Author Archives: Charles Kuffner

Collin County DA accused of sexual harassment

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, boy. Six individuals who currently work or have worked in the Collin County District Attorney’s office filed a federal civil suit Monday, alleging that they were sexually harassed, discriminated against because of their gender, and faced retaliation after reporting … Continue reading →

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Taking seriously the threat of election violence

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is the reality we face. U.S. security agencies have issued a heightened threat advisory, warning of a potential attacks on political candidates, election officials and others. The alert came Friday, the same day that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband … Continue reading →

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Larry Veselka: The Chron got it wrong in the County Judge endorsement

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: The following is a guest post that was submitted to me. I occasionally solicit guest posts, and also occasionally accept them from people I trust.) A couple of weeks ago the Chronicle Editorial Board endorsed Judge Hidalgo’s opponent in … Continue reading →

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November 2022 Day Nine EV Totals: Still lagging

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Nine days down, three to go: Final EV totals from 2018 are here and from 2014 are here. The Day Nine totals for 2022 are here. Year Mail Early Total =============================== 2014 60,400 191,432 251,832 2018 80,279 557,264 637,543 2022 … Continue reading →

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DMN\UT-Tyler: Abbott 50, Beto 44 (LV) – Abbott 47, Beto 44 (RV)

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Pick your preference. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott holds a 6 percentage point lead over Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke as the race to the Nov. 8 election grinds toward the finish line, a poll released Sunday by the University of Texas … Continue reading →

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True the Vote leaders officially held in contempt

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

How long do you think they’ll be willing to sit in jail? Federal marshals escorted two leaders of True the Vote out of a Houston courtroom on Monday morning and into a holding cell. Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips have … Continue reading →

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From the department of “The rent is too damn high”

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A lawsuit to watch. Renters are suing Richardson-based RealPage and some of the largest property management firms in the nation for allegedly forming what they call a “cartel” to artificially inflate apartment prices above competitive levels. Five renters are challenging … Continue reading →

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White Oak bike trail extension: The final polish

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I haven’t seen a news story or press release to say that the White Oak bike trail extension is now fully open, but what I have seen is bicyclists using the trail. So open it must be. And since the … Continue reading →

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All of the judicial Q&As for this cycle

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

At the end of the primary cycle, I rounded up all of the interviews and judicial Q&As done for the primaries and runoffs, so that you’d have them in one place. As I ran the November interviews, I included links … Continue reading →

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Contempt of court in the True the Vote lawsuit

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Wilder and wilder. After a chaotic day of testimony on Thursday, a federal judge in Texas found Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips — known as leaders of the group True the Vote — in contempt of court. They are facing … Continue reading →

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Drought is not good for pumpkins

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, kids. This year’s hot, dry weather has wreaked havoc on Texas agriculture, and the state’s pumpkin crop has not been spared. Farmers and agricultural experts say that drop in supply has translated into higher prices for pumpkins popular for … Continue reading →

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November 2022 Day Seven EV totals: On to Week 2

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Fresh from Sunday night: Final EV totals from 2018 are here and from 2014 are here. The Day Seven totals for 2022 are here. Year Mail Early Total =============================== 2014 57,546 137,137 194,683 2018 77,347 429,009 506,356 2022 44,163 354,100 … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for October 30

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Yeah, Bill Murray is a jackass and has been for a long time. I’m just going to have to accept that. Happy 100th birthday, BBC. “I happen to agree that there has been, in fact, a Mitt Romney radicalization process. … Continue reading →

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What will Tarrant County do this year?

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Hoping for a blue result at the top and at least closer races below it, but we’ll see. Eight years after voting for Gov. Greg Abbott, Angela Martinez found herself waiting in line Tuesday to snap a photo with Beto … Continue reading →

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Texas Central insists they’re still alive

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s something, I guess. A lawyer for nearly 100 property owners who are living with the threat of their land being seized said he will seek legal action against Texas Central, the company that for a decade has promised to … Continue reading →

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The Corpus Christi desalination plant fight

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. Texas regulators issued an environmental permit Thursday for the Port of Corpus Christi to build what could become the state’s first seawater desalination plant — but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may refuse to accept … Continue reading →

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How long has it been since the Fifth Circuit upheld a voter suppression law?

