Dispatches from Dallas, October 25 edition

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think.

This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth we have a lot of election news. No, more than that. Also: the Tarrant County jail; school districts; rail news; Black Dandies; Meat Fight; the State Fair; and more.

This week’s post was brought to you by the music of Air, the French pop band, whom we’re seeing next week.

As always during election season, I urge you to get out and vote. We haven’t voted at our house, but we do have a firm plan and a backup in case we miss our first early voting date.

Let’s start with election business. The Star-Telegram, D Magazine, and the Dallas Observer have voting guides. KERA has you covered for Collin County and the Dallas Morning News has the Frisco ISD bond/tax election for folks in those areas. I also read up on unopposed races in Dallas County where it’s Republicans who don’t bother to put up candidates in countywide races. The DMN also has an editorial on the big issues they’re seeing after interviewing a lot of candidates. They also talked about why they didn’t issue recommendations in any of the Texas Senate races: a combination of lack of time and resources, gerrymandering, and the feeling that anybody who voted against convicting Ken Paxton had already said what they needed to say about party over state.

In Tarrant County, the Fort Worth Report has the lowdown on the open seats on Tarrant County Commissioner’s Court. And the Texas Tribune covers ballot harvesting in the 2022 election in Tarrant County, which the Republicans involved claim shows ballot harvesting and the Democrats involved claim is staged.

I also commend this AP article about Lewisville and Flower Mound flipping the usual script on how Democrats and Republicans vote to your attention. The two north Texas suburbs paint a picture of how the old voting coalitions have fallen apart and are reforming with different SES and ethnic groups.

We also have some news about actual voting here in Dallas and in Fort Worth. Our AG, for once doing something not terrible, has investigated the voting machines here in Dallas County and says they’re OK. Who’s against them? Local GOP Chair and job-hopper Allen West, who thinks 60-70% of votes could be manipulated. There’s a lot of effort going into putting out FUD into voting here in Dallas; there was a FB post about precinct errors at my local library, where I usually vote, on Monday in a local Democratic group. It was swiftly deleted, and a separate and very reassuring post from an election judge telling us what to do if we thought our ballot was wrong showed up not long afterward. Hard to tell if that was a real issue or a psyop! Per the DMN, some precinct errors did happen on Monday because of problems with the check-in devices. I’m planning to keep an eye out for that when I vote. We also saw one incorrect vote in Tarrant County, but it was fixed on the spot and may have been voter error. The Star-Telegram also posted a fact-check about the operation of voting machines to convince readers to get out and vote.

I’ve already pointed at the voting guides, and in previous weeks at the endorsements from the DMN and the Star-Telegram, but I’d like to note that I was pleasantly surprised that the Star-Telegram endorsed Colin Allred for Senate alongside the DMN endorsement. This is the sort of thing that gets the Republican-oriented Star-Telegram dismissed as a pinko commie outlet even if it only seems like common sense to the rest of us.

I’ve left the Dallas HERO amendments for last. There’s a lot to report: the press against the amendments by the Dallas establishment is on. D Magazine has a piece on Proposition U, the one increasing the number of cops and diverting half of future increases in revenue to Dallas PD, which finally points out the elephant in the room: Dallas would never be able to take any of that money out of the police budget without triggering those state laws to punish cities that defund the police. (Thanks Greg Abbott!) D Magazine also has a podcast with former mayor Mike Rawlings to discuss the propositions. Opponents have also talked to KERA and Axios. The DMN has covered local officials doorknocking against the HERO amendments; I haven’t had any of them at my door although my email box has been full of my state senator, Nathan Johnson, telling me to vote against them. But the biggest gun that opponents have pulled against the “STUpid” amendments is the police union. When you’ve lost the cops, you’ve really gone over the edge.

Let’s look at some minor election news and other recent stories in the Metroplex:

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November 2024 early voting Day Two: On average

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Reading this story gave me an idea for how to talk about early voting so far compared to 2020.

The first day of early voting for El Paso County’s general election drew 31% fewer voters than the record-setting 2020 race.

El Paso County had 23,678 mail and in-person voters on Monday, down from 34,118 in 2020. Most of the decline was in mail ballots, which spiked to a record high during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Even with decreased voting, county election officials reported occasional lines of 45 minutes or more as people waited to vote.

[…]

Women made up just over 51% of first-day early voters this year, down from 55% at the same time in 2020, according to an El Paso Matters analysis of county voting data. That decline was driven by the sharp drop-off of mail-in voters. Such voters are mostly over 65 years old, and El Paso has far more women voters in that age group because women live longer than men, on average.

Just under half of first-day early voters this year were age 65 or older. That’s down from 53% at the same point in 2020, largely because of fewer mail ballots that are mostly restricted to older voters by Texas law.

First, the drop in mail ballots that I noted yesterday appears to be a broader phenomenon than just Harris County. I think we can reasonably conclude that 2020 was the anomaly, driven by the pandemic, and that what we are seeing this year is mostly a return to normal, with a further drop in Republicans voting by mail thanks to their cult leader candidate. (Again, certain constituencies in Western North Carolina excepted.)

It’s easy to look at the Day One reports from this year and 2020 and ask why is it that even the in-person tally is down a bit, especially in the context of there being more registered voters. I think this too may be a COVID artifact. Let me start with my insight, which is to consider the overall daily average of in person voters for the years of interest. Here again are the EV reports, Day Two for 2024 and final reports otherwise:

2024

2020

2016

2008 and 2012

I’m going all the way back this time. Here now is the average number of in person voters for each of the past years, with the number of early voting days included:


Year  #Days   Total EV   Avg EV
===============================
2008     12    678,312   56,526
2012     12    700,216   58,351
2016     12    882,580   73,548
2020     18  1,264,811  105,401

For each of the first four days in 2020, that first rambunctious week of early voting, there were over 100K in person voters each day. From that point forward, the maximum number was 86,734, achieved on the last day. If you subtract out the first week, the total number of in person voters for the remaining 14 days was 811,174, or an average of 57,941 per day, basically 2008-12 numbers. To say the least, that is very different.

Now of course, the 553,637 people who showed up in the first four days count as well. The point I’m making is that this pace wasn’t maintained – hell, it couldn’t have been, we’d have run out of registered voters before the EV period ended. So since we can’t do a day by day comparison, let’s compare the averages, to see if 2024 if ahead of the 2020 pace or not. The drop in mail voters, while notable, is small enough in context to not be that important, and besides I’d expect many of those folks to vote in person anyway.

As for Day Two 2024, we had 3,470 mail ballots and 115,878 in person voters. That’s a total of 119,318 for the day and 272,808 overall. The in person total for Tuesday slightly edges out Day Two 2020, which had 115,604 in person voters. It’s too soon to calculate an average for 2024, but keeping pace like this with 2020 is cool. Have you voted yet?

UPDATE: On the other hand…

After one day of early voting in Bexar County, turnout has “shattered previous records,” according to the Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Callanen — roughly 41% more in-person votes were cast Monday than on the first day of the 2020 presidential election.

Voters cast a total of 46,820 in-person ballots during an 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. window on the first day of early voting in a county of roughly 1.3 million registered voters.

Day two is also already off to busy start.

“We continue to break previous records regarding voter turnout at Bexar County Elections polls,” Callanen said in a statement Tuesday morning. “This morning, we had 6,000-plus [voters] in the first hour open.”

The elections department already had reason to suspect local voters were fired up about the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, as voter registration numbers soared close to deadline earlier this month.

Bexar had higher Day One turnout in 2016 than it did in 2020. That’s a little weird, but that’s how it goes sometimes. I’ll be sticking with the averages versus the daily numbers for Harris County.

UPDATE: And Tarrant County checks in.

Tarrant County voters were not deterred by long lines at local polling sites throughout the first day of early voting. This election, they said, is too important to ignore.

More than 58,400 residents cast their ballots for national, state and local races on Oct. 21 as the two-week early voting period started prior to the Nov. 5 election, according to counts released by the county’s elections office. That number represents a 38% increase over the first day of early voting in 2020 when 42,343 voters participated in-person.

So two up, two not up. Maybe some places started stronger in 2020, who knows. I’ll be watching.

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Hollins requests expansion of Whitmire’s investigation

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, it sure sounds reasonable.

Chris Hollins

Controller Chris Hollins penned a letter Tuesday to the Office of the Inspector General and City Council Ethics Committee calling on Mayor John Whitmire’s State of the City address to be included in “pay to play” ethics probe requested against him.

Whitmire asked for the investigation into Hollins after he solicited sponsorships for Tuesday’s City of Houston Investor Conference — Hollins’ first as controller.

In a Thursday news conference, Whitmire said banks called and told him the sponsorships gave the appearance of a “pay to play” system. Hollins fired back later in the day and called Whitmire a “walking conflict of interest,” saying the State of the City address featured plenty of sponsors with city contracts.

Whitmire wrote in a statement Tuesday that the investigation requested is “in response to (Hollins) soliciting $100,000 from vendors for a private meeting with him.” The mayor added that he did not solicit sponsorships for State of the City and that the “controller’s attempt to divert attention from the appearance of the pay to play is under investigation.”

“It is the practice of the mayor’s office not to comment on active investigations,” Whitmire wrote. “I did my job by bringing this to light.”

The letter obtained by the Chronicle states that the controller’s office used the same fundraising model the mayor used for the State of the City event. According to the letter, those similarities included:

  • Both events being marketed to city vendors
  • Both events selling sponsorships
  • Both featuring VIP receptions for those who gave large monetary contributions
  • Both using their respective official’s names and likenesses in marketing the events
  • Both providing respective visibility of both offices

The only difference in the events, Hollins wrote in his letter, was who controlled the proceeds. The mayor controls the money for the State of the City, he said, while funds from the Investor Conference went to BankOn Houston and an independent body.

“Bias has no place in public service,” Hollins wrote in a Tuesday statement. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Let me be clear: I do not consider the marketing practices of either event to be unlawful. But I do believe the same set of rules should apply equally to both the mayor’s and controller’s fundraising activities.”

[…]

In addition to calling for an ethics probe, the mayor also called for all city employees to stay away from the conference, and even suggested it should be canceled.

The conference ultimately went on as planned, but did not include speakers from the city beyond those with the controller’s office.

See here for the background. This is good politics, though not without risk, as the OIG may conclude Hollins’ event was problematic while the State of the City as constituted is fine. It sure looks like a lot of similarity to me, at least on the surface, but we’ll see what the OIG says. I assume Mayor Whitmire either expected this or correctly concluded there was no non-whiny way to gripe about it when it happened. I will note again it is well within his power to put forth an ordinance that addresses this issue in whatever way he sees fit. The Houston Landing has more.

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Not so fast on Whitmire’s Montrose Boulevard revisions

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. Probably fleeting, but still nice.

After months of delays, the controversial redesign of Montrose Boulevard was still in limbo Monday night when a split vote at a contentious public meeting stalled the project yet again.

The Whitmire administration favors a design that would preserve more of the existing trees on the major thoroughfare, but reduce space for pedestrians and bicyclists. The engineering firm handling the proposal for the mayor’s vision pitched a 60-day work plan to revise the project’s first phase — stretching from Buffalo Bayou to West Clay Street — at a public meeting Monday held by the Montrose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, which spearheaded the project.

“We’re going to be hitting this very hard,” Muhammad Ali of Gauge Engineering said at the meeting, where Montrose TIRZ board members and residents first learned about the changes.

Following a heated public comment period, the Montrose TIRZ board members surprised attendees with a split vote on whether to pay Gauge to develop the plan aligned with new city priorities, stalling the project.

One member who voted against the funding was among several recent appointments to the board by Mayor John Whitmire’s team.

Ali said his firm had begun the revised project pitch after it “received direction from the city on the path forward.”

The Whitmire administration’s three priorities were to improve drainage in the area, to preserve as many trees as possible, and to resurface the roadway, he said. Block by block, Ali showed how the new priorities would largely preserve the current street and sidewalk configuration.

Drainage improvements were already featured in previous plans for the boulevard overhaul, first drafted by the Montrose TIRZ in 2022. But under the new plan, tree and roadway preservation priorities replaced the previous goals: Adding more space for pedestrians and bicyclists while reducing the size of the road’s lanes and removing more of the existing trees on either side of the roadway.

Local city council member Abbie Kamin had been disappointed at city pushback over the TIRZ-led plan since Whitmire took office Jan. 1, but said at this point “the neighborhood needs a resolution,” and that improved drainage and safety were key.

[…]

Many spoke with disappointment at Monday’s meeting, failing to see much compromise in the city’s new ultimatum.

“I’m seeing safe crossings eliminated. I’m seeing designs that encourage speeding. I’m seeing pedestrian and bicycle facilities scaled back to appease folks who have deep anxiety about change in their neighborhood, and I think it’s just heartbreaking. It’s overriding the public input process,” said Alex Spike, a Montrose resident who moved to the neighborhood in 2008 when he was in the fifth grade.

Before voting, the board members who rejected funding a new plan to meet city specifications echoed similar concerns.

Abby Noebels, a member of the TIRZ since 2021, said she was worried about the rushed changes and the scaled-back focus on safety. Robert Guthart, the new TIRZ vice-chair appointed under Whitmire, said he found “the design changes that are coming from city hall disappointing and not forward-thinking.”

See here, here, and here for the background. You don’t have to convince me that this administration and its minions lack vision, but I’m still happy to hear it being said. All that said, I have the feeling that this was a bump in the road, and that after “further consideration” some new “compromise” plan that is 95% or more of the Mayor’s plan will be approved. I could be wrong, and if nothing else the folks who got this delayed have a victory they can build on. I wish them well. There’s some good commentary on Twitter if you want more, from Mighty Lizard King, HTX Valeria, Bike Houston, Robin Holzer, and more.

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Texas blog roundup for the week of October 21

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is going to be bugging you about whether you’ve voted yet for the next two weeks as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Continue reading →

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November 2024 early voting Day One: Where are the mail ballots?

