBOE races for more information about him.

Meanwhile, although the Express-News did not explicitly use the word “reason” in its endorsement of John Courage for the SD25 seat now held by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, who was vanquished in the GOP primary by the loony Donna Campbell, you can tell that is what informed their opinion.

John Courage

We recommend that voters cast their ballots for Courage, an Air Force veteran and a teacher. Courage has deep roots in the district and demonstrates a more comprehensive knowledge of the issues facing Texas.

Courage’s long history as an active participant in the community makes him far better prepared to address local issues than Campbell.

A former member of the Alamo Community College District board, Courage has run unsuccessfully for the San Antonio City Council and the 21st Congressional District post held by Rep. Lamar Smith.

Courage is a strong advocate of public education, who is critical of education funding cuts enacted by lawmakers in 2011. Courage said he would work to restore adequate education funding.

Campbell wants to focus on inefficiencies in the education system. While that sounds good, recent state cuts and the inadequacies of Texas’s school finance system make additional funding urgent.
Courage offers a far more realistic approach to fiscal issues, including transportation funding.

The choices are seldom as clear as these. If people want government that’s more practical and less ideological, it’s in their grasp to make it happen.

Texas Freedom Network’s guide to the SBOE elections

Sep 28th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
1 comment

The Texas Freedom Network has put out a useful little voter’s guide to the 2012 State Board of Education elections, which covers a range of topics from creationism and climate change to bullying and SBOE procedures. You might look at the answers that the candidates who responded submitted and think “Hey, cool, everyone is basically sane and rational”, but look again. Only one Republican incumbent (Thomas Ratliff) and one Republican running for an open seat (Laurie Turner, running for the seat currently held by Democrat Mary Helen Berlanga), submitted answers. Seven Republican incumbents, and three Republican candidates for Republican-held open seats, did not. Donna Bahorich, who is running for Terri Leo’s seat in SBOE6 and who is opposed by Traci Jensen, did not submit answers. Bahorich doesn’t much like talking to audiences that don’t already agree with her so no surprise here. Of course, for a number of these issues we already know where the Republican incumbents stand as their records are quite clear and they’re generally not shy about saying what they believe, but you wouldn’t know it from this. Anyway, take a look and see if your SBOE candidates gave answers. If they didn’t, you probably have a pretty good idea why not.

Traci Jensen’s challenge

Sep 14th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

I got the following from the Traci Jensen campaign the other day:

Traci Jensen

This past Wednesday morning, Traci and her Republican opponent Donna Bahorich participated in the Greater Houston Partnership’s “Meet the Candidates: State Board of Education” forum. This was the first time Traci and Bahorich had ever met. Three candidates running in two other area SBOE districts also participated.

Each candidate was given five minutes to introduce themselves followed by Q&A with GHP members. Questions asked covered technology, dropouts, priorities, and communicating with constituent groups and the business community.

Traci was articulate, knowledgeable, factual, and to the point. Her opponent responded in vague generalities and in all honesty provided tepid responses. Now this wasn’t a Texas Freedom Network (TFN) crowd so GHP members were probably not aware of some of her past pronouncements like – “will only vote for health textbooks that uphold traditional definitions of marriage and family and that are abstinence-based” – that you can find on her website.

On a couple of occasions during the forum, Traci was critical of the SBOE’s dismantling of the social studies curriculum in 2010 and even cited specific instances. Bahorich was steadfastly silent.

After the meeting, a GHP member approached both Traci and Bahorich and asked how they intended to be advocates for her children and for public education if elected. Traci said she would and used as an example calling for the legislature to fully fund public education. Bahorich went the Tea Party route and said the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) was going to force the state to put more money into Health and Human Services and divert funds from public education. Traci countered Bahorich and said the legislature has to find the political will to do what is right and respond to the growing student population. Bahorich was taken aback.

We have heard from a few sources within the more sensible Republican Party leadership faction that they would have preferred a more knowledgeable and capable candidate for SBOE, District 6 – a candidate that isn’t driven by Tea Party ideology. They admit that the Tea Party influence within Harris County Republican Party basically forced Bahorich down their throats. After all, she is State Sen. Dan Patrick’s former district director.

These more sensible leaders can’t come out and publicly endorse Traci because of fear or retribution. However, privately they are telling their friends and associates to consider Traci’s candidacy. Some Republican business execs have expressed to Traci concern on how Bahorich – who has home schooled her kids and owns a home schooling business – could be qualified to serve on the SBOE. They have privately urged Traci on.

