Tag Archives: Beto O’Rourke

The Trib profiles Talarico

Posted on September 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. About 20 minutes into his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Texas Rep. James Talarico started making his case that the Bible sanctions abortion. In the Book of Luke, the Austin Democrat noted, Mary has a vision from God … Continue reading →

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Powered by People gets another win in court

Posted on September 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is all still temporary and preliminary, but it’s also still good. Every time it looks like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is getting the best of Beto O’Rourke in court, the former El Paso congressman pulls off another victory. … Continue reading →

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A brief note about another poll

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Public Opinion Research: Hey y’all, welcome back! In today’s TPOR installment, we’re diving into the findings from our latest poll on the 2026 Senate race—tracking voter preferences in a hypothetical Democratic primary, and examining the state of play … Continue reading →

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Talarico’s announcement

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And we’re off. Texas Rep. James Talarico launched his bid for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, promising in an interview to bring honesty and compassion back to politics, while pursuing a fairer distribution of wealth and power in the country. “It’s … Continue reading →

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Talarico says he’s in for Senate

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s go. Texas Rep. James Talarico will announce Tuesday he’s jumping into the race for U.S. Senate, according to two people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss them. Politico and CNN reported the plan earlier Friday. … Continue reading →

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Paxton throws a fit over being slowed down by Republican judges

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

There sadly isn’t a good straight news (non-paywalled) story about this, but Raw Story has a decent summary. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took to X on Wednesday to rage against state appeals court judges after they paused discovery in … Continue reading →

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Beto scores a win against Paxton

Posted on August 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. An El Paso judge this week temporarily stopped Attorney General Ken Paxton from prosecuting former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s political group, Powered by People, after Paxton moved to block the organization from financially supporting Texas Democrats who left the … Continue reading →

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Everything happens on Tuesday

Posted on August 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Hey, remember when I said yesterday that there was still no quorum and not much had happened? That was then, this is now. The Supreme Court will take its sweet time in deciding on those quo warranto filings to expel … Continue reading →

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Comparing the districts

Posted on August 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

As I write this on Sunday, there’s a lot we don’t know about how this saga ends. I feel confident saying that at some point there will be a quorum and a new map will be passed. Beyond that is … Continue reading →

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Quorum break Day 5 roundup: Help an ideological enemy out?

Posted on August 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Hilarious. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dustin Burrows are asking an Illinois court to enforce arrest warrants against Democratic lawmakers who have left the state to delay passage of a GOP-backed congressional map. Burrows issued civil arrest … Continue reading →

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Quorum break Day 3 roundup: Of course there’s a bomb threat

Posted on August 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose something like this was inevitable. Texas House Democrats in Illinois to block GOP redistricting were evacuated from their hotel Wednesday morning due to a bomb threat, lawmakers and local police said. A press conference scheduled for 12:30 p.m. … Continue reading →

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Quorum break Day 2 roundup: Paxton hauls out a big threat

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

He seems destined to fail, but we’re going to go through the motions anyway, I guess. Attorney General Ken Paxton will ask for a court ruling declaring vacant the seats of any lawmakers who are not back to work by … Continue reading →

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So is there a map yet or not?

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Hard to believe Republicans are flying blind on this. While the Republican redistricting effort is underway in Texas, the fight is on nationally. So, too, is the wait, as political observers – and anxious politicians – hold on for the … Continue reading →

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Is Talarico leaning towards a Senate run?

Posted on July 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like it. Texas state Rep. James Talarico hasn’t yet decided if he will run for the U.S. Senate, but he’s taken a key step to lay the groundwork. Talarico, an Austin Democrat, registered the internet domain name “TalaricoForSenate.com,” which … Continue reading →

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Opening look at the re-redistricting effort

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

They’re coming for our districts. More than one million Houstonians could have new congressional representation as early as next year under Gov. Greg Abbott’s push to redraw the state’s political maps. Abbott has ordered the Texas Legislature into a special … Continue reading →

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A sudden surge in potential candidates

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg may be running for Governor. Sources say former Mayor Ron Nirenberg has been telling fellow Democrats he’s considering a run for governor in 2026 — a potentially grueling race against the formidable Republican Gov. … Continue reading →

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Allred 2.0 launches

Posted on July 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

He’s back. Democrat Colin Allred launched his campaign for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, making a second run at the upper chamber after failing to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz last year. “Texans are working harder than ever, not getting as … Continue reading →

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Virts becomes first official Dem Senate candidate

Posted on June 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Surely not the last. Terry Virts, a former astronaut and International Space Station commander, announced Monday he is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas as a Democrat. With his campaign launch, Virts became the first Democrat to join what … Continue reading →

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The Paxton opportunity

Posted on June 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From Axios: A new private GOP poll is showing Republicans facing a growing problem in the Texas Senate race, the third such survey in just a month. Why it matters: Republicans haven’t lost a statewide race in Texas in more than three decades, … Continue reading →

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A few 2026 statewide candidate tidbits

Posted on June 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This Politico story is mostly a lot of chatter from Texas Dems who have many different opinions about what kind of candidates ought to be running statewide next year. I’m not interested in that, but there were some newsy bits … Continue reading →

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Add Rep. Talarico to the “thinking about running for Senate” list

Posted on June 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Join the party, there’s plenty of room. State Rep. James Talarico, a former schoolteacher who often goes viral on social media for his feisty exchanges with Republicans, told Hearst Newspapers he is considering a bid for the U.S. Senate in … Continue reading →

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Tarrant county does mid-decade redistricting and gets sued over it

Posted on June 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

First there was this. The Tarrant County Commissioners Court could get a bigger conservative majority next year under a new map passed Tuesday. Republican Commissioners Manny Ramirez, Matt Krause and County Judge Tim O’Hare voted to adopt the map. Democratic … Continue reading →

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There’s a lot of Dems looking at the Senate race

Posted on May 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, from Thursday’s “Texas take with Jeremy Wallace” newsletter. The more endangered U.S. Sen. John Cornyn looks in early polling against Ken Paxton in the GOP primary, the more Democrats are buzzing. While a Democrat has not won … Continue reading →

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Beto 3.0?

Posted on May 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe. Beto O’Rourke, a one-time Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and Texas Governor, is holding town halls across the state. It’s the kind of thing someone running for office would do. O’Rourke is not currently a candidate, but on Saturday … Continue reading →

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Walz and Beto host Fort Bend town hall

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

In case you’re looking for something to do. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke are coming to Fort Bend County for a Congressional town hall event Thursday. The town hall will take place from 6 to 7:30 … Continue reading →

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Is this the year Tarrant County finally goes blue?

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe. “Tarrant County is the 15th-largest county in the country, so it should get a lot of attention. And it’s the third-largest county in Texas, so it makes sense that there would be a lot of focus there,” said Mark … Continue reading →

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Some finance and fundraising bits

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Colin Allred keeps raking it in. U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised $30.3 million for his Senate campaign in the third quarter of the year, outpacing U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s haul over the same three-month period, according to figures announced by … Continue reading →

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The “Can Allred win?” question

Posted on October 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

At least we’re asking the question. Usually, we don’t even get that. Democrats are closing the gap in their uphill campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, with polls showing improvement for Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and national Democrats’ … Continue reading →

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National attention on the Allred-Cruz race

Posted on June 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Things are a little different now than they were in 2018. Also, Dems have very few even remotely realistic pickup opportunities this cycle, so. With more than four months left before Election Day 2018, Democrat Beto O’Rourke had campaigned in … Continue reading →

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Allred maintains his fundraising pace

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna need to keep that going. U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million for his U.S. Senate campaign in this year’s first quarter, surpassing the campaign of his rival Sen. Ted Cruz. Notably, Allred has also raised more money … Continue reading →

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Does Ted Cruz think he might lose?

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Who knows what he thinks? U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign is warning donors this week that he’s already tied with Colin Allred and bracing for a tougher 2024 reelection campaign than GOP voters might expect. The push comes less than … Continue reading →

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January 2024 campaign finance reports – Senate

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY: State offices Harris County offices The field is set, with one more person than we had in October. Again, until we’ve narrowed this down to at most two, I’ll do this separately from the Congressional candidates. Here are the … Continue reading →

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SCOTx declines to revive oligarch nuisance lawsuit against Beto

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Texas Supreme Court said Friday it would not consider Republican megadonor Kelcy Warren’s defamation lawsuit against former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke after a state appeals court dismissed it earlier this year. The all-GOP court denied Warren’s petition … Continue reading →

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Time for another chat about voter registration and turnout

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s do it. Texas Democrats came away from Beto O’Rourke’s surprisingly narrow 2018 defeat to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz with a simple plan: register to vote the millions of nonvoting Texans that demographics suggest lean Democrat and electoral victories will … Continue reading →

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