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

As I said yesterday, the Day One early voting report came in a little too late on Monday night for me to queue this up for Tuesday. It’s also the case that comparing this year to 2020 is not going to work, as there was an extra week of early voting in 2020 due to COVID, but it started on Tuesday because of the Indigenous Peoples Day holiday. As such, while we can define “Day One” easily enough for comparison purposes, it gets out of whack after that. I suppose that’s tomorrow’s problem for me now. So let’s take a look at what we have right now and figure it out from there. Here are the EV reports, Day One for 2024 and final reports otherwise:

2024

2020

2016


Year     Mail    Early    Total
===============================
2024   27,027  125,472  152,499
2020   41,337  128,082  169,419
2016   61,543   67,471  129,014

2016 was a fairly normal year as far as early voting went, though Day One was the slowest non-Sunday day for in person voting of the entire period. The daily in person totals were pretty steady with a modest uptick on the last day. 2020 was huge for the first (four-day) week, then settled in at a lower level the rest of the way, with no real “last day” surge. It’s too soon to say what 2024 will be like, but I expect the shape to be more like 2016.

What really stands out to me is the mail ballots. Not just the total number returned – again, 2020 was weird – but in terms of their potential. The daily reports also say how many total mail ballots have been sent out, so you can see what the potential total for them could be. Here are the “ballots mailed out” totals for these elections:

2024 – 71,242
2020 – 238,062
2016 – 129,014

Throw out the 2020 number for a minute, we know that was inflated by then-County Clerk Chris Hollins sending mail ballots to everyone who was eligible to receive one. The total number of mail ballots sent out this year is barely more than the number returned on Day One of 2016. It’s not much more than half of the total sent out in 2016. That’s a huge dropoff, and not what I was expecting. We know how much Donald Trump has poisoned the well of mail ballots for Republicans (certain parts of North Carolina excepted), but this seems like a low-ish number even for just Democrats. It may well be that more people are planning to vote in person this year. I don’t have a good explanation beyond that. I’ll keep an eye on it – there may yet be a lot more ballots to be mailed out.

Anyway, that’s what stands out to me at this time. Just to add a bit of reading to this post, I liked the Houston Landing’s Day One coverage of early voting. And this Trib story about an incumbent Republican State Rep. who basically hired four children to be in a campaign ad for her as her “family” is one of those where all you can do is chuckle and shake your head.

Let me know what you think. Have you voted yet?

UPDATE: Don’t fall for disinformation.

With the early voting period underway in Texas, election disinformation is making the rounds, including a misleading message that has resurfaced from previous years.

Houstonians have reported receiving a text message that cautions voters to check for markings on their ballots to prevent their votes from being invalidated, the Harris County Democratic Party said. The same text went out during the 2020 presidential election, according to PolitiFact.

The message appears to come from someone qualified to give election advice: “Just finished Poll Manager training! I passed all the classes.” It goes on to warn voters to check their ballots for “a letter, a checkmark, a star, an R or a D any writing of any kind” because the “ballot could be disqualified if it is written on.”

The text message should be disregarded, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth’s office said.

The Texas election code requires ballots to be marked with Hudspeth’s initials during the early voting period or the polling location presiding judge’s initials on Election Day, Hudspeth said in a statement on Monday.

“I assure voters that either my initials or the presiding judge’s signature is required by the Texas Election Code. Any claims to the contrary are misleading, false and reckless,” Hudspeth said.

I can’t stop anyone from believing whatever they want, but if I were you I’d listen to Teneshia Hudspeth and not this random text from an unknown number and a total stranger. Other states have their own problems to deal with.

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Where is Ann Harris Bennett?

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not at the office.

Ann Harris Bennett

The elected official in charge of Harris County’s voter registration and tax collection appears to have been absent from her office for years, last swiping her ID to enter the county building in late 2020, county records show.

First sworn into office in 2017, Tax Assessor-Collector Ann Harris Bennett is tasked with a wide array of duties that affect nearly every Harris County resident, from collecting billions of dollars in property taxes to processing millions of vehicle registrations and title transfers every year. As the county’s voter registrar, she also oversees voter registration and maintains records for over 2.5 million voters.

In October 2023, Bennett announced that she would not seek a third term, citing a desire to focus on her family and health. The retiring official, however, still needs to lead her office in fulfilling its election duties through this year’s high-stakes presidential election cycle, including assisting voters with any registration issues that may arise.

Her prolonged absence from public view raises questions about what she has done since she was reelected in 2020, when she appears to have stopped showing up at the office. She has also hardly corresponded via email and missed a string of key public appearances last year while state Republican leaders targeted Harris County’s election process.

[…]

Last year, the state Legislature took unprecedented steps to change Harris County’s election procedures, abolishing the elections administrator’s post and returning voter registration tasks to the tax assessor-collector’s office. Bennett was not seen during that time, while the other affected elected official, County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, offered guidance to county leaders and the public.

Annette Ramirez, the Democratic candidate vying to become the next tax assessor-collector, said Bennett should have done more to improve internal processes and interact with the public to ensure “we don’t give Austin an opportunity to say that we haven’t done a good job.”

“You, as a public elected official, are the face (of the office), and so you’ve got to show up. You’ve got to make sure that we are being transparent, communicating with the public…That’s the job,” Ramirez said, adding she would go to work every day if elected.

Steve Radack, the Republican candidate in this year’s tax assessor-collector’s race, spoke in Bennett’s defense. He said every manager has a different style, and over the years, he has also seen other government officials who do not always show up to work.

At the same time, Radack vowed to be responsive to constituents and to actively champion the policies he believes in if elected.

“My presence will be known,” he said.

For what it’s worth, I interviewed her in January 2020, as she was in a contested primary. She was still making occasional trips into the office at that time. My best guess here, and this is just my own guess, is that there’s a health issue at the root of this. Among other things that might explain why there’s no explanation being proffered, as people don’t want to speak out of turn if Bennett herself hasn’t said anything publicly. Again, that is all 100% my speculation. Maybe we’ll know more some day, maybe we won’t.

The good news is that the staff at her office are doing a good job – no one raised any complaints in this article, and I’m not aware of any recent news about issues there, though as noted there were some before 2020, in her first term. I’ve heard some grumbles about her office not doing more about voter registration – that was a subject I explored in this year’s interviews with the primary candidates – but that was about how extensive and energetic the outreach was, not about how the nuts and bolts were being done. It’s a little weird that this question is coming up now, as her term nears its end, but one way or another we’ll have a clear point of comparison soon enough.

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Sugar Land partners with Swyft Cities

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We may get some local gondola action in the near future.

Look up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s a gondola? Or it will be if the city of Sugar Land can get a federal grant to study bringing in an elevated rail and cable system and then the additional funds to actually build it.

City planners and leaders hope to install a system that would enable residents and visitors to leap over the city’s most congested areas, for example where highways 6 and 59 meet, which happens to hold the record for the most crashes. The system would connect prime locations such as Sugar Land Town Square and Smart Financial Centre. Planners are looking ahead to connecting up with say the Methodist Hospital System and the expansion of the University of Houston Sugar Land campus.

This would be the first such system in the country, according to Sugar Land leaders, and would accompany what they say is a determination to develop innovative approaches to transportation and other services for residents. “We like to be pioneering,” says Melanie Beaman, the city’s transportation and mobility manager.

Over the past three years, the city of Sugar Land has been busy surveying residents and what it discovered is that the No. 1 priority for many of them was an alternative way of getting around town. Besides more walking and biking connections, Beaman says what residents said they wanted were more transit options. What they want is public transit that works.

“Fifty nine percent of residents say it’s difficult to get around with existing public transit. So they basically give what we have now an F.” she says. And while many Texans have a well-known love for automobiles, that doesn’t extend to everyone, she says.

“Just because you drive a vehicle doesn’t mean that everyone else does, Not everyone can afford it. Not everybody can physically do it. Thirty percent of the population doesn’t even have a driver’s license,” Beaman points out.

The city has partnered with a firm called Swyft Cities which initially began planning for elevated transport for Google and its employees. When Google decided not to go forward with the project, the group that had been working on the plan split off and formed its own company: Swyft Cities.

Sugar Land has applied to the Houston Galveston Area Council for federal funding, Beamon estimates the cost of the engineering study at $12 million, pointing out quickly that the cost of adding a freeway lane can run to $300 million “and nobody blinks an eye.”

According to an FAQ on the city’s website, the elevated rail and cable system would not be taxpayer supported, but would depend on partnerships with the private sector as well as, they hope, state and federal funding. The gondolas would be autonomous; no one would be driving them. The idea would be people could go to one of the gondola launch locations and using an app on their phone, pay their fare, jump aboard and go directly to their desired destination with no stops along the way. Most of these gondola stations would be on city-owned property.

[…]

Besides the environmentally friendly aspects of the system which Beaman says tie into the city’s master plan to be “more sustainable, more environmentally friendly,” it would cost considerably less than adding another lane to the highways.

Also, the use of a fixed route bus system doesn’t work well in a suburban city like Sugar Land she says. “They’re big buses. They take up lanes. They move slow. You have to have enough population to sustain a service like that.”

But what the suburbs do have that many more urban centers do not, she says, is plenty of free parking, some of which could be used for the space needed to set up a gondola station. Beaman estimated each station would need the equivalent of about 18 adjacent parking spaces. “They have smaller ones that could fit into tighter areas like for example Sugar Land Town Square where we don’t have a lot of space, but we have plenty of parking spaces. Most of the traveling infrastructure where the cables and rails are is city-owned property.”

“We have plenty of parking that is totally underutilized. So our city is looking at how to redevelop these areas, whether you add some restaurants out there, more shopping, aero-gondola stations. There’s all kinds of things you can do with the space that’s more beneficial economically to the city.

“We want to redevelop some of these area like Lake Pointe. Well then, who wants to build a huge $80,000 parking garage when you can have a station there instead and utilize the parking that we already have? Why do we keep building these parking lots and wasting space and making no income for the city. And if people could move around more easily, park once and do all your traveling, eat lunch, meeting your friends, doing whatever, then you go back to your car and you go home.”

See here and here for more on Swyft Cities and their potential projects in North Texas. There’s an info page about this on the City of Sugar Land website. More details from Community Impact.

The engineering study, which began in 2023, is anticipated to finish this year, Sugar Land Communications Director Doug Adolph said in an email. It will assess the feasibility of crossing Hwy. 6 and Hwy. 59—both owned by the Texas Department of Transportation—and moving toward the Smart Financial Centre and Crown Festival Park.

“Most of the system has been planned on city-owned property and TxDOT has been shown the preliminary concept layout. They were very supportive and excited about the project,” Adolph said. “Stakeholders would be involved in the process as would the public who would have the opportunity to provide their input.”

[…]

This is the second autonomous project Sugar Land has considered this year, as city officials are also working with aircraft company Wisk Aero to bring an electric “air taxi service” to the city by 2030, city officials said.

“We will be relentless in looking for opportunities like this one to partner with state and federal funding sources to reduce the financial impact to our residents while also delivering mobility projects that support quality of life, economic development and tourism,” Goodrum said in the release about Swyft Cities.

See here for more on the Wisk Aero project. Gotta say, I’m just a wee bit jealous about how willing Sugar Land is to innovate while we’re over here killing or at least arbitrarily delaying much-needed transit projects. I’m going to mutter under my breath while shaking my fist in the general direction of City Hall and the Lee P. Brown building. If Sugar Land gets this thing built, I will absolutely make a trip out there to take a ride on their automated gondola. I promise I’ll post some photos when and if that happens.

UPDATE: Here’s the Chron story, from October 30. I’m adding this as an update and not a new post because there’s not much that’s different. This is the main bit of interest:

City officials will continue working with Swyft City to plan the potential route configurations, technical details, costs and other aspects of the project. The city met with Texas Department of Transportation officials about the project. Parts of the design that cross State Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 59/Interstate-69 must be reviewed and approved.

The study may be completed later this year, according to the release. The city estimates the project will include about 3-6 months of planning and design, 6-8 months of permitting and procurement and 6-12 months of construction and testing.

So they need some TxDOT approval, and the timeline is one to two years. We’ll keep an eye on that.

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Make that 18.6 million registered voters

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a lot.

Still the only voter ID anyone should need

Texas added nearly 200,000 voters to its rolls in the two weeks before the deadline to register, according to state data, giving the state a record-breaking 18.6 million voters going into this year’s election.

Since 2016, when Donald Trump first won Texas, the state has added 3.5 million voters — equal to the entire voting population of Wisconsin.

[…]

Even with more strictly policed voter registration rolls, Texas is still adding voters faster than its booming population growth. Since 2020, the state’s population has grown by about 1.6%, according to the U.S. Census. But the state’s voter rolls have grown almost 10% since that, according to the newest voter registration totals released by the Texas secretary of state’s office.

That growth is coming from a surge of younger voters turning 18, transplants from other states and more aggressive voter registration efforts by both partisan and non-partisan groups.

It’s all happened as Texas’ elections have become more competitive. In 2020, Trump carried Texas, but by just 5.6 percentage points — the closest race in Texas in almost 30 years and the ninth closest state presidential race in the country.

No county has seen a bigger jump in voter registrations since the last presidential election in 2020 than Harris County. More than 200,000 voters have been added to the roles since then. Bexar County was the second fastest growing with 106,000 added voters.

The previous report had us at 18.4 million, so this isn’t very different but it does include a Harris County number, which interests me. There were 2,431,457 RVs in Harris County in 2020, so we’re above 2.6 million now, possibly around 2.65 million. Just to throw a few more numbers at you, if we turn out at the same rate (68.14%) in Harris County as we did in 2020, that gets us to 1.8 million total votes. The HCDP’s stated goal of getting to 1.1 million votes for Kamala Harris looks pretty doable in that context – a reach, to be sure, but doable. We would probably need to have had at least 1.3 million votes cast at the end of early voting for that to be in range. When will you be casting your vote, if you haven’t already?

As a late note, as of 8:30 PM when I scheduled this for publication, we hadn’t gotten the daily EV record for Monday. We did get a tweet from the Harris County Clerk Elections Department that over 124.7K people had cast an in person ballot; that number may creep up a bit as the tweet came in at 7:05 and it’s possible there were still more votes being cast. Be that as it may and as impressive as it is, it’s not the record. On Day One in 2020, there were 128,082 in person votes cast. That was on October 13 of that year, a week early because of COVID and the extra week of early voting that we got. It was also a Tuesday, as the Monday had been Indigenous Peoples Day, so that adds to the difficulty in making a direct comparison. We also don’t have the mail ballot total yet – it was 41,337 on Day One in 2020. I’ll have a report tomorrow, and will likely be a day behind more often than not.