Bahorich would prefer not to promote her Tea Party agenda before groups like the GHP. She would also like to get through the next two months without having to explain to voters her positions.

Traci got into this race to win. During the Democratic Primary she found the resources to put together a campaign and win without a runoff against two other candidates. She is committed to finding the resources to wage an effective race between now and November 6 and she would like you to make a commitment.

Our strategy is pretty simple! If we let voters who care about our schools compare Traci’s 20 years of public education experience with Bahorich’s Tea Party driven agenda, we win. Republican and Independent voters who care about our state’s public education system do not want the Tea Party ideologues signing off on curriculum and standards for our classrooms. It is pretty simple.

State Senator John Whitmire, City Council Member James Rodriguez, former HISD Trustee Paula Arnold, the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Action Fund, Inc., and others believe we can win and are co-hosting a fundraising reception for Traci on Wednesday, September 19. Go to www.jensen4stateboard.com if you can attend.

On a closing note, this is the first time in my memory that we have had a contested partisan SBOE race in the Houston area. This race is different from most partisan races because when it comes to what is taught in the classrooms or printed in our textbooks, most voters want their kids taught established science and uncensored history. The stakes are high and the issues are on our side. These voters will respond to our message if we make the effort.

There’s no question that Jensen is a strong, well-qualified candidate. There’s no question that her opponent is a wacko ideologue who will make the SBOE a worse place than it already is. Unfortunately, there’s also no question that this district was drawn to elect a Republican. To have a shot at winning, Jensen is going to need to convince a fair number of Republicans to vote for her instead. How many? Well, take a look at the 2008 numbers for the redrawn district. Assuming roughly the same conditions, Democratic candidates face a gap of about 100,000 votes, meaning that some 50,000 Republicans need to be flipped. That’s a tall order. Now, it’s entirely possible that the district has moved in a Democratic direction since 2008 – the comparable gap for a Democrat in the 2004 election would have been closer to 150,000 votes – but there’s still going to be a gap. This is the challenge Jensen faces.

I don’t want to be a buzzkill. I do believe this race can be won, and I think it’s vitally important to work on it. Boosting turnout in this growing and dynamic area is a key component in addition to winning converts. This is an important race, and Traci Jensen deserves your support in it.

Fall interview season begins tomorrow

Aug 19th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

I know that we just finished the primary runoffs, but we’re also now more than halfway through August, so it’s time to start doing interviews with candidates for the fall. I’ll be up candid, I don’t know exactly how many interviews I plan to do. For the most part, I don’t anticipate re-interviewing candidates that I spoke to for the May election – I’m already too far behind even if I did want to do that. I’m mostly going to concentrate on area races, but as always things can and do change, so don’t hold me to that. In the meantime, here’s a list of the interviews I did earlier with candidates who will be on the ballot in November:

Senate: Paul Sadler – Web – MP3

CD07: James Cargas – Web – MP3

CD14: Nick Lampson – Web – MP3

CD20: Joaquin Castro – Web – MP3

CD23: Pete Gallego – Web – MP3

CD27: Rose Meza Harrison – Web – MP3

CD33: Marc Veasey – Web – MP3

SBOE6: Traci Jensen – Web – MP3

SD10: Sen. Wendy Davis – Web – MP3

HD131: Rep. Alma Allen – Web – MP3

HD137: Gene Wu – Web – MP3

HD144: Mary Ann Perez – Web – MP3

HD146: Rep. Borris Miles – Web – MP3

HD147: Rep. Garnet Coleman – Web – MP3

Harris County Sheriff: Sheriff Adrian Garcia – Web – MP3

HCDE Position 3, At Large: Diane Trautman – Web – MP3

HCDE Position 6, Precinct 1: Erica Lee – Web – MP3

Harris County Commissioner, Precinct 4: Sean Hammerle – Web – MP3

Constable, Precinct 1: Alan Rosen – Web – MP3

You may notice if you click on the Web links above that the embedded audio player no longer works. The code comes from Google, and they unfortunately appear to have disabled it. I should have an alternate solution in place going forward, but just clicking on the MP3 file ought to work for you as well. And of course you can always download it for your iPod or whatever.

I am going to try again to reach Beto O’Rourke and Filemon Vela, but you know how that goes. I’ve given up on Rep. Lloyd Doggett; though I did finally make contact with a staffer before the primary, at this point I doubt there’s any interest on his end. There was a contested primary in CD10, but both candidates were late filers. I am trying to reach Tawana Cadien, who won the nomination, but she has no phone number that I can find and she has not as yet responded to an email I sent. If anyone knows how to reach her, please ask her to drop me a note: kuff – at – offthekuff – dot – com.

