Category Archives: Election 2021

Interview with Adriana Tamez

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the 2021 election begins in a week – I know, with so much going on this has kind of snuck up on all of us. This week I will be focusing on candidates for HCC Trustee (with … Continue reading →

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30 day campaign finance reports: HISD

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

HISD and HCC elections are the main event this November, and as we approach the start of early voting, we can now look at the 30-day campaign finance reports for the candidates. Here’s what things look like in HISD. Elizabeth … Continue reading →

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What’s in a ballot name, 2021 edition

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This is unfortunate. A candidate for the Houston ISD Board of Education said Friday his name has been printed incorrectly on ballots and county elections officials said it is too late to change the name. Lee “Mac” Walker, running for … Continue reading →

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Interview with Greg Degeyter

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There are two challengers running in HISD District VI, and today I present to you an interview with one of them, Greg Degeyter. Degeyter is an attorney who specializes in helping people get disability benefits, after having been a meteorlogist … Continue reading →

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Interview with Myrna Guidry

Posted on October 6, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one incumbent on the HISD Board of Trustees that you may be less familiar with, and that’s District IX incumbent Myrna Guidry, who was appointed to the Board in December of 2020 to replace Wanda Adams, who had been … Continue reading →

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Interview with Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I will be finishing off interviews with HISD trustees this week, and then moving into the HCC races next week. We have two incumbents and one challenger to meet, and we begin with Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca, the incumbent in … Continue reading →

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Runoff coming in HD118

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

You’ll be hearing more about this soon enough. Republican John Lujan and Democrat Frank Ramirez are advancing to a special election runoff to fill the seat of former state Rep. Leo Pacheco, D-San Antonio, a seat the GOP is eager … Continue reading →

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Interview with Mac Walker

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

One more interview this week, still in District VII, with Mac Walker. Walker is a native Houstonian and graduate of Sharpstown High School as the first member of his family to reach that milestone. He went on to get an … Continue reading →

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Interview with Dwight Jefferson

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Back again to District VII and a visit with Dwight Jefferson, whom we met in 2015 when he ran for Houston City Controller. Jefferson is a graduate of UT Law School after having been co-captain of the football team as … Continue reading →

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Interview with Maria Benzon

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We move over to District V today for a conversation with Dr. Maria Benzon. Benzon is a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School who got bachelors and masters degrees at UT and a PhD in Educational Psychology at UH. … Continue reading →

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I regret to inform you that Dave Wilson will be back on the HCC Board of Trustees

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

From Campos: Commentary was scrolling through the November 2 ballot for races in Harris County. I got to the HCC Trustee races and bam, I saw a Dave Wilson running in District 6. Running unopposed. The district is on the … Continue reading →

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Interview with Bridget Wade

Posted on September 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I ran interviews two weeks ago with incumbent HISD trustees Sue Deigaard and Anne Sung. This week I will be running interviews with three of the candidates who are running against them – my schedule for publishing interviews is necessarily … Continue reading →

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Interview with Matias Kopinsky

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We wrap up our tour of HISD District I this week with Matias Kopinsky. Kopinsky is the son of Argentine immigrants who grew up speaking Spanish. He attended Herod Elementary, Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School, and Bellaire High … Continue reading →

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Interview with Janette Garza Lindner

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We continue with HISD District I, and today’s candidate is Janette Garza Lindner. A native of Brownsville, Garza Lindner has lived in Houston for 20 years. She is a UT graduate with a degree in Management Information Systems, and has … Continue reading →

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Interview with Elizabeth Santos

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This week we will meet the three candidates in HISD District I, which happens to be my district. Elizabeth Santos is the incumbent, having been elected in 2017 after Anna Eastman decided to not run again. Santos is a lifelong … Continue reading →

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Interview with Anne Sung

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We continue with HISD candidate interviews, moving over to District VII for a visit with incumbent Anne Sung. I almost wrote “first-term incumbent”, but Sung won a special election in 2016 to succeed Harvin Moore, and was then re-elected for … Continue reading →

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Interview with Sue Deigaard

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Hey, remember how there are elections this fall? It’s true! Not for the city of Houston, but for HISD and HCC, and you know what that means – candidate interviews. As you may imagine, there are a few topics of … Continue reading →

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Special election set for HD118

Posted on September 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The last of the vacancies to be filled at this time. Gov. Greg Abbott has picked Sept. 28 as the date of the special election to replace former state Rep. Leo Pacheco, D-San Antonio. The candidate filing deadline is Monday, … Continue reading →

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July 2021 campaign finance reports: HCC

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Congress, Harris County, Houston, HISD Last but not least, we have the HCC Trustees, three of whom are on this year’s ballot. HCC trustees serve six-year terms, so one-third of them are up each time around. Monica Flores Richart … Continue reading →

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The next special elections

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one now scheduled in HD10, to replace new Congressman Jake Ellzey. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that Aug. 31 will be the date of the special election to replace former state Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Waxahachie, now a member of … Continue reading →

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July 2021 campaign finance reports: HISD

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Congress, Harris County, Houston Elizabeth Santos – Dist I Kathy Bluefod-Daniels – Dist II Dani Hernandez – Dist III Patricia Allen – Dist IV Sue Deigaard – Dist V Holly Flynn Vilaseca – Dist VI Anne Sung – Dist … Continue reading →

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July 2021 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Congress, Harris County As we know, this is not an election year for city of Houston offices. That usually makes for a pretty dull summary of finance reports, since it’s just incumbents and about half of them are term-limited … Continue reading →

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Jake Ellzey wins CD06 special election runoff

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I confess, I had totally forgotten about this. State Rep. Jake Ellzey of Waxahachie beat fellow Republican Susan Wright on Tuesday to succeed her late husband, U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, and pull off a major upset against a candidate … Continue reading →

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Council will decide when charter amendment votes will be

Posted on July 19, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Fine, but they should be this year. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday promised to bring a charter amendment petition to City Council before a key August deadline to order an election for this year. A diverse coalition of groups, including … Continue reading →

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Charter amendment referendum likely #2 on its way

Posted on July 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Pending signature verification. The Houston firefighters’ union says it has collected enough signatures on a petition to make it easier to bring contract talks with the city to binding arbitration. The city secretary now must verify at least 20,000 signatures, … Continue reading →

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We will have that charter election

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

For that thing I still don’t have a pithy name for. Someone form a PAC and throw me a bone here. A petition filed in April by a group seeking to give City Council members the ability to place items … Continue reading →

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Odus Evbagharu elected HCDP Chair

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Harris County Democratic Party announced tonight that Odus Evbagnaru (Eh-va-GHA-ro) was elected party chair and will fulfill the unexpired term of Lillie Schechter, who stepped down June 16 after four years of service. Evbagharu, who is … Continue reading →

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Interview with Odus Evbagharu

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, the Harris County Democratic Party will be electing a new Chair following the resignation of Lillie Schecter, who has served (quite ably) as Chair since 2017. I am on the record supporting Odus Evbagharu as the next … Continue reading →

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HCDP Chair Lillie Schechter to step down

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Harris County Democratic Party today announced that Lillie Schechter will be stepping down as HCDP Party Chair on June 16, 2021. Schechter was elected in 2017 and is leaving her position after four years of service. … Continue reading →

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More May election post-mortems

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

From the DMN: Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson bet the second half of his first term on these two council seats. Here’s how it looked after polls closed. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson bet the second half of his first four-year term … Continue reading →

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Other May election results

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Roundup style, mostly. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg easily wins a fourth term. Mayor Ron Nirenberg vanquished the ghost of repeat challenger Greg Brockhouse in Saturday’s City election and secured his third term in office with a win of historic … Continue reading →

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CD06 special election result

Posted on May 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not going to stay up late and wait till every last vote has been counted in CD06. You can see the latest report from the SOS here. As of when I drafted this, Susan Wright and Jake Ellzey were … Continue reading →

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One more CD06 update

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Some dude made an endorsement in the race. Former President Donald Trump has endorsed fellow Republican Susan Wright in the crowded Saturday special election to replace her late husband, U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington. The endorsement is a massive development … Continue reading →

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May election of interest: Spring Branch ISD

Posted on April 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the May 2021 elections going on – for someone like me in the city of Houston and HISD, there generally isn’t anything for me on the ballot, and there’s been plenty of … Continue reading →

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