Tag Archives: Senate

Fifth Circuit hears drag ban appeal

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Hope for the best as always. A Fifth Circuit panel grappled with questions of free speech and expression on Wednesday as it deliberated whether to uphold a lower court’s ruling that a Texas law dealing with sexually explicit performances and … Continue reading →

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Some finance and fundraising bits

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Colin Allred keeps raking it in. U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised $30.3 million for his Senate campaign in the third quarter of the year, outpacing U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s haul over the same three-month period, according to figures announced by … Continue reading →

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Of course Ted Cruz doesn’t want to talk about abortion

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

He has nothing good to say and he’s trying not to lose. Simple as that. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been a loud anti-abortion crusader throughout his political career. But as reproductive rights loom over the election season as a … Continue reading →

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The “Can Allred win?” question

Posted on October 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

At least we’re asking the question. Usually, we don’t even get that. Democrats are closing the gap in their uphill campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, with polls showing improvement for Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and national Democrats’ … Continue reading →

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The Ted Cruz Curse continues

Posted on October 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, Astros fans. Guess who was at the Astros game today? #Cruzcurse 😡 — Barbi (@Barbi__7) 10:00 PM – 02 October 2024 The Ted Cruz curse strikes (no pun intended) again. Allegedly. The Texas senator’s attendance at sporting events across … Continue reading →

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Republicans for Allred

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Since moving to The Woodlands about two years ago, former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger — one of the most vocal GOP critics of Donald Trump — says he’s met several Texas Republicans … Continue reading →

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Two bits of polling

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Newsweek has a somewhat misleading poll-related story. Ted Cruz’s lead over his Democratic challenger Colin Allred in the Texas Senate race has narrowed, one recent poll shows, as voters appear to view the senator less favorably. A Public Policy Polling/Clean … Continue reading →

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Is the Texas Republican Party actually worried?

Posted on September 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I hope so. The Republican Party of Texas has vowed a “major investment” in South Texas legislative races amid ongoing criticism from county-level leaders over its fundraising and voter outreach efforts. On Monday, the party announced a commitment to knock … Continue reading →

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Get ready for a lot more Allred and Cruz ads on TV

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Keep the remote nearby so you can hit “mute” as needed. U.S. Senate Democrats are sending millions to Texas in a new round of investments to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced Thursday. The DSCC will … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Two good ones

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron gives an enthusiastic endorsement for a full term for the newest State Senator, Molly Cook. Maybe only an emergency room nurse could think that a 14-hour day working at the Capitol is easy. That seems to be the … Continue reading →

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Some Bexar County polling

Posted on September 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

New pollster alert, checking in on Bexar County. A survey conducted by the UTSA Center for Public Opinion Research suggests San Antonio residents are tepid about plans for a new sports complex for the San Antonio Spurs — a project … Continue reading →

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A curious thing about the polls of Texas

Posted on September 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably seen this headline by now. For the first time in their hotly contested campaign, a poll shows U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, trailing challenger U.S. Rep. Colin Allred. The Morning Consult poll, conducted between Sept. 9 and 18, places … Continue reading →

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Ted Cruz votes against protecting IVF access

Posted on September 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

It’s right there in the headline. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday led the effort to block a bill by Senate Democrats that they said would protect in-vitro fertilization in America. But on the Senate floor, Cruz blasted the Democratic … Continue reading →

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UnidosUS 2024 Pre-Election Poll of Hispanic Electorate

Posted on September 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, today released findings from its 2024 Pre-Election Poll of Texas’s Hispanic Electorate. The data shows that the top five priorities for Texas Latino voters, two months out … Continue reading →

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Complaint filed over CenterPoint’s unused generators

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll admit, I didn’t even know there was a complaint process for this. The Texas Consumer Association filed a complaint Wednesday asking the state utility regulator to deny CenterPoint Energy the ability to continue to pass on the costs of … Continue reading →

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UT/Texas Policy Project: Trump 49, Harris 44

Posted on September 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. A new, statewide poll of registered voters in Texas shows a slight uptick in support for Democrats following last month’s Democratic National Convention. The poll by the Texas Politics Project at the … Continue reading →

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SCOTx declares 15th Court of Appeals to be legal

Posted on August 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Just in time for its grand opening. The Texas Supreme Court defended the state legislature’s creation of a statewide district court of appeals, holding the new court is constitutional. Dallas County and Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown challenged the constitutionality … Continue reading →

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The first Harris/Trump poll of Texas

