Tag Archives: redistricting

Rey Guerra: Latinos in Houston 2012

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. White, Black, Asian, or other, if you live in Houston, you’ve more than likely adopted aspects of Latino culture into your … Continue reading →

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Culberson’s Univesity Line attack makes it through the House

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Great. Advocates of federally subsidized expansion of the Houston Metro light rail system lost a crucial round to Houston Congressman John Culberson on Friday, leaving dwindling opportunities to overturn spending restrictions on the Richmond Avenue project. The House adopted a … Continue reading →

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California-style primaries

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’m deeply skeptical of this. In 2010, California voters approved getting rid of party-based primaries and adopting a “top-two” set-up, sometimes called a jungle primary. This month, the state tried the new primary model in which candidates of all parties … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Interview with State Sen. Wendy Davis

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I didn’t have the room in my schedule during the TDP convention to contemplate trying to arrange a bunch of interviews, but if there was one person I hadn’t spoken to this cycle that I really wanted to it was … Continue reading →

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How about those new Latino Congressional districts?

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, not so much. Originally hailed by Latino leaders as a way to boost opportunities for their community, the newly redrawn Texas congressional map has led to a pair of white Democrats claiming the nominations in districts that … Continue reading →

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Four Congressional stories

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

CD27: It’s a relatively unknown field of hopefuls trying to unseat incumbent Republican Blake Farenthold in the newly configured U.S. House District 27, an area that stretches from Bastrop County south to Nueces County. The field includes former Bastrop County … Continue reading →

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Three primary stories

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

TX Trib: 4 Democrats Vying to Replace Hochberg in HD-137 Observers say the winner of the contest for HD-137 is likely to be decided in the Democratic primary, whose four candidates are former Capitol staffers Joseph Carlos Madden and Jamaal … Continue reading →

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A small overview of a large field

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has a partial overview of the cattle call in CD14. [State Rep. Randy] Weber, 58, is one of nine Republicans vying for the party’s nomination in Paul’s congressional district, which includes Lake Jackson, where the 76-year-old Paul delivered … Continue reading →

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The unhelpful SBOE overview

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The premise of this story is good and useful. Unfortunately, the execution falls short. Conservatives and moderates get a rare opportunity this year to try to stack the State Board of Education with members who will help shape public education … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Two for Doggett

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The San Antonio Express News did most of its endorsements before the start of Early Voting, but took its time on the Congressional races. In the end, they did all their endorsements in one editorial, and at the end of … Continue reading →

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Express-News overview of Romo versus Doggett

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Some interesting tidbits in here. Despite the minority makeup of a newly drawn congressional district, a San Antonio Latina candidate faces a steep uphill climb against a white Austin liberal with a long tenure in the nation’s capital. Sylvia Romo, … Continue reading →

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Recap of all my interviews so far this cycle

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

To say the least, there was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning of the year when I was planning out my interview schedule for the primary election. There were no maps for the State House, State Senate, and Congress. … Continue reading →

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Interview with Domingo Garcia

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

My last interview for this primary cycle is with another one of the leading contenders in the crowded CD33 primary, Domingo Garcia. Garcia is an attorney and activist who served for eight years on the Democratic National Committee beginning in … Continue reading →

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Interview with Ronnie McDonald

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

One of the more interesting candidates in a race that isn’t currently considered top tier is Ronnie McDonald, who is running in the redrawn CD27 against first term Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold. McDonald has been a trailblazer for much of … Continue reading →

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Interview with Sylvia Romo

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

One of the most closely watched Congressional primaries this cycle will be in the new CD35, the district to which Rep. Lloyd Doggett moved after redistricting and the second interim map made his CD25 hostile territory. In this Austin-to-San Antonio … Continue reading →

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Interview with Joaquin Castro

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Texas will elect at least six new members of Congress this year, as there are four new seats and two members have retired. Contested primaries may produce other new members, but for sure there will be six new faces. We … Continue reading →

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Delay in voter ID trial requested

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From Michael Li: Intervenors in the Texas voter ID case asked the court today to delay the scheduled July 9 start of trial in the case, citing discovery delays by the State of Texas.  The intervenors said the delays had … Continue reading →