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

However long it’s been, they’re back at it. A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived a 2021 Texas law that set new residency requirements for voter registration, including one that civil rights groups alleged essentially blocked college students from signing … Continue reading →

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It’s really tough on LGBTQ students right now

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise, unfortunately. Schools remain a hostile place for LGBTQ students, according to a new report from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, which found a decline in access to resources, books and supportive clubs for those students. … Continue reading →

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We have different definitions of “failure”

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

And by “we”, I mean DPS head Steve McCraw and everybody else. Weeks after Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said he would resign if his troopers had “any culpability” in the botched police response to the Uvalde … Continue reading →

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November 2022 Day Five EV totals: A closer look at mail ballots

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The numbers are what they are. Nearly half as many people have so far voted by mail in Harris County as in 2018 during the same period, state data show. About 31,000 voters submitted mail-in ballots by the end of … Continue reading →

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The “abortion sanctuary cities” lawsuit at SCOTx

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A big decision this will be. The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over whether a defamation case brought by several abortion funds against prominent anti-abortion activist Mark Lee Dickson should be dismissed. In 2019, Waskom in Harrison County became the first Texas city to … Continue reading →

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How voting machines work

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of public service from TPR that almost certainly won’t be read or believed by the people who need to see it. So how do the voting machines used in Texas elections actually work? First off, only two voting … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Ash for Garza

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

You can say that again… Don’t see this often: Libertarian nominee for AG, Mark Ash, endorses Democratic opponent @RochelleMGarza. Ash has run statewide before, getting 2.5% in a 2020 SCOTX race. — Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) 1:50 PM – 27 October … Continue reading →

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Univision: Abbott 46, Beto 42

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Another registered voters poll, with a supersample of Latino respondents. Republican Governor Greg Abbott leads Beto O’Rourke in the Texas governors’ race by more than four points, even though the Democrat has more support among Latinos and Blacks. The increase … Continue reading →

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We hit a new peak in voter registrations

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s good to see, whatever it “means”. Texas now has almost 17.7 million voters — 1.9 million more than four years ago, when Gov. Greg Abbott won re-election. New voter registration totals from the Texas Division of Elections show the … Continue reading →

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Math test scores took a hit during the pandemic

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The decline started before the pandemic, but kept on going from there. Students in Houston and across the nation showed “appalling and unacceptable” declines on the 2022 Nation’s Report Card, adding to mounting evidence that the pandemic impacted young people … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of October 24

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance exhorts everyone to go vote as they bring you this week’s roundup.

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November 2022 Day Three EV totals: A lot like Day Two

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, the days are long and my mind is full and I don’t have anything interesting to say. I will at some point. For now, this is what we get. Final EV totals from 2018 are here and from 2014 … Continue reading →

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Beacon Research: Abbott 48, Beto 45

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A different poll result from what we had been seeing. A poll affiliated with the Democratic Policy Institute has Beto O’Rourke tailing Gov. Greg Abbott by 3 points in the race for Texas governor, a margin narrower than other recent … Continue reading →

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The counting process

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t think I had seen this explained before. Harris County residents likely will have a long night waiting for election returns Nov. 8, according to county Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum. It takes around one minute for the county’s equipment to read a digital … Continue reading →

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Ramsey and Cagle finish sabotaging the budget

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They got what they wanted. Harris County’s prolonged political battle over the budget came to an end today. For over a month, the two GOP members of Commissioners Court have broken quorum, skipping meetings to prevent Democrats from passing their … Continue reading →

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November 2022 Day Two EV totals: Just the facts

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m just going to get into it, I don’t have anything to add to the numbers. Final EV totals from 2018 are here and from 2014 are here. The Day Two totals for 2022 are here. Year Mail Early Total … Continue reading →

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November 2022 Day One EV totals: The in person experience

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your Chron story about Day One of early voting. More than 60,000 registered voters Harris County decided Monday they couldn’t wait any longer to cast a ballot for their choices in the 2022 midterm election. Monday was the first … Continue reading →

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UH/Hobby poll: Mealer 47, Hidalgo 45

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They’re the only outfit that has polled Harris County so far, so at least there’s a basis for comparison. A new poll of Harris County voters shows that Alexandra del Moral Mealer and Lina Hidalgo are neck and neck in … Continue reading →

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