Martha and Marisa

Jun 10th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
1 comment

Martha Dominguez, the accidental SBOE nominee from El Paso who had been telling people she wanted to drop out of the race before the primary, has decided to stay on the ballot for November, according to the Lion Star blog. He’s not exactly thrilled about it, and I can hardly blame him. I repeat my earlier advice to Dominguez: Run, win, and resign so that someone who actually wants the job can have it.

As for Marisa Perez, no news and no updates on her Facebook page. An updated version of that San Antonio Current article says that a week after their call to her for a comment, she still has not called them back. Awesome.

Meanwhile, in a district that has a worthy candidate, Traci Jensen sent out the following press release earlier this week:

Traci Jensen

Traci Jensen, Democratic nominee for the State Board of Education, District 6, today called upon the Houston Chronicle, Texas PTA, League of Women Voters – Houston, Greater Houston Partnership, and American Association of University Women – Texas, to facilitate a series of debates between Jensen and her Republican opponent Donna Bahorich. In a letter to the five organizations Jensen said “the State Board of Education which oversees the creation of curriculum for Texas public schools is arguably the most important political entity in Texas. However, Texans know very little about the SBOE or its members. Ms. Bahorich and I have major policy and philosophical differences that should be debated throughout SBOE District 6.”

“There are 15 State Board of Education Districts with each representing over 1.6 million people. If SBOE, District 6, were a Texas municipality, we would be the second largest city in the state. SBOE District 6 includes parts, most, or some of ten ISDs. Although we fully intend to conduct a voter intensive campaign, we believe a series of debates will go a long way toward educating the voters on this important position,” added Jensen.

“In 2010, when the State Board of Education dismantled the social studies curriculum, many of our state’s most respected business and civic leadership expressed concern and outrage at the SBOE’s decisions. I believe that it is now all of our responsibility to properly vet the candidates that are running for the SBOE,” continued Jensen.

Traci Jensen has been an educator in the Houston Area for 20 years. Her focus has been to improve public education for all students. She has worked in Aldine ISD as a classroom teacher. She also has experience in Alief, Aldine, Spring Branch, Houston, Katy, and Cy-Fair schools working with future educators. Jensen has a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s in Social Studies Education, and an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction.

A copy of the letter sent to the League of Women Voters – Houston follows. Similar letters were sent to the other four organizations.

I’ve put the letter beneath the fold. Jensen is an underdog in a district that was drawn to elect a Republican, but given how big SBOE districts are and how little attention they get the least we voters deserve is the opportunity to hear the favored Republican speak to a general audience about the issues she would face. We’ll see what kind of response she gets.

(more…)

Democratic results, Harris County

May 30th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
16 comments

The good:

– Lane Lewis won a full term as HCDP Chair by a 55-45 margin. If you heard a whizzing noise this evening, it was the bullet we all dodged in this race.

– Sheriff Adrian Garcia easily won renomination with over 70% of the vote.

– State Reps. Garnet Coleman and Borris Miles won their races. We may finally have seen the last of Al Edwards.

– Sean Hammerle held off Dave Wilson in Commissioners Court Precinct 4. It was a close race, but the forces of good prevailed.

The bad:

– Jarvis Johnson, who finally held a campaign event during the first week of early voting, nearly won HCDE Position 6, Precinct 1 outright. A late surge by Erica Lee pushed him into a runoff. It’s not that I have anything against Johnson, but he didn’t lift a finger during this race and he was up against two much more qualified opponents. There’s nothing like being a familiar name in a race like this.

– Elaine Palmer drubbed Judge Steve Kirkland, winning over 60% of the vote. I’ll be honest, I had thought that Palmer and Keryl Douglas would win or lose together, but Douglas didn’t have much money, and really didn’t do that much campaigning. Palmer had plenty of money and it worked for her. I wonder if her financial backers will be there for her in November.

The ugly:

– Perennial candidate Lloyd Oliver became the heir apparent to Gene Kelly by defeating the vastly better qualified Zack Fertitta for the DA nomination. I just about threw up when I saw the early numbers, and they never got any better. Let this serve as a very painful example of what can happen when a good candidate doesn’t have enough money to raise his name ID up to the level of the barnacle that is running against him. You can assess the blame however you like for this debacle, all I know is that I will be skipping this race in November.

