Tag Archives: Texas

November 2024 early voting Day Eight: Second Monday

Posted on October 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’re in the second and final week of early voting. There are now four days of EV remaining. Your early voting results through Monday, Day Eight: 2024 2020 2016 2008 and 2012 The numbers after eight days of early voting … Continue reading →

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November 2024 early voting Day Seven: The weekend

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Just going to get right into it here. Your early voting results through Sunday, Day Seven: 2024 2020 2016 2008 and 2012 The numbers after seven days of early voting are Mail = 44,805 In Person = 686,937 Total = … Continue reading →

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Cruz files FEC complaint over Allred ads

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’m laughing. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign manager filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission Thursday, accusing U.S. Rep. Colin Allred’s campaign of illegally coordinating on television ads with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Cruz’s campaign cited a series … Continue reading →

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Abortion and the High Plains

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. Morgan Kirkpatrick was exhausted. The longtime Lubbock resident and State Board of Education candidate spent most of her morning with other local Democratic candidates campaigning door-to-door ahead of early voting next week. From there, she went to Mahon … Continue reading →

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Comparing early voting apples to apples

Posted on October 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s writeup of the first five days of early voting is an incomplete picture. Is turnout up or down in Texas in the 2024 election? It depends on how you look at it. Since early voting began Monday, more … Continue reading →

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UTSA poll for October: A little weird

Posted on October 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not really sure how to explain this other than to say polls be weird sometimes. A new survey from UTSA’s Center for Public Opinion Research indicated that in bright blue San Antonio, support has been growing for Democrat Colin Allred in his uphill … Continue reading →

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November 2024 early voting Day Five: The average so far

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’re at the end of the first week of early voting – I was able to wait for the Day Five report before writing this, so I’m caught up for now. It was a very busy week. Let’s take a … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton also doesn’t care if we execute an innocent man

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Shocking, I know, from such a moral paragon. A week after death row inmate Robert Roberson was set to die, the extraordinary quest to save his life has morphed into a deepening political battle between Texas House lawmakers and the … Continue reading →

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November 2024 early voting Day Three: Let’s not overanalyze this

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Lone Star Left caught my eye on Wednesday as they looked at the statewide early voting data so far. All day, I waited for a full update from the Secretary of State (SoS) regarding the Day 1 early voter turnout. … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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. … 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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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Make that 18.6 million registered voters

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a lot. 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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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. It’s déjà vu in South Texas. Texas’ two most competitive congressional races will feature rematches from … Continue reading →

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Interview with Kristin Hook

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

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 … Continue reading →

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UH-Hobby Center: Cruz 50, Allred 46

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Just checking in. 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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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? 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 … Continue reading →

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Interview with Laurel Swift

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We know that in our post-redistricting world there aren’t many legislative districts that are truly competitive, but sometimes opportunities arise where you hadn’t expected them. HD121, the San Antonio district that was once represented by Speaker Joe Straus, is nominally … Continue reading →

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On longshot candidates

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron looks at candidates running in districts they are highly unlikely to win. I have a few thoughts. In the 2022 election, a Houston Chronicle analysis found only about 5% of Texans lived in districts with competitive races for … Continue reading →

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A further clipping of Paxton’s wings

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This could be big. A federal magistrate judge has struck down a 100-plus year old Texas statute authorizing the state’s attorney general to investigate certain businesses and organizations for violating state laws. Judge Mark Lane of the Western District of … Continue reading →

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DACA at the Fifth Circuit

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A big week for that terrible court. On Thursday the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a case to determine the future of “Dreamers” who came to the country as children, including an estimated 27,000 Houstonians. The hearing is the latest … Continue reading →

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More of the omnibus voter suppression bill blocked

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Better (very) late than never. Certain provisions of Texas’ sweeping 2021 voting law that restrict voter assistance violate the federal Voting Rights Act and cannot be enforced, a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday. Among the rules struck down by … Continue reading →

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