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Greg Abbott cares more about his own power than about human life

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

What else can one say about this?

Gov. Greg Abbott’s office condemned the actions of a bipartisan group of Texas legislators Monday, effectively breaking his silence in the pending execution of Robert Roberson.

In an amicus brief filed by James P. Sullivan, the governor’s general counsel, the governor’s office said lawmakers “stepped out of line” when they intervened to save Roberson’s life.

The brief argued the power to grant clemency in a capital case, including a 30-day reprieve, lies with the governor alone.

“Unless the Court rejects that tactic, it can be repeated in every capital case, effectively rewriting the Constitution to reassign a power given only to the Governor,” Sullivan argued.

The brief accounts for Abbott’s first public comments on the matter. The governor, who had the ability to grant Roberson a 30-day reprieve was silent last week as the unprecedented legal battle unfolded.

The Texas Supreme Court halted the execution of Roberson last week after members of the Texas House committee subpoenaed Roberson to testify in an attempt to save his life.

Roberson was convicted in 2003 in the death of his chronically ill 2-year-old daughter Nikki. Had he been executed last week, he would have been the first person to be executed based in a case related to shaken baby syndrome, a diagnosis that many experts and lawmakers say is no longer supported by scientific evidence.

Roberson has maintained his innocence for more than 20 years on death row.

I haven’t followed the Roberson case closely – you can follow the links above to learn more – but the bottom line is that he was convicted and condemned based on evidence that would not be accepted today. We can choose to value the process (“he got a fair trial and went through the appeals process, that’s how it goes”), or we can choose to value the outcome (“executing an innocent man is barbaric and a travesty”). Greg Abbott has made his choice. Let’s never forget that.

I will give Scott Braddock the last word:

I hope someday we get tired of being ruled by kings again. I hear that used to be something we all didn’t like. The Chron has more.

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fundraising for the HISD bond

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been waiting for a story about the pro-bond campaign, and here one is.

For Roland Garcia, voting in favor of Houston ISD’s proposed $4.4 billion bond is a no-brainer.

Garcia, a grandparent of two students at Houston ISD’s Harvard Elementary, said he is “appalled” at the state of the infrastructure at their school. With nearly 12 years since HISD’s past bond, he said he’ll be voting “Yes” for Propositions A and B because the investment is long overdue and would create a healthier learning environment for children.

“This is personal to me,” Garcia said. “It’s important to me, and so I’m doing everything I can to promote the bonds because I think it’s undisputed that the schools need repairs. It’s now at a critical level, and so I’m happy to support the bond referendum.”

However, as public opposition to the bond grows, Garcia said he is concerned the measure may fail and is doing everything he can to convince his friends to donate to Houstonians for Safe and Healthy Schools, a political action committee aiming to convince voters to pass the bond during the upcoming November election.

As of Sept 26, the committee has raised more than $755,000 to advocate for the bond. The group has paid at least $39,300 of those funds to Putnam Partners, a D.C.-based communications firm, on advertising as of late September, according to its campaign finance report.

Veronica Garcia, the executive director of Houstonians for Great Public Schools, said she, along with Doug Foshee and Ramon Manning, founded the committee in early August — the same month that the appointed Houston ISD Board of Managers voted unanimously to place the measure on voter’s ballots.

“When school districts place a bond on the ballot, the district itself cannot campaign for the bond, and so it’s pretty standard that an organization is created to support the passage of the bond,” she said. “That’s why we started Houstonians for Safe and Healthy Schools: for the sole purpose of working to ensure that kids get their needs met through the bonds.”

The committee has shared campaign mailers, TV advertisements and other digital promotion efforts with the phrases like “Vote for Props A and B,” “Healthy Schools Now,” and “Our Kids Can’t Wait” with Houston residents. It also has volunteers, including HISD parents, block walking and texting potential Houston voters to encourage them to vote “Yes” on the bond, she said.

[…]

Despite the opposition, leaders of several prominent Houston organizations, including Children at Risk, the Houston Food Bank, Good Reason Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, have come out in support of the measure, stating that they believe it would improve student well-being and success if passed.

“I was not in favor of a takeover, but if I really care about these kids and the future of HISD, do I just shut everything down?” said Manning, an HISD parent and committee secretary. “I’ve just been amazed at the level of vitriol towards Mike Miles on this particular issue, because for me, this ain’t about Mike Miles. … This is really about kids and trying to move this district forward.”

The committee has seen increased scrutiny after a flier promoting a private fundraiser Wednesday — with contribution levels ranging from $250 to $100,000 — circulated publicly. The host committee for the fundraiser included about 40 individuals and groups, including architecture firm HKS, engineering firm Stantec, Collaborate Architects and Satterfield & Pontikes Construction.

Melissa Yarborough, an HISD parent and former teacher, said she was enraged to see that construction and architecture firms were part of the group hosting a fundraiser for a committee supporting the bond. She organized a small group of community members to protest across from the fundraiser, where they held yard signs and a large knitted banner advocating against the bond.

“I have to imagine that these people are either naive and thinking that they’re really supporting schools … or they’re acting against the majority’s will and using their financial power to push what they want, and I think that that is sad either way,” Yarborough said. “Whichever one is true, they are raising money to go against the community’s wishes.”

Roland Garcia, who co-hosted the fundraiser, said he’s held several similar fundraising campaigns for other institutions that help maintain a high quality of life in Houston, like Houston Community College. He said he believes people attended Wednesday’s event not necessarily because of their jobs, but because they believe in funding a better education for Houston residents.

Just to note up front, I’ve known Roland Garcia for a long time – he was a big supporter of Annise Parker’s Mayoral campaign – and I’m acquainted with Houstonians for Great Public Schools, which has been around since at least 2017. Every HISD bond referendum has come with a well-financed campaign to help pass it. The main difference this year is that a lot of normal supporters of these bond issuances are opponents this time, because of Mike Miles. That’s one reason why the support from the construction industry stands out, because the usual stalwarts like Democratic politicians and associated groups, and organized labor, are not there. I don’t think it’s more complicated than that.

For what it’s worth, other than a few yard signs, which in my neighborhood are greatly outnumbered by anti-bond and anti-Mike Miles signs, I’ve not seen any evidence yet of the pro-bond campaign. I’ve not received any mail, I’ve not seen any ads on TV or the Internet, I’ve not seen any canvassers. I’m sure that’s all out there, but you know, tick tock tick tock. To Melissa Yarborough’s point, it’s too soon to say that what the bond campaign’s fundraisers are doing is against the community’s wishes. Let’s see how the vote goes first.

UPDATE: I wrote this on Saturday before the mail was delivered. When it arrived, it contained a pro-bond mailer, so now I can say that this campaign is visible to me. How about you?

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Interview with Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez

We wrap up Fall 2024 Interview Season with the best known person of the series, two-term Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. You know his story – 18-year HPD veteran who eventually served as a homicide investigator, three-term Houston City Council member in District H who served as the chair of the Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee and also as Mayor Pro Tem, elected to Sheriff in 2016. He was nominated by President Biden to be the head of ICE, but the Senate being the Senate he was not able to get a vote. He was the second leading vote-getter in Harris County in 2020, receiving 903K votes; Joe Biden got 918K, no one else got over 900K. He’s been an advocate for bail reform and mental health services, he’s pioneered a successful program that sends social workers instead of sheriff’s deputies to some non-violent 911 calls, and he’s still quite passionate about the job he’s doing. Here’s the interview:

And barring anything very unexpected, that’s a wrap on interviews. Now it’s time to go vote. You can still catch up on any conversation you may have missed below. Thanks for listening.

PREVIOUSLY:

Erica Lee Carter, CD18 special election
Sylvester Turner, CD18 general election
Lindsay London, Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance
Plácido Gómez and Dani Hernandez, for the HISD bond
Ruth Kravetz of CVPE, against the HISD bond.
Katie Shumway, League of Women Voters Houston
Teneshia Hudspeth, Harris County Clerk
Katherine Culbert, Texas Railroad Commission
Rhonda Hart, CD14
Laurel Swift, HD121
Kristin Hook, CD21

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Judicial Q&A: Judge Elaine Palmer

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am continuing the series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested November elections. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. Much more information about Democratic candidates who are on the ballot in Harris County, including links to the interviews and judicial Q&As done for March and for November, can be found on Erik Manning’s spreadsheet.

Judge Elaine Palmer

1. Who are you and in which court do you preside?

My name is Elaine Palmer and I am the current presiding Judge, 215th Civil District Court, Harris County, Texas. I am a native Houstonian. I am a member of Trinity United Methodist Church. I am a Life long voting Democrat. I am a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated. I am also the Democratic Nominee for Judge, 215th Civil District Court of Harris County, Texas.

2. What kind of cases does this court hear?

The 215th District Court handles Civil cases…Personal Injury, Contract Disputes, Employment Disputes, Construction Disputes, Business Disputes, Debtor Creditor Disputes, and Real Estate matters.

3. What have been your main accomplishments during your time on this bench?

One on my main accomplishments since taking the bench has been getting cases move to resolution either by bench or jury trials, the parties resolving the case by agreement after minimal court intervention thus allowing the parties to handle their case.

4. What do you hope to accomplish in your courtroom going forward?

I hope to continue allowing the parties to have a level playing field in the 215th District Court and to be treated with dignity and respect no matter how simple or complex their case may be. Also I hope to continue offering law students internships so as to continue to cultivate interest in civil litigation in the younger generation.

5. Why is this race important?

This race is so important because it touches everyone regardless of race, color, creed, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. I want to insure that ALL litigants, parties and attorneys are treated equally, with dignity and respect without regard to economic status.

6. Why should people vote for you in November?

I am asking your readers and supporters to support my re-election to the position of Judge, 215th District Court so that as I have stated before I want to insure that ALL litigants, parties and attorneys are treated equally, fairly, with dignity and respect without regard to their economic status, race, color, creed, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. The citizens of Harris County have supported me in the past and I am humbly asking for their vote and support again. Thank you!

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Paxton sues doctor for providing gender affirming care to teens

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing good will come of this.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against a Dallas pediatrician, accusing her of violating state law by providing gender-transitioning treatments to at least 21 teenage patients.

Thursday’s filing is Paxton’s first attempt at suing a doctor by leveraging Senate Bill 14, a 2023 legislation that prohibits physicians and health care providers from prescribing hormones to minors to transition their biological sex.

The lawsuit accuses May Lau, an adolescent medicine physician and associate professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, of violating Senate Bill 14 by prescribing testosterone to at least 21 patients between the ages of 14 and 17 to transition their biological gender or affirm their gender identity.

“Texas passed a law to protect children from these dangerous unscientific medical interventions that have irreversible and damaging effects,” Paxton said in a news release. “Doctors who continue to provide these harmful ‘gender transition’ drugs and treatments will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Calling her a “scofflaw” and a “radical gender activist,” Paxton also accused Lau of “falsifying medical records, prescriptions, and billing records” by inserting a puberty blocker device into a 15-year-old and billing the patient’s insurance for an endocrine disorder instead of the patient’s gender dysphoria. Paxton claims that Lau used a diagnostic billing code from false billing code fact sheets provided by Campaign for Southern Equality, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, saying Lau was trying to conceal that she was providing care in violation of state law.

Lau specializes in adolescent female and male sexual and reproductive health including gender dysphoria and has worked at UT Southwestern since 2008, according to the medical center’s website. Lau and UT Southwestern did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

SB 14, which the Texas Supreme Court upheld in June, commands the Texas Medical Board to revoke the license or other authorization to practice medicine from a physician who violates the law. In addition, Paxton is asking for $1 million, which includes civil penalties and to pay for other costs.

[…]

Andrea Segovia, policy director of Transgender Education Network of Texas, said Thursday’s lawsuit signals to providers that they might be sued for supplying treatment to transgender youth. She said some doctors have already stopped providing gender-affirming care because of the chilling effect of SB 14.

“This is another straw in the haystack,” said Segovia. “Adding to that ultimate goal of not providing the care people want in their state.”

I hate everything about this. Ken Paxton is a lying piece of shit, but at this moment he has the law on his side. Until SB14 is repealed by the Lege, overridden by Congress, or blocked by a court, he can and will weaponize it against doctors who are trying to help transgender youth. We’ll see what defense Dr. Lau puts forth – I’m sure there will be strong arguments made on her behalf – but I don’t have any good answers for this. It’s awful, it’s tragic, and it’s the reality we face.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Weekend link dump for October 20

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

“The Foreign Troll Farms Never Went Away”.

I’m not sure I believe that no one wants to be in the new Harry Potter series because they don’t want to be associated with asshole transphobe JK Rowling, but I very much want to believe it.

This is indeed a clever strategy. I hope it works.

“After 100 years of speculation, remains of one of the first ever Brits to climb Mount Everest have been discovered by a group filming a Nat Geo feature including Oscar-winner Jimmy Chin.”

“For example, in Maine, when driving the logging roads looking for game, I cannot have a weapon loaded in my vehicle. If we spot a partridge, we must stop the vehicle, step outside of it, load, and then fire. The purpose of this regulation is, of course, to promote safety, a concept that is of utmost concern for hunters. But if you are carrying a gun for nonhunting purposes? Then it’s fine to have it loaded in your car. It’s literally written into the legislation on guns and vehicles in Maine. So if you want to shoot a deer, you have to be safe about it. If you want to shoot a person, throw caution to the wind.”

“In other words, your future, and the future of everyone you love, is partially contingent on the ornate booger comets in organic blizzards of the ocean. Godspeed.”

“‘Doctor Odyssey’ Succeeds Where ‘Grotesquerie’ Fails: The Ryan Murphy Paradox”.

“That could indicate that the liberals know this case is not going to go their way, so it’s better to hold off on granting cert and at least leaving the Idaho law blocked for however long it takes for that case to make it back, rather than having it decided this term and then losing the Idaho injunction too.”

The solar-powered spacecraft Europa Clipper, which will study one of Jupiter’s moons, launched Monday on a journey of more than six years, to see if maybe Europa can support life.

RIP, Lilly Ledbetter, icon of the fight for equal pay, namesake of the landmark legislation that gave workers the right to sue within 180 days of receiving each discrimination paycheck, not just the first one.

