Tag Archives: Tarrant County

The Arlington nun mutiny

Oh my God this story is wild. There’s a strange saga unfolding in Texas. It involves allegations and accusations of illicit sexual relationships, drug use, theft, abuse, spying, planted evidence, and plots to steal a multimillion-dollar property. The people involved … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tarrant County picks a new elections administrator

It could have been worse Tarrant County picked a new elections administrator Friday to replace Heider Garcia, who resigned earlier this year after he said he faced political pressure from Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare. The Tarrant County Election Commission … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Justice Department follows up with Tarrant County

Good. Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice have committed to meeting with Tarrant County’s top Democrats to discuss the letter they sent requesting an investigation into voting rights. The Democrats, under the lead of U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tarrant County Dems seek Justice Department investigation of voting rights issues

Good. Elected officials who represent Tarrant County’s minority communities have asked the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate County Judge Tim O’Hare and other county officials over concerns that their actions will diminish voting rights. The letter, signed by … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tarrant County Dems seek Justice Department investigation of voting rights issues

“Fort Worth is the new Austin”

Hadn’t thought of it that way. Who speaks for Fort Worth in the nation’s capital? For more than 25 years the go-to member of the Texas delegation for Tarrant County has been U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth. From securing … Continue reading

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

In support of Crystal Mason

Hoping for the best. The same month Tarrant County officials announced the creation of an election integrity task force, a group of 14 bipartisan prosecutors threw their weight behind an effort to acquit the woman at the center of a high-profile … Continue reading

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

More on the lawsuit against Paxton’s deranged ballot access opinion

There are actually three counties suing him, not just the one I had originally noted. At least three Texas counties — Tarrant, Williamson, and Harris — have sued Attorney General Ken Paxton and are asking a judge to strike down a legal … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on More on the lawsuit against Paxton’s deranged ballot access opinion

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

State and county election result relationships: Tarrant County

In years past, Tarrant County was a pretty close bellwether for election results in the state of Texas. From 2004 through 2016, the closeness of their Presidential numbers with the statewide numbers was eerie. But since 2018 the talk has … Continue reading

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

Our property tax system is soooooooo awesome!

How awesome is it? So awesome you don’t even have to live here to get a tax break. Herschel Walker, the former Dallas Cowboys running back and Republican candidate running for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, is slated to … Continue reading

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

On comparing counties from 2018 to 2022

I started with this. Voters in counties across Texas chose GOP leaders over Democrats at a higher rate than they did four years ago, a Dallas Morning News analysis shows. The findings, based on data as of noon on Wednesday, … Continue reading

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

What will Tarrant County do this year?

Hoping for a blue result at the top and at least closer races below it, but we’ll see. Eight years after voting for Gov. Greg Abbott, Angela Martinez found herself waiting in line Tuesday to snap a photo with Beto … Continue reading

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

We hit a new peak in voter registrations

It’s good to see, whatever it “means”. Texas now has almost 17.7 million voters — 1.9 million more than four years ago, when Gov. Greg Abbott won re-election. New voter registration totals from the Texas Division of Elections show the … Continue reading

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

I think you know the root cause of the problem, John

I was fascinated by this Texas Monthly feature on Secretary of State John Scott, who is being pushed to reckon with the insane and dangerous levels of election denial and anti-democratic activism. I’m pretty sure he gets it, he just … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Republicans for Collier

Two of them, anyway. Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, one of Texas’ most prominent Republican local leaders, is backing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s Democratic challenger. “The one person who I’ll support statewide that will get me a little in trouble: … Continue reading

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

Paxton finds a new way to be two-faced

I mean, what were we supposed to believe? Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stunned election administrators across the state last week when he released an opinion that, in theory, would allow anyone to access ballots almost immediately after they were … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Paxton finds a new way to be two-faced

There’s still a lot of confusion about how Texas’ abortion ban will be enforced

There will be chaos, in addition to the fear and danger to pregnant people that already exists. Abortions are already effectively outlawed in Texas, where clinics closed after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. But a new … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on There’s still a lot of confusion about how Texas’ abortion ban will be enforced

Election officials and workers need our help

We’ve identified the problem. That’s good. Now let’s do something to fix it. Misinformation about elections has led to violent threats against election workers in Texas and other states — including one who was told “we should end your bloodline” … Continue reading

Posted in National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fraudit 2.0

Here we go again. Harris County will be one of four Texas counties to undergo an audit of its upcoming November election results by the Texas secretary of state’s office. It will be the second election audit in two years … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

There was definitely an improvement in mail ballot acceptance for the primary runoffs

The last time I looked, I was largely unable to find any news stories about mail ballots and their rejection rates for the May primary runoff elections, with the exception of one story about Bexar County and how they were … Continue reading

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

On reporting election night results faster

Not sure about this. Ahead of next week’s primary runoff elections, Harris County officials are recruiting county staffers to help speed up the results by picking up ballots at polling locations and driving them to the county’s central count location. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Crystal Mason’s conviction to be reconsidered

Good news. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has told a lower appeals court to take another look at the controversial illegal voting conviction of Crystal Mason, who was given a five-year prison sentence for casting a provisional ballot in … Continue reading

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

Sen. Powell ends her re-election bid

Disappointing but understandable. State Sen. Beverly Powell, D-Burleson, ended her reelection campaign Wednesday morning, citing an “unwinnable race” in a district that Republican lawmakers had redrawn to make a Democratic win impossible. “Under the new map that will remain intact … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sen. Powell ends her re-election bid

When a divorce helps to define a marriage

Interesting case. A gay San Antonio man has filed for a divorce in which he seeks to prove a common law marriage existed with his former partner of 25 years when federal law prohibited same sex marriage. The law has … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Precinct analysis: Beto’s range in the 2022 primaries

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

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Precinct analysis: Beto’s range in the 2022 primaries

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

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

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

2022 primary early voting statewide

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

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

The only constant is change

This DMN story is about the wave of changes to the various legislative caucuses in North Dallas, but if you pull the lens back just a little, you can see how universal it is. Proponents of term limits complain that … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The only constant is change

No restraining order in SD10 lawsuit

The March primary will officially proceed as scheduled. A federal three-judge panel in El Paso on Tuesday denied a request by Tarrant County residents to block a reconfigured state Senate district from being used in the upcoming March primary election … Continue reading

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

The SD10 redistricting lawsuit gets off to a rousing start

I did not see this coming. In a sworn declaration submitted as part of an ongoing federal court challenge, a senior Republican state senator with redistricting experience said he believes his party violated federal voting laws when it drew new … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

SD10 lawsuit gets its hearing

The last possible obstacle to a March primary, and the first redistricting lawsuit to get a merits hearing. A federal district judge in El Paso on Tuesday will preside over one of several challenges against the state of Texas and … Continue reading

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

Please watch over the fraudit

Good idea. A group of Democratic members of Congress from Texas has sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting that it closely monitor the ongoing election audit in four Texas counties. Last September, Texas Republicans began an audit in Harris, Tarrant, … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Please watch over the fraudit

Fraudit fizzling

Who could have ever predicted this would be a big ol’ nothingburger? The Texas secretary of state’s office has released the first batch of results from its review into the 2020 general election, finding few issues despite repeated, unsubstantiated claims … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Precinct analysis: The new SBOE map

Previously: New State House map, New Congressional map I probably care more about the SBOE than most normal people do. It’s not that powerful an entity, there are only 15 seats on it, and their elections go largely under the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Precinct analysis: The new SBOE map