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Interview with Anthony Troiani

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have one more interview in CD34 today, and will be back next week with three more interviews. I’m still working on getting more lined up. Today’s subject is Anthony Troiani, who is currently serving as City Commissioner At Large … Continue reading →

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Interview with Ramiro Garza

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Next I have two interviews from a seat that’s new in number but not really in composition. CD34 is the updated version of what was CD27, now with no incumbent, and as an open seat it has attracted a large … Continue reading →

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Interview with Marc Veasey

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

In Week 2 of my contested Congressional tour of Texas, I have one interview from the most heavily populated primary, and two from the second most heavily populated. First up is State Rep. Marc Veasey, who is running in the … Continue reading →

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Interview with Ciro Rodriguez

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Also running to reclaim CD23 for the Democrats is the man who last held it for the Dems, Ciro Rodriguez. Rodriguez served five terms in the State House before being elected to CD28 in 1996, where he served until being … Continue reading →

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Interview with Pete Gallego

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There are two Congressional districts in Texas that are on the national radar as November battlefields. One is CD14 thanks mostly to the candidacy of Nick Lampson, and the other is CD23, which flipped to the Democrats in 2006 after … Continue reading →

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More on the size of the SBOE and its districts

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The House Redistricting Committee is holding its hearing today on whether the 15-member State Board of Education and its ginormous districts are appropriately sized. A House Redistricting committee will study the merits of expanding the board to creating smaller districts, … Continue reading →

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Interview with Rep. Silvestre Reyes

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

As discussed last week, we now enter a period in which I will be publishing some number of interviews with Congressional candidates in contested Democratic primaries around Texas. There’s a lot of interesting and high-profile races and I’d love to … Continue reading →

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Are SBOE districts too big?

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a question that the House Redistricting Committee will be studying next week. The Committee will meet in a public hearing to hear testimony on the following interim charge: “Study State Board of Education districts to determine whether the size … Continue reading →

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The home stretch for interviews

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Barring anything unusual, I’ve done all of the Harris County interviews I’m going to do at this point. You can see who I’ve spoken to and listen to them all on the Harris County primary page. You may have noticed … Continue reading →

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Interview with Mary Ann Perez

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We come now to my final interview for Harris County and for the State House. Next week I will start running interviews with Congressional candidates from elsewhere in Texas. Today’s candidate for HD144 is Mary Ann Perez. Perez was elected … Continue reading →

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So long, Santorum

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That sound you hear is Texas Republicans crying in their beer. Rick Santorum’s withdrawal today from the 2012 presidential contest makes Texas Republicans, once again, all but irrelevant in their party’s nomination process. The drawn-out nature of the race had … Continue reading →

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Interview with Kevin Risner

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

My second interview in HD144 is with Kevin Risner. Risner is a Pasadena native who is employed with CBS Radio as a Senior Account Manager for all marketing and public relations campaigns for State agencies. He previously worked for then-Congressman … Continue reading →

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Interview with Ornaldo Ybarra

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This week we return to the State House and wrap up the Harris County interviews for the primary cycle. HD144, which mostly covers the city of Pasadena, is one of the stronger pickup opportunities for Democrats this fall, having been … Continue reading →

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Interview with Nick Lampson

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I still have one more State House primary to cover, that being the one in HD144, but the way things worked out I wound up doing interviews with local Congressional candidates first, so I’m going to run those this week. … Continue reading →

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Voter ID lawsuit action this week

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Tomorrow, the DC Court will hear “oral argument on the State of Texas’ request to block the depositions of 12 Republican legislators who were involved with the voter ID bill, including State Sen. Dan Patrick and state representatives Debbie Riddle … Continue reading →

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If it were good for Travis it would be good elsewhere as well

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This article asks if Travis County is better off being split into five different Congressional districts. Seems to me that’s a question that answers itself, but I’ll play along. The voters and geography of Travis County are split among five … Continue reading →

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The Congressional shuffle

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Pending any further news, I think I’ve got my 2012 Democratic primaries, non-Harris County page updated. Most of the action was in Congressional races. Here are a few highlights from these filings. – David Alameel switched from CD06 to CD33, … Continue reading →

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