Tag Archives: redistricting

Some Census shenanigans short-circuited

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The head, it spins. In a scalding order that called the Justice Department’s motion to change lawyers “patently deficient,” a federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday blocked the move by the Justice Department to withdraw several of its attorneys from … Continue reading →

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Another cure for partisan redistricting

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From the Brennan Center, written before SCOTUS lit a match to judicial remedies for partisan redistricting, and even more relevant now. Congressional redistricting is broken. In most states, districts are drawn by partisan lawmakers, and the manipulation of district boundaries … Continue reading →

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Yeah, we spoke too soon about the Census citizenship question

Posted on July 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s maximum chaos time. The Justice Department affirmed Friday that it still is pursuing a path for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, according to a filing in federal court in Maryland. The filing followed statements earlier in … Continue reading →

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Census citizenship question stopped for now

Posted on June 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

“For now” being the key point. The Supreme Court on Thursday put on hold the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census form sent to every household, saying it had provided a “contrived” reason for … Continue reading →

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You are free to redistrict to your partisan heart’s content

Posted on June 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Your Supreme Court, ladies and gentlemen. In an effort to appear as though it hovers permanently above the partisan fray, the Supreme Court on Thursday delivered perhaps the most staggering win to the Republican Party since Bush v. Gore. In a pair of … Continue reading →

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If it weren’t for Latino population growth…

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Texas would have a lot less growth overall. The gap between Texas’ Hispanic and white populations continued to narrow last year when the state gained almost nine Hispanic residents for every additional white resident. With Hispanics expected to become the … Continue reading →

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The battle for the Lege is gonna be lit

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Fasten your seat belts. While the Texas Senate appears safe for Republicans, Clinton’s comments underscored the emphasis that some Democrats — both in Texas and outside it — are already putting on the fight for the majority in the state … Continue reading →

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Scouting the opposition in CD07

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Not impressed so far. Facing a roomful of conservative voters at a meet-and-greet earlier this month, Republican Wesley Hunt laid out the stakes for his party’s primary in Texas’ 7th Congressional District. “This is about putting the best candidate forward … Continue reading →

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Lege passes on helping with the Census

Posted on June 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Typically short-sighted. But in a time when the census is tinged with partisan politics — mostly over Trump’s proposed inclusion of a citizenship question — Texas lawmakers adjourned without taking action to ensure a complete count. State Representative César Blanco, … Continue reading →

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How to rig the Census

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This is how you would do it. The Trump administration’s controversial effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census was drawn up by the Republican Party’s gerrymandering mastermind, who wrote that it “would clearly be a disadvantage to … Continue reading →

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The Section 3 bail-in hearing

Posted on May 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

At long last, the final question to answer about Texas and the Voting Rights Act, namely has the state done enough bad stuff to be required to be put under preclearance again? Back in the federal courthouse where most of … Continue reading →

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Republicans have no incentive to worry about redistricting being used against them

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I appreciate the thrust of this story, but it omits a key fact. One way to determine if Texas is truly gerrymandered is to compare the total vote share that Republican and Democratic candidates for the U.S. Congress received in … Continue reading →

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CD07: Here comes another Bush?

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, goodie. A number of West Houston political insiders are abuzz at the prospect that Pierce Bush, the Houston-based CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star and member of the storied Bush family, might run for the Congressional seat … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2018 SBOE

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are 15 State Board of Education positions, currently divided 10 GOP to 5 Dem. They’re bigger than State Senate and Congressional districts but no one raises any money for them so they’re basically decided by partisan turnout. As with … Continue reading →

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Holder talks gerrymandering

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The former AG was in town as part of his national activism on the topic. Texas is “ground zero” in a national effort launching Saturday to ensure that every American’s vote counts in upcoming elections, former U.S. Attorney General Eric … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2018 State House

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Beto O’Rourke won 76 State House districts. Out of 150. Which is a majority. Let me say that again so it can fully sink in. BETO O’ROURKE WON 76 STATE HOUSE DISTRICTS. Remember that after the 2016 election, Democrats held … Continue reading →

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Is the Lege going to try to “fix” HD90?