“A Georgia judge ruled Monday that certifying election results is a mandatory duty for county election officials.”

“Oregon coaches exploited a loophole in the rulebook and it could result in in-season action from the NCAA.”

“Chuy’s is relocating its headquarters from Austin to Orlando, Florida, now that its $605 million acquisition by Darden Restaurants Inc. has become final.” This makes them the Olive Garden of Tex-Mex now.

Best of luck to Jessica Campbell, the first woman to be a full-time assistant coach in NHL.

“Jimmy Carter Achieves His Goal, Lives Long Enough to Vote for Kamala Harris”.

“For every Big Mac, there’s a McDonald’s menu item that was lost to history“.

“The Tampa Bay Rays may be looking for a temporary home stadium, at least for the start of the 2025 MLB season. The Rays are facing such uncertainties because of the extensive damage caused to Tropicana Field by the recent Hurricane Milton.”

“Donald Trump deliberately withheld disaster aid to states he deemed politically hostile to him as president and will do so again unimpeded if he returns to the White House, several former Trump administration officials have warned.”

Two words: Goalie goal. Rarer than an unassisted triple play, and as much fun.

RIP, Liam Payne, former One Direction singer. Way too young, very sad.

RIP, Mitzi Gaynor, actor and dancer who starred in the movie adaptation of the musical South Pacific.

“The song ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen has become an anthem dedicated to peace, love and acceptance of the truth. I’ve been supremely honored over the years to be connected with this ode to tolerance. Witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy. Of course, I in no way condone this and was mortified, but the good in me hopes that perhaps in inhabiting and really listening to the lyrics of Cohen’s masterpiece, Donald Trump just might experience a hint of remorse over what he’s caused. I’m not holding my breath.”

“If you have a problem with X, you could be forced to take it up with Elon Musk’s favorite judge. Starting November 15, the platform’s terms of service will require all litigation to be filed in the Northern District of Texas. It just so happens that this is where Federal Judge Reed O’Connor, who has a financial stake in Musk’s car company, Tesla, hears cases.”

“While we were successful in marketing “The Apprentice,” we also did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader. I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public.”

“He’s barely strong enough to hold an umbrella… He’s got jugs. Big ones. Like Dolly Parton. And that little dance he does? Looks like he’s jacking off a pair of giraffes.”

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 1 Comment

October 2024 campaign finance reports – Senate and Congress

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’re about to get into early voting, so you don’t need much of a preamble here. Just one final check-in on the finance reports for our Senatorial and Congressional candidates. The July 2024 reports for both are here, the April 2024 reports are here. The January reports for Senate are here, the October 2023 reports are here, the July 2023 reports here, and the April 2023 reports are here. The January reports for Congress are here, and the October 2023 reports are here. The earlier reports had both Senate and Congress, as the fields were small enough then to do them together.

Colin Allred – Senate

Sandeep Srivastava – CD03
John Love – CD06
Michelle Vallejo – CD15
Sheila Jackson Lee – CD18
Sylvester Turner – CD18
Erica Lee Carter – CD18
Kristin Hook – CD21
Sam Eppler – CD24
Melissa McDonough – CD38


Dist  Name             Raised      Spent    Loans    On Hand
============================================================
Sen   Allred       68,751,658 65,430,438        0  3,321,220

03    Srivastava      381,945    358,348  593,233     27,189
06    Love            121,061    111,798        0      9,915
15    Vallejo       1,968,008  1,795,092  100,000    184,633
18    Jackson Lee     552,256    903,443    4,896     17,722
18    Turner          170,501     86,341        0     84,159
18    Lee Carter       20,658        861    3,125     19,796
21    Hook            458,377    162,150      747    296,227
24    Eppler          921,564    832,077        0     89,486
38    McDonough       180,382    156,545  111,398     25,617

We’re well aware of Colin Allred’s fundraising prowess. I want to point out here that over the course of Q3, he spent about $38 million, which is a lot more than he had previously spent (about $27 million) in the entire cycle to that point. This is why you’re seeing so many Allred ads on the TV. I see a lot of Ted Cruz ads as well, but I’d say the mix is about 60-40 for Allred. It’s a lot for us, but imagine what it must be like in a swing state. Aye yi yi.

I’ve added in the reports for Sylvester Turner and Erica Lee Carter for CD18 just so we’d have a picture of them. Sheila Jackson Lee’s numbers didn’t change much since Q2 – at this point, whatever cash her account still has will get disbursed and that will be that. She didn’t die with a ton of money on hand, so there won’t be a drawn out process to deal with it.

Kudos to Sam Eppler for raising a million bucks (he should cross that threshold this month) and Kristin Hook for half a million, all more or less without much fanfare. As noted before, CD24 isn’t that far out from being a swing district – Eppler could make a case for it being on the long-range radar for the next couple of cycles. Hook has a longer way to go, but she’s put up a strong fight. Give her interview a listen if you haven’t already.

Not a whole lot else to say here. I do believe we have a shot in CD15, and it continues to be my hope that we can narrow some margins this year and thus increase the activity for 2026 and 2028. We’ll know soon enough.

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Early voting for the November 2024 election starts Monday

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox:

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth has announced that early voting for the November 5 General and Special Elections begins Monday, October 21, and ends Friday, November 1. During the early voting period, Harris County voters may cast their ballots at one of 88 vote centers.

“During this period, voters will have 144 total hours to exercise their right to vote early,” said Clerk Hudspeth. “Life can be unpredictable, and casting a ballot ahead of Election Day ensures that illness, work, or unexpected events will not keep citizens from voting.”

In Texas, early voting spans over a 12-day period, allowing citizens more time, including a weekend, to fit voting into their busy schedules. Voting early ensures voters have adequate time to vote and reduces congestion at the polls on Election Day.

Early Voting Hours

  • October 21–26                7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
  • October 27 (Sunday)     12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
  • October 28–30                 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
  • October 31                       7:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • November 1                     7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
To ensure voters are well-prepared before voting, they can view, download, and print their personalized sample ballot and take it to the polls.

“Our office is committed to making voting in Harris County as accessible and secure as possible,” added Clerk Hudspeth. “Voters should take advantage of the early voting period and not wait until Election Day. However, if they decide to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.”

Voting by Mail

The deadline to request a ballot by mail for the November 5 elections is Friday, October 25 (received, not postmarked). To be eligible to vote early by mail in Texas, a registered voter must:

  • be 65 years or older
  • be sick or disabled
  • be out of the county on election day and during the period for early voting by personal appearance
  • be expected to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day or
  • be confined in jail but otherwise eligible.
For additional information, visit www.HarrisVotes.com. For the latest news and updates, follow @HarrisVotes on social media.

I’m not totally sure how I’m going to do the early vote tracking this year, as we had three weeks of early voting in 2020 thanks to COVID and Greg Abbott’s executive order. (I can’t imagine that ever happening again.) I tracked the early vote for all the Presidential contests going back to 2008 plus the Presidential-like 2018, so for the record, here are the final EV tallis from each of those years:

2020
2018
2016
2008 and 2012

I expect turnout to be high, I expect the early portion of it to be significant, though probably not at the 88% level of 2020, and I expect Democrats to do well in Harris County. Beyond that, we’ll see. Get used to me asking if you’ve voted yet.

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Crowdsourcing HISD exit interviews

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is one of those cool ideas that falls in the bucket of “it would be so much better if it weren’t needed in the first place”.

With little data available regarding why employees were quitting their jobs in the Houston ISD, a parent decided to do her own digging.

HISD parent Becky Seabrook said she observed a mismatch between what parents were experiencing, and the district reporting that the vast majority of teachers marked that they planned to return next academic year on its Intent to Return Survey. She also felt a disconnect between community conversations and the administration claiming that the educators leaving were not quality teachers.

Seabrook started a Google Forms survey for departing HISD employees to submit information including time employed in district, certification status, reason they left their position, time of departure, and the employee’s destination. Two free-response questions allowed the respondent to expand on any answers and on their experience in HISD. The first submissions came in May, she said.

“I wanted to go into it with an open mind and thinking maybe there’ll be some positive things — people that left because they were moving, or because they were retiring, or what not. But it was one after the other,” Seabrook said. “I don’t know how the district has any teachers left, to be honest. It’s a really toxic environment, based on the stories that these teachers are telling.”

Community members read some of these responses at the Oct. 10 board meeting. Some called this initiative an “exit interview” after an exchange between appointed board members and district leadership brought to light that there is no consistently administered exit interview for district employees. Board members at the September board meeting asked state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles about exit interviews during a teacher workforce presentation. Miles turned to Chief Human Resources Officer Jessica Neyman, sitting with other district employees, and Neyman said exit interviews are conducted upon request.

It was unclear by Neyman’s response how employees were informed of the exit interview option, and it is unclear how many employees took exit interviews last academic year.

While Seabrook’s survey format is admittedly unscientific, it is painting a picture of why some employees left their jobs in HISD.

[…]

Seabrook said some common themes among responses included a stressful environment, that reforms did not reflect high quality education or best practices, and concerns with school leadership being replaced after speaking up. Some respondents wrote that district reforms were not in the best interest of students and felt like they were no longer able to support and protect students, she said.

A bit of disclosure up front, Becky Seabrook is a Facebook friend and former neighbor of mine. I smiled when I saw her name in this story. As I said up front, I think this was a good idea and I’m glad someone not only thought of it but followed through on it. We deserve to know this and we sure weren’t getting a straight answer from HISD. And that’s the second half of my opening statement, that it shouldn’t have come to this. HISD would want to know and would want us to know what it was going to do about it. Of course, in a better world we wouldn’t have had the need to track the reason for so many departures in the first place. But here we are. The data may not be ideal but it’s more than we were ever going to get. And that’s good to know.

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UH-Hobby Center polls Harris County

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty good. Could be better, but more or less in line with 2020 and current expectations.

With the start of early voting just days away, a new poll shows Harris County Democrats leading their Republican opponents in countywide races.

In the race for district attorney, Democrat Sean Teare holds a 14 percentage point lead over Republican Dan Simons among Harris County’s likely voters, with Teare leading Simons 52% to 38%, according to the latest poll released Friday from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston. Another 10% of likely voters were undecided.

The online survey was conducted between Sept. 26 and Oct. 10, in English and Spanish, with 491 respondents who are registered to vote in Harris County. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.42%.

Incumbent Democratic Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez is favored by 53% of likely voters to Republican challenger Mike Knox’s 37%, with 10% undecided.

This year, voters will choose a new tax assessor-collector after Ann Harris Bennett, the incumbent Democrat, announced last year that she would not seek re-election. Democratic newcomer Annette Ramirez, a tax attorney for Aldine ISD, is running against Republican Steve Radack, who served as Precinct 3 Commissioner for over 30 years until he retired in 2020.

Ramirez leads with 50% of likely voters, while Radack trails with 38%. Another 12% were undecided.

Incumbent Democratic Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee is polling at 48%, ahead of challenger Republican Jacqueline Lucci Smith with 37%. In the race, 15% of likely voters are still undecided.

See here for the first set of poll results from the UH-Hobby Center, with statewide numbers. Their landing page is here, the media release for this poll is here, and the full polling memo is here. I’m going to quote from that to give their full slate of numbers.

In the 2024 Harris County Sheriff election, Democrat Ed Gonzalez (53%) leads Republican Mike Knox (37%) by a 16 percentage point margin, with 10% undecided.

In the 2024 Harris County District Attorney election, Democrat Sean Teare (52%) leads Republican Dan Simons (38%) by a 14 percentage point margin, with 10% undecided.

In the 2024 Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector election, Democrat Annette Ramirez (50%) leads Republican Steve Radack (38%) by a 12 percentage point margin, with 12% undecided.

In the 2024 County Attorney election in Harris County, Democrat Christian Menefee (48%) leads Republican Jacqueline Lucci Smith (37%) by an 11 percentage point margin, with 15% undecided.

[…]

Among Harris County likely voters, in the 2024 presidential race Democrat Kamala Harris (54%) leads Republican Donald Trump (41%) by a 13 percentage point margin, with 2% supporting third party candidates and 3% undecided.

Among Harris County likely voters, in the 2024 Texas U.S. Senate race Democrat Colin Allred (52%) leads Republican Ted Cruz (39%) by a 13 percentage point margin, with 2% supporting Libertarian Ted Brown and 7% undecided.

51% of Harris County likely voters intend to vote for the Harris County Flood Control District’s Proposition A, while 30% intend to vote against the proposition, with 19% undecided.

I’m most interested in the Presidential and Senate numbers, since everything else flows from there. In 2020, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by a margin of 55.96% to 42.70%, with 1.34% going to third party candidates. That’s a 13-point lead for Biden, basically dead on with what Kamala Harris has in this poll. Colin Allred leads Ted Cruz by the same 13 points, which is a big improvement over MJ Hegar’s 8.5 point win over John Cornyn in 2020.

With Harris’ lead over Trump being basically identical to Biden’s actual margin in 2020, the poll of Harris County is consistent with their statewide poll, in which Trump leads Harris by five after beating Biden by five and a half in 2020. I think the potential is there for Harris to do better and get a bigger margin in Harris County, something more like the 16-point lead that Ed Gonzalez has in the Sheriff’s race. That would affect the statewide race a bit, not enough to close the gap but enough to suggest that similar improvement elsewhere and thus overall is possible.

This poll also echoes the recent one we saw from Bexar County, in which Harris had a 19-point lead, a point better than the 18-point win Biden had there in 2020. Again, what this suggests, with the usual caveats about single poll results, is that Kamala Harris is in line to do about as well as Biden did in 2020, with some potential for improvement. We’ve definitely been in worse positions than that.

This obviously bodes well for the Democratic countywide judicial candidates, and at least puts the six Court of Appeals candidates in position to win. Running up the score in Harris County is the key there, but carrying Fort Bend County and keeping the losses to a minimum in the likes of Galveston and Brazoria as well as the smaller counties would also help.

I continue to hope they will do some polling on the HISD referenda, and I expect there to be more Texas polling soon. We’ll hope for more encouraging numbers.

UPDATE: Not worth a full post, but I wanted to give this a mention.

The latest poll by a group whose September survey put U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz behind U.S. Rep. Colin Allred is still showing razor-thin margins in the race for Senate, but this time it’s Cruz who is ahead.

