Monthly Archives: November 2020

The next elections

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder, there are two elections on the calendar for December: . Reminder: the runoff election for Houston City Council District B will be December 12 https://bit.ly/3ld1nd2 Need to update your voter registration? https://hctax.net/Voter/Registration — Isabel Longoria (@LongoriaTX) 09:48 … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Cynthia Bailey, District B, Drew Springer, Election 2019, Election 2020, Houston, Houston City Council, runoff, SD30, Senate, Shelley Luther, special election, Tarsha Jackson, Texas | 1 Comment

Looking ahead to 2022

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing with the brain dumps, which are my post-election tradition. This is a collection of thoughts about the next big election, in 2022. As I said earlier, I take no position on the question of what effect the disparity in … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Election 2022 | Tagged Beto O'Rourke, Cecile Richards, Congress, Democratic primary, Donald Trump, Election 2020, Election 2022, Governor, Harris County, Harris County Judge, Joe Biden, judicial races, Julian Castro, Lina Hidalgo, Lite Gov, marijuana, Medicaid, Mitch McConnell, President, primaries, redistricting, Texas, The Lege, turnout, voter registration | 6 Comments

What might the Lege do to make voting easier, or harder?

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I confess, I didn’t read most of this story about the various problems some people had in voting, and the various theories as to what was happening during voting, mostly because it contained way too many quotes from Jared Woodfill. … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, That's our Lege | Tagged absentee ballots, coronavirus, curbside voting, drop off boxes, Election 2020, Greg Abbott, Texas, The Lege, voter registration, voter suppression | 3 Comments

Luhnow sues Astros

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be entertaining. Jeff Luhnow sued the Houston Astros for breach of contract on Sunday, alleging that Astros owner Jim Crane and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred negotiated penalties for the sign-stealing scandal that enabled the team … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Legal matters | Tagged AJ Hinch, Alex Cora, Astros, Baseball, Houston, Jeff Luhnow, Jim Crane, lawsuit, MLB, Rob Manfred, sign stealing, Tom Koch-Weser | 2 Comments

Republican Party Chair craps on Republican presumed Speaker

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I expected this upcoming legislative session to be interesting, but I didn’t think it would be this interesting this quickly. Texas GOP Chair Allen West said Monday that the state party “will not support, nor accept” state Rep. Dade Phelan … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged Allen West, Dade Phelan, Dennis Bonnen, Election 2020, Joe Straus, Speaker's race, Texas, The Lege, Tom Craddick | Comments Off

It’s a range, not a number

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t have full canvass data yet, but as I have said, I have Presidential data courtesy of Greg Wythe. Here are a couple of districts of interest: Dist Biden Trump Biden% Trump% ========================================= CD02 170,707 178,840 48.1% 50.0% CD07 … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Beto O'Rourke, CD02, CD18, Commissioners Court, Congress, Constable, Donald Trump, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, Harris County, HD132, HD133, HD134, HD135, HD138, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Justice of the Peace, precinct analysis, President, redistricting, SBOE, Senate, Texas, The Lege | 2 Comments

A few words about election security

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Gray talks to my friend Dan Wallach about everybody’s favorite subject. If I’m aiming to steal an election, what’s the best way to go about it? Are mail-in ballots the easiest? If your goal is to steal an election, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, curbside voting, Dan Wallach, Diane Trautman, Election 2020, Election 2021, elections administrator, electronic voting machines, eSlate, Georgia, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, Isabel Longoria, paper ballots, Texas, voter suppression | 2 Comments

If W can accept the outcome…

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like a basic exercise in maintaining democracy, but what do I know? Former President George W. Bush congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on Sunday, sending a clear signal to other Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who are questioning the election … Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Tagged Donald Trump, Election 2020, George Bush, Joe Biden, President, Texas | 5 Comments

Weekend link dump for November 8

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Assessing the COVID-19 risk on airplanes. “If Donald Trump is reelected, he will continue to downplay the threat of the coronavirus, and more Americans will fall ill.” Hopefully byt the time this runs, that will no longer be a concern. … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged linkdump | Comments Off

