Tag Archives: redistricting

If you’re looking for a focal point

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Democrats will have no shortage of opportunities to play offense in 2012, but if you want to get a head start on that, I have a suggestion. Here’s a bit from this story about Commissioner Sylvia Garcia’s electoral defeat to … Continue reading →

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Beyond today

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m having a hard time right now thinking about anything past last night, but here’s a Trib story from Sunday that takes a look ahead to the legislative and other battles that will follow. I think you can take some … Continue reading →

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The fate of the city propositions

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This Chron story could easily have been headlined “A bunch of people take wild guesses about what will happen to the city ballot propositions”. Political analysts say the fate of the three propositions may be tied together for some Houstonians … Continue reading →

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Another look ahead at redistricting

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The short version of this Chron story is basically “Republicans would like to control every aspect of the redistricting process, while Democrats would at least like to win the Governor’s office and maintain some semblance of parity in the House”. … Continue reading →

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Matt Angle’s mission

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Good story in Mother Jones about Matt Angle and the Texas Trust, which was founded in the aftermath of the Tom DeLay-generated re-redistricting of 2003, after which Angle – chief of staff for then-Rep. Martin Frost – found himself out … Continue reading →

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Interview with State Sen. John Whitmire

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Next up is State Sen. John Whitmire of SD15. Known as the “Dean” of the Senate, Whitmire was elected to the House in 1972 – the same year as Rep. Senfronia Thompson – and moved to the upper chamber in … Continue reading →

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The residency referendum

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, Houston will get two more City Council districts after the 2010 Census is completed. To allow potential candidates sufficient time to adjust to the new map, Council will put a charter amendment on the ballot that reduces … Continue reading →

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Nightly News Update: One Last Time

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Greg Wythe

Kuff will be return soon enough after camping out with Sasquatch, Jason Voorhees, and the wild Basselope of Bloom County. If he were here, these might be things he’d be tempted to remark on. Since he’s not, here’s me running … Continue reading →

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Council redistricting news

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Campos had an interesting tidbit from the other day. The H-Town City Council [Wednesday] morning started discussing next year’s redistricting process. Instead of creating a city council committee on redistricting, the H-Town Mayor mentioned that she will probably let the … Continue reading →

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Redistricting hearing in San Antonio

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s that time of the decade again. Monday’s joint hearing of the House Committees on Redistricting and Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence — on the University of Texas at San Antonio’s downtown campus — marked the unofficial kickoff for that process. … Continue reading →

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The alternate Congressional universe

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Since I brought up redistricting yesterday, here’s an interesting thought experiment for you: What might the state’s Congressional delegation look like today if the 2003 DeLay-orchestrated re-redistricting had never happened? I’ll leave it to you to peruse the maps and … Continue reading →

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An early look at redistricting

Posted on June 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The House Redistricting Committee is holding some hearings around the state in advance of the 2011 Census reports, and if there’s one thing we know already, it’s that West Texas will be losing influence next year. The state population increased … Continue reading →

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Knock, knock, Census calling

Posted on May 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

They won’t be knocking on my door, but they’ll be knocking on a bunch of other ones. When census enumerators set out this Saturday, they could encounter a range of responses at the 48 million addresses they need to check. … Continue reading →

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Not too bad a job returning those Census forms

Posted on May 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We did better than in 2000. Houston, Harris County and Texas each exceeded their 2000 Census mail-in return rates this year while falling short of the national rate, according to final figures released Wednesday. In Houston, 67 percent of those … Continue reading →

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Why these term limits?

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

David Mincberg has an op-ed about the city’s term limits law that makes some interesting points but doesn’t quite get at the issue of whether the system we actually have now is the best way to meet the goals of … Continue reading →

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Counting inmates where they’re from, not where they’re incarcerated

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve noted before that prisoners in Texas are considered for Census purposes to be residents of the county in which they are incarcerated, not the county where they were actually living at the time of their arrest. This tends to … Continue reading →

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One more reason why you should have filled out your Census form

Posted on April 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From the Texas Legislative Council’s 2010 Redistricting report, on page 9: Although the total state populations for the [Census Bureau] 2009 estimate (24,782,302) and the [State Data Center] 2010 projection (24,330,612) are close, and the ideal house district populations for … Continue reading →

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A redistricting compromise?