The new poll by Morning Consult from October has Cruz leading his Democratic opponent by 1 percentage point. The survey of 2,048 likely Texas voters was conducted on Oct. 6-15. There is a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

The poll predicts Cruz winning 46% of votes and Allred winning 45%. Seven percent of those surveyed said they don’t know who they are voting for or don’t have an opinion. Two percent said they planned to vote for someone else.

The October poll follows Morning Consult’s September version that had Allred up by one point, also with a two percentage point margin of error. The poll was the first putting the Dallas congressman in the lead over the two-term Republican, according to Allred’s campaign and a compilation of polls from 538.

The Morning Consult polls show closer margins than most, with Cruz predicted to finish 3.7 points ahead of Allred on average, according to 538.

Another poll released Friday Oct. 18 from The Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin puts Cruz ahead by seven points, winning 51% of votes among likely voters to Allred’s 44% and Libertarian Ted Brown’s 4%. The poll of 1,091 likely Texas voters taken between Oct. 2-10 has a 2.97 percentage point margin of error.

[…]

The Morning Consult poll puts Trump up by four percentage points in Texas. The Texas Politics Project has the Trump-Vance campaign up by five percentage points.

A fairly wide range of results between those two, but neither are out of line with the overall set. It is what it is.

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The 2027 Mayor’s race is officially underway

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I think that’s the lens that one must use when looking at this.

Mayor John Whitmire

Mayor John Whitmire and City Controller Chris Hollins traded barbs in dueling press conferences Thursday, each alleging the other has conflicts of interest by providing special access to private companies looking to do business with the city.

Whitmire called on city employees and event sponsors not to attend the controller’s annual Investor Conference next week. The proceeds from the sponsorships go to the nonprofit Houston Forward, which then funds and supports the banking equity program Bank on Houston. Whitmire said regardless of the group’s mission, the event sponsorship benefits, including a private dinner with Hollins and event advertising, promoted a “pay-to-play” system.

Whitmire said this is the first time the specific sponsorships have been offered by the controller’s office, but city events are regularly financially supported by corporations – including the mayor’s state of the city address last month.

The mayor said he learned about the sponsorship two weeks ago but did not contact Hollins. Instead, Whitmire called Thursday’s press conference in order to make it “a transparent issue.”

Whitmire said his concerns centered on the potential for preferential treatment and perceived disadvantages for companies that did not buy sponsorships, which ranged from $10,000 to $100,000.

Hollins defended the mission of the sponsorships, to support the longheld controller initiative Bank on Houston. He said it was not a conflict because he does not approve city contracts, City Council does. The city controller acts as a financial watchdog for the city, separate from the finance department in the mayor’s office.

The controller and the mayor sit on a finance selection committee, but both send office staff to the meetings.

Nancy Sims, a University of Houston political analyst with specialty in Houston politics, said elected officials are regularly asked to attend private dinners or events in the name of charity.

Sims said a primary question would likely be: Did Hollins personally benefit from the sponsorships?

“State of the City had a VIP reception. The Freedom Over Texas (event) has a VIP reception,” Sims said. “It’s not uncommon for your large donors to gain private access.”

Whitmire called on the Houston Office of Inspector General to investigate whether the sponsorships violated the city’s ethics policies.

Okay then. The Chron adds on.

Chris Hollins

Mayor John Whitmire said he has initiated an ethics investigation into Controller Chris Hollins’ decision to solicit sponsorships for a financial conference the controller’s office is hosting next week, questioning whether the practice is an example of “pay to play.”

The Houston Annual Investor Conference is now in its ninth year, but Tuesday’s event – Hollins’ first as city controller – is the first for which sponsorships have been sought, Whitmire wrote in a letter, dated Thursday, to conference participants.

A pamphlet on the conference website lists sponsorships from $10,000 up to $100,000, with increasing perks for top donors.

The conference homepage shows Loop Capital, an investment bank, gave $50,000 to become a “platinum sponsor,” securing the firm a list of promotional opportunities at the conference. A “platinum” sponsorship also secured donors a “private dinner with the controller” in an earlier version of the sponsorship pamphlet Whitmire distributed at his Thursday press conference.

That perk is no longer listed as available for “platinum” sponsors, only for $100,000 “title” sponsors. No firms are listed as contributing at that level.

A local representative with Loop Capital directed questions to its corporate office, which could not be reached. Hollins, in a press conference Thursday afternoon, said that he viewed the proposed dinner as a nice gesture that might encourage firms to make a “meaningful” charitable contribution. Any financial institution that has asked for a meeting during his tenure, he added, has gotten one. A spokesman for his office said the change to the sponsorship packet was to fix a typo.

Three companies gave $25,000 to become “gold” sponsors, and nine people or firms contributed at the $10,000 “silver” level, including Hollins and his wife.

Whitmire said at a Thursday morning press conference he called on the topic that he started getting calls from banks that received the sponsorship packet two weeks ago.

“They said it was the appearance of pay to play, and they were seeking advice,” he said. “‘If we don’t contribute at the level of our competitors, can we still get city business? If we don’t, what are the repercussions for keeping city business?’”

Whitmire said he has asked the city’s Office of Inspector General to look into whether any city ordinances had been violated by the sponsorship solicitation. He said he won’t attend the Tuesday conference at the Hilton Americas-Houston and called on Hollins to cancel it.

“It really doesn’t need much explanation,” he said, “other than it needs to stop. It needs to be exposed.”

[…]

The packet now online specifies that sponsorship proceeds will benefit the Houston Forward Fund, which the conference website says is affiliated with the Greater Houston Community Foundation.

Among the programs associated with that fund is Bank On Houston, an effort to improve financial literacy among low-income residents that was started by the National League of Cities and with which the controller’s office has long been involved.

Expanding the program was among Hollins’ campaign pledges when he ran for the controller’s office last year. In his remarks Thursday, he reiterated that goal and stressed the controller’s office’s 16 years of work with the program.

Whitmire alleged that Hollins controls the nonprofit fund’s spending. His staff provided a screenshot showing that the fund’s mailing address on its website previously was listed as the controller’s 8th floor office at City Hall. The address now is listed as the Greater Houston Community Foundation office. A foundation spokesperson directed questions to the mayor and controller.

“I’m certain Houston Forward Fund does good charitable work,” Whitmire said, “but the controller does have the influence of where those funds are spent.”

Hollins on Thursday said the nonprofit’s board, not him, decides its spending.

Hollins also has a thread on Twitter that makes some further arguments. A few observations here:

– I’ve thought Hollins and Whitmire were on a collision course from the get-go. Most of the conflict between them before now was more conventional Mayor-versus-Controller stuff, but this is as overt as it gets.

– Mayor Whitmire says he heard about this two weeks ago, including those concerns that he says came to him, but as the story notes did not contact Hollins. I dunno, man, a call to ask “wtf, dude?” seems in order to me.

– As is often the case, the underlying question here is whether this is one of those situations where what is perfectly legal also looks sketchy because of the money involved. I don’t know the law well enough to say, but I’m sure we’ll hear plenty of opinions about it.

– Along those lines, whether something like this is illegal, in a perhaps not sufficiently well-defined way, or if it’s fully in bounds but looks bad, the Mayor is free to craft an ordinance that addresses it. I’ll be very interested to see if one is forthcoming.

– The Inspector General is appointed by the Mayor, while the IG and the Office of the IG report to the City Attorney. Like other city department heads, though, the IG may last from one administration to another. The current IG is Robin Curtis and as far as I can tell that person has been in place since at least 2016 (couldn’t find a LinkedIn profile for them), probably farther back than that. Mayor Whitmire plans to beef up the OIG and broaden its scope. I’ve not paid that much attention to the OIG – indeed, I had no idea who it was before I started writing this – so this is all for context. We’ll need to keep all this in mind when they issue a report.

– Beyond all that, whatever happens here I think is going to be filtered through the “Whitmire versus Hollins” lens, with supporters for each lining up accordingly. That’s going to make things a little awkward at City Hall for the next three years, I suspect. Campos has more.

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Once again with SCOTx and abortion

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’d like to think abortion will make a difference in the Supreme Court races, but it’s not so easy.

Three Texas Supreme Court seats are up for grabs this November and, for the first time in a long time, Republican incumbents are facing heat from Democrats, who see these races as the best chance Texas voters have to influence the state’s near-total abortion ban.

Democrats have created a political action committee to unseat “Jimmy, John and Jane” — justices Jimmy Blacklock, John Devine and Jane Bland. In statewide TV ads, the PAC draws a line between these justices’ rulings on abortion and the stories of women who say they were harmed by the new laws.

“We just have to say, these are the folks that did that thing that you don’t like,” said PAC founder Gina Ortiz Jones, a former undersecretary of the Air Force in the Biden administration and a San Antonio native. “This is how you can hold them accountable.”

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and allowed states to set their own abortion laws, state courts have become the new electoral battleground. More money was poured into state supreme court races in the last two cycles than ever before, and this year promises to shatter even those new records, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

Whether that national fervor will move the needle in Texas remains to be seen. Like the rest of the state government, the state Supreme Court, where nine justices each serve staggered six-year terms, has been the exclusive domain of Republicans for more than two decades. Getting even one dissenting voice on the court could be influential, but this may not be where the state’s sturdy red wall begins to crumble, said Todd Curry, a political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso.

“I don’t think we’ve hit the watershed moment where there ends up being a Democrat on the Texas Supreme Court,” Curry said. “We’re not quite there yet, but I think give us four, eight years, and we might get to that point.”

[…]

Texas Democrats may have an easier time tying abortion to the courts than in other states, since the justices in Texas have actually had opportunities to rule on the issue, said Rebecca Gill, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. But actively campaigning on specific issues can be tricky in judicial races.

“Even though Texas has partisan elections, I think it is still sort of uncomfortable to think about these judges being representatives of particular policy interests, as opposed to being more technocrats who are specialists at interpreting the law,” she said.

Democrats are also fighting against the reality that even a Blue Wave won’t create a new majority on the high court in this election cycle. But adding even one dissenting voice can be hugely influential, Gill said.

“Judges tend to be pretty good at talking about legal things in a way that makes it sound like the decision they are making is the only possible decision you could come to,” Gill said. “It isn’t until you read a dissenting opinion that you think, well this is also very convincing… if you don’t have that dissenting voice, then it’s very difficult for people who don’t speak legalese to be able to understand how much of these decisions are really discretionary.”

Curry, the UTEP political science professor, said a dissent can also be cited in future court cases, or if a case gets escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But he’s skeptical that voice will be heard on the Texas Supreme Court bench anytime soon. He pointed to the challenges of campaigning statewide for a low-awareness race, and of keeping the attention on these issues and the court’s role in them, for months after they started to fade from the media.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a lost cause for Democrats forever, he said, pointing to Republicans’ decades-long effort to rebalance the U.S. Supreme Court in their favor.

“I think Democrats statewide need to start thinking on a longer timeline than the next immediate election, because groundwork and party building isn’t something that just happens,” he said. “But it’s been lacking in the state for a fairly long time.”

Most of the rest of the story is about the Find Out PAC and why John Devine in particular needs to go. I don’t think we’re ready to win these elections yet, and Lord knows we should have been building infrastructure and raising money for races like these well before now, but I do think the Find Out PAC has done a good job of raising the issue. It’s a leg up on the next election, assuming we don’t just dismantle everything and forget this ever happened before then.

One of the challenges in recent years has been that the Democratic statewide judicial candidates have run a bit behind the top of the ticket. There’s some variance in there, the usual one to three point spread, but between the Presidential candidates and Beto in both 2018 and 2022, we would have needed to win at the top by at least a couple of points to have brought some judicial candidates across the finish line. That hasn’t always been the case – in years like 2006 and 2008, the high scorers on the Democratic side were judicial candidates – but current partisan trends and vastly differential fundraising success at the top has led us to where we are. It’s possible this year could be a little different, or it may just be that Colin Allred leads the pack instead of Kamala Harris, and the judicials are a couple of points behind him. If nothing else, I’ll be interested to see if we have less dropoff for the downballot Dems than we’ve seen in recent elections. Having some ads running in support of those candidates, as well as a potent issue for them, ought to help. We’ll see how much it does.

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Dispatches from Dallas, October 19 edition

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think.

This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth we have several big topics: the Roberson execution that wasn’t; the HERO amendments, pro and con, and the Texas Observer’s expose on Monty Bennett; and the fallout from the Cruz/Allred debate earlier this week. We also have more election news; news from and about the Tarrant County jail; what’s up in Keller ISD and other local districts; how a US District Judge in North Texas is having and/or causing problems because of his investments; all the stories coming out about Fair Park’s management problems; more on the Taylor Swift guitar that was smashed in Ellis County a few weeks ago; the new exhibit at the Amon Carter that has a mature content warning now; and more.

As a reminder, early voting starts on Monday. DFW voters can check out the voting guides from the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Plus the ongoing endorsements from the Star-Telegram and the DMN, which will be updated through Election day. As always, I urge readers to get out and vote.

This week’s post was brought to you by the music of the Electric Light Orchestra, whose farewell tour is coming through Dallas this week.

I really thought I was going to spend a lot of time in this post talking about the Allred vs Cruz debate, but then we had the last-minute reprieve for Robert Roberson and the Texas Observer profile of Monty Bennett and his puppet organizations and the Dallas HERO charter amendments, so it’s a big week for news.

Let’s start with Roberson. I’m writing on Friday afternoon and everybody is sighing with relief that the state didn’t execute Roberson over the shaken baby death of his daughter back in 2001. The last minute maneuvering around the case was reported nationally (Washington Post) and local reaction has been favorable as well (Dallas Morning News; Star-Telegram op-ed; Dallas Observer). The Texas Tribune has details of the Lege’s legal strategy, and I’d like to call out local reps Jeff Leach (R-Plano) and Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian), two of the leaders of the House movement to force the stay; they really did the right thing this time. I hope the stay results in a commutation or pardon for Roberson, who has suffered enough based on a conviction over an allegation that’s now known to be based on junk science.

