Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Fort Cavazos

For a number of reasons, Tuesday was a good day. One of the U.S. military’s largest bases has been renamed after the Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. Fort Hood, located about 70 miles north of Austin, Texas, was redesignated on … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One more thing about abortion and polling

Just wanted to add one thing to my earlier post about abortion as a political/campaign issue in Texas in 2023-24. In addition to the question of support for or opposition to abortion, most polls also ask questions about what issues … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What does abortion as a political issue really look like in Texas now?

In my earlier post about what the likely Biden/Trump rematch looks like in Texas, I said that abortion really wasn’t tested here as a political issue in 2022. I said I’d like to see it be a real focus for … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Two “Trump Train” defendants settle

Interesting. Two of the eight Trump supporters accused of participating in a “politically-motivated conspiracy” by closely following, honking at and slowing down a campaign bus for President Joe Biden on a Texas highway in the weeks leading up to the … Continue reading

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Sen. Gutierrez talks about 2024

He’s officially still thinking about it and will announce after the session. I’d say it’s a strong bet he’s already decided to run. State Senator Roland Gutierrez said Wednesday he’s going to wait before deciding on running for U.S. Senate. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

On the (likely) future Biden/Trump matchup

It’s way too early to pay any attention to state polling, but there are a few general principles to discuss here. President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid on Tuesday, setting up a potential rematch with former President Donald Trump … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024, The making of the President | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sen. Gutierrez appears to be getting set to challenge Ted Cruz

Very interesting. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat who has become a fierce champion of the families impacted by the Uvalde school shooting, is likely to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024, The Texas Tribune … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Precinct analysis: Looking back at the 2012 landscape

PREVIOUSLY: State House 2022 We’ve had our first look at the way the new State House districts performed, and while we can expect the 2024 election to be a little different, it’s clear at this time that there aren’t many … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Precinct analysis: State House 2022

We have data. Texas Democrats and Republicans are beginning to gear up for a presidential election cycle in which opportunities to flip seats for Congress and the Legislature appear limited. It’s a natural outcome after Republicans redrew legislative and congressional … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The unhinged abortion pill lawsuit hearing

What a shitshow. The future of medication abortion in the United States remains up in the air after a federal judge heard arguments Wednesday in a suit challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s long-standing approval of mifepristone. U.S. District Judge … Continue reading

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The hearing for that unhinged abortion pill lawsuit is today

Like I said, brace yourselves. A federal judge in Texas will hear arguments Wednesday in a closely watched dispute that could halt distribution of a key drug used for medication abortion and disrupt access nationwide, even in states where reproductive rights are protected. … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The unhinged abortion pills lawsuit will take place in darkness

Nothing about this is good. The Texas judge who could undo government approval of a key abortion drug has scheduled the first hearing in the case for Wednesday but took unusual steps to keep it from being publicized, according to … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

So whose fault is the Sidney Powell lawsuit dismissal?

My reaction to the news that the lawsuit brought by the State Bar of Texas against Trump nutcase lawyer Sidney Powell was being dismissed was that it was the State Bar’s fault for screwing up the paperwork. The DMN editorial … Continue reading

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A win for butterflies

I’m sure this will end up in court, but it’s still a good thing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday declared the prostrate milkweed an endangered species and mandated new habitat protections for the plant, closing a chapter … Continue reading

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Sidney Powell beats State Bar charges

I’m upset about this on two levels. A state district judge dismissed a Texas state bar disciplinary case against Dallas attorney Sidney Powell for her role in disputing the 2020 election results as a lawyer for former President Donald Trump. … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

State Bar lawsuit against Paxton survives motion to dismiss

Good news. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton must face an ethics lawsuit by state attorney regulators over a case he brought challenging results of the 2020 election, according to a court ruling posted on Monday. Judge Casey Blair on Friday … Continue reading

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Can we finally end Ken Paxton’s egregious court-shopping?