Posted on April 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know how realistic this is, but if an agreement on how to divvy up the new Congressional districts can be worked out before the start of the legislative session, it would at least allow for more attention to … Continue reading →

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The redistricting battle is fought one State House seat at a time

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the State House version of the DCCC. With 2011 being a redistricting year, the DLCC takes a more prominent role in the November elections than it would in other years, and with the … Continue reading →

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Census forms start arriving next week

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Fill out those forms and send them back, because redistricting and all that it entails will follow close behind. Experts’ early looks at Census estimates point to a potential new congressional district in northwest Harris County. That could be alluring … Continue reading →

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The Census and redisticting

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Mustafa Tameez has an op-ed in today’s Chron about the importance of the Census from a political perspective. Remember redistricting? Redistricting is the process by which the boundaries of elective districts are periodically redrawn to maintain equal representation on the … Continue reading →

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Stand up and be counted

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Please participate in the Census. Nothing good happens when you don’t. When the new, condensed census form arrives in the mail during the second week in March, each recipient’s decision about whether to toss it in the trash or fill … Continue reading →

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Please count everyone

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves was in Laredo on Monday trying to ease some anxiety among residents there about the upcoming Census. Border counties, flush with residents fearful of being turned over to immigration agents, are historically among the … Continue reading →

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Still for Kip

Posted on January 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. Kip Averitt may not want to run for re-election, but there’s still some folks who want to vote for him anyway. Chris DeCluitt, a Waco lawyer who sits on the State Republican Executive Committee, said a movement was … Continue reading →

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Texas keeps growing

Posted on December 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Every year it’s the same thing – there are a lot more Texans than there were the year before. U.S. Census estimates released Wednesday show that Texas added more residents than any other state in the year ending July 1. … Continue reading →

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BAE Systems

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this story, concerning Sealy-based SAE Systems and the $2.6 billion contract with the Defense Department to build Army trucks that it’s on the verge of losing after 17 years. We first heard about … Continue reading →

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Lucio says he wants to run for Congress

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. Eddie Lucio is looking ahead to 2011 and the possibility that there’s a seat in Congress for him. State Sen. Eddie Lucio says he will seriously consider running for Congress after the next round of redistricting, which takes … Continue reading →

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DNC to help fund state races?

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Texas Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie said today the Democratic National Committee next year may put money into Texas House races because of their importance in drawing new congressional maps in 2011. Texas is expected to gain three to four … Continue reading →

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The state of the Governor’s race

Posted on August 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So we know that Tom Schieffer is in. So are Mark Thompson and Felix Alvarado. Ronnie Earle may or may not be in. Hank Gilbert now says that he’s in. Kinky (sigh) is fixing to be in. Some people think … Continue reading →

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Irving proposes district council lines

Posted on August 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Greg shows a map of the proposed new district City Council lines in Irving, which as this DMN story notes would likely unseat two current Council members and might have an effect on HD105 next year. I keep following this … Continue reading →

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Stenholm speaks

Posted on August 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a really interesting interview with former Rep. Charlie Stenholm, who represented the Abilene-centered 17th District until it was redistricted into what is now the Lubbock-centered 19th in 2003. Stenholm was a founder of the Blue Dogs, and while there … Continue reading →

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(Don’t) Run Everywhere, Dallas-style

Posted on July 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Remember when Dallas was a stronghold for the state GOP? Those days are long gone. After two straight losing cycles that forced them out of power, Dallas County Republicans will feature a scaled-down ticket for the 2010 elections. Party Chairman … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick on legislative reforms

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I realize that Sen. Dan Patrick writing an article for the Texas Observer is a bit like Geneva Kirk Brooks having a byline in Playboy, but give the man his due: He raises some very good points in his piece … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead to City Council redistricting

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Prof. Murray and Greg take a look at the upcoming redistricting of Houston City Council, with the latter offering a possible map of the to-be-11 districts. I have two things to add to their efforts. One is to wonder just … Continue reading →

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