Second, let’s talk about the HERO amendments here in Dallas. In case you’ve forgotten, the key amendment would force Dallas PD to take on about 1,000 officers (about 1/3 of the current force) immediately and to divert half of any monies above the current budget to law enforcement, hamstringing the city’s ability to plan in the future. The other two amendments are also terrible, but the interference with, nominally for, law enforcement and budgeting is the worst. Dallas HERO, the group that sponsored them, is a front for local hotel billionaire Monty Bennett.

The powers-that-be have launched their offensive against the HERO amendments complete with an op-ed from revered former police chief David Brown against them as well as a commentary piece from DMN name-brand political reporter/analyst Sharon Grigsby against them. Meanwhile, Bennett stooge Pete Marocco, who used to work for the Trump administration, just so you know who we’re dealing with, is playing defense as best he can with the usual canards about how the city council doesn’t understand what he’s trying to do, etc. None of this is great: the local powers are blowing a lot of smoke and there are improvements we could make, especially with Mayor Eric Johnson running off competent city administrators. But “we’re gonna give all the money to the cops” is exactly the wrong way to go about it.

And on that note, this morning I read this Texas Observer expose on Bennett, which draws on Bennett’s history of legal shenanigans, his desire to be the Wilks/Dunn of Dallas, his use of astroturfing and his purchase of the brand of the historic Dallas Black newspaper the Dallas Express to amplify his astroturfing toward his goals. It’s a long read but very much worth your time if you’re interested in North (and Central) Texas politics. I’ve covered bits and pieces of this in my time writing here, but this is pulling it all together and laying it out for you. Monty Bennett is a problem, y’all. He’s my problem and Dallas’ problem right now, but he’s on his way to becoming everybody in Texas’ problem, if not a national problem like some of our other Texas billionaires.

Third on my list: it’s been three days since the Allred-Cruz debate, but the debate is already old news. I’ll give you the local post-game analysis: the DMN on the key takeaways; the Star-Telegram’s Ryan Rusak for Republicans and Bud Kennedy for folks who are slightly more liberal than that; and Substacker Jay Kuo with the perpetual Dems’ hopes are up to beat Ted Cruz. Mine are not; I think the fundamentals are not here the way they were in 2018. Specifically, the presidential election favors Cruz. Maybe Trump’s increasing instability and what looks frankly to me like dementia will mean fewer of his voters come out, but I’m not counting on it. All that said, there is a relevant local item I want to point out, which is Cruz’s mention of Venezuelan gangs here in Dallas. WFAA has a story about what really happened which is not nearly as exciting as Cruz thinks it is. (Yes, there may be Venezuelan gangsters in Dallas; no, this is not part of some big gang influx.)

With all that out of the way, let’s look at other news:

  • The Texas Tribune and ProPublica took a look at the rise of Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, a frequent target of my ire and despite. It’s worth your time.
  • The DMN’s Gromer Jeffers opines on which way Tarrant County will swing next month. Somewhat related: the Fort Worth Report tells us who’s on the ballot for seats in the Legislature for Tarrant County this time around.
  • Dallas County is making sure their ballots are aligned properly, which I like as a Dallas voter, but they’ve had to do it three times to satisfy Republicans in the Lege. It’s a complicated process; I’m not surprised they had to do quality control; they found the problem and fixed it. Clearly we need more programmers and fewer election deniers in the Lege.
  • Speaking of which: Here’s a writeup of the ballot security measures in Tarrant County as announced by County Judge O’Hare. Many of them are not news but it’s nice to have a roundup.
  • A Democratic Fort Worth area State Representative has asked the Justice Department to oversee Texas’ elections in November.
  • Substacker LoneStarLeft, whom you may know from blogging as Still Blue in Texas, has a piece on Beth Van Duyne vs Sam Eppler in CD-24. This is my district; Van Duyne is weird, as Tim Walz would say; and for the same reasons I expect Cruz to win, I expect Van Duyne to beat Eppler. Van Duyne’s weekly newsletters break my brain. About half of them are full of normal stuff, like meeting with local officials and companies, showing kids around Congress, the usual. The other half is election denialism, xenophobia, and other Trumpism-related garbage. It’s no surprise to me that the DMN endorsed Eppler. The Star-Telegram hasn’t made an endorsement as of this writing.
  • The Dallas Observer reports that UT Dallas aren’t stoked about the presidential election and their interests are mostly local. The big exception is Palestine, where neither of the parties aligns with their stance. My interest in this article is that it was written by the former head of the UT Dallas paper, who lost his position when the administration sacked him, allegedly over coverage of the pro-Palestine protests on campus.
  • Would you like to know which developers spend the most on Fort Worth elections? The Star-Telegram has you covered.
  • In polling place news, AT&T Stadium will serve as a voting center in Tarrant County. And the DMN has more on where you can vote in Rowlett and the certificate of occupancy for Freedom Place Church.
  • Last but not least on elections, we have an important endorsement in the Dallas city elections: Willie Nelson wants us to decriminalize marijuana. I’m with Willie.
  • Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who killed Botham Jean by mistake, was denied parole after serving half her sentence.
  • Also this week, Fort Worth honored Atatiana Jefferson on the fifth anniversary of her death at the hands of a police officer.
  • Tarrant County has a lot of jail news. They’re extending the contract with My Health My Resources (the group they also gave the juvenile mental health/diversion contract to after ditching the group the county had previously contracted with for ideological reasons) despite the number of deaths in the jail and specifically the number related to mental health. Plus, it looks like the county commissioners may be considering privatizing the jail based on an agenda item that was later removed as residents protested it. Meanwhile, the state says Tarrant County is violating a Texas law that requires independent investigations of deaths in the jail.
  • Meanwhile, not officially a jail issue, but related: former Tarrant County Sherriff’s deputies claim they were sacked in retaliation for complaints about drug use, misuse of official resources, racial discrimination and more by fellow officers. They’re suing.
  • Ken Paxton is suing a doctor at UTSW for treating trans kids with hormones. The Dallas Observer and KERA have the details.
  • Keller ISD continues to make news, and it’s never in a good way. Currently they’re giving basic sandwiches to kids who have more than $25 in student lunch debt. Because we don’t fund our public schools, Keller is asking the community to pitch in to retire lunch debt, which is already at $37,000 for the 2024-2025 school year. Plus, parents in the district are also protesting alleged censorship by the superintendent, who is now approving or vetoing every student play or musical, including vetoes of some previously approved productions. (You may recall that interfering with student productions is what bit the former superintendent in Sherman ISD.)
  • There’s more on Fort Worth ISD’s troubles, as well. The Fort Worth Report notes that more principals left the district last year than in any year since 2017. And the Star-Telegram asks who will lead the district after the sacking of the last superintendent.
  • Lewisville ISD is having budget and enrollment shortfalls. They may have to close or consolidate 20 campuses at the elementary and middle school levels, with decisions to come no earlier than December.
  • You may remember I said I thought there was something going on with the sudden suspension of the Grand Prairie ISD superintendent? The superintendent sued the board and the judge blocked the board from firing him. The DMN has more.
  • Dallas City council is asking questions about the Fair Park management contract and the missing $5.7 million we talked about last week. The DMN has several stories about a possible new contract, the operator’s claim it’s owed $2.1 million, and the Dallas Park Board’s president wanting another audit. I’ll admit I find all this confusing, but mostly it looks to me like the parties are lining up for a lawsuit that will resolve the financial claims and sever the current operating agreement.
  • I’m sure you’ve encountered North Texas US District Judge Reed O’Connor’s name in connection to the suits he’s heard. WFAA notes that he’s currently in charge of the X/Twitter vs Media Matters case and even though he has an investment in Tesla that’s worth as much as $50,000, he’s not recusing himself. The article notes that Xitter is headquartered in Austin, which is in the Western District of Texas, but its terms of service require lawsuits to be heard in the Northern District. Meanwhile, Chris Geidner of Law Dork reports on some other cases where O’Connor’s stock holdings have forced a recusal. Geidner explains why the shenanigans around these cases are going on and how O’Connor’s stock holdings are a problem. The other half of the newsletter is also about the Northern District and Matthew Kacsmaryk, and is also worth your time.
  • KERA has a story about the small-town volunteer fire department in Collin County and how the county isn’t paying enough for it to serve the unincorporated areas around it. If you’re interested in exurban and rural infrastructure issues, this story should be on your list.
  • Haynes Boone is doing the third-party investigation into Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church. The report on the events that took place in the 1980s, which is to say when he was molesting a teenaged girl, should come out sometime this fall, probably next month.
  • Speaking of crooked religious types, Tarrant County just sentenced the mistress of a religious scammer called The Money Doctor to life in jail over her part in a $31 million Ponzi scheme. She was laundering the money he brought in.
  • Last week the Star-Telegram announced it was pivoting to online and only publishing in print three days a week. The Fort Worth Report has their take on this news with responses from subscribers.
  • The DMN would like you to know that their letters to the editor lean left because that’s what they get from the public. I’m being kind of a smartass about this, but I get a lot of emails from folks like Indivisible suggesting I write a letter to the editor about whatever subject they’re flogging right now. (I write to y’all instead.) It sounds to me like this PR strategy on the part of outside groups is working well here in Dallas.
  • Following that big expose of the body disposal scandal at UNT in Fort Worth, Tarrant County has adopted a new policy for dealing with unclaimed bodies so that they’re treated with dignity. It’s expected to cost the county $675,000.
  • The Dallas Black Dance Theater season opened with new dancers after management, as you may recall, sacked the entire company, but not for unionizing. It’s no surprise, then, that the first performance was picketed by the fired dancers.
  • You may remember that fellow in Ellis County who smashed the guitar that may or may not have been signed by Taylor Swift, depending on who you listen to. He bought it for $4000, and it sold on eBay for $6550, which, like the original $4000, is going to the Future Farmers of America. I cannot verify the next part but the rumor in town is that the guitar was sold with the hammer, which puts an entirely different cast on the viral video.
  • Here’s a touching story about how DFW-area shelters opened their arms to 130 animals from Florida after the Florida shelters were overfull before Hurricane Milton. Our two cats came to us after a similar nationwide dispersal effort after a hoarding situation in Missouri was resolved, so this one is personal for me.
  • The Star-Telegram has an interesting piece of local history about a con man from Fort Worth who claimed to have reached the North Pole before Admiral Peary.
  • The Athletic has the story of how F1 failed in Dallas back in 1984. When I sent this to a mutual friend of our host’s and mine who is seriously into F1, she referred me to this article about the 1984 race from the Formula One people. I learned a lot from both of these articles. Thanks Karin!
  • The Amon Carter in Fort Worth has a travelling exhibit called “Cowboy” that opened at the end of last month. It briefly closed after a couple of weeks and now has reopened with a mature content warning. I have plans to do some museum visiting in Fort Worth in a few weeks and will now really have to check this exhibit out.
  • The Village Bakery in West, which claims it’s the OG kolache shop in that storied town, will reopen under new management with the original recipes. I’ll also have to report back on this story when I next head down to Austin.
    • Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

    Judicial Q&A: Justice Sarah Beth Landau

    Posted on October 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    (Note: As I have done in past elections, I am continuing the series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested November elections. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. Much more information about Democratic candidates who are on the ballot in Harris County, including links to the interviews and judicial Q&As done for March and for November, can be found on Erik Manning’s spreadsheet.

    Justice Sarah Beth Landau

    1. Who are you and in which court do you preside?

    Justice Sarah Beth “Sorcha” Landau. I am one of nine justices on the First Court of Appeals.

    2. What kind of cases does this court hear?

    We handle everything in the entire justice system other than federal and criminal death penalty cases: civil, criminal, family, juvenile, and probate cases on appeal. Appeal means that one side did not get what they wanted in the trial court and they can have a panel of three justices review the decision for error that affected their rights.

    3. What have been your main accomplishments during your time on this bench?

    The first week I joined the court, I brought opinion writing software to the court to make our opinions shorter and easier to understand with less jargon. During that time, I also opened the court to public weddings. Before, you had to know a judge personally to request a wedding in our beautiful courthouse. Now everyone can do it, without discrimination. I also overhauled the summer law student intern program to make it more inclusive and useful to law wizards in training and have run the program since 2020. This is, of course, in addition to writing most of the en banc opinions our court has issued and keeping up with all my assigned cases without any backlog and giving continuing legal education presentations and judging moot courts and mock trials and teaching classes at law schools.

    4. What do you hope to accomplish in your courtroom going forward?

    I’d like the Houston Bar Association to adopt a system of evaluating judges and judicial candidates, informed by not only the HBA but by other nonpartisan organizations that endorse judicial candidates, such as the Association of Women Attorneys, the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston, the Houston Lawyers Association and The Caucus, so voters could easily see if these organizations thought that the candidate was qualified, highly qualified, or not qualified. It’s too hard for voters to make informed choices under the current system given the length of the ballot.

    5. Why is this race important?

    Control of the court is on the ballot because the majority of seats are up for election. Judicial independence is on the ballot because the executive branch has made clear that if Republican judges don’t vote their way, they will be punished with a well-funded primary opponent. Three conservative judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals got primaried because they voted to decide a case against the Attorney General. They lost.

    6. Why should people vote for you in November?

    First, my experience is almost as broad as the court’s jurisdiction. I have civil law experience, criminal law experience, federal court experience, state court experience, large law firm experience, public service experience, trial and appellate experience. Second, this role is a calling for me, not a job. I am all in. Third, I am not beholden to anyone. I am independent. To underline this, I do not take donations from special interests or law firms, just individuals. Not just this month, but every month, I am out in the community, meeting with voters. My opponent is not campaigning, as far as I can tell. As public servants or people seeking to become public servants, we owe it to the community we serve to be transparent and available in person or at least on social media, not just to those who agree with us politically.

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    TEA clears Third Future Schools

    Posted on October 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    Some good news for Mike Miles.

    The Texas Education Agency’s investigation into alleged misuse of state funds concluded Third Future Schools — a Colorado-based charter school network founded by Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles — did not violate any Texas laws.

    The investigation also found “no evidence” of any wrongdoing by Third Future Schools Texas or Miles, who was not one of the subjects of the TEA’s investigation.

    TEA officials said a special investigation began after Spectrum News Texas reported in May that Third Future Schools Texas had inappropriately diverted state funds from public school students in Texas through partnerships between three Texas school districts — Austin, Ector County, and Midland ISDs.

