Tag Archives: Hidalgo County

Tuberculosis

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s making an unfortunate comeback. Before 2020, advances to eradicate TB, which is spread person to person through the air, were underway globally. It was considered by many public health experts to be a feasible goal, since tools are available to identify … Continue reading →

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In which I indulge in a bit of schadenfreude

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A base instinct, I admit, but I’m going to do it anyway. The district director for Texas’ newest congresswoman, Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, recently resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. The far-right website Current Revolt first reported a series of … Continue reading →

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Flores wins CD34 special election

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Groan. Republican Mayra Flores prevailed Tuesday in a special election for an open congressional seat in South Texas, marking a major breakthrough for Republicans eager to blaze new inroads in the historically blue region. She beat Dan Sanchez, the leading … Continue reading →

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So what’s going on in the CD34 special election?

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We started with this. Early voting continues for the June 14 special election for CD34 open (Lean R) through June 10. Candidates for that special election were required to file pre-special election reports today (Thurs.) if they meet the reporting … Continue reading →

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Vallejo claims victory in CD15 runoff

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Her opponent demurs, but it probably doesn’t matter. Michelle Vallejo declared victory Wednesday in the Democratic primary runoff for the national battleground 15th Congressional District in South Texas. Her declaration came eight days after election night, when she emerged with … Continue reading →

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We won’t know the official status of the two super close runoffs until next week

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The CD28 race is not done with us. Jessica Cisneros, the progressive immigration attorney trailing longtime Laredo congressman Henry Cuellar by 177 votes in a blockbuster South Texas runoff, said Thursday that ballots are still being counted and a final … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Beto’s range in the 2022 primaries

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

When you get 91.34% of the vote in an election, as Beto did in the Democratic primary for Governor, there’s usually not a whole lot of interesting data beneath the surface. But you never know until you look, so I … Continue reading →

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More data about mail ballot rejections

Posted on March 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Keep it coming. Thousands of Texans who attempted to vote by mail in the March primary were disenfranchised in the state’s first election conducted under a new Republican voting law. The state’s largest counties saw a significant spike in the … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Final 2022 primary vote totals from those counties of interest

Posted on March 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

At the end of early voting, I posted some totals from various counties around the state. I noted at the time it was an imprecise comparison since I included final 2018 turnout numbers as the comparison point for 2022 and … Continue reading →

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2022 primary early voting statewide

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Turnout information for early voting for all counties is available on the Secretary of State website. They used to only have this for the 30 most populous counties, which skewed things in a Democratic direction, but a law passed in … Continue reading →

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2022 primary early voting, Day Eight : Time for the upswing

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I still think it’s a little weird to have a day off from voting in the middle of early voting. Either tack on an extra day at one end or the other or modify the calendar to avoid the holiday. … Continue reading →

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Three very early primary thoughts

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

1. After the exceedingly small number of mail ballots requested and cast in the District G special election, the primaries will be our next test of the SB1 effect on voting by mail. I will be interested to see if … Continue reading →

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Beto and South Texas

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourself for a lot of stories like this in the coming months. In the first days of his campaign for governor, Beto O’Rourke made a beeline to this southernmost corner of the state, saying it was no mistake he … Continue reading →

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The mask rebellion

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Sweet, sweet music to the ears. The local mask rebellion, coupled with the fresh threat of legal action from President Joe Biden’s administration, poses the most serious challenge yet to [Gov. Greg] Abbott’s emergency powers, which he has wielded in … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: State House district changes by demography

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial Other jurisdictions Appellate courts, Part 1 Appellate courts, Part 2 Judicial averages Other cities District Attorney County Attorney Sheriff Tax Assessor County Clerk HCDE Fort … Continue reading →

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ACLU warns counties to stay away from the Abbott wall

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas sent letters today to 34 counties informing top officials that implementing Gov. Greg Abbott’s unlawful plan to engage in immigration enforcement would violate the U.S. Constitution. The letters, sent to … Continue reading →

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The freeze effect on farmers

Posted on February 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

As you might imagine, single digit temperatures are not good for agriculture. Well before the sun finally broke through the cloudy and icy haze in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley last week, Dale Murden knew he was in for a bad … Continue reading →

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More early data from State Rep districts

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Derek Ryan on Twitter: . President Trump won House District 74, a Democrat-held district in West Texas along the border, with 53.1%. He also won House District 31, a Democrat-held district in South Texas with 56.2%. — Derek Ryan … Continue reading →

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So what happened in the Latino counties?