– If that isn’t bad enough, Kesha Rogers will once again be the “Democratic” nominee in CD22. KP George had an early lead based on a strong showing in Fort Bend County, but he lost in Harris and Brazoria, and that was enough. I don’t even know what to say.

The rest:

– Diane Trautman won the HCDE Position 3 At Large race against David Rosen. Traci Jensen scored a clean win in the three-way SBOE 6 primary. Dexter Smith won in SBOE 8.

– Rep. Alma Allen also successfully defended her seat, winning with 59% against Wanda Adams. Mary Ann Perez had a late burst to win the nomination in HD144 outright, while Gene Wu rode a strong early showing to the top spot in HD137. He garnered 44%, and will face Jamaal Smith, who had 23%, in the runoff.

– Lissa Squiers led the three-way race in CD07 with 40%. She will face James Cargas, who was second with 33%. Tawana Cadien will be the nominee in CD10.

– Incumbent JP Mike Parrott won re-election, as did incumbent Constables Ken Jones, Victor Trevino, and May Walker. In Constable Precinct 1, Alan Rosen and Cindy Vara-Leija will face off in overtime; Grady Castleberry had been running second but Vara-Leija overtook him late. In the Constable Precinct 2 cattle call, Zerick Guinn and Chris Diaz made the cut.

– Turnout was about 73,000, with almost exactly half of it coming on Election Day. Some people just don’t like voting early.

Endorsement watch: Three for SBOE

May 26th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

The Chron finally crosses one redistricting-affected category off its list by issuing three endorsements in State Board of Education primaries.

Patty Quintana-Nilsson

State Board of Education, Position 6, Democratic primary: This race has drawn a particularly strong slate of Democrats. (We are impressed by Traci Jensen’s knowledge of the arcane workings of the SBOE.) But Patty Quintana-Nilsson, a Spring Branch ISD technical-education teacher, receives our endorsement because of her practical, real-world commitment to improving education for all Texas students, not just those bound for four-year colleges. “There’s a big disconnect between what we have to do in class and what our students need,” she notes.

Linda Ellis

State Board of Education, Position 8, Republican primary: Our choice – Linda Ellis, a fiscal conservative – is challenging incumbent Barbara Cargill, a member of the SBOE’s religious-conservative voting bloc and currently chair of the SBOE. Ellis, a reading consultant who helps turn around low-performing schools, decries Texas’ overreliance on testing and the board’s lack of respect for teachers. “The education of our children,” she says, “is more important than politics.”

Dexter Smith

State Board of Education, Position 8, Democratic primary: Dexter Smith, an energetic, thoughtful Friendswood elementary-school teacher, knows first-hand how curriculum plays in the classroom. Science education, he says, should be based on the scientific method. As a father, he believes that parents should be the primary guides of their children’s sex education; but he also believes that too many parents fail to do so, so it’s important for schools to fill that gap.

My interview with Patty Quintana-Nilsson is here, with Traci Jensen is here, and with David Scott is here. I didn’t interview anyone in SBOE 8 because I didn’t realize until only recently that there was a contested Democratic primary. I’ll be sure to schedule one for the general election. If you’re wondering why they didn’t endorse in the contentious GOP primary in SBOE 7, the reason is presumably that SBOE 7 no longer contains part of Harris County in it – you can see the map here. It does contain Liberty, Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria, and most of Fort Bend counties, and you’d think there would be a few Chron readers in those places, but that’s how they roll. Given how many Harris races have not been and may not be done, it’s hard to argue.

Interview with Traci Jensen

Feb 27th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

Traci Jensen

We now move on to the State Board of Education, the one entity affected by legislative redistricting that is not at issue in the current litigation, as the new SBOE map was precleared. I don’t think I need to explain to this audience why the SBOE is and has been a hot mess and why these elections are as important as any other on the ballot. SBOE District 6 is entirely within Harris County, mostly to the north and west. The Republican incumbent, Terri Leo, is not running for another term. Three Democrats are vying to replace her, and the first one I present to you is Traci Jensen. Jensen was a classroom teacher in Aldine ISD before getting a Masters degree in Social Studies Education and then a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from UH. She was a Visiting Assistant Professor at UH in their Quality Urban Education for Students and Teachers program until last year. Here’s the interview:

Download the MP3 file

You can find a list of all interviews for this cycle, plus other related information, on my 2012 Harris County Primary Elections page. You can also follow this blog by liking its Facebook page.