    The outlet reported Third Future Schools charged fees to its Texas schools, which fed into a general fund that, in part, subsidized one of its schools in Colorado before it closed. According to a 2022 audit, Third Future Schools Texas also reported it had run a deficit due to debts to “other TFS network schools and to TFS corporate.”

    Spectrum News’ initial story prompted outrage among HISD community members and state lawmakers, who called for an investigation into Miles’ spending practices and an audit of the charter school network, including its financial dealings and potential noncompliance with state laws.

    In a 29-page report, the TEA said it was closing its investigation after concluding that the charter network and the three districts had not broken any laws. It also found the allegations in Spectrum News’s report — as well as a separate story by the Texas Observer — were either not applicable to the network’s partnerships, could not be substantiated or were proven to be false.

    “TEA concludes that there is no merit to the allegations contained in the media reports that state funds were being inappropriately diverted from public school students in Texas,” David Rodriguez, the executive director of the TEA’s division of investigations, said in a letter Tuesday to the board president and superintendent of Third Future Schools Texas.

    […]

    The report found that Third Future Schools Texas has an agreement to pay Third Future Schools in Colorado for support and administrative services, but it did not find any evidence that indicates that Third Future Schools Texas had directly deposited any funds from the three Texas school districts into the bank accounts of TFS.

    “Under Texas law, TEA does not have authority over what TFS does with the funds it is paid by Third Future Schools – Texas for administrative fees or shared services, just as the agency cannot broadly require any other school district vendor to identify how they expend their funds once the vendor has been paid for services provided,” the report said.

    The Observer reported, based on expert analysis, that “disclosure of pre-existing business deals for administrative expenses are generally required under state law for Texas charter schools.” However, the TEA said the portion of state law that applies to Third Future Schools does not contain any mandatory reporting requirements.

    The TEA’s report also found that Third Future Schools Texas continuously maintained bank accounts while operating schools in the three districts, and there was no evidence to support the allegation that TFS had transferred funds that were not for approved expenses in the partnership budgets.

    See here for previous blogging, and there’s a copy of the report in the story. I don’t know enough to say if this is one of those “the real problem is with what is legal” situations, but the fact is that the TEA says that what Miles and TFS did was legal. That’s what you would want, so good for them. I’d like to hear from Spectrum News and the Observer about where their reporting went wrong, or if they stand by their stories and dispute what the TEA says. I’ll keep an eye out for that. The Trib and the Press have more.

    Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

    Endorsement watch: Don’t Paxton the CCA

    Posted on October 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    A good message.

    Still a crook any way you look

    Before this year, even reasonably well-informed Texans didn’t know much about the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals. Then Attorney General Ken Paxton took a keen interest in ousting several of the court’s justices.

    Suddenly, many voters knew the names Sharon Keller, Barbara Hervey and Michelle Slaughter, three of the court’s nine Republican justices whose terms end this year. The three are staunch conservatives, frequently issuing rulings that hew closely to originalist interpretations of the state Constitution, as they did in ruling against Paxton three years ago. In that 8-1 decision, they ruled that the Constitution doesn’t allow Paxton to unilaterally pursue a voter fraud case without cooperating with local district or county attorneys.

    Paxton (who also happens to have had key questions in the criminal proceedings against him wind their way to the CCA) went shopping for at least two candidates to challenge the incumbent justices, whom he claimed had “abandoned their conservative roots.” A third, David Schenck, insists Paxton didn’t recruit him, although a political action committee formed by Paxton allies endorsed him. All three challengers defeated the incumbents in the primary election, setting themselves up nicely for the general election in a state where a Democrat hasn’t won a statewide race in 30 years.

    Judicial independence should be sacred, and the CCA is a high-stakes court. As the venue of last resort for all criminal matters, it routinely deals with matters of life and death, reviewing every case that results in a death penalty. Allowing the state’s top law enforcement officer to pack the court with cronies would undermine the court’s independence and trustworthiness. The public should always have faith that judges are applying the law fairly and ethically, immune from political influence no matter what party they belong to. We weighed this heavily in considering our endorsements for this crucial bench.

    See here and here for some background. The Chron ultimately endorsed the Republican Schenck in Place 1 and Democrats Nancy Mulder and Chika Anyiam in Places 8 and 9, respectively. Schenck, whose Democratic opponent is Holly Taylor, was deemed sufficiently independent by the Chron while the other two Republicans were underqualified and completely in the bag for Paxton. The Supreme Court always gets the lion’s share of the attention around here, but these CCA races are really important too. Tell your friends.

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    Judicial Q&A: Judge Fredericka Phillips

    Posted on October 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    (Note: As I have done in past elections, I am continuing the series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested November elections. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. Much more information about Democratic candidates who are on the ballot in Harris County, including links to the interviews and judicial Q&As done for March and for November, can be found on Erik Manning’s spreadsheet.

    Judge Fredericka Phillips

    1. Who are you and in which court do you preside?

    My name is Fredericka Phillips and I am the current judge of the 61st District Court. I was elected in 2016 and begin my first term on January 1, 2017. I am seeking re-election for my 3rd term. Prior to being elected judge, I was a civil lawyer for 17 years practicing in state and federal courts across the nation.

    2. What kind of cases does this court hear?

    The 61st District Court is a civil court. As such we only hear civil matters. Civil cases are disputes typically involving money or property. Examples of the types of cases are personal injury cases such as in car accidents, premises liability (like slip and falls)cases, medical malpractice, property disputes such as foreclosures and title disputes, contract cases including business disputes and trade secret litigation, construction contracts, and more.

    3. What have been your main accomplishments during your time on this bench?

    I have presided over this court in a fair and impartial manner and treat all coming before my court with dignity and respect. I have also managed the caseload in an efficient manner such that my court is consistently at the top of the list in case load management.

    4. What do you hope to accomplish in your courtroom going forward?

    I will continue being a fair and impartial judge who moves cases along in an efficient manner.

    5. Why is this race important?

    Judges play a huge role in interpreting and applying law to your everyday lives when resolving disputes. Having judges who are fair and who apply the law based on the facts of the case equally and fairly is essential to the proper functioning of the justice system. We’ve unfortunately seen what happens when judges follow a political agenda instead of the law.

    6. Why should people vote for you in November?

    As I said already, during my almost 8 years on the bench I have demonstrated that I can and will handle the court’s docket in a fair and efficient manner. Parties coming to my court know that they will be treated with respect and treated fairly. They also know that their time won’t be wasted waiting on a ruling. I have proven myself to be a judge who reads all of the filings of the parties, and who fairly applies the law to the facts in each case in making timely and impartial decisions.

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    Fifth Circuit pauses vote harvesting injunction

    Posted on October 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    Here they come to do what they do.

    A federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated portions of Texas’ 2021 voting law regulating ballot handling, ruling that a judge’s previous decision to strike certain rules came too close to the 2024 election.

    The ruling, issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, means the provisions aimed at preventing “vote harvesting” will stay in effect through at least Nov. 5, and that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is cleared to investigate into the practice.

    Judge James Ho, who authored the decision, wrote that the state law in question had “been on the books for over three years” when U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez struck down the provisions for being overly vague. Rodriguez’s decision came after some counties had already mailed out absentee ballots, Ho noted.

    See here for the background. This only affects the first ruling relating to the big lawsuit against the omnibus voter suppression law, it does not touch the more recent ruling that blocked other parts of it. I assume there’s an appeal filed for that as well, but it took two weeks for a ruling on this one, so if we’re on a similar timeline then a similar ruling would have a modest effect. I’ll keep an eye out for it.

    Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Fifth Circuit pauses vote harvesting injunction

    The South Texas Congressional races

    Posted on October 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    Feels like I’ve heard less about them this year than in 2022, but as the story notes, the Dems are on offense this time.

    Michelle Vallejo

    It’s déjà vu in South Texas.

    Texas’ two most competitive congressional races will feature rematches from 2022, when Republicans spent millions to make inroads in the majority Hispanic, historically Democratic stronghold. It’s the same cast of candidates facing off against each other as last election cycle in both the 15th and 34th Congressional Districts, but several factors may shake things up this November.

    The presidential and U.S. Senate races at the top of the ticket are infusing new zeal that has trickled down into greater resources for Democrats in U.S. House races. Meanwhile, indications of growing GOP support among Hispanic voters in the region continue to fuel Republican hope.

    Democrat Michelle Vallejo is making another run for the 15th Congressional District against freshman Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz. The race was the most competitive in Texas last cycle, and Republican leadership viewed De La Cruz’s victory as a watershed moment in GOP outreach to Hispanic voters. De La Cruz is the first Republican ever to represent the district, which runs from Guadalupe County down to the Mexican border near McAllen.

    Meanwhile, Republican former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores will be challenging Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in the neighboring 34th District to regain her old seat. Gonzalez unseated Flores in 2022 after he had served three terms in the neighboring 15th district. He switched districts after the 15th district was redrawn to be more favorable to Republicans, making way for De La Cruz’s win. Flores represented the district for a few months in 2022 after it was prematurely vacated by U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, a Democrat. The district runs from the Mexican border on the Gulf of Mexico to just south of Corpus Christi.

    In 2022, Republicans were on the offense and Democrats were on defense.

    It was a midterm election during President Joe Biden’s first years in office — a recipe for Democratic losses. Republicans, meanwhile, were eager to prove they could break new ground among Hispanic voters.

    “We had a more difficult political environment in ‘22 and that affected a lot of a lot of folks around the country without regard to their own standing or their own record,” said Cameron County Democratic Party Chair Jared Hockema.

    Republicans put up millions behind their three candidates in South Texas that year, branding them the “Triple Threat” or the “Trio Grande.” In addition to De La Cruz and Flores, Republicans were also throwing their support behind Cassy Garcia in her challenge against Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in neighboring Congressional District 28, anchored by Laredo. The three young, conservative Hispanic women were cast as the new faces of representation in the region, which had long been dominated by middle-aged Democratic men.

    Nationally, Republicans under-performed that year, despite winning a slim majority in the U.S. House. In Texas, Gonzalez beat Flores by over 8 percentage points. Cuellar trounced Garcia by over 13 percentage points — so much so that Republicans nationally opted against investing in the race this year, even after Cuellar was indicted on bribery, money laundering and working for another government.

    […]

    This year, the tables have turned and Democrats have wind at their backs.

    Democrats have an extra boost from the top of the ticket. They have consistently outraised Republicans this year, and Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket injected fresh enthusiasm and cash.

    “Without a doubt, Kamala has brought some excitement in, especially in young women, but also just young people in general,” Gonzalez said, adding that the campaign is fielding hundreds of requests to volunteer and block walk for Democrats. “We never had that type of excitement down here in the Rio Grande Valley in my eight years in Congress.”

    […]

    The House Majority PAC, a super PAC connected to House Democratic leadership, reserved over $2 million for ads in South Texas. It launched two ads in the region supporting Vallejo in English and Spanish after a poll the group commissioned found her within 3 percentage points behind De La Cruz.

    That’s in contrast to last cycle when House Majority PAC pulled its reservations from Vallejo’s race, angering Texas Democrats who felt the state was once again getting overlooked by the bigwigs in Washington. Vallejo lost in 2022 by over 8 percentage points. The DCCC also declined to air any ads for Vallejo that year, though they funded staffing in the district.

    This time, DCCC said it is staying faithful to Vallejo.

    “Michelle Vallejo is one of our Red to Blue candidates, working hard. Those are all districts that we think we can flip,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said. “So we are working hard in all of those.”

    In the 34th district, Gonzalez is also optimistic that he’ll keep his seat. House Majority PAC included him in its ad buy, releasing an ad attacking Flores as an extremist. His seat is considered safer for Democrats, with the district voting for President Joe Biden in 2020 by over 15 percentage points. He also is no longer a new commodity in the 34th district.

    “The difference is now the new section of the district that I had never represented before has gotten to know me,” Gonzalez said. “We brought billions of dollars of federal resources to a lot of different projects along district 34. I’ve built a lot of personal relationships that we didn’t have before coming into the district.”

    Both Democrats can also benefit from Texas Offense, Texas Democrats’ first coordinated campaign in decades led by Rep. Colin Allred’s Senate run. The initiative allows Democrats up and down the ballot to share resources to maximize efficiency. Allred, whose mother is originally from Brownsville, has campaigned in the Rio Grande Valley with both Vallejo and Gonzalez.

    “Texas Offense has invested six figures into our mission of electing South Texas Democrats up and down the ballot,” said Monique Alcala, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party. “We’re in the field, block walking, phone banking and laser focused on connecting with as many voters as possible to secure victory in November.”

    Despite Rep. Cuellar’s legal troubles, the Republicans aren’t seriously contesting his seat, so I’m going to ignore that one. Hard to run against a guy you would like to accuse of being crooked when your Presidential candidate is a 34-time felon with multiple other counts against him pending. Such is life.

    For the record, CD15 went 50.9 to 48.1 for Trump over Biden in 2020, while Biden carried CD34 by over 15 points. In 2022, Abbott beat Beto by six points in CD15 and lost to him by 13 points in CD34. To be blunt, I’m not worried about CD34.

    As far as this year goes, as noted Vallejo and Gonzalez are strong fundraisers, with assistance this year from the national Dems for Vallejo and the extra benefit of the coordinated campaign, and yes I still have to slap myself to remember that this is a thing we are doing, this year. I think if Harris and Allred can outperform Biden that boosts Vallejo, but de la Cruz ought to get some benefit from being the incumbent. How much the abortion issue plays a factor is a question I can’t answer. I’d say CD15 is lean Republican, perhaps on the line between that and tossup, but de la Cruz is a slight favorite.

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    Texas blog roundup for the week of October 14

    Posted on October 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    The thoughts and prayers of the Texas Progressive Alliance are with the people of Florida as we bring you this week’s roundup.

    Continue reading →

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    Interview with Kristin Hook

    Posted on October 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    Kristin Hook

    I said on Monday that I had reached out to the campaign of Dr. Kristin Hook in CD21 for an interview but hadn’t heard back. As fortune would have it, I got a reply from her later that morning, and so today I’ve got that interview for you. Kristin Hook is a native of Corpus Christi, a graduate of UT-Austin who became the first member of her family to get a doctorate. She spent three years teaching middle school science in New York as part of Teach for America, and did a post-graduate stint in the federal government, working for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for the National Institutes of Health, and the Government Accountability Office. She’s raised a decent amount of money in this red district and is running hard against the incumbent, the truly awful Rep. Chip Roy. Here’s what we talked about:

    I still just have the one more interview to go at this point, with Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, that will run next week. As with this interview, if that changes, I’ll run those interviews at the first opportunity. I’ve got more judicial Q&As to run as well. As always, please give me your feedback.

