Tag Archives: Election 2015

BGTX’s self-assessment

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly has a good overview of where Battleground Texas stands – and where the people inside it think they stand – two years and one electoral beatdown into their existence. Still, it’s the winners who write the history books. … Continue reading →

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Ethics Commission rejects Bell’s complaint

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

No go. The Houston Ethics Commission has ruled against mayoral candidate Chris Bell’s complaint that City Hall was letting Rep. Sylvester Turner start the race with a $900,000 head start in fundraising. […] Bell argues that Turner’s legislative account should … Continue reading →

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King makes his official entry

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Add Bill King to the “made his official announcement” list. In the middle of a noisy, torn-up west Houston street that he said epitomized Houston’s crumbling roads, Bill King launched his campaign for mayor Monday morning, pledging to return the … Continue reading →

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Economic segregation in cities

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From Wonkblog: Concentrated poverty is one of the biggest problems facing cities today, as more of the urban poor become isolated in neighborhoods where the people around them are poor, too. Growing economic segregation across cities, though, is also shaped … Continue reading →

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More thoughts on the special election results

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There has been very little news about the four legislative special elections that were decided last week, other than the brief hubbub over what the result in SD26 meant. Among other things, I’ve been looking for any kind of reporting … Continue reading →

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Who would be Sheriff if Adrian Garcia runs for Mayor?

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

A Republican, for sure. Beyond that, we don’t know. County officials are preparing for Garcia to resign as sheriff, which he is required to do under the Texas Constitution if he chooses to run for mayor of Houston, as he … Continue reading →

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Two Council challengers to incumbents

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

So far all of the action we’ve seen for city offices has been for the open seats being vacated by term-limited incumbents. Recently I became aware of two folks who plan to run for offices that will have incumbents on … Continue reading →

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Judge Schaffer makes his ruling on the HERO repeal petitions

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I was expecting this to happen Monday, but apparently Judge Robert Schaffer handed down his ruling about which HERO repeal petition signatures were valid and should be counted on Monday. Judge Robert Schaffer ruled on which types of signatures can … Continue reading →

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Cities and counties push back on state meddling attempts

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

They’ve got their work cut out for them. The mayors of Texas’ largest cities on Monday pushed back against an initiative by state lawmakers to place new revenue caps on local communities as a way to answer conservatives’ demands to … Continue reading →

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Sylvester Turner announces his entry into the Mayor’s race

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

What we’ve all known about for months is now official. State Rep. Sylvester Turner announced his candidacy for Houston mayor today, formally adding the name of an influential lawmaker with deep ties to the African-American community to the growing field … Continue reading →

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Should Lane Lewis resign as HCDP Chair to run for Council?

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the question some people are asking. “What I want is someone who is going to be, at least in the political world, dedicated 100 percent to the mission of advancing the ideals of the Democratic Party,” said John Gorczynski, … Continue reading →

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Views differ on SD26

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From Campos. Before the State Senate District 26 Special started, Rep. José Menéndez and fellow Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer were both good elected officials and good Democrats. This morning they are still good elected officials and good Democrats. Somebody had … Continue reading →

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San Antonio may try again on vehicles for hire

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Key players at City Hall are crafting an eleventh-hour amended ordinance to stop Uber from leaving San Antonio, 10 days after the rideshare company announced plans to end service here if one of the nation’s most restrictive ordinances … Continue reading →

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Special election runoff results

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here you go, from the Secretary of State webpage. SD26 Trey Martinez Fischer 9,623 40.95% Jose Menendez 13,888 59.04% HD123 Diego Bernal 5,170 63.66% Nunzio Previtera 2,950 36.33% HD13 Carolyn Cerny Bilski 4,763 42.85% Leighton Schubert 6,350 57.14% HD17 John … Continue reading →

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Ivy Taylor enters SA Mayor’s race

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s on. Mayor Ivy Taylor declared her candidacy for mayor Monday in an exclusive interview with the San Antonio Express-News. Taylor, who was appointed mayor last summer by her council colleagues, said that she made the decision after significant thought … Continue reading →

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More candidate updates

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Another Council hopeful tosses his hat into the ring, though we don’t know exactly which office he intends to seek just yet. Tom McCasland, who took over the Harris County Housing Authority after it suffered in scandal, will run for … Continue reading →

