Category Archives: Election 2026

New UH/Hobby poll has Paxton beating Cornyn in the Senate runoff

Posted on May 6, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

As long as they keep beating each other up, it’s all good. Attorney General Ken Paxton leads Sen. John Cornyn by three percentage points in a new poll of Texas’ U.S. Senate Republican runoff, suggesting the May 26 contest will … Continue reading →

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Quentin Wiltz elected Mayor of Pearland

Posted on May 5, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a result from Saturday I missed originally. A Democratic-backed candidate has won a closely contested mayoral race in Pearland, Texas, a Republican-leaning suburb of Houston in Brazoria County that has consistently voted for President Donald Trump since 2016. Winning … Continue reading →

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Ligon wins SD04 special election

Posted on May 3, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise. The only question was by how much. He was up 75-25 in early voting and was at that margin with a bit over half of the precincts reporting, running ahead of the Trump 2024 margin. I had … Continue reading →

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Today is Election Day for the SD04 special election

Posted on May 2, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Election Day for the May 2, 2026, Special Election to fill the vacancy in Texas Senate District 4 is tomorrow. The district includes all of Chambers County and portions of Galveston, Harris, Jefferson, and Montgomery counties. There … Continue reading →

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Texas Politics Project poll: Talarico leads again

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

It’s becoming a trend. Democrat James Talarico leads both Republicans vying to face him in the November U.S. Senate contest, according to a new poll released Wednesday. Talarico led U.S. Sen. John Cornyn 40% to 33% in a potential matchup, and held … Continue reading →

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TPOR poll: Talarico leading both Cornyn and Paxton

Posted on April 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This will never get old. Democratic state Rep. James Talarico is leading both of his prospective Republican opponents in a new poll of Texas’ U.S. Senate race — though the result is within the margin of error in either scenario, … Continue reading →

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Early voting for the May 16 District C runoff starts today

Posted on April 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

It’s now time for Election #2 of 3 in the month of May. This one is the runoff for Houston City Council District C, between Joe Panzarella, who led with about 33% of the vote in April, and Nick Hellyar, … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS approves Texas redistricting map

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, obviously. Texas’ newly redrawn congressional map is officially cleared for use, after the U.S. Supreme Court formally overturned a lower court’s ruling Monday. In November, the high court allowed the map to be used temporarily. Monday’s ruling maintains … Continue reading →

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Virginia Supreme Court hears redistricting challenge

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Monday was redistricting day in court. The Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday on the legality of a constitutional amendment voters approved last week that allows Democrats to implement a more favorable congressional map ahead of the midterm elections. … Continue reading →

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Dallas gets to keep voting centers for the primary runoff

Posted on April 27, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but perhaps not the end of the story. A North Texas appeals court rejected a petition from a Dallas County republican trying to force the county to hold a precinct-specific Election Day for the upcoming primary election. The petition … Continue reading →

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Some poll news and other tidbits

Posted on April 26, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From Somos Votantes: Today, Somos Votantes released new polling data showing Latino voters in key states and districts are rejecting President Trump and Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms, driven by mounting economic pain, widespread disapproval of Republican’s tariff and healthcare policies, and … Continue reading →

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The Book-Loving Texans’ Guide to the May 2026 elections

Posted on April 25, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

More valuable insights from Franklin Strong. GCISD Parents PAC has gotten the message: Book-banning and attacking students from marginalized groups won’t win school board elections in Texas. Year after year after year after year, I’ve written recaps after school board elections in Texas. And—after the initial … Continue reading →

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Everyone’s talking about the CD23 special election

Posted on April 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Except for Greg Abbott, of course. It’s been about a week since now-former Rep. Tony Gonzales resigned from Congress after the Texas Republican admitted to having an unethical sexual relationship with at least one former aide, who later died by suicide. Yet … Continue reading →

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Virginia approves its new Congressional map

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

How’s that plan to hold onto the Republican majority in Congress going? In yet another loss for president Trump and his floundering gerrymandering blitz, Virginia voters approved a Democratic-led redistricting measure on Tuesday that will likely give Democrats four additional congressional … Continue reading →

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Interview with Alex Maldonado

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I promised you two interviews for Harris County District Clerk, and today we have the second of them. Alex Maldonado is a high school math and statistics teacher in Clear Creek ISD. Maldonado got an associate’s degree when he graduated … Continue reading →

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Dallas Republicans demand a return to precinct voting chaos

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Oh good lord… Some Dallas County Republicans on Monday sued the county elections department in a bid to require voters to cast ballots for the May 26 primary runoff at specific polling places in their precincts rather than any location … Continue reading →