    PREVIOUSLY:

    Erica Lee Carter, CD18 special election
    Sylvester Turner, CD18 general election
    Lindsay London, Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance
    Plácido Gómez and Dani Hernandez, for the HISD bond
    Ruth Kravetz of CVPE, against the HISD bond.
    Katie Shumway, League of Women Voters Houston
    Teneshia Hudspeth, Harris County Clerk
    Katherine Culbert, Texas Railroad Commission
    Rhonda Hart, CD14
    Laurel Swift, HD121

    Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

    UH-Hobby Center: Cruz 50, Allred 46

    Posted on October 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    Just checking in.

    Colin Allred

    The Texas Senate race remains close just a week out from early voting, with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz up 4 percentage points over U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, according to a new statewide poll.

    The Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston survey found nearly enough voters remained undecided to make up the 51-46 difference in the Senate race, with 3% saying they still had not made up their mind between the two-term Republican senator and Dallas Democrat challenging him.

    […]

    The Hobby poll comes as the Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP super PAC working to flip control of the chamber, found Cruz led Allred by just 1 point, according to an internal memo obtained by Politico.

    The top of the ticket was close, as well, with former President Donald Trump holding a 5 percentage point lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, 51-46. Just 2% remained undecided in the presidential race.

    The Chron’s reporting of the race as 51-46 for Cruz is a typo – the Hobby Center landing page, their media release for the poll, and their full polling memo all have it at 50-46. These things happen.

    A few points to note:

    – Allred is tied with Kamala Harris, while Cruz is a point behind Trump. That’s a bit of a deviation from most other polls in which Allred has run ahead of Harris and Cruz behind Trump. This is one data point and it’s not that much of a deviation. I’m just making an observation.

    – This poll has Trump a point ahead of Harris with Latino voters, and Allred up by three over Cruz with Latino voters. A brief check of FiveThirtyEight suggests that this is not far out of line with other recent poll results. It is quite a bit out of line with the two polls we have seen that have focused specifically on Latino voters in Texas. I’m going to say what I was saying in 2020, which is that at least one of these is wrong. We’ll see who is closer to the mark.

    – On the flip side of that, the UH-Hobby poll has Harris getting 38% of white voters, with Trump getting 60%; the same margin exists in the Allred-Cruz race. That as much as anything explains why this polling is tighter than polling we had seen in the past. A lot of the links for past polling that I have are now broken, but here are two that still work:

    YouGov, October 31-November 3, 2012: Among white voters, Mitt Romney leads Barack Obama by a margin of 70-25 (page 2).

    CBS News, October 23, 2016: Among white voters, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by a margin of 63-26 (page 18 of 71).

    For many good reasons, lots of attention has been paid to trends in Latino voting in Texas and elsewhere. But as I have said, you can’t explain the big steps forward that Texas Democrats have made since 2016 without noting that a lot of people who used to vote Republican are now voting Democratic, and that necessarily means that a lot of white people who used to vote Republican are now voting Democratic. As with my observation above about the Latino poll numbers, the same is true for white voters, as Harris is getting between 34 and 38 percent in the latest polls listed. If she can get to 40%, I think she can win in Texas. Easier said than done, to be sure. But it’s a lot less crazy to contemplate now than it was not that long ago.

    – I assume we’ll see some more polls by Texas pollsters soon. I’m hopeful we’ll also see a decent poll of the HISD bond referendum. Show me the results, UH-Hobby Center.

    – In re: the Republican concern about the Allred-Cruz race, enjoy the worrying and the whining. It may ultimately come to nothing, but it’s fun while it lasts.

    Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

    Endorsement watch: The Chron gets on the “no trust, no bond” train

    Posted on October 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    Wow.

    The students of HISD shouldn’t have to worry if traces of lead are seeping into the water, past the district’s jerry-rigged mitigation efforts. Or whether a troubled individual with a semi-automatic can slip past a lack of fencing and secure entry vestibules at hundreds of campuses.

    We, the taxpayers who fund the state’s largest school district, should be willing to invest our hard-earned money to fix these things, and to build others — including more Pre-K classrooms and career and technology centers — for our young scholars who will someday become Houston’s workers and artists and parents and community organizers and political leaders.

    We should pay it forward the way past generations did for us. In normal times, that’s how public education is supposed to work.

    But these aren’t normal times. Voters are being asked to approve a $4.4 billion bond for HISD on the November ballot at a time when our school district is under state control, led by a state-appointed board of managers that replaced our democratically elected trustees and by a state-appointed superintendent who is wholly unaccountable to the community he serves.

    From the beginning, this editorial board made it clear that, if the takeover had to happen, we wanted Superintendent Mike Miles to succeed. Kids’ futures at chronically failing campuses depended on it. We also implored Miles to build trust among teachers, parents and the general community.

    At almost every turn, he failed to build that trust.

    His conversion of libraries into study hall/detention centers was almost Dickensian in its austerity — and especially bad optics at a time when some Texas political leaders were vilifying librarians and banning books across the state.

    Despite hopeful bumps in test scores last year, HISD is hemorrhaging students and staff, including veteran teachers and principals at higher-performing schools who’ve been abruptly fired or pushed out. Miles didn’t just fail to get teacher and parent buy-in on curriculum and scheduling changes, he often antagonized critics and dismissed their concerns as “whining” or “noise.”

    The scope of the state takeover seems ever-oozing, with Miles’ rigid New Education System model now in 130 schools and essentially reaching every campus, since even non-NES principals are evaluated on how well their teachers perform Miles’ preferred teaching methods. (Think daily quizzes, timers and multiple response strategies.) He seems bent on fixing what isn’t broken, which isn’t only a waste of limited resources, it’s potentially harmful if attempts to bring up the floor at low-performing campuses leave the ceilings sagging at higher-performing schools.

    At times, Miles has misled or reneged on promises, backtracking on some teacher bonuses, vowing no school closures and then unveiling a plan not to close but to “co-locate” 15 schools, preaching teacher effectiveness and then allowing 1 in every 5 HISD teachers to be uncertified.

    The “high quality” curriculum Miles touted as the cornerstone of his HISD reforms was actually written in real time, included worksheets with stilted passages and flat-out errors, according to teachers. It became clear in our recent meeting with Miles that he didn’t know the name — “Prof Jim Inc.” — of the Artificial Intelligence software writing some of it.

    From the get-go, Miles has been dogged by sloppy implementation, tone deaf communication and basic logistics flubs. It took weeks to get bus riders to school on time and the district is currently clawing back erroneous overpayments to some 4,000 teachers.

    […]

    Our gut is to support kids, including the ones at HISD campuses that our own kids attend. HISD hasn’t floated a bond focused on elementary schools since 2007 and frankly, we’ve gone back and forth on this decision. We’ve watched as groups take sides: organized labor including the Houston Federation of Teachers, and both Democratic and Republican parties are against. The Greater Houston Partnership, Houston Food Bank and Children at Risk are among the supporters.

    We were struck by a group of moms we met with, including early Miles allies, who explained why they couldn’t vote for the bond. One, whose child attends NES school Crockett Elementary, brought us a stack of worksheets, including those she says her son is forced to do in study hall after typically mastering class lessons early.

    Another HISD parent, Tish Ochoa, said, “Many of us were appointed by the board of managers or by Miles” and “came into that room saying, ‘We do support you and we want this to succeed and we want to collaborate with you.’” But they felt that when they asked in-depth questions, they weren’t answered, and their public information requests were “held up and held up.”

    As for us, when we studied the facts provided, scrubbed the plans, reviewed the history and talked with parents, teachers, elected officials and others who feel passionately on both sides, one question persisted:

    If taxpayers give the Miles administration the power to spend $4.4 billion of our money — nearly $9 billion with interest over some 30 years — what power do we have to make sure it’s spent properly?

    Answer: practically none.

    That’s a long quote, but I assure you, the full editorial is a lot longer. They did not spare any words. I remain unconvinced that anything will make Mike Miles think he’s not on the right path and ought to consider changing how he operates, but I understand why people see this as their best way of trying to do that anyway.

    I will refer you once again to my interviews with Plácido Gómez and Dani Hernandez for the HISD bond, and Ruth Kravetz of CVPE against the HISD bond. If you’re tired of me shilling for my own interviews on this topic, listen to Tuesday’s CityCast Houston, which features a debate between former HISD Trustee Judith Cruz, who is the co-chair of the bond’s community advisory committee, and HISD parent Traci Riley. One minor quibble: Cruz said at one point in regard to a question about the bond’s timing that the Board has preferred to have these elections during high turnout years. That would be true for 2012 and 2002, but very much not true for 2007, which was the lowest turnout election of this century until we started having odd years with no city of Houston activity. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but it was a record-scratch moment for me when I heard it, so I had to mention it here.

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    Judicial Q&A: Justice Meg Poissant

    Posted on October 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    (Note: As I have done in past elections, I am continuing the series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested November elections. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. Much more information about Democratic candidates who are on the ballot in Harris County, including links to the interviews and judicial Q&As done for March and for November, can be found on Erik Manning’s spreadsheet.

    Justice Meg Poissant

    1. Who are you and in which court do you preside?

    My name is Margaret “Meg” Poissant, and I am a Justice on the 14th Court of Appeals, Place 8.

    2. What kind of cases does this court hear?

    Our court reviews both civil and criminal appeals — except for post-conviction writs of habeas corpus and death-penalty cases — in a 10-county region. The region includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Harris, Waller, and Washington counties.

    3. What have been your main accomplishments during your time on this bench?

    Our court has met the standards provided by the legislature for the number of cases issued since being elected to the Court of Appeals in 2018. I understand the importance of a swift and fair resolution of appeals and am always aware of the importance of a well-reasoned and timely opinion, and if re-elected, will continue to adhere to these practices. During my tenure, I have made important decisions regarding parental terminations and premises liability cases, and have issued opinions in cases of first impression. I serve as chair of the Appellate Representation Committee for the Child Protection Section of the State Bar of Texas, which seeks to improve the quality and accessibility to the public of appellate counsel, served as a member of TDIC’s legislative work group, contributed to and am a member of the National Association of Women Judges diversity, equality, and inclusion committee, am a sustaining member of the Texas Bar Foundation and a Houston Bar Association Fellow, and a member of TACTAS, which advances the standards of the legal profession in civil and appellate law. I mentor young lawyers and participate in our Rice and law school intern programs.

    4. What do you hope to accomplish in your courtroom going forward?

    The Court of Appeals has an accessible and transparent court process for all, which includes our court website with information for lawyers and pro bono appellants, and the accessibility of all oral arguments on YouTube. However, access can still be improved. Enhancing legal aid resources, supporting pro-bono initiatives, mentoring new attorneys and those who want to enter the legal profession, and ensuring our courts are user-friendly, especially for those without legal representation, are continuous goals. We must also focus on outreach and education to ensure the justice system is accessible and equitable for all.

    5. Why is this race important?

    The Court of Appeals is often the last opportunity for parties to obtain justice or reverse a decision that is unjust or wrongly decided in a lower court. We hear appeals from ten counties; our decision is often the final decision in regard to anyone seeking fairness and equity because the Texas Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal appeals hear a limited number of cases.

    6. Why should people vote for you in November?

    I have served on the appellate bench for almost 6 years. Prior to my tenure as an appellate Justice, I practiced law for more than 30 years representing clients on both sides of the docket in civil law and criminal defense, in all areas of the law. Appellate justices decide appeals in all areas of the law, which makes me uniquely suited for this position. I believe public service is essential to maintaining a fair justice system, and I will always be committed to ensuring Texans receive equal justice.

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    Paxton lawsuit against Travis County over voter registration returned to state court

    Posted on October 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

    Is this even still germane?

    Still the only voter ID anyone should need

    A federal court on Thursday returned a lawsuit to state court that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had filed against Travis County over an effort to register voters before the November election.

    The federal court found that it did not have jurisdiction over the issue, as Travis County officials had argued, and it granted Paxton’s request that the lawsuit be returned to state court.

    The decision is the latest development in a bitter pre-election brawl between Republican state officials and Democratic county leaders. Republican leaders have maintained that they are trying to keep the state’s voter rolls secure ahead of a charged election, while Democrats, county officials and nonprofit groups have accused them of stoking baseless fears to suppress Democratic votes and to cast doubt on the election results.

    Here’s what you need to know.

    The background: In a bid to boost voter registrations, Travis County commissioners hired Civic Government Solutions in August to identify eligible voters living in the county who were not registered to vote. Travis County, a Democratic stronghold, includes Austin.

    Paxton sued Travis County officials on Sept. 5, arguing that the effort violated state law and claiming that it would register non-citizens who are ineligible to vote. He sought an emergency order to block the effort. The Travis County Court denied his request on Sept. 16.

    The next day, Travis County officials moved the suit to federal court, arguing that the voter outreach program was protected by the federal National Voter Registration Act, and that Paxton’s attempt to stop it was a violation of that law. County officials also sued Paxton for the same reason in a separate lawsuit in federal court.

    Thursday’s decision said that the National Voter Registration Act was meant to be applied in tandem with state law, and that Travis County officials failed to show that the issue fell under the federal court’s jurisdiction.

    […]

    In a separate, federal lawsuit filed on Sept. 17, Travis County officials accused Paxton and Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson of violating the federal Voting Rights Act by trying to prevent them from carrying out their duty to promote people’s right to vote. They accused Nelson of doing nothing to stop Paxton’s alleged conduct, and they argued that federal law not only allows them to send out the voter registration applications, but encourages them to do so.

    See here and here for the background. As we know, Paxton had filed a similar lawsuit against Bexar County but lost on an own goal when his office took so long filing the paperwork that Bexar County had already gone ahead with the registration forms by then, thus mooting the lawsuit. We’re past the voting registration deadline, so I’m not sure what is actually at stake here. I didn’t see any other stories in a Google news search, so this is all I know. Any lawyers who’d care to comment on that, I welcome your input.

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