File this under “About damn time”, even if it eventually comes to naught. As soon as President Joe Biden entered the White House, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an unprecedented campaign of obstruction to block his agenda in the … Continue reading

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Lawsuit filed to keep The Former Guy off the 2024 ballot

Good luck with that. Former president Donald Trump is facing a legal challenge to his 2024 bid for the presidency from a fellow Republican. John Anthony Castro, an attorney from Texas and long-shot candidate for president in 2024, filed the … Continue reading

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Yep, still no voter fraud found

So says the official 2020 election audit. Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was neither widespread voter fraud nor other serious issues in Texas’ 2020 elections, according to an audit of four of Texas’ largest counties released Monday … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Electoral Count Act included in must-pass budget bill

It’s not nearly enough to shore up voting rights, but it’s still vitally necessary and clearly the best we could do. After months of negotiations, it now appears to be official: The Electoral Count Reform Act has hitched a ride … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: Beto versus the spread

PREVIOUSLY Beto versus Abbott So last time we saw the numbers for the 2022 Governor’s race. But what numbers need in order to be meaningful is context, and that means other numbers to compare them to. We’re going to do … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ken Paxton’s hatred of LGBTQ+ people continues unabated

Item #1: Texas attorney general’s office sought state data on transgender Texans. Employees at the Texas Department of Public Safety in June received a sweeping request from Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office: to compile a list of individuals who … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Precinct analysis: How the 2022 Harris County State Rep candidates did versus the 2020 and 2018 results

I still don’t have a full canvass of Harris County, so I’m looking around to see what kind of analyses I can do in the meantime. For this post, I’m comparing how the candidates in the contested State Rep contests … Continue reading

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We do need to find someone to run against Ted Cruz

I don’t know who that ought to be yet, but surely someone is out there. Ted Cruz said on Saturday that he would seek a third term in the U.S. Senate in 2024, though he also did not rule out … Continue reading

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A True the Vote twofer

An update on a different lawsuit they’re involved in. A disgruntled supporter of the True the Vote campaign to find voter fraud in the 2020 election preserved a claim on appeal, at least temporarily, against the organization’s law firm. While … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

John Scott keeps wanting to have it both ways

You’re kind of close to getting it, John. You do need to do better, though. Speaking in July to a group of concerned conservative voters in Dallas, Texas Secretary of State John Scott declared that Texas elections were the nation’s … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Univision: Abbott 46, Beto 42

Another registered voters poll, with a supersample of Latino respondents. Republican Governor Greg Abbott leads Beto O’Rourke in the Texas governors’ race by more than four points, even though the Democrat has more support among Latinos and Blacks. The increase … Continue reading

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State Bar complaint against Ted Cruz was dismissed

This story ran a few days ago. A lawyer group that brought ethics complaints against Trump attorneys is trying to make it tougher for lawyers to use the legal system to overturn elections. The group, called the 65 Project, aims … Continue reading

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You can be gay, you just can’t act gay

So rules a notoriously anti-gay Trump judge, narrowing a SCOTUS ruling from just two years ago at the behest of the usual suspect. A federal judge has ruled that Biden administration guidelines requiring employers to provide protections for LGBTQ employees … Continue reading

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The professional vote-deniers are out there

They’re probing the systems for weaknesses, a line that reminds me of the velociraptors in the original Jurassic Park. Except that the ‘raptors were sleek and efficient predators, while these guys are basically Pennywise with canned scripts and a huge … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

District court judge dismisses State Bar complaint against Brent Webster

This is a bad ruling, and it needs to be appealed. A Texas district judge has dismissed a professional misconduct lawsuit against a top aide of Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to discipline them for their effort to overturn the … Continue reading

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Echelon Insights: Abbott 48, Beto 46

Make of this what you will. It’s a national poll plus samples of likely voters in a variety of states, some red and some blue and some purple, including Texas. The numbers of interest for us: Do you have a … Continue reading

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More on the Gillespie County elections office resignations

From Votebeat, how this mess got started. Last November’s sleepy constitutional amendment election nearly came to blows in Gillespie County, a central Texas county known for its vineyards. A volunteer poll watcher, whose aggressive behavior had rankled election workers all … Continue reading

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What do we expect from CD23?

It was the perennial razor-close high-dollar swing district all last decade. Will Hurd won it three times, but never reached 50% in any of the three elections. It moved a few points towards the GOP in 2020 when Tony Gonzales … Continue reading

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