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A brief look at the runoffs

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

The Lite Guv runoff is the highest profile statewide race on the ballot in May for Democrats. After busting through turnout expectations for the party primaries, can Texas Democrats keep up that momentum for May’s runoff elections? Beyond that, will voters turn … Continue reading →

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Interview with Darrell Jordan

Posted on April 20, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

The main runoff of interest in the Democratic primary is for District Clerk, which is an open seat as incumbent Clerk Marilyn Burgess is not running for a third term. There was a big field in March, so I decided … Continue reading →

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Early voting for the May 2 elections starts today

Posted on April 20, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Early Voting for the May 2, 2026, Special Election to fill a vacancy in Texas Senate District 4 will take place April 20-28, except for April 21, when the polls will be closed in observance of San … Continue reading →

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April 2026 campaign finance reports: Senate and Congress

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

We are now past the primary, so we have whittled down the field a bit and gotten a better idea about how some of the candidates that we hope will be strong challengers are doing with fundraising. The January 2026 … Continue reading →

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The quinceañera strategy

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Honestly, this is brilliant. Jimena Sáenz’s glittery blue quinceañera gown caught the light and sparkled as she swayed to the Tejano music flowing through the Edinburg event center last month. Her friends and family formed a circle around her, some … Continue reading →

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Talarico reports $27 million raised in Q1

Posted on April 17, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. State Rep. James Talarico raised $27 million in the first three months of 2026 in his bid to flip Texas, according to his campaign. The Austin Democrat’s haul is the largest-ever sum for a Senate candidate — in any … Continue reading →

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So when would a CD23 election be?

Posted on April 16, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Your move, Greg. The sprawling 23rd Congressional District of Texas is now without a voting representative in Washington D.C. after U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales resigned Tuesday. The resignation ends a sex scandal that had put the San Antonio Republican on … Continue reading →

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Interview with Rep. Vikki Goodwin

Posted on April 13, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to shift my interview focus to the Democratic primary runoff, which will be the next election for most of us. There are a few races of interest, I’m going to try to do what I can with them. … Continue reading →

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A brief history of May regular elections in Harris County

Posted on April 11, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, there is a special election on May 2 in SD04, which happens to be the uniform election date in May for 2026. We are not accustomed to voting in May in Harris County, especially not in even-numbered … Continue reading →

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KP George removed from office

Posted on April 11, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

A rough year gets worse. Fort Bend County Judge KP George was suspended from office Friday following his felony money laundering conviction, a rare move that removes the county’s top elected official from power and puts county government under temporary leadership. During a … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick has the blues

Posted on April 10, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Not the sort of thing our boy Danno usually says. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday said Texas Republicans are “going to have a tough time” holding onto their majority in the state House this fall, the latest and perhaps … Continue reading →

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Was the District C special election an inflection point?

Posted on April 7, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

An interesting hypothesis from Chron editorial page honcho Evan Mintz. Don’t be fooled by the fact that the race is going to a runoff — Saturday’s special election for City Council District C was a blowout. Houston progressives were the … Continue reading →

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Interview with Ron Angeletti

Posted on April 6, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

About two weeks ago, I mentioned that there’s a special election on May 2 in SD04, to fill out the unexpired term of now-former Sen. Brandon Creighton. I’d forgotten that he’d resigned to take the Texas Tech Chancellor gig, and … Continue reading →

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It will be Panzarella versus Hellyar in District C

Posted on April 5, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

The headline of the Chron story on the District C election results amuses me: “Race for Houston’s District C council seat appears headed to runoff; Panzarella, Hellyar lead”. I mean, of course it’s going to a runoff. There were seven … Continue reading →

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Today is District C special election day

Posted on April 4, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox. [Today] is Election Day for the City of Houston Special Election to fill the vacant District C City Council seat. The elected candidate will serve the remainder of former Council Member Abbie Kamin’s term through January 1, … Continue reading →

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Maureen Galindo

Posted on April 4, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

She’s an interesting candidate. I’m not sure I want her to be the nominee, but I’m also not sure about the other guy, so. When a new owner started making improvements to Maureen Galindo‘s downtown apartment complex in 2017, she saw an … Continue reading →

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District C turnout is fine

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Haven’t I already answered this question? Few voters have cast ballots in an ongoing Houston City Council special election despite the area consistently recording the highest turnout of the city’s 11 districts in past elections. As of Sunday night, only … Continue reading →

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The Loving County takeover saga gets more ridiculous

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I am begging for there to be a multi-part prestige podcast about this when it is all over. A legal cat-and-mouse contest is playing out in far West Texas, where local and state authorities are attempting to stymie a charismatic … Continue reading →

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