Category Archives: Election 2010

Final early runoff voting totals

Posted on April 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

According to the County Clerk’s daily early voting report, there were 5,126 in person early votes for the Democratic primary runoff, and 5,014 absentee ballots, for a total of 10,140. Based on 2008 runoff early voting patterns, I’d estimate final … Continue reading →

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The Trib talks to Craig Watkins

Posted on April 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has a fascinating article about Dallas DA Craig Watkins, who is running for re-election for the first time this year, in which he defends himself against charges that he has not been sufficiently vigorous in prosecuting political malfeasance. … Continue reading →

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Early poll in HD134

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Despite the fact that they left her basically unchallenged in 2008, I get the impression that local Republicans are excited about the possibility of defeating two-term State Rep. Ellen Cohen this year. Certainly, she will face a stronger challenge from … Continue reading →

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White and Perry argue about the dropout rate; White wins

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

See for yourself. The major-party candidates for governor on Tuesday waded into one of the oldest and hottest debates in public education — what’s the real high school drop-out rate? — producing the kind of fireworks that suggest the state … Continue reading →

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Runoff early voting report, Day One

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Day One primary runoff early voting report was sent out late last night by the County Clerk’s office. You can see the totals for each location here. Basically, Democrats had 731 in person voters and 3785 mail ballots returned, … Continue reading →

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Another analysis of the Democratic judicial primaries

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Recently, I received an email from Brandon Rottinghaus, who is a political science professor at UH. He and a graduate student of his had put together a mathematical model of the 2010 Democratic primary for the countywide judicial races. I … Continue reading →

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Gay-baiting in the HD76 runoff

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I had not paid much attention to the Democratic primary runoff in El Paso’s HD76, which is the only Democratic legislative runoff on the ballot. I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other about the incumbent, Rep. … Continue reading →

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Runoff endorsement watch: Reiteration

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron makes their recommendations for the primary runoffs: Democratic runoff District judge, 234th Judicial District: Tanner Garth District judge, 270th Judicial District: Lee Arellano Family district judge, 308th Judicial District: Bruce Kessler Family district judge, 311th Judicial District: Brad … Continue reading →

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Early voting for runoffs begins Monday

Posted on April 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From the Inbox: Houston, TX, – Early voting by personal appearance for the April 13, 2010 Democratic and Republican Primary Runoff Elections begins Monday, April 5th. The Primary Runoff Elections will decide 15 contests in which a candidate did not … Continue reading →

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KBH to make her decision today

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know about you, but my breath is bated. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has called a press conference for 10 a.m. Wednesday in San Antonio and is expected to announce whether she will stay in the Senate for … Continue reading →

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Runoff endorsement watch: HCD

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Harris County Democrats, which is a club and not to be confused with the HCDP, has issued its endorsements for the Democratic primary runoffs: Dem – District Judge, 234th Judicial District Tanner Garth Dem – District Judge, 270th Judicial … Continue reading →

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You know what they say about free advice

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Back when Bill White first got into the Texas Governor’s race, the Texas Tribune asked me to engage in an email debate with David Benzion about his tenure as Mayor. At the time, I said I would not presume to … Continue reading →

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Kirk Watson’s “Monopoly Busters”

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I hadn’t written about State Sen. Kirk Watson’s Monopoly Busters drive before now – see here for his announcement of it last week. The primary goal is to decide which House incumbents will receive campaign contributions from Sen. Watson, but … Continue reading →

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Miles wins recount, Edwards sues

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Mary Benton has the release from the Borris Miles campaign: Borris Miles’ victory in the March 2010 Democratic Primary for State House District 146 has been confirmed by an official recount. The recount, conducted today by the Harris County Democratic … Continue reading →

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Time for KBH to kick the can down the road again

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate is on the verge of passing the fixes to the health care reform bill that the House ratified on Sunday, but that’s not important right now. What really matters is that this means Senator Hutchison has a deadline … Continue reading →

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We’re not likely to have a Speaker’s race

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Jason Embry makes the case that the start of the next legislative session will be much calmer than the previous one, and it’s hard to argue. Republican Joe Straus finished his first session as speaker of the Texas House well-positioned … Continue reading →

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What do you do with a problem like Rick Green?