A comparison to 2012

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

A lot of the takes on this election – and I’m guilty of this, too – involve comparisons to 2016 and 2018. That’s fair – those are the most recent elections, the only other elections that involve Trump, the patterns … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Barack Obama, Beto O'Rourke, Congress, Donald Trump, Election 2012, Election 2014, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, Fort Bend County, Harris County, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, President, redistricting, SBOE, Senate, Texas, The Lege | 2 Comments

New details about the Paxton-Paul relationship

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From depositions in a civil lawsuit, we learn more about Ken Paxton’s dealings with Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer who’s at the root of Paxton’s current problems. In a transcript of the deposition obtained by The Texas Tribune … Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Tagged Attorney General, bribery, Ken Paxton, Michael Wynne, Mitte Foundation, Nate Paul, Texas | 1 Comment

Houston celebrates Biden’s win

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Aw, hell yeah. “Honk for 270!” When CNN announced Joe Biden had crossed the 270-electoral college vote mark needed to secure the presidency, Terrance Koontz elatedly shouted at Saturday’s “Voters Decide: Count Every Vote” rally in Southwest Houston. “Let’s let … Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Tagged Election 2020, Houston, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, President | 2 Comments

A first response to the Latino voting (and polling) question

Posted on November 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

For your consideration: . Fixating on Zapata County and saying Dems have a Latino problem in Texas is inaccurate. The reality is Latino voter participation broke records and expanded the democratic vote margins in the state. #Texas #LatinoVote Thread 1/5 … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Bexar County, Dallas County, Donald Trump, El Paso, Election 2016, Election 2020, HD137, HD138, HD140, HD143, HD144, HD145, HD148, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Jolt Initiative, Latino voting, polls, precinct analysis, President, Starr County, Texas, turnout | 11 Comments

Menefee and Fagan

Posted on November 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m delighted about the election of Christian Menefee as Harris County Attorney, and look forward to his inauguration. Christian Menefee, the youngest and first African-American elected Harris County attorney Tuesday evening, took little time to celebrate his historic victory. By … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Christian Menefee, Election 2020, Eric Fagan, Fort Bend County, Harris County, Harris County Attorney, Sheriff, Texas, Vince Ryan | Comments Off

George P Bush sees an opportunity

Posted on November 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

He’s not shy, I’ll give him that. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush will “keep all options open” about a potential bid for attorney general in 2022 as current Attorney General Ken Paxton grapples with a mutiny from his senior … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged Attorney General, Election 2022, George P. Bush, Joe Jaworski, Ken Paxton, Land Commissioner, primaries, Texas | 1 Comment

What more is there to be said about the Astros sign stealing scandal?

Posted on November 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s at least one podcast’s worth of material out there. Rather than writing a sequel to “Astroball,” his 2018 book about the improbable rise of the Jim Crane/Jeff Luhnow-era Astros, former Sports Illustrated writer Ben Reiter opted for a six-episode … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged Astros, Baseball, Brandon Taubman, Jeff Luhnow, Jim Crane, MLB, podcasts, Rob Manfred, sign stealing | Comments Off

A few observations from the final unofficial countywide data

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is still unofficial, and there will still be some overseas/military ballots to be counted as well as some provisional ballots to be cured, but the count of the votes cast by Election Day is over, and we have the … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, Akilah Bacy, Ann Johnson, CD07, CD22, Congress, early voting, Election 2018, Election 2020, Gina Calanni, Harris County, HD132, HD134, HD135, HD137, HD138, HD140, HD143, HD144, HD145, Jon Rosenthal, Libertarian Party, Lizzie FLetcher, precinct analysis, President, Sarah Davis, Senate, Texas, The Lege, turnout, voter registration | 3 Comments

Oh, yeah, more Paxton news

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The damn election has made it so hard to keep up with L’Affaire Paxton, and I use that term with a bit of a wink, as you’ll soon see. I’ve got four stories to catch you up on, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Tagged Attorney General, Blake Brickman, Brent Webster, bribery, David Maxwell, Jeff Mateer, Ken Paxton, Lacey Mase, Mark Penley, Nate Paul, Ryan Bangert, Texas, Texas Whistleblower Act | 1 Comment

Metro moving forward with its construction plans

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As well they should. Carrin Patman greeted the supporter by grabbing both of his hands in a packed downtown Houston event space above a bustling sports bar. The buffet laid out for Metro’s 2019 election night watch party was thoroughly … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged bond referendum, BRT, buses, Carrin Patman, construction, coronavirus, Election 2019, Houston, light rail, Metro, sales taxes | Comments Off

