Tag Archives: Tony Buzbee

The quiet runoff

Have you been enjoying this little break from the Mayor’s race? Break’s over, but then we’re now into early voting, so we don’t have much longer to go. After a colorful first round defined by biting attack ads, mudslinging debates … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Precinct analysis: 2019 At Large #1

I’m going to take a look at the five At Large Council races as well, since all of them have interesting things to say about what happened. First up is At Large #1, where incumbent Mike Knox will face first … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

HERO 2.0

I’ve been waiting for this, though in reading this story I’d argue we should wait just a little bit more. Houston’s two mayoral candidates say they support expanded anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community, but would leave it to voters … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Precinct analysis: 2019 Mayor’s race

I know you’ve been waiting for this. I have the draft canvass, I’ve been doing the Excel things, so let’s get down to it. Dist Lovell King Turner Buzbee Boykins Others ==================================================== A 217 3,002 6,481 7,061 646 727 B … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Lining up for the runoff

Runoffs always provide focus. Mayor Sylvester Turner is rallying the support of state and national Democrats as he seeks to fend off Tony Buzbee in the December runoff to win a second term at the helm of Houston government. One … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Get ready for more Buzbee ads

Keep that remote handy. Self-funding millionaire lawyer Tony Buzbee on Wednesday said he would spend whatever it takes to unseat Sylvester Turner and predicted a “full-on slugfest” during the five-week runoff to decide Houston’s mayoral race. The runoff will test … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Initial thoughts on Election 2019

All bullet points, all the time… – Here’s my opening statement on the election returns debacle. We have more information about this now, but we still need more before we can go anywhere else with it. – All incumbents want … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Final results are in

Here they are. Refer to my previous post for the initial recap, I’m going to be very minimalist. Let’s do this PowerPoint-style, it’s already been a long day: Mayor – Turner fell short of 50%, landing up a bit below … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

2019 election results: Houston and Metro

Unfortunately, we have to start with this: Results of Tuesday’s election could take until 2 a.m. Wednesday after the Texas Secretary of State issued a new regulation that upended plans by the Harris County Clerk’s Office to speed vote counting. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

A wrapup for early voting

Here’s the Chron story on the end of early voting. Early voting ended Friday with a late surge in turnout among Harris County voters, surpassing voter participation in some prior mayoral election years but falling short of totals seen during … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Final 2019 EV totals: With a bit of bonus poll-analyzing

Early voting for the 2019 election is officially over. Let’s look at those numbers one last time: Year Early Mail Total Mailed ====================================== 2019 137,460 15,304 152,764 26,824 2015 164,104 29,859 193,963 43,280 2013 87,944 21,426 109,370 30,572 The 2019 … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

8 Day finance reports: Mayor and Controller

The Erik Manning spreadsheet is here, the July reports from Mayoral candidates are here, the July reports from Controller candidates (which in this case was just Chris Brown) are here, and the 30 day reports for both Mayorals and Controllers … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 8 Day finance reports: Mayor and Controller

Trib overview of the Houston Mayor’s race

Not really anything here you don’t already know, but a good summary of the race so far. With early voting underway, the Houston mayoral race is not lacking for drama, but through it all, a fundamental question has persisted: Whatever … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Trib overview of the Houston Mayor’s race

Hotze and Buzbee

But wait, there’s more. Anti-gay leader Steve Hotze withdrew his support for Tony Buzbee on Thursday, and called the mayoral candidate a “charlatan and liar” for denying he had sought the Republican power broker’s political support. In an emailed statement, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Buzbee and Hotze

Buddies. One of the leaders of a controversial, anti-LGBTQ group on Tuesday said Tony Buzbee met numerous times with Steven Hotze before the Republican power broker endorsed his mayoral campaign, contradicting comments Buzbee made at a televised debate the night … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

UH poll: Turner 43, Buzbee 23, King 8

Another encouraging poll for Mayor Turner as early voting starts. Mayor Sylvester Turner retains a wide lead over his opponents, most of whom have failed to gain traction with weeks left until Election Day, according to a University of Houston … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Endorsement watch: Turner and Brown

The Chron saved its biggest endorsement editorials for the Sunday edition. I did expect them to endorse Mayor Turner for another term, and they delivered, with more of an emphasis on the campaign than I would have thought. Bats aren’t … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