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

If former State Rep. Rick Green wins his primary runoff against Fort Worth family court judge Debra Lehrmann for the Supreme Court Place 3 nomination, he will join Railroad Commission nominee David Porter as a second underqualified Republican candidate on … Continue reading →

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The redistricting battle is fought one State House seat at a time

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the State House version of the DCCC. With 2011 being a redistricting year, the DLCC takes a more prominent role in the November elections than it would in other years, and with the … Continue reading →

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Sibley in for SD22 special election

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

With the official resignation of State Sen. Kip Averitt, his predecessor in SD22, David Sibley, has announced that he will be a candidate for the May special election to fill the remainder of Averitt’s term. The winner of the expected … Continue reading →

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The tax question

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So Bill White gave a straightforward answer to a question about taxes, and everybody goes nuts. Well, Rick Perry and his minions went nuts, and everybody else followed. The former Houston mayor, asked by the Tribune’s Evan Smith whether he … Continue reading →

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Edwards asks for recount

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

No surprise. State Rep. Al Edwards has asked for a recount of the primary election votes in the race he lost to Borris Miles by 10 votes. Edwards filed the paperwork and submitted a $4,400 deposit this morning at the … Continue reading →

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Cathie Adams is a big ol’ liar

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know why anyone would ever believe anything that the former head of the Texas Eagle Forum and current Chair of the Republican Party of Texas says. But in the event that you needed a reason to doubt her … Continue reading →

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Rogers resolution

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The State Democratic Executive Committee of the Texas Democratic Party approved a resolution today that “releases party officers and members from their obligation to support LaRouche follower Kesha Rogers.” The resolution states that the movement includes “instances of illegal … Continue reading →

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Runoff endorsement watch: HASD and HSYD

Posted on March 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here are some more endorsements for the Democratic primary runoffs. First, from the Houston Area Stonewall Democrats: HASD is proud to announce that 60 of its 73 previously endorsed candidates ( 82% ) either won their respective races or made … Continue reading →

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The Commissioners

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a look at how the candidates in the three Commissioner races did across Texas. – In the Democratic primary for Land Commissioner, Bill Burton won a majority in an astonishing 193 counties; of those, he scored better than 70% … Continue reading →

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Miles wins by 10

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Just call him Landslide Borris. State Rep. Al Edwards, who lost his rematch with challenger Borris Miles by 11 votes in last week’s Democratic primary, saw that margin narrow by one vote Tuesday, after an early-voting ballot board canvassed provisional … Continue reading →

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The Lite Guv race by the counties

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Lite Guv primary was an interesting race. One candidate, Ronnie Earle, had a decent amount of name recognition, a base of support in a vote-rich area, with likely secondary support in other populous counties, and electoral experience. He didn’t … Continue reading →

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Where KBH and Medina did best, where White did worst

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been poking around the county by county results in the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial primaries to see what might be of interest. Here’s what I’ve found. – Debra Medina carried three counties: Zavala, Crane, and Carson. There only 16 … Continue reading →

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Runoff endorsement watch: DFH and HGLBTPC

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There are five local runoffs for the Democratic primary, so we should expect to see updated endorsements from various groups soon. Two of them have already issued theirs. First up, wasting no time at all, is Democracy for Houston: DEMOCRACY … Continue reading →

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Important dates for the runoff

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, from the County Clerk: April 13, 2010 – Primary Runoff Election: Important Dates Authority conducting elections – Political Party County Chairs First Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail – February 12, 2010 (if did not request … Continue reading →

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How much was that endorsement worth?

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, I tracked endorsements for multiple groups in all Democratic judicial primary races in this Google spreadsheet. There were 30 such contested primaries, and 15 endorsing organizations. How did these organizations’ candidates do? After highlighting the winners in … Continue reading →

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Averitt resigns

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

After announcing his withdrawal of his re-election bid to the State Senate but getting nominated anyway because it was too late to remove his name from the primary ballot, Sen. Kip Averitt has formally resigned, which will trigger a special … Continue reading →

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Kesha Rogers

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

No, I can’t explain the result in CD22, either. Stuff just happens sometimes, especially in races where not much attention is being paid. The good news, if you can call it that, is that nobody was going to make a … Continue reading →

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Ballot position and the Republican races

Posted on March 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Inspired by a comment JJMB left on the previous post about the effect of ballot position on the judicial races, I went and looked at the Republican results to see what I could see. Here’s what I found. – Though … Continue reading →

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