Tag Archives: Congress

Even the White House thinks Texas sucks at COVID response

I mean… The White House Coronavirus Task Force says Texas is in the swing of a “full resurgence” of COVID-19 and the state’s mitigation efforts “must intensify,” while Gov. Greg Abbott and other leaders decline to take some of the … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

So now we start to prep for redistricting

It’s gonna make for a long session, or more likely sessions. Wielding the map-drawing power will not be entirely painless for Republicans, who have seen their grip on dozens of state and federal districts erode since the last round of … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A closer look at county races, Part 2

Part One is here. As before, this is about taking a closer look at the counties where Democrats made gains from 2016. Collin County: Our reach may have exceeded our grasp, but it’s important to note that progress was made. … Continue reading

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Who cares how much it will cost to build the Ike Dike?

Imagine how much it will cost to recover from a catastrophic hurricane whose storm surge could have been mitigated by the Ike Dike. You know, like that hurricane from earlier this year that would have done exactly that had it … Continue reading

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Harris County posts updated election results

From Twitter: . That won’t affect most races, and it probably does not affect any Harris-County specific races. But if provisional ballots are like that statewide, it could affect larger, close elections. I’m particularly watching Chief Justice for the 14th … Continue reading

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Looking ahead to 2022

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

It’s a range, not a number

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A comparison to 2012

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

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A few observations from the final unofficial countywide data

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

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Initial thoughts about the election

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Followup omnibus Election Day post

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Omnibus Election Day post

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Today is Election Day

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

There’s still a lot of work to be done to make it easier to vote

The ease of access for disabled voters is still a huge unaddressed issue. Val Vera finally cast his ballot after sitting for two hours in his van outside a Denton County polling place. He wasn’t waiting on people in line … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Once again with Asian-American voters

Long story in the Trib, on a topic that could use more focus. When Debbie Chen temporarily closed her Houston restaurant in March due to the coronavirus, she was worried about her health and her financial livelihood. But as a … Continue reading

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DFP: Biden 47, Trump 46

From Twitter: . Police cars revolving lightNew Poll – TX Police cars revolving light Biden 47 – Trump 46 Cornyn 44 – Hegar 41 https://filesforprogress.org/memos/2020-senate-project/week-5/toplines/tx.pdf — Data For Progress (@DataProgress) 8:21 PM – 18 October 2020 What’s interesting about this … Continue reading

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October 2020 campaign finance reports: Congress

This is it, the last quarterly finance report roundup for the cycle. It’s been quite the time, hasn’t it? Let’s do this and see where we are as voting continues. The January 2019 roundup is here, which closed out the … Continue reading

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Still worried about the Census

There’s this. The census came to an abrupt halt Thursday after a pandemic and a legal tug-of-war threw the massive survey into chaos. Officials around the country now fear they’ll lose their fair share of federal funding and political representation … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters, National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The overlooked Congressional race

There are ten Congressional races involving Republican-held seats that are seen as competitive. Nine of them have gotten a fair amount of attention. The tenth is CD06, and the Texas Signal steps in to fill the gap. The race in … Continue reading

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Interview with Rep. Lizzie Fletcher

I knew I wanted to talk to freshman Rep. Lizzie Fletcher this cycle, because there’s just so much to talk about. You know her story from 2018 – the crowded primary, the unprecedented amounts of money raised and spent, the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

There’s so much more money in Texas races

Item one: It’s the question that many, many people have raised — often as a joke — for years. But the combination of changing demographics, chaos among the state Republican ranks, and the ongoing struggles of President Donald Trump’s campaign … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Well, he does have a big Twitter following

I’m honestly not surprised that the Chron endorsed Dan Crenshaw for re-election. I just wonder if the editorial board ever reads what they write when they come up with this stuff. U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw has 1 million Twitter followers. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Chip Roy calls on Paxton to resign

Interesting. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a former top aide to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, called on his former boss to resign from his post after top members of Paxton’s staff said the attorney general should be investigated for multiple … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020, Scandalized!, Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Interview with Sima Ladjevardian

Texas CD02 has a fairly short history of being centered in Harris County. It was redrawn in the Tom DeLay re-redistricting of 2003 to stretch from the north end of the county to Beaumont in order to oust then-Rep. Nick … Continue reading

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How not to be “ground zero” for voter suppression

It starts with winning elections. Which would be easier to do if Republicans weren’t hell-bent on making it hard to vote, but then that’s why they do what they do. Fewer and fewer states are standing with Texas as it … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It’s Julie Oliver week

Julie Oliver, the Democratic candidate in CD25, is getting a fair bit of attention this week. First, there’s this Statesman story about what her path to victory looks like. On a recent Zoom fundraiser with Beto O’Rourke, Democratic congressional candidate … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Menefee and more

The Chron endorses Christian Menefee for Harris County Attorney. Christian Menefee was still celebrating his victory in the Democratic primary over longtime incumbent Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan when the coronavirus pandemic changed everything. Lockdowns and social distancing left the … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: A Congressional four-pack

Going once again in numerical order… Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, CD07. Two years after her first-ever run for public office resulted in the defeat of a nine-term Republican incumbent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher faces re-election with a solid record of … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bexar County poll: Biden 52, Trump 35

From the San Antonio Report: The new Bexar Facts/KSAT/San Antonio Report poll showed former Vice President Joe Biden with a sizable lead over President Donald Trump among registered Bexar County voters. Poll results released Tuesday, two weeks before early voting … Continue reading

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Interview with Elizabeth Hernandez

How I proceed with doing candidate interviews can vary from election to election. The last couple of even-year cycles, I’ve focused more on the primaries than the general, because there have been so many highly competitive primaries. Even there, I … Continue reading

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CD10 poll: McCaul 45, Siegel 43

One more Congressional district polled. A new internal poll from the Democratic nominee for Texas’ 10th Congressional District, Mike Siegel, showed the race against Rep. Michael McCaul within just two points. The poll found a narrowing lead for McCaul, who … Continue reading

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PPP/TDP: Trump 48, Biden 48

More polls. A new poll of likely voters found that President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are tied in Texas. The poll, commissioned by the Texas Democratic Party through Public Policy Polling, is the latest reflecting a dead … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020, Election 2022, The making of the President | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Interview with Julie Oliver

If the story of the 2018 Congressional elections in Texas was the unprecedented number of serious candidates and their equally unprecedented success at fundraising, the story of 2020 is how many of those Congressional races are seen as credibly winnable … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

October Census deadline restored

Good news, though as with everything we can’t be sure just yet that it’s for real. A federal judge in California late Thursday blocked the Trump administration from stopping the 2020 Census count next week, saying it should continue until … Continue reading

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