Tarrant County has gone (tentatively) blue

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

At the Presidential level, with votes still being counted. Though President Donald Trump has been declared the winner in Texas, former Vice President Joe Biden has taken the lead with the latest results in Tarrant County. Biden had a 427 … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, The making of the President | Tagged absentee ballots, Beto O'Rourke, Donald Trump, Election 2018, Election 2020, Joe Biden, President, provisional ballots, redistricting, Sheriff, Tarrant County, Texas, The Lege, turnout | 1 Comment

Initial thoughts about the election

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And now for some reactions and analysis… – The polls were garbage. Oy vey. Not just here, though they were definitely off here, underestimating Trump and the Republicans after doing the same to Beto and the Dems in 2018. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Adrian Garcia, Beto O'Rourke, CD02, Chrysta Castaneda, Commissioners Court, Congress, Dan Crenshaw, Donald Trump, Election 2004, Election 2008, Election 2012, Election 2014, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, fundraising, Grady Yarbrough, Greg Abbott, Harris County, HCDE, HD108, HD112, HD126, HD127, HD128, HD129, HD130, HD132, HD133, HD135, HD138, HD150, Jack Morman, Jane Bland, Joe Biden, John Cornyn, judicial races, Latino voting, MJ Hegar, polls, President, Railroad Commission, redistricting, Senate, straight ticket voting, Supreme Court, Texas, The Lege, Tom Ramsey, turnout, voter registration, Wendy Davis | 8 Comments

Looks like (maybe) we have a Speaker

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I give you Rep. Dade Phelan. May he not spontaneously combust in spectacular and self-inflicted fashion like a drummer for Spinal Tap the last Speaker. State Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, announced Wednesday he has the votes needed to become the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chris Paddie, Dade Phelan, Dennis Bonnen, Drew Springer, Election 2020, Geanie Morrison, Joe Moody, John Cyrier, Oscar Longoria, Phil King, Senfronia Thompson, Speaker's race, Texas, The Lege, Trent Ashby, Trey Martinez-Fischer | Comments Off

So what happened in the Latino counties?

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s go to the data: County Trump Clinton Trump Biden ============================================= Bexar 240,333 319,550 303,871 440,823 Cameron 29,472 59,402 48,834 63,732 Dimmit 974 2,173 1,384 2,264 El Paso 55,512 147,843 81,235 168,801 Frio 1,856 2,444 2,812 2,421 Hidalgo 48,642 118,809 … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, The making of the President | Tagged Bexar County, Cameron County, Dimmit County, Donald Trump, El Paso, Election 2016, Election 2020, Frio County, Hidalgo County, Hillary Clinton, Jim Hogg County, Jim Wells County, Joe Biden, Latino voting, Maverick County, Nueces County, polls, President, Presidio County, Starr County, Texas, turnout, Webb County, Willacy County, Zapata County, Zavala County | 3 Comments

Followup omnibus Election Day post

Posted on November 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Wanted to clear up some loose ends from the late night/early morning post and add a couple of things I’d missed the first time around. I’ll have a longer “thoughts and reactions” post probably tomorrow. – The district results from … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged 4th Court of Appeals, 5th Court of Appeals, absentee ballots, Amparo Guerra, Brazoria County, Chambers County, Congress, curbside voting, early voting, First Court of Appeals, Galveston, Harris County, HD132, HD134, HD135, Jane Robinson, President, provisional ballots, SBOE, SD19, Senate, Tamika Craft, Texas, The Lege, Third Court of Appeals, turnout, Veronica Rivas-Molloy | 4 Comments

