Tag Archives: President

From the “Don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” department

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

People are signing up for health insurance plans while they still can. For years the backers of the Affordable Care Act have fretted over how best to stimulate insurance enrollment on the exchanges so the law could work as designed. … Continue reading →

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Sustaining the Harris County Democrats’ success

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

All things considered, I feel reasonably optimistic about Democratic prospects in Harris County going forward, but I felt that way in 2008 as well, so I certainly understand the inclination to be cautious. Democrats swept Harris County last Tuesday in … Continue reading →

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What do our elected officials think about the plan to kill off Medicare?

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Hey, remember when this was a major campaign issue? With all the other things we’ve discussed so far today, I wanted to return to one critical one. It’s not about mights or maybes or fears of what’s to come. It’s … Continue reading →

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A theory about third parties

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Before I get to that theory, have you ever wondered about the people who vote straight ticket Libertarian or Green in Harris County? I got to wondering about them, because that’s the sort of thing that I think about at … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Hillary in Harris County

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s get started with the precinct data, shall we? Here’s a Chron story from the day after the election about how things looked overall in the county. The country’s most populous swing county turned a shade bluer Tuesday, when Hillary … Continue reading →

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Pasadena voting rights trial begins

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s Mike Snyder provides an update. [This] week in a Houston federal courtroom, [the Voting Rights Act] will again be invoked in a challenge to an allegedly discriminatory council system, this time in a suburban city that’s undergone a … Continue reading →

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Statewide review: 2016 was like 2008, but not in a good way

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s no point in beating around the bush, so I’ll just come out and say it: Despite the excitement about increases in voter registration and heavy early voting turnout. statewide Democratic candidates outside of Hillary Clinton generally did not do … Continue reading →

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Beto O’Rourke talking about the Senate

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Another Democratic Congressman is thinking about trying for an upgrade. U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso Democrat, told The Texas Tribune he is considering running for the U.S. Senate. “I am,” the sophomore congressman said when Tribune CEO Evan … Continue reading →

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Initial thoughts: Statewide

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

See part 1 on Harris County here. The current statewide tally is Trump 52.39%, Clinton 43.34%. She received 3,848,617 votes to his 4,651,955. That’s an improvement of some 540K votes over Obama in 2012, which I certainly would have deemed … Continue reading →

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Initial thoughts: Harris County

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I’m still not quite ready to resume regular blogging. I’ve got a few things drafted from before the election, several of which are non-political, that I’ll begin to put in the queue, and a couple of ones that were political … Continue reading →

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Dems sweep Harris County

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Hillary Clinton had a 100K lead in early voting in Harris County, and increased her lead as the night went on. The only countywide Republican who was leading early on was Mike Sullivan, but later in the evening, at the … Continue reading →

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The new voters

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

One more data point before we get the actual data. A late surge of new voters helped Harris County achieve record early turnout and suggests that local registration drives paid off – although to which party’s benefit remains anyone’s guess … Continue reading →

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Today is Election Day

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart urges voters to prepare before heading to vote on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. “Harris County Voters can find their Election Day polling location and review the list of acceptable forms of identification … Continue reading →

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Races I’ll be watching on Tuesday, Legislative edition

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here are the legislative races I’ll be looking at to see what kind of a day it has been for Texas Democrats. After the 2012 general election, the Dems had 55 seats in the Lege. Thee Democrats lost in 2014, … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Twelve: Nearly a million

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your final daily EV report and your updated tracker spreadsheet. The final tally from Friday was 105,005 in person votes and 2,882 more mail ballots returned. That brings us to 882,580 people showing up at an early vote location, … Continue reading →

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Asian voters are much more Democratic than they were before

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Just another trend to keep in mind. Much like Cubans in Miami, the nation’s nearly 2 million Vietnamese-Americans, including about 110,000 in the Houston metro area, have long been regarded as a shoe-in for the GOP. Stridently anti-communist, they were … Continue reading →

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Muslim voting

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

So it turns out that prolonged demonization of a population is a good way to get said population to turn out and vote against the party that is demonizing them. A record 86 percent of registered Muslim voters are expected … Continue reading →

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KTVT/Dixie Strategies: Trump 52, Clinton 39

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one in every crowd. Real Estate Mogul and Republican Presidential nominee Donald J Trump has surged to a twelve point lead in Texas over Former Secretary of State and Democrat nominee, Hillary R. Clinton in the latest KTVT CBS … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Eleven: Last chance

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart announced within minutes after the polls opened this morning, that Harris County crossed the 700,982 voter benchmark setting a new record for early voters by personal appearance. With essentially two full days … Continue reading →

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Wait, who supports paper ballots now?