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s talk about this for a minute. Vice President Kamala Harris trails former President Donald Trump by 5 percentage points in Texas, shaving off nearly half the Republican nominee’s one-time advantage over President Joe Biden from earlier this year, according … Continue reading →

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We’re stuck with CenterPoint’s useless generators

Posted on August 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

So what can we do about them? CenterPoint Energy executives said Thursday the company cannot terminate its lease for barely used generators that have already cost the utility $800 million, shocking regulators who are now turning on the investment after … Continue reading →

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News flash: Ted Cruz is extremely anti-abortion

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s cut to the chase here, shall we? Texas Democrats are making abortion rights a major campaign issue after Republicans in the state banned the procedure, and U.S. Rep. Colin Allred is casting Ted Cruz’s views as “extreme” in his … Continue reading →

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The House gets its turn to yell at CenterPoint

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

They mostly focused on tree maintenance, which seems reasonable enough. House lawmakers on Wednesday questioned CenterPoint Energy’s tree maintenance ahead of Hurricane Beryl, in which tens of thousands of trees knocked out power lines, shutting off electricity to 2.3 million … Continue reading →

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So about those generators CenterPoint bought…

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’m fine with all of this, but it shouldn’t be the endpoint of the conversation. It’s not even the main point. A state lawmaker said Monday he was considering pushing legislation to recoup some of the $800 million CenterPoint Energy … Continue reading →

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July 2024 campaign finance reports – State offices

Posted on July 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: Senate and Congress For the first time in awhile that I can remember, there’s not really a state or statewide legislative race generating much interest in Harris County. The candidates and incumbents for the Court of Appeals benches have … Continue reading →

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Third complaint over Ted Cruz’s podcast payments

Posted on July 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Three strikes and…well, nothing really. They’re just complaints and even if they’re found to be meritorious we’re a long way away from anything happening. But since I’m following this story, I’ll keep on it. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, remains … Continue reading →

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There’s a coordinated statewide campaign? We can do that?

Posted on July 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Who knew? U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and the Texas Democratic Party are launching a coordinated campaign to consolidate resources for races up and down the ticket, the party and Allred campaign announced Wednesday morning. The initiative, dubbed “Texas Offense,” will … Continue reading →

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July 2024 campaign finance reports – Senate and Congress

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I know there’s been a real firehose of news lately, but it’s July and that means it’s time to review campaign finance reports. This list will be a little smaller than the previous one as again there are fewer races … Continue reading →

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Now we’re concerned about crypto mining?

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

So, are we like gonna roll up the red carpet we laid out for these guys a couple of years ago? Texas is now home to 10 of 34 large Bitcoin mines. During cold spells or heat waves, Texans are … Continue reading →

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New accusations of sexual harassment in the Texas Senate

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A followup to a story from seven years ago. Sadly but not surprisingly, very little has changed since then. Texas senators were silent on Friday in the face of fresh allegations of sexual harassment revealed in in a Texas Monthly … Continue reading →

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National attention on the Allred-Cruz race

Posted on June 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Things are a little different now than they were in 2018. Also, Dems have very few even remotely realistic pickup opportunities this cycle, so. With more than four months left before Election Day 2018, Democrat Beto O’Rourke had campaigned in … Continue reading →

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All Texas Republicans vote against bill to protect contraception

Posted on June 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The headline speaks for itself. The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would prevent states from banning birth control, though nearly the entire Republican delegation from Texas voted against it. The bill, which faces far more hurdles passing through … Continue reading →

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A couple of followups on the runoffs

Posted on May 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Sen. Molly Cook gets some deserved attention. State Sen. Molly Cook appears to have narrowly defeated state Rep. Jarvis Johnson in the Senate District 15 primary runoff for the second time this month, setting the stage for her to hold … Continue reading →

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Primary runoff results: Harris County

Posted on May 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

So this happened: That was quite the storm, though after what we’ve already experienced just this month it’s not as impressive as it might have been. It was even worse in North Texas, where some polls stayed open until 9 … Continue reading →

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Primary runoff day is tomorrow

Posted on May 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth reminds voters that Tuesday, May 28, is Election Day for the Primary Runoff Elections. Voters can cast their ballots in person at one of the more than 300 vote centers in Harris … Continue reading →

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Final EV totals for the May 2024 primary runoffs

Posted on May 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Here are your final EV totals for the May 2024 primary runoffs. I’ll go ahead and break out a chart, as per tradition: Party Mail Early Total ============================== Dem 11,534 16,421 27,955 GOP 662 1,861 2,523 Again, one must remember … Continue reading →

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