Omnibus Election Day post

Posted on November 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I was up really late last night, and there’s still a lot of votes to be counted. The SOS website was mostly trash, but a lot of county election sites took their sweet, sweet time even reporting any Election Day … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, The making of the President | Tagged Angie Chen Button, Ann Johnson, Brandy Chambers, CD23, Commissioners Court, Congress, Constable, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, Eric Fagan, Fort Bend County, Gina Calanni, Gina Ortiz Jones, Harris County, HCDE, HD108, HD112, HD132, HD134, HD135, HD138, Israel Garcia, Joanna Cattanach, Jon Rosenthal, judicial races, Justice of the Peace, Latino voting, Michael Moore, Mike Schofield, Morgan Meyer, Pete Flores, polls, President, Rebecca Bell-Metereau, redistricting, Roland Gutierrez, Russ Ridgway, Sarah Davis, SBOE, SD19, Senate, Sheriff, straight ticket voting, Ted Heap, Texas, The Lege, Tom Ramsey, Tony Gonzales, turnout | 16 Comments

The role Harris County can play in turning Texas blue

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Big county + big turnout = big margin. Texas is not the sort of place national candidates visit just before Election Day or where political ads play on a loop during popular TV shows. And, yet, here we are: Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Beto O'Rourke, Donald Trump, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, Harris County, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, President, Senate, Ted Cruz, Texas, turnout, voter registration | 1 Comment

Federal judge denies Hotze petition

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully, this will be the end of this particular nonsense. A federal judge Monday rejected a request by a conservative activist and three Republican candidates to toss out nearly 127,000 votes cast at drive-thru polling sites in Texas’ most populous, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged Chris Hollins, curbside voting, Election 2020, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, Jared Woodfill, lawsuit, Secretary of State, Sharon Hemphill, Steve Toth, Steven Hotze, Supreme Court, Texas, The Lege, voter suppression, Wendell Champion | 4 Comments

A focus on the SCOTX races

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

With so much litigation over a variety of voting issues, the Supreme Court of Texas is in the news a lot these days. Will that mean more attention being paid to the four races for SCOTX positions? The sleepy contests … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Amy Clark Meachum, Beto O'Rourke, Brett Busby, Court of Criminal Appeals, Donald Trump, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, Gisela Triana, Jane Bland, Jeff Boyd, Joe Biden, John Cornyn, judicial races, Kathy Cheng, MJ Hegar, Nathan Hecht, polls, Staci Williams, straight ticket voting, Supreme Court, Ted Cruz, Texas, turnout | 2 Comments

Today is Election Day

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It almost feels unreal, doesn’t it? Like some people have been saying while on line at voting locations, we’ve been waiting four whole years for this. Now it’s here, Texas is considered a swing state, the Lege is in play, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged Chris Hollins, Congress, early voting, Election 2020, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, Joe Biden, MJ Hegar, President, Senate, Texas, The Lege, turnout, voting centers | 2 Comments

Texas blog roundup for the week of November 2

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance urges you to vote if you haven’t already as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged blog roundup, TPA | Comments Off

A few thoughts about Election 2020 before Tuesday

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Just a brain dump, to get this all out there before we find out what happened. Let’s start with this: After the conclusion of three weeks of early voting, 9.7 million Texans have cast ballots, crushing previous early voting totals … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged absentee ballots, Chris Hollins, Collin County, Comal County, coronavirus, Denton County, Donald Trump, drop off boxes, early voting, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, Ellis County, Fort Bend County, Greg Abbott, Guadalupe County, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, Hays County, Joe Biden, lawsuit, Montgomery County, polls, President, Texas, Travis County, turnout, voter ID, voter registration, Williamson County | 16 Comments

SCOTX rejects Hotze petition to throw out drive through votes

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

One piece of good news. A legal cloud hanging over nearly 127,000 votes already cast in Harris County was at least temporarily lifted Sunday when the Texas Supreme Court rejected a request by several conservative Republican activists and candidates to … Continue reading →

Harris County approves early childhood development funds

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a $10 million fund to invest in early childhood development programs proposed by County Judge Lina Hidalgo, her chief policy goal for 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the county government to … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged Adrian Garcia, budget, Commissioners Court, Early Childhood Intervention, Election 2018, Harris County, Jack Cagle, Lina Hidalgo, Rodney Ellis | Comments Off

Astros ticketholder lawsuit update

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I share because I care. The Astros have asked the state 14th Court of Appeals to dismiss a consolidated lawsuit filed by three groups of disgruntled ticketholders, repeating many of the same arguments in favor of dismissal that they presented … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Legal matters | Tagged 14th Court of Appeals, Astros, Baseball, Harris County, Houston, lawsuit, MLB, sign stealing | 1 Comment

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