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Following repeated allegations by Republican Donald Trump that the election may be rigged to ensure a win for Democrat Hillary Clinton, Texas lawmakers are actively considering ways to boost confidence in the … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Ten: Who are these people?

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Are we seeing new voters in the early voting so far, or is it all the same old same old? More than a quarter of Harris County’s 2.2 million registered voters cast a ballot in-person or by mail last week, … Continue reading →

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Sid and Donald, BFFs

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Birds of a feather. At a rally Sunday in Las Vegas, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump paused his usual meditation on the latest polls to direct his crowd’s attention to a “great guy on television today.” “His name was Sid … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Eight: We do have a pretty good idea of who has been voting so far

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Why such a mushy article about the state of early voting so far? Because Texas voters can use a single click to back an entire slate, the down-ballot candidates running countywide have ever-slimming chances of influencing their destinies. As polarization … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: What’s the matter with Waxahachie?

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Donald Trump goes one for Texas in newspaper endorsements. While recent polls suggest Republican Donald Trump is just a few points ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton among Texas voters, the presidential race is far more lopsided among the state’s leading … Continue reading →

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Republicans: Still worried about the Trump effect in Texas

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The continuing story. Texas Republicans are slowly coming to grips with the unthinkable: Hillary Clinton has a shot at winning the nation’s most iconic red state. The odds are long, they say, in a state that hasn’t voted Democratic for … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Six: A good first week for Democrats

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still a week to go, but so far, so good. Harris County residents cast more ballots in the first four days of early voting than five states did in the entire 2012 presidential election. Locally, the number of ballots … Continue reading →

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Crosswind/Statesman: Trump 45, Clinton 38

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

One more poll result, because why not. In the wake of recent polls indicating that deep red Texas might be a toss-up in the presidential race, a new Crosswind/American-Statesman Texas Pulse poll conducted Saturday through Monday shows Republican Donald Trump … Continue reading →

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UT/Trib: Trump 45, Clinton 42

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Even the UT/Texas Trib poll shows a tight Presidential race in Texas. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a three-percentage-point lead over Democrat Hillary Clinton on the eve of early voting in Texas, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas … Continue reading →

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The Trump effect on the SBOE

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib covers some familiar ground. At least one SBOE race is “very much in play,” said Rice University political scientist Mark P. Jones. He’s referring to District 5, where Democrat Rebecca Bell-Metereau is attempting to unseat incumbent Republican Ken … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Four: Just the facts

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here is your Day 4 EV report, and here as always is the spreadsheet that tracks early voting in Presidential elections going back to 2004. Long story short, another record-breaking day, with about the same volume (just over 76,000 in … Continue reading →

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Donald who?

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Never heard of him. As national polls show Hillary Clinton widening her lead just two weeks before the presidential election, Texas Republicans mostly have gone silent about the candidate at the top of their ticket, presidential nominee Donald Trump. Lt. … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Three: The case for pessimism

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Dave Mann tells Texas Democrats to put those rose-tinted glasses away. On Monday, the Real Clear Politics site declared that Texas is up for grabs in the presidential election. The shift comes after a series of polls showing a tight … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Two: How long can we keep this up?

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly crunches some numbers from Day One: Digging further into the numbers, it seems as though the long-whispered awakening of Texas Democrats happened, at the very least, on day one. GOP consultant Derek Ryan, who published a detailed report … Continue reading →

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CBS/YouGov: Trump 46, Clinton 43

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Texas is being tracked as a battleground state. I can’t even believe I just typed that. Hillary Clinton holds a three-point lead over Donald Trump in Florida, while in Texas – a state that has voted Republican by wide margins … Continue reading →

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