Tag Archives: Election 2016

Turner prepares his exit from the Lege

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like we’ll have at least one more legislative special election this year. In 2003, state Rep. Sylvester Turner of Houston made the most definitive decision of his political career. Turner had arrived in the Texas House 14 years earlier, … Continue reading →

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Fletcher will run for Sheriff in 2016

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Not unexpected. The day after Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia announced he is running for mayor of Houston, Republican state Rep. Allen Fletcher of Cypress said he would abandon his House seat for a bid to replace Garcia. “I will … Continue reading →

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Adrian is in

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Speculation time is over. Ending months of speculation, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia has declared his candidacy for mayor of Houston Wednesday. Garcia, whose strong name recognition and deep law enforcement experience make him a likely frontrunner, will make his … Continue reading →

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To recuse or not to recuse

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

That is the question. More than a week after a judge who once worked for Rick Perry was tapped to hear an appeal in the former governor’s indictment, it’s still unclear whether he’ll see the case through. Legal experts say … Continue reading →

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More on Hillary Clinton’s 50-state strategy

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Again, I like what I’m hearing so far. Hillary Clinton had a message to relay in private meetings with state and local Democrats during her highly-choreographed swings through Iowa and New Hampshire this month: let me help you. The implication? … Continue reading →

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What about Bernie?

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Hillary Clinton has some company in the Democratic primary for President. There’s one question Democrats face as they head into the 2016 presidential election. How should they feel about Hillary Clinton? The coalition Barack Obama built happily came out to … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit to hear Texas voter ID appeal

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There’s more than one big appellate case being heard today. The Texas voter identification law will make a stop at a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Tuesday on a likely path to the U.S. Supreme Court. Texas Solicitor … Continue reading →

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Hillary Clinton’s Texas staffer

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here he is. Hillary Clinton is dispatching a full-time organizer to Texas, part of a 50-state strategy to build support for her presidential bid. Manfred Mecoy, the Texas grassroots organizer, is a Fort Worth native and University of Texas at … Continue reading →

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Ted Cruz still really dislikes gay people

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Though he’s happy to take their money if they’re foolish enough to offer it to him. Nobody tell the adoring fans at U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential announcement at Liberty University that he was palling around liberal New York City … Continue reading →

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More on the potential Hillary effect in Texas

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib, from shortly before Hillary Clinton made her official announcement. 2. She could resuscitate Texas’ Democratic farm teams. Beyond the presidency, Democrats are betting on gains in the U.S. House in 2016. They’ve got nowhere to go, they … Continue reading →

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Al Bennett confirmed to federal district court

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Great news. After months of delay, a unanimous U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Alfred Bennett to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, cracking open slightly a national logjam of judicial nominations and a backlog of … Continue reading →

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Castro-for-VP watch

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

He’s in “training camp”. His allure as a potential veep gives [HUD Secretary Julian] Castro a platform for the issues he cares about, and he is serious about governing and giving a voice to people struggling to get into the … Continue reading →

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Where’s Adrian?

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I suspect a lot of people have been wondering the same thing. Standing on the cusp of what could easily be the most competitive mayoral race in Houston history many wonder what Adrian Garcia is waiting for. Still officially on … Continue reading →

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Gallego-Hurd 2.0 is on

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

As anticipated. As expected, former U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego will seek to win back the congressional seat he lost to current U.S. Rep. Will Hurd. Hurd, R-San Antonio, ousted Gallego, D-Alpine, by a 2-point margin in 2014. The race for … Continue reading →

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National Dems say they’re looking at Farenthold’s seat

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll believe it when I see it. The hunt is on in Southeast Texas for a Democrat to challenge U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi. At first glance, it might seem like an absurd notion; Farenthold won re-election by a … Continue reading →

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Cruz may go on Obamacare

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Go ahead, laugh it up. You know you want to. Ted Cruz, one of the loudest critics of Obamacare, will soon be using it for health insurance coverage. “We will presumably go on the exchange and sign up for health … Continue reading →

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Cruzing for President

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I just have one thing to say about this. As Sen. Ted Cruz announces he will run for president, he likely has two things on his mind: money and Iowa. Cruz will formally enter the presidential race ahead of any … Continue reading →

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BGTX’s self-assessment

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly has a good overview of where Battleground Texas stands – and where the people inside it think they stand – two years and one electoral beatdown into their existence. Still, it’s the winners who write the history books. … Continue reading →

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Who would be Sheriff if Adrian Garcia runs for Mayor?

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

A Republican, for sure. Beyond that, we don’t know. County officials are preparing for Garcia to resign as sheriff, which he is required to do under the Texas Constitution if he chooses to run for mayor of Houston, as he … Continue reading →

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Gallego/Hurd 2.0 seems likely

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I won’t be surprised. A congressional rematch may be nigh in southwest Texas. National Democrats still reeling from their midterm clobbering are intent on picking up seats in 2016, and their eyes already are on Texas’ only competitive congressional district, … Continue reading →

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Redistricting update

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From Russ Tidwell, writing at Letters from Texas: There is well-established case law around redistricting that calls for creating a new minority opportunity district anytime a compact majority of a single minority group can be established (i.e., majority Black or … Continue reading →

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Morrison’s challenge

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I often said last year that I wanted to get through the 2014 elections before worrying too much about the 2015 ones. I feel the same way this year, and thus don’t plan to spend much time writing about 2016 … Continue reading →

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Garcia appears to be in for Mayor

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Not official yet, but stories like this don’t get run without justification. Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia is sending every possible message that he intends to run for mayor this year, aggressively increasing his political operations and signaling to some … Continue reading →

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On playing small ball

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Campos reacts to Mayor Parker’s future statewide plans. And here again is my small ball take from a few weeks ago: It is time for small ball instead of the big inning. In baseball, small ball is a strategy where … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker keeps looking forward

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Always in motion is the future, at least for Mayor Parker. Mayor Annise Parker left open the idea on Sunday that she would endorse one of the dozen candidates positioning to possibly succeed her, though she said she hoped to … Continue reading →

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Gilbert Pena

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Let the man have his victory lap, but let’s not read more into his victory than there is. By the time Harris County’s conservative leaders fished for their car keys at their Election Night watch party, there were few candidates … Continue reading →

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On BGTX, Wendy Davis, and the future

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This has been a pretty busy Christmas break, as far as blog-worthy news has gone, so in order to preserve the small illusion that I’m taking a breather and recharging my batteries, I’m just going to give three quick thoughts … Continue reading →

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Re-deputizing registrars

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Did you undergo the training to become a deputy voter registrar this year, perhaps at the urging of Battleground Texas? Well, you’re going to have to do it again if you want to register people for 2015 and/or 2016. A … Continue reading →

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Working for progress on LGBT issues

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’m always a little wary when I see a phrase like “chipping away” in a story about LGBT issues, but in this case it refers to obstacles, not hard-won victories, so it’s OK. The rights and interests of homosexual Texans … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against the office of Rep. Blake Farenthold

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Um, wow. A woman who worked for U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold filed a federal lawsuit against his congressional office, alleging she experienced gender-based discrimination and that a hostile work environment prompted her termination in July. Former Communications Director Lauren Greene … Continue reading →

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Three thoughts on the state of the Mayor’s race

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Inspired by this story, which doesn’t name any potential additions to the ever-large field of Mayoral wannabes for 2015 but which does put some things in context. Most observers consider Rep. Sylvester Turner, with his support base from the African-American … Continue reading →

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Once again with Anglo Dems and Anglo voters

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Time once again for the biennial eulogy for Anglo Democrats in the Texas Legislature. When Donna Howard of Austin won a seat in the Texas House in 2006, she was the only white woman among Democrats in the state Legislature. … Continue reading →

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A look at how Democratic legislative challengers did against the spread

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s been long enough since the election that I feel like I can go back and look at some numbers. Not a whole lot of good out there, but we’ll try to learn what we can. To start off, here … Continue reading →

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Henry Martinez named as interim Constable

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Congratulations. A 23-year veteran of the Houston Community College police department will succeed the disgraced Victor Trevino as constable in Precinct Six, county officials announced Monday, elevating a Latino officer who promises to have no aspirations to become a Latino … Continue reading →

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