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a legislative to do list item that has been completely off the radar. Federal courts last year gave Texas lawmakers 45 days from the beginning of this year’s legislative session to start redrawing boundary lines for Fort Worth’s House … Continue reading →

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There sure was a lot of money spent on Congressional races in Texas

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

If we’re lucky, it will be the start of a trend. Never has Texas seen as much money spent on Congressional campaigns as it did in 2018. New campaign finance data shows that the state didn’t just beat its old … Continue reading →

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Trump administration opposes Section 3 oversight

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, duh. In the latest about-face on voting rights under President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice no longer supports efforts to force Texas back under federal oversight of its electoral map drawing. In legal filings this week, … Continue reading →

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The Harris County GOP has not hit bottom yet

Posted on December 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I have four thing to say about this. Drubbed. Shellacked. Whooped. Walloped. Routed. However you want to describe November’s midterm election, it was disastrous for Harris County Republicans. They were swept from the remaining countywide posts they held — the other shoe … Continue reading →

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From the “It’s never too early to make candidate announcements” department

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Three sitting District Judges from Dallas County plan to run for the Fifth District Court of Appeals in 2020. Judge Bonnie Goldstein of the 44th Civil District Court will campaign for Place 3. Judge Craig Smith of … Continue reading →

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Moving forward on Section 3

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still redistricting litigation action happening. Late Friday afternoon, the coalition of voting rights groups that have fought the state for fairer legislative districts since the last round of redistricting in 2010 filed a pair of new briefs with the … Continue reading →

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Who might be next to retire from Congress?

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We may see some more exits in the coming years, some voluntary and some not. Retirement talk is generally speculative until an incumbent makes an official announcement. But many Republican operatives bet that U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, the most senior … Continue reading →

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The next round of redistricting is going to be even more fun

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Close races do complicate things. Texas Republicans collected half of the votes statewide in congressional races this month. ­But even after Democrats flipped two districts, toppling GOP veterans in Dallas and Houston, Republicans will control 23 of the state’s 36 … Continue reading →

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Someone other than me notices CD24

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The closest race no one was paying attention to. Last week’s midterm elections showed that the Texas electorate is changing dramatically, and even Republicans who survived found themselves with surprisingly close calls after coasting to reelection for years. One U.S. … Continue reading →

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Initial thoughts: Congress

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll be honest: I never felt particularly confident about winning CD07 or CD32. Not because Lizzie Fletcher and Colin Allred weren’t excellent candidates, or anything to do with the trends of the national environment or what have you. I just … Continue reading →

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Initial thoughts: The Lege

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Live by the gerrymander, die by the gerrymander. At the end of the 2011 legislative session, state Rep. Rafael Anchia, a Dallas Democrat, sat down to dinner with a Republican colleague from the Texas House. Anchia was exhausted and incensed. … Continue reading →

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Initial reactions: Harris County

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start with the obvious. Harris County Democrats rode a surge in voter turnout to a decisive victory on Tuesday, unseating several countywide Republican officials, including longtime County Judge Ed Emmett, and sweeping all 59 judicial races. Emmett, who courted … Continue reading →

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A little effort for redistricting reform

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, the group led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, is making a quarter-million-dollar investment in Texas to help Democrats here flip a number of state House seats in November. The money … Continue reading →

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Sarah Davis’ balancing act

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

As it will be for many of her Republican colleagues, especially in Harris County, 2018 is a challenging year for Rep. Sarah Davis. To understand how Republican state Rep. Sarah Davis plans to survive a possible Democratic blue wave in … Continue reading →

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Partisan statewide judicial elections upheld

Posted on September 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’d totally forgotten about this lawsuit. A federal judge has rejected a race-based challenge to the way Texans fill seats on the state’s highest courts. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi handed the state of Texas a … Continue reading →

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Going for Section 3

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I wouldn’t get my hopes up, but Lord knows this is desperately needed. The voters of color, civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers who have long challenged the validity of Texas’ political maps were dealt a bruising loss earlier this … Continue reading →

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Using one civil rights law to negate another

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

You have to give them credit for evil creativity, I guess. A majority-black county in rural Georgia announced a plan last week to close seven of its nine polling places ahead of the November election, claiming the polls cannot continue to operate … Continue reading →

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Dallas County “discrimination against white voters” lawsuit dismissed

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It was always a silly idea. A federal judge Thursday dismissed a landmark lawsuit that accused Dallas County commissioners of discriminating against white voters. The lawsuit sought to dismantle the boundaries the county uses to elect commissioners, claiming that the … Continue reading →

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