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On Council and charters

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Council continues considering charter changes. (Go ahead, say that five times fast.) The Charter Review Committee’s proposal would allow for six council members to add an item to the agenda for consideration by the full City Council. Under the current … Continue reading →

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Mixed jury verdict in HERO repeal petitions trial

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Some Friday afternoon big news. A jury in the trial surrounding Houston’s embattled equal rights ordinance issued a mixed slate of decisions Friday, giving neither side the obvious upper hand as a district judge now uses those findings to decide … Continue reading →

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Early voting is up in the special election runoffs

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Make of that what you will. If three days of early voting are any indication, the tense runoff fight for the state Senate 26 seat between Trey Martinez-Fischer and José Menéndez is attracting more voters than cast ballots in the … Continue reading →

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Metro board approves reimagining

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

On to implementation. Metro’s board gave unanimous, final approval to the so-called reimagining plan, authorizing agency staff to plan public meetings to explain the changes. Between now and August, Metro must replace every sign at every bus stop, revise every … Continue reading →

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HPD to get a pay raise

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker and the police union agree to a new contract. The Houston Police Department hopes a new union contract that targets raises primarily to younger officers will ward off recruiting struggles that have forced it to offer bonuses to … Continue reading →

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Early voting for special election runoffs has begun

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It began yesterday, but I forgot to queue up a post in time to mention it. Here’s some relevant information for those of you who need to get out and vote in one or more of these runoffs. For SD26 … Continue reading →

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Where are the women?

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I have several things to say about this. The slate running to replace Mayor Annise Parker features a globetrotting sailor, a triathlete grandfather, a millionaire minister and no women. Despite the most-crowded pack of mayoral contenders in decades, no female … Continue reading →

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Two city race updates

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Item one: We have another candidate for Comptroller. Jew Don Boney, who sat on City Council for three terms in the 1990′s, will run for City Controller, he told the Chronicle Wednesday. Boney joins Houston Community College trustee Carroll Robinson … Continue reading →

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Uber to leave San Antonio

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Not unexpected. Uber management sent a letter to Mayor Ivy Taylor and City Council Wednesday, warning that the rideshare service will leave San Antonio on March 1 unless the recently-passed existing is modified or repealed. Uber representatives say the new … Continue reading →

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2015 Mayoral manifesto: Quality of life and other issues

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Preliminaries Transportation Public safety A few quick hits on topics that didn’t fit elsewhere. Making Houston affordable again Remember when Houston was an inexpensive place to live? If you haven’t been here at least a decade – more like two … Continue reading →

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2015 Mayoral manifesto: Public safety

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Preliminaries Transportation When I first started thinking about this series a couple of months ago, this section was all going to be about the budget. We’ve covered this ground before – public safety is about 65% of the total city … Continue reading →

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2015 Mayoral manifesto: Transportation

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Preliminaries Please note that I have called this part of my manifesto “Transportation” and not “Traffic”. I agree that traffic sucks and that the Mayoral candidates ought to have some ideas for how to deal with it. It’s my opinion … Continue reading →

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2015 Mayoral manifesto: The preliminaries

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

As you may have heard, we are electing a new Mayor this year. There’s already a large field of candidates in the race, and it is likely to grow before all is said and done. Each will have his own … Continue reading →

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On the seasonal return of term limits modification

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a fuller version of that earlier story about Council moving forward with a modified term limits proposal. You can almost set your watch by it. Mayor Annise Parker is in her third and final term, which means it is … Continue reading →

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Two more for At Large #4

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We know that At Large #1, one of two open At Large seats for this year, has already drawn a crowd. Now the other open seat, At Large #4, is drawing one as well. Laurie Robinson, Amanda Edwards and Larry … Continue reading →

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HD13 runoff date set

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We are now all set on special election runoffs. Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday scheduled a Feb. 17 runoff in the special election for Lois Kolkhorst’s old seat in the Texas House. Austin County Judge Carolyn Bilski and Caldwell attorney … Continue reading →

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January campaign finance reports – HCC Trustees

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There are nine trustees on the HCC board. With them serving six-year terms, in a normal year three trustees are up for re-election; 2013 was an abnormal year, with two extra races to fill out unexpired terms. We are back … Continue reading →

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Chris Oliver joins the At Large #1 crowd

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Houston Community College Trustee Chris Oliver has announced his candidacy for the open Houston City Council, At-Large Position 1 seat to be filled this November. Chris brings years of experience as a businessman, legislative advocate, and Houston … Continue reading →

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