30 Day finance reports: Mayor and Controller

All right, I’ve made some progress in the endless number of city candidate finance reports. We’re in crunch time, and the 30 day reports can tell us not just what kind of momentum candidates have had, but also whether the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 30 Day finance reports: Mayor and Controller

Big Bucks Buzbee

It is, by far, his best asset. Mayoral candidate Tony Buzbee put another $2.5 million into his campaign last month, widening his financial edge over Mayor Sylvester Turner heading into the stretch run of the race for Houston’s top elected … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

The Chron’s overview of the Mayor

It’s a fair picture. Mayor Sylvester Turner hugged his way through three dozen staff and supporters, reached the podium, and smiled. It was May 2017, and Turner’s landmark pension reform bill had just passed the Legislature, validating his decision to … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

KHOU/HPM poll: Turner 37, Buzbee 20, King 10

We must be getting into the serious part of Houston Election Season, because we have our first public poll of the Mayor’s race. Mayor Sylvester Turner leads trial lawyer and businessman Tony Buzbee by 17 points, according to a KHOU/Houston … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Do you believe in magical thinking?

I did not read this long profile of Tony Buzbee, because life is short and we all have better things to do. I did briefly scan the print version a bit, and in doing so I noticed the following paragraph, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

No, crime is not up in Houston

Facts are stubborn things. Like the rest of the country, crime in Houston has plummeted over the last 30 years, as has residents’ fear of crime being the city’s most pressing problem. FBI data show that most categories of crime … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

It’s not really a campaign until there are attack ads

I have three things to say about this. Mayor Sylvester Turner launched a television ad Monday attacking Tony Buzbee for donating to President Donald Trump’s inauguration committee, marking the mayor’s first major attempt to link his political opponent to the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Checking in on the Mayor’s race

Remember the Mayor’s race? Yeah, that. “The candidates have been running for months but were focused on fundraising and defining their message,” said Nancy Sims, a Houston political analyst. “Labor Day is when people tune into the election.” The stretch-run … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The 2019 lineups are set

Barring any late disqualifications or other unexpected events, we have the candidates we’re getting on our 2019 ballot. More than 125 candidates turned in paperwork to run for city office by Monday’s filing deadline, setting up a packed November ballot … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Metro referendum is set

Here we go. Metropolitan Transit Authority board members voted Tuesday to ask voters in November for permission to borrow up to $3.5 billion, without raising taxes. The money would cover the first phase of what local leaders expect to be … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

July 2019 campaign finance reports: Mayoral candidates

All right, now that we are past the 15th, most of the campaign finance reports are in, so let’s start reviewing them. Because there are several thousand candidates running for office in Houston, I’m going to split them into several … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Metro and the Mayor’s race

This went pretty much as one would expect. Delivering his fourth State of Mobility speech to Transportation Advocacy Group-Houston Chapter, Mayor Sylvester Turner echoed previous years, noting the region needs more options than solo driving if it is to handle … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Buzbee billboard lawsuit dismissed

I did say it was a dumb lawsuit. A state district judge has dismissed challenger Tony Buzbee’s lawsuit against Mayor Sylvester Turner and advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor over a series of billboards for the city’s AlertHouston campaign. In the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Buzbee files another lawsuit

Tony Buzbee does what Tony Buzbee does. Houston mayoral candidate and attorney Tony Buzbee has filed a lawsuit on behalf of two companies that allege they were fraudulently listed as subcontractors by two companies that later secured millions of dollars … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Metro’s challenge

It’s all about BRT. Houston transit officials are betting on bus rapid transit as a big part of the region’s long-term plans, at times going as far as calling it the “wave of the future.” If seeing is believing, however, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Off and running for Council

I confess I haven’t paid very much attention to the Houston city races so far. Part of that is the existential angst I feel at being forced to take seriously anything Bill King or Tony Buzbee says, and part of … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This was a busy week for dumb lawsuits

Exhibit A: Houston mayoral challenger Tony Buzbee followed through his pledge to sue Mayor Sylvester Turner Wednesday, claiming that donated billboards for the city’s AlertHouston! campaign violate campaign finance laws because they feature a photo of Turner. The lawsuit, filed … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments