Tag Archives: fundraising

Five for fleeing

Posted on September 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There goes another one. U.S. Rep. Bill Flores announced Wednesday morning that he would not run for reelection in 2020 — making him the fifth Texas Republican to announce his retirement from Congress. “Serving my country as the Representative of … Continue reading →

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How many Congressional seats are really in play for Texas Dems?

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

By one measure, more than you probably think. From Jonathan Tilove of the Statesman: Last weekend, I read an interview in Salon with Rachel Bitecofer, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. She is also an … Continue reading →

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We’re up to three candidates running against Steve Radack

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Former State Rep. Kristi Thibaut announced her entry into the race to take on longtime Commissioner Steve Radack this week. You can find her campaign Facebook page here. I had previously noted some chatter about her possible candidacy. This is … Continue reading →

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The psychological shift

Posted on August 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. [Democratic operative Jason] Stanford has a theory about how [Texas Democratic] angst started. He says it began with the 1996 U.S. Senate race in Texas. Democrats were recovering from losing two years … Continue reading →

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Tzintzún Ramirez gets off to a quick start

Posted on August 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Impressive. Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez raked in more than $200,000 in the 24 hours after she announced her run for Senate, her campaign said today — giving her a quick start as she tries to catch up to the several other … Continue reading →

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CD23 update

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The Rivard Report takes a look at the state of play in CD23 following Rep. Will Hurd’s surprise retirement. In the wake of Hurd’s announcement, former U.S. Navy officer Tony Gonzales, a Republican, has entered the race. Gonzales was not … Continue reading →

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Raising money to register Republicans

Posted on August 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Just keeping an eye on things. A new super PAC focused on registering new Republican voters in Texas has raised nearly $10 million from some of the state’s biggest GOP donors, according to its first report to the Federal Election … Continue reading →

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July 2019 campaign finance reports: Open City Council seats, part 2

Posted on July 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We come down to the last three open Council seats to examine, all the result of term-limited incumbents. The first post, with Districts A, B, and C, is here, and the rest of the non-Mayoral races is here. As before, … Continue reading →

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July 2019 campaign finance reports: Open City Council seats, part 1

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are seven more Council races to examine, all open seats thanks to a couple of incumbents either stepping down (Steve Le in F) or running for something else (Dwight Boykins in D, at least for now). I’m going to … Continue reading →

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Davis raises $250K on her first day as a candidate

Posted on July 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Well, that would be one reason why people wanted her to run. Former Texas Sen. Wendy Davis raked in more than $250,000 in the first 24 hours after she announced her bid for U.S. Rep. Chip Roy’s 21st District seat … Continue reading →

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Wendy Davis is in for CD21

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

For some reason it hadn’t occurred to me that this was likely to happen on Monday. And here we are. Former Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis is running for Congress. Early Monday morning, Davis announced her candidacy for the Democratic … Continue reading →

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July 2019 campaign finance reports: Congress

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s move over to Congress and the Senate, where there are several new candidates, with more on the way. The January roundup is here, which closed out the 2017-18 election cycle, and the April report is here. For comparison, the … Continue reading →

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July 2019 campaign finance reports: Incumbents and challengers for Council and Controller

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Let me start by saying that I began this post before Amanda Edwards became a candidate for Senate. I’m going to keep the AL4 race in here, in part to include Edwards’ June report totals, and in part because I’m … Continue reading →

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Amanda Edwards joins the Senate race

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

And then there were three, with a fourth likely to follow and a fifth out there as a possibility. Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards announced Thursday morning she is running for U.S. Senate, joining an increasingly crowded primary to challenge … Continue reading →

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Looks like Wendy Davis is in for CD21

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Wendy Davis is getting support from some of the highest-ranking Democrats in Congress — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — as she appears to move closer to run for Texas’ 21st Congressional District. Pelosi and other House leaders have … Continue reading →

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July 2019 campaign finance reports: Mayoral candidates

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

All right, now that we are past the 15th, most of the campaign finance reports are in, so let’s start reviewing them. Because there are several thousand candidates running for office in Houston, I’m going to split them into several … Continue reading →

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We’ll have a much better idea of who the candidates are soon

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are a lot of people filing to run for Congress as Democrats. It remains to be seen how many of them are viable. Three times as many Democrats have already filed to run for Congress in Texas this year … Continue reading →

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Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls will step down