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s go to the data: County Trump Clinton Trump Biden ============================================= Bexar 240,333 319,550 303,871 440,823 Cameron 29,472 59,402 48,834 63,732 Dimmit 974 2,173 1,384 2,264 El Paso 55,512 147,843 81,235 168,801 Frio 1,856 2,444 2,812 2,421 Hidalgo 48,642 118,809 … Continue reading →

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Hollins asks for some slack on when mail ballots are received

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: On Wednesday, August 19, 2020, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins sent a formal request to Governor Greg Abbott requesting that Governor Abbott extend the deadline by which county election administrators can receive mail ballots. The deadline for … Continue reading →

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Masks up

Posted on June 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We solved Greg Abbott’s riddle, so all is well now, right? With Gov. Greg Abbott’s apparent blessing, Bexar and Hidalgo counties have imposed a new mask rule for local businesses, saying they must require employees and customers to wear masks … Continue reading →

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Primary precinct analysis: Who did what in the RRC race

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Railroad Commissioner primary was a bit like the Senate primary – multiple candidates (though not nearly as many), not a whole lot of money, but the candidate who did best in fundraising was also the leading votegetter. Here’s a … Continue reading →

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Primary precinct analysis: Everyone did something in the Senate primary

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

So while we wait for actual precinct data from the primary, I thought I’d take a look at some county-level data from the non-Presidential races, as they have the county-by-county breakdown on the SOS election night pages. The US Senate … Continue reading →

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Let’s talk turnout

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few random bits and pieces about turnout from the primaries. On the one hand, I think it’s great that Dems got the turnout that we did, in Harris County and around the state. On the other hand, I … Continue reading →

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Primary early voting: Comparing 2020 to 2016

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron looks into the early voting numbers around the state. Experts cautioned that early voting data should be taken with a grain of salt — for one because the subset of people who vote early aren’t necessarily representative of … Continue reading →

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The Muscovy ducks of Pearland

Posted on November 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The things you learn. The bird sanctuary city of Pearland is encouraging residents to take matters into their own hands to address the growing problem of Muscovy ducks that have reportedly taken residence in the city. Known for their red, … Continue reading →

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The children will count us

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Great idea for something that shouldn’t have to be the case. Teresa Flores knows the costs of a census undercount as well as anyone. As the executive director of the Hidalgo County Head Start Program, one of the area’s most … Continue reading →

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The people who would have been denied the opportunity to vote in 2016

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

There were a lot of them. At least 16,400 Texans who voted in the November election wouldn’t have been able to cast ballots if the state’s voter identification law had been in full effect, state voting records show. […] Through … Continue reading →

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Statewide review: 2016 was like 2008, but not in a good way

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s no point in beating around the bush, so I’ll just come out and say it: Despite the excitement about increases in voter registration and heavy early voting turnout. statewide Democratic candidates outside of Hillary Clinton generally did not do … Continue reading →

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State settles birth certificate lawsuit

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. After undergoing mediation, the state of Texas has reached an agreement with undocumented families in a lawsuit over its denial to issue birth certificates to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants. The state will clarify and expand … Continue reading →

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Dolly Elizondo to run for CD15

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This bears watching. Dolly Elizondo, a Texas Realtor and local Democratic activist, said Thursday she will run in the state’s 15th District, a campaign that, if successful, could make her the first Latina to represent the Lone Star State in … Continue reading →

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Oral arguments in birth certificate lawsuit

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman heard oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by a group of undocumented parents and their U.S.-citizen children against the state Department of State Health Services, which has effectively blocked the children from … Continue reading →

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More on the state’s refusal to issue birth certificates

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer follows up. Two legislators have weighed in on the controversy over Texas’ refusal to grant birth certificates to some children of undocumented families. On Wednesday, Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over state refusal to issue birth certificates

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure this won’t be contentious at all. For nearly 150 years, the United States, under the 14th Amendment, has recognized people born here as citizens, regardless of whether their parents were citizens. But Texas has other plans. In the … Continue reading →

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