Monthly Archives: December 2019

Weekend link dump for December 8

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

All roads lead to Rudy. “The first and most important thing to understand about these deals is that there is no possible set of mitigating circumstances that might make the negotiations remotely ethical.” “Giuliani had been doing business in Ukraine … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2019 Metro referendum

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The one election of interest within Harris County that wasn’t mostly or entirely within Houston was the Metro referendum. Let’s have a look at how that vote went. Dist Yes No ==================== A 18,795 10,648 B 15,120 4,037 C 32,384 … Continue reading →

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Beto: Still not running for Senate

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

And as of Monday evening, we can stop talking about this. Beto O’Rourke is reiterating that he is not running for U.S. Senate next year as speculation swirls ahead of the Monday filing deadline. The former El Paso congressman has … Continue reading →

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Former judge McSpadden rebuked by State Commission on Judicial Conduct

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A former district judge who served on the Harris County bench for 36 years has received a formal reprimand from a state watchdog commission for comments he made to a Houston Chronicle reporter stating black defendants were getting poor … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2019 Controller

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Back to the precinct data. This one’s easy, as there are only two candidates. Dist Sanchez Brown ==================== A 8,771 7,059 B 4,507 10,779 C 17,652 21,540 D 7,391 15,225 E 14,505 10,672 F 4,798 4,559 G 18,093 13,451 H … Continue reading →

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In which Greg Abbott moves to protect an anti-gay judge

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

First, there was this. The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct on Monday issued a public warning to a Republican judge from Waco who refuses to perform same-sex marriages but still performs them for opposite-sex couples. McLennan County Justice of the … Continue reading →

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Beto boosts State House candidates

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Very nice. A month after ending his presidential campaign, Democrat Beto O’Rourke has turned his attention to state politics — namely, an effort to help flip the Texas House of Representatives from Republican control to the Democrats. With Texas Democrats … Continue reading →

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Day Six 2019 Runoff EV Report: One day more

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve completed a five day early voting week, with a bonus day from before the week included. The Day Six EV Runoff file is here, and the final file from November is here. Date Mail Early Total ============================= Nov19 6,799 … Continue reading →

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Filing update: Focus on Harris County

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

One more look at who has and hasn’t yet filed for stuff as we head into the final weekend for filing. But first, this message: Hi y’all, as we approach the filing deadline in Texas, this is a reminder that … Continue reading →

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County to seek new voting machines

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

About time. Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday unanimously approved County Clerk Diane Trautman’s plan to seek vendor proposals for new voting machines. The clerk’s office plans to issue a request for proposal for a new voting system this month. … Continue reading →

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HISD lawsuit to stop TEA takeover has its day in court

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it goes. As Houston Independent School District fights for its independence, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel gave little indication Thursday of whether he would tap the brakes on the state’s plans to strip power from the elected … Continue reading →

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It could be March before District B gets to vote in their runoff

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

And honestly, by the same calculations, it could go later than that. The Houston City Council District B runoff could be delayed until March if a lawsuit contesting last month’s election result is not resolved by Monday, the Harris County … Continue reading →

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Why not appoint newly elected Trustees to the Board of Managers?

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a perfectly reasonable question, posed recently in the Chron op-ed pages by two of those new Trustees-to-be, Judith Cruz and Dani Hernandez. As former Houston Independent School District educators, a product of HISD, and a parent in HISD, we … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2019, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Day Four 2019 Runoff EV report: Steady as she goes

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll probably do these more or less every other day. The Day Four EV Runoff file is here, and the final file from November is here. Date Mail Early Total ============================= Nov19 6,362 35,467 41,829 Dec19 6,387 37,606 43,993 As … Continue reading →

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Beacon Research: Trump 45, Biden 44

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That’s not the headline of this story, but it’s what I’m leading with. With just a week remaining before the deadline to run for office in Texas next year, some Democrats are still hoping to see Beto O’Rourke jump into … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of the At Large #3 runoff

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The basic story should be familiar by now. In the race for the third of Houston’s five citywide council seats, voters have a choice between candidates opposite in age, temperament, and, often, policy positions. At-Large 3 incumbent Michael Kubosh is … Continue reading →

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Time for the 2019 outrageous and dishonest mailer

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There’s at least one every cycle. A handful of black Democratic elected officials are expressing outrage over a campaign mailer that appears to have used photos of the politicians without consent to falsely suggest they endorsed a slate of City … Continue reading →

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State Rep. Rick Miller drops re-election bid

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This happened in a big hurry. State Rep. Rick Miller, R-Sugar Land, is no longer running for reelection after he sparked a firestorm for saying he was facing primary challengers because they are “Asian.” “During a recent interview with the … Continue reading →

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Our first Congressional race ratings

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From Politico, here’s the early view of the state of Texas’ Congressional races in 2020. Lean Dem CD23 (Open, R) CD32 (Allred, D) Tossup CD07 (Fletcher, D) CD22 (Open, R) CD24 (Open, R) Lean GOP CD02 (Crenshaw, R) CD10 (McCaul, … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of the At Large #5 runoff

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Of the five At Large runoffs, this one is the least predictable to me. Sallie Alcorn is a proud nerd who sweats the small stuff. “I like looking at ordinances and trying to figure out how to make them better,” … Continue reading →

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Day Two 2019 Runoff EV report: It’s going to be a weird EV period

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s do a table: Date Mail Early Total ============================= Nov19 5,708 17,287 22,995 Dec19 2,269 19,882 22,151 That’s pretty close! The Day Two EV Runoff file is here, and the final file from November is here. Remember that there will … Continue reading →

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Filing report update

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’re a week out from the official filing deadline for the 2020 primaries. There’s still a lot of known candidates who haven’t filed yet, but I expect there will be a mad flurry of activity this week, as is usually … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of the District J runoff

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This unfortunately misses a relevant piece of information. The candidates vying for the District J city council seat in December’s runoff election have different backgrounds and separate bases of political support but have arrived at similar conclusions about the way … Continue reading →

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The KLOL documentary

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest to me, and other middle-aged guys like me. This past week Houston filmmaker and blogger Mike McGuff released a trailer for his upcoming film about the late, great radio station, Rock 101 KLOL-FM, and it’s getting Houstonians of … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for December 1

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

“This article is not about PED allegations. Roger Clemens doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame for an entirely different reason, and one which merits far more attention than it has thus far received.” “Doctors have placed humans in suspended … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 2 Comments

Chron overview of the At Large #2 runoff

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This one’s a rerun. City Councilman David W. Robinson and the Rev. Willie R. Davis last faced off for the At-Large 2 seat in 2015, with Robinson winning by 10 percentage points and taking on his second term. Four years … Continue reading →

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Don’t shrink the minor leagues

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Bad idea, MLB. Last month, we learned that Major League Baseball proposed a radical reorganization of the minor leagues, involving slashing the number of teams by 25 percent — mostly short-season and rookie ball clubs. The New York Times has reported which … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Texas Central and Lone Star Rail

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. In South Central Texas, 20 state legislators have revived talk of a San Antonio to Austin passenger rail line. Area lawmakers signed a letter in August asking Transportation Committee chair and state Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) to study … Continue reading →

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