Posted on July 13, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That sound you hear is a domino falling. Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls announced Wednesday that he would not seek a third term in 2020. “My work in law enforcement, it’s been an honor and a privilege,” said Nehls. … Continue reading →

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We have a candidate in CD06

Posted on July 12, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A Waxahachie Democrat who is business partners with Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is running for Congress in 2020 against Rep. Ron Wright, an Arlington Republican who was first elected to office last year. Stephen Daniel, an attorney, on … Continue reading →

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You want to be President, you’ve got to come to Houston

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

And so they are. No Democratic candidate for president has won Texas in over 40 years, and yet the flow of Democratic contenders coming through the state, and Houston specifically, has been unusually strong in 2019. Just since March, 14 … Continue reading →

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The Straus PAC

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what this does. Former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican, announced Wednesday he was launching a new political action committee that he said will aim to help him continue to carry out “a thoughtful, responsible … Continue reading →

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What about Royce?

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Gromer Jeffers examines the question of whether State Sen. Royce West will jump into the Democratic primary for US Senate in 2020. For several months, there’s been speculation that Democrats, against the wishes of some party leaders and donors, will … Continue reading →

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Scouting the opposition in CD07

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Not impressed so far. Facing a roomful of conservative voters at a meet-and-greet earlier this month, Republican Wesley Hunt laid out the stakes for his party’s primary in Texas’ 7th Congressional District. “This is about putting the best candidate forward … Continue reading →

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In which I plead for a boon from national writers

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Dear national political writers: The former Texas congressman and one-time Senate hopeful has attended at least 67 Iowa town halls, driven nearly 3,000 miles across the state, and hired dozens of staffers there. He’s tall, white, charismatic, and handsome—traits that should serve … Continue reading →

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Joaquin is out for Senate

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, it’s hard to see this as a surprise. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro has decided not to seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. John Cornyn, choosing instead to continue pursuing a fast-rising career in Congress focusing on … Continue reading →

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Today is Joaquin Castro Decision Day

Posted on May 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

At least, that’s what we were told last week. Maybe it won’t be today but a few days later. In any event, it’s safe to say that expectations are not high right now. “I would say at this point, he’s … Continue reading →

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Two items about MJ Hegar and John Cornyn

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Ross Ramsey makes an obvious but necessary point about the fight MJ Hegar hopes to have with John Cornyn. It was money that made [Hegar’s close race in 2018 against Rep. John Carter] possible, just as money made O’Rourke’s challenge … Continue reading →

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April 2019 campaign finance reports: Congress

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s April, and that means it’s time once again to review campaign finance reports for Congressional candidates. The January roundup is here, which closed out the 2017-18 election cycle; these reports are the first ones for the 2019-20 cycle. A … Continue reading →

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So what’s with Joaquin?

Posted on April 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Nobody knows but him. From the nation’s capitol to the state capitol, the scuttlebutt was that Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro would announce within days — if not hours — his campaign for U.S. Senate. That was four weeks ago. … Continue reading →

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Hegar is in for the Senate

Posted on April 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Boom. Former Democratic congressional candidate MJ Hegar is running for U.S. Senate in 2020. Hegar, a former Air Force helicopter pilot, mounted a high-profile bid to unseat U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, in November, fueled by attention-grabbing ads and … Continue reading →

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They’re coming for Cornyn

Posted on April 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s bring it on. Texas Democrats are launching a multimillion-dollar initiative to help take down U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, regardless of who they ultimately choose as their nominee next year. Emboldened after their gains in 2018 — including the … Continue reading →

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Kulkarni 2.0

Posted on April 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Glad to see this. Democrat Sri Kulkarni, an ex-foreign service officer who last year came within five points of unseating U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, announced Thursday he is challenging the Sugar Land Republican anew in Texas’ 22nd Congressional District. Making … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2018 Congress

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The 2018 Congressional races were the most expensive, the most hotly and broadly contested, and by far the most attention-grabbing races in the non-Beto division. We hadn’t seen anything remotely like it since the 2004 DeLay re-redistricting year, but we … Continue reading →

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Beto’s first day haul

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

He’s still got it. Beto O’Rourke raised $6.1 million for his presidential campaign in his first 24 hours as a candidate, beating every other 2020 Democrat who has disclosed first-day figures, according to his campaign. The haul surpasses that of … Continue reading →

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