Tag Archives: Ed Gonzalez

Well, that sucked

It’s about 10:30 PM as I write this, and I don’t care to stay up any longer. The national situation looks dicey, but it’s not yet clear what will happen. I’ll put that off for now. It was bad here … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Interview with Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez

We wrap up Fall 2024 Interview Season with the best known person of the series, two-term Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. You know his story – 18-year HPD veteran who eventually served as a homicide investigator, three-term Houston City Council … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Interview with Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez

UH-Hobby Center polls Harris County

Pretty good. Could be better, but more or less in line with 2020 and current expectations. With the start of early voting just days away, a new poll shows Harris County Democrats leading their Republican opponents in countywide races. In … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on UH-Hobby Center polls Harris County

Endorsement watch: Still catching up

A couple of endorsements of interest for you. First, the Chron stuck with incumbent Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. A routine inspection of the state’s largest jail really shouldn’t garner headlines. Meeting “minimum safety standards” should never be cause for celebration for … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Endorsement watch: Still catching up

July 2024 campaign finance reports – Harris County offices

PREVIOUSLY: Senate and Congress State offices Lina Hidalgo Rodney Ellis Adrian Garcia Tom Ramsey Leslie Briones Sean Teare Dan Simons Ed Gonzalez Mike Knox Christian Menefee Jacqueline Lucci Smith Annette Ramirez Steve Radack Teneshia Hudspeth Carla Wyatt Marilyn Burgess Candidate … Continue reading

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

Sheriff’s office looking at AI solutions

This actually sounds pretty reasonable to me. With thousands of hours of body camera footage and non-emergency calls and not enough staff to tackle it all, Harris County Sheriff’s officials are thinking of turning to artificial intelligence to handle some … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sheriff’s office looking at AI solutions

Harris County seeks a new direction for HART

Hopefully a solid reset and restart. Possibly even with the same vendor, if they can make the best offer and no other questions come up. Harris County officials on Tuesday began making new plans to extend a program that sends … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Harris County seeks a new direction for HART

HART trouble

Not great. Harris County paused its Holistic Assistance Response Teams on Wednesday after Commissioners Court failed to reach an agreement on whether to pay the vendor operating the program. At issue is a $270,000 payment to Disaster Emergency Medical Assistance … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HART trouble

A brief history of May elections in Harris County

As previously noted, early voting begins today for the special HCAD and SD15 elections. I have said before that we are not used to voting in May in Harris County and that because of that and because of the annoyingly … Continue reading

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

Evaluating the polls

This year we got a set of polls for various Democratic primary races from the UH Hobby Center. Because of the nature of some of the races and the fact that we don’t usually get this kind of polling data, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Evaluating the polls

Primary 2024 results: Democratic headlines

It’s going to be a late night and I have a couple of long days ahead of me, so I’m going to do some quick summaries based on what I now know, and will come back later to fill the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

UH/Hobby Center polls Harris County Dem primaries

Make of this what you will. Sean Teare is leading incumbent Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg by a nearly three-to-one margin in the upcoming Democratic primary election, according to the latest survey from the Hobby School of Public Affairs … Continue reading

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

January 2024 campaign finance reports – Harris County offices

PREVIOUSLY: State offices Lina Hidalgo Rodney Ellis Adrian Garcia Tom Ramsey Leslie Briones Kim Ogg Sean Teare Dan Simons Ed Gonzalez Vergil Ratliff Joe Inocencio Mike Knox Joe Danna Paul Day Glenn Cowan Christian Menefee Umeka Lewis Jacqueline Lucci Smith … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on January 2024 campaign finance reports – Harris County offices

Endorsement watch: Menefee and Gonzalez

The Chron has begun their process of endorsing candidates for the primaries. They kicked things off by recommending Sheriff Ed Gonzalez for another go-round. Gonzalez, a 54-year-old former city councilman and Houston Police Department homicide detective, is a well-liked and … Continue reading

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

I have basically no idea who’s running for office right now

Candidate data, where are you? Next year’s primary campaigns are starting to take shape after numerous candidates filed for office on Saturday, the first day to sign up for a spot on the March 2024 ballot. Voters will weigh in … Continue reading

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

Filing season for 2024 begins today

Happy First Day of Candidate Filing to all who celebrate. The Democratic and Republican slates will begin to take shape this weekend once candidates start filing their paperwork to run. Several Harris County officials plan to file for re-election, such … Continue reading

