Tag Archives: Beto O’Rourke

Do the people who deal with the Railroad Commission care who’s on it?

Posted on June 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

History suggests the answer is no, not really. But maybe this time will be different. There’s gotta be a line somewhere. Right? After a Republican primary that focused on fighting Sharia law and diversity policies, the general election for a … Continue reading →

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National Dems to help target Texas House seats

Posted on June 6, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Keep it up. National Democrats on Wednesday unveiled their most ambitious list of targets in the Texas House in years, adding a dozen districts, on top of three previously announced seats, to their battleground docket for the fall midterms. … Continue reading →

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Another case for Talarico’s chances

Posted on May 31, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From Nate Cohn in the NYT: After a decade of big talk from Democrats about Texas, it’s understandable that people could harbor some doubt about flipping the nation’s largest red state. Judging by presidential election results, Democrats barely made any … Continue reading →

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Talarico’s path to victory

Posted on May 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the pitch. In the end, James Talarico and Democrats got the matchup they had been salivating over for months. Within two hours of Ken Paxton’s GOP primary win on Tuesday, Talarico had hauled in $600,000 — the strongest two … Continue reading →

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Some early thoughts about the 2026 primary runoffs

Posted on May 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

A few of my thoughts and a few from other people… – There were 114,059 votes cast in the Democratic runoff in Harris County, with 552,678 in the Lite Guv race. (There’s no way I can see to get the … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick has the blues

Posted on April 10, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Not the sort of thing our boy Danno usually says. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday said Texas Republicans are “going to have a tough time” holding onto their majority in the state House this fall, the latest and perhaps … Continue reading →

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The TDP coordinated statewide campaign

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Works for me. A coalition of the biggest Democratic groups in Texas on Tuesday unveiled a new effort to pool their resources to help candidates with overhead costs that can devour campaign coffers, build a data hub to analyze stats … Continue reading →

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Of course Republicans have a big financial edge in the statewide races

Posted on January 20, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

What did you expect? Republicans running for state-level offices in Texas vastly outraised their Democratic counterparts in the second half of 2025, raising questions about whether the minority party’s statewide nominees will have enough resources to seize on what is … Continue reading →

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The full slate

Posted on December 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

In case you hadn’t heard. A Democrat is running in every state and federal race on the Texas ballot next year, the first time in modern state history that either party has fielded a full slate of candidates, according to … Continue reading →

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The Congressional situation in Texas

Posted on December 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I’m always happy to see stories like this. The main group working to elect Democrats to the U.S. House announced Wednesday it sees a path to victory in a district that Texas Republicans just redrew to be more GOP-friendly. The … Continue reading →

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How aggressive will Dems be in legislative races?

Posted on December 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is a good start, but I hope they ratchet it up from there. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the party’s national arm that targets legislative races, announced Wednesday that it plans to put resources into Texas next year for … Continue reading →

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The latest UH/Hobby poll has some red flags for Republicans

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

First, the headline stories, which don’t interest me much. Ken Paxton and John Cornyn are effectively tied in the Republican primary race for U.S. Senate, with 34% of voters backing Paxton and 33% supporting Cornyn. 22% support Wesley Hunt. Jasmine … Continue reading →

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Talarico rakes it in

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Impressive. State Rep. James Talarico raised $6.2 million in the first three weeks of his bid for Senate, his campaign announced Wednesday, a massive haul that far outpaces the earliest fundraising numbers tallied by recent Democratic statewide hopefuls. The staggering … Continue reading →

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The “who’s running for Governor” question again

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’ll be there until there’s a final answer. Even as some Texas Democrats are optimistic about their chances in next year’s midterm elections, the party’s most recognizable names are so far avoiding the chance to take on Gov. Greg Abbott, … Continue reading →

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Talarico passes the first test

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Fundraising. What did you think I was going to say? In his first public appearance after launching his U.S. Senate bid, state Rep. James Talarico said he had sprinted over the highest hurdle a first-time candidate for statewide office must … Continue reading →

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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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