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

July 2023 campaign finance reports: Harris County

Previously: Congress SD15 City of Houston, part 1 January 2023 reports are here. Not all of these people are on the 2024 ballot. I am not including JPs and County Court candidates. Some potential opponents have already filed finance reports, … Continue reading

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

Expanding HART

Good to see. More of Harris County’s 911 calls will be diverted to a mental health crisis team instead of law enforcement officers after a year-long pilot program in a handful of neighborhoods handled thousands of non-violent incidents. Since March … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Expanding HART

Harris County felony bail bond lawsuit ruling coming

Definitely something to look forward to. Lawyers on both sides of a lawsuit accusing Harris County of unfair bail practices that unjustly imprison lower-income inmates are pressing for a swift resolution, and a judge says a ruling in the four-year … Continue reading

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

Commissioners Court supplements Public Defender budget and supports adding more courts

Good moves. Harris County Commissioners Court this week approved a package of public safety measures to support state legislation to create additional district courts, expand the county’s holistic assistance response team program and look at enlarging the public defender’s office. The measures are … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Commissioners Court supplements Public Defender budget and supports adding more courts

We do need more felony courts

This is a good start. County officials are considering adding new district courts and making more room for detainees in an effort to reduce to county’s court backlog and alleviate overcrowding at the Harris County Jail. During Commissioners Court on … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on We do need more felony courts

What I want from the next HCDP Chair

As you know, the Harris County Democratic Party will soon have a new Chair. And as you know, I am a Democratic precinct chair, which means I’m one of the several hundred people that will vote on who that is. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Harris County restores some public safety funding

A bit of post-quorum-busting cleanup. Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved nearly $10 million in additional funding for the sheriff and district attorney, three months after the Democratic majority said the unplanned adoption of a lower tax rate would … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Harris County restores some public safety funding

January 2023 campaign finance reports: Harris County

Previously: City of Houston January 2022 reports are here, July 2022 reports are here. I did not get around to doing the 30-day and 8-day reports from 2022, so what you see here in these reports is not contiguous for … Continue reading

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

Sheriff Gonzales withdraws from consideration for ICE

Not a big surprise at this point. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez has withdrawn from consideration to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he confirmed Monday afternoon. Gonzalez’s withdrawal comes 14 months after President Joe Biden first nominated him to … Continue reading

Posted in National news | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Sheriff Gonzales withdraws from consideration for ICE

Sheriff Gonzalez re-nominated for ICE

Take two. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez is still President Joe Biden’s pick to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even after the Senate failed to confirm him last year. Biden renominated Gonzalez for the ICE director on Tuesday. His … Continue reading

Posted in National news | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Sheriff Gonzalez re-nominated for ICE

Sheriff Gonzalez’s status

Two words: In limbo. The Senate has yet to confirm Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez as director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, meaning he will likely need to be nominated again and will face an uphill battle to be … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics, National news | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A long story about the bail industry

It’s complicated. Judges set bail, but it’s the bondsmen who decide how much a defendant pays to get out of jail. The long-held 10 percent standard — with defendants or their loved ones paying a tenth of the bail amount … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Plaintiff in Constable Precinct 1 lawsuit responds

She’s not having it with the dismissal of Constable Alan Rosen as a defendant from the lawsuit. The booze-fueled undercover hotel operations were bad. Felecia McKinney’s worst moment at the Precinct 1 Constable’s Office, however, came two years ago, during … Continue reading

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

Sheriff Gonzalez approved by Senate committee

We are one step closer to needing a new Sheriff. The Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday advanced the nominations of two Texans tapped by President Joe Biden to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Census Bureau. While San … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics, National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sheriff Gonzalez approved by Senate committee

Sheriff Gonzalez gets a confirmation hearing date

Mark your calendars. The Senate Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez’s nomination to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on July 15, the committee announced Wednesday. President Joe Biden nominated Gonzalez to lead … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bring in an outside investigator

That’s the Chron editorial board’s advice for Constable Alan Rosen. Rosen’s office declined to comment to the editorial board Thursday, but in an earlier statement, he said that when he was made aware of the allegations, he “proactively” ordered an … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bring in an outside investigator

Another deputy constable files suit

More bad. When Precinct 1 Constable deputies accused their bosses of sexually exploiting them during undercover vice operations last week, their attorney vowed there would likely be more allegations in the near future. On Wednesday, Cordt Akers returned to the … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sheriff Gonzalez nominated to lead ICE

Wow. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will nominate Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a vocal skeptic of cooperating with federal immigration authorities in certain circumstances, to serve as director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As head of … Continue reading

Posted in La Migra, Local politics, National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments