Tag Archives: Texas

Put Spring ISD on the TEA takeover watch

Didn’t see this coming. Dekaney High School is one failing accountability grade away from a state takeover of Spring ISD, and district leaders told trustees Tuesday that they are pursuing aggressive turnaround efforts at the north Harris County campus. The … Continue reading

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A brief note about the latest Cook Political Report House race ratings

I was struck by what seems to be an omission as I read this Daily Kos post about the state of the 2026 election. As Trump tries to shore up the GOP’s fragile House majority through norms-busting mid-decade redistricting, the … Continue reading

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January 2026 campaign finance reports – Harris County offices

New year, new finance reports. You know the drill. This is the busiest report of the cycle, the one that shows who’s who in the primaries. I’ll be doing the usual with the other offices as well. The July 2025 … Continue reading

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Three abortion stories

Two of them at least have the potential to be positive. That’s good, right? Texas court clears path for Planned Parenthood lawsuit challenging state abortion law A Texas appeals court has allowed three Texas Planned Parenthood affiliates to move forward … Continue reading

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We sure have a lot of mass shooting memorials

Good Lord. This is some upsetting stuff, so stop reading now if this is not something you want to face today. On May 18, 2018, a student entered Santa Fe High School, between Houston and Galveston, and opened fire with … Continue reading

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Emerson primary poll: Talarico 47, Crockett 38

Noted for the record. A new poll of Texas’ Senate primaries shows state Rep. James Talarico leading U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett by 9 percentage points among likely Democratic voters, marking a significant shift from a December survey that found Crockett … Continue reading

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The effect of the Kerrville flood on the riparian areas

The bad news is that the massive flooding on July 4 of the Guadalupe River did a lot of environmental damage to the river and its immediate surrounding area, the riparian area. The good news is that this was still … Continue reading

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Interview with Marvalette Hunter

We wrap up our tour of CD38 with a familiar name from Houston politics. Marvalette Hunter was the Chief of Staff for the late Sylvester Turner both for his eight years as Houston’s Mayor and his regrettably short term in … Continue reading

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A Taylor Rehmet check-in

I’m still not sure what to expect in this runoff. Even some of his most passionate supporters were surprised by the number of votes Democrat Taylor Rehmet received in the November special election for Texas Senate District 9. His competitors, … Continue reading

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California redistricting map upheld

Good news for Democrats. A federal court Wednesday ruled against a Republican challenge to California’s redistricting plan, rejecting the GOP claim that the state had engaged in illegal racial gerrymandering when drawing up its new congressional map. The three-judge panel denied the GOP’s motion to … Continue reading

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That’s a lot of ballot challenges

First there was this. Tarrant County Republican Chairman Tim Davis wants seven Democratic judicial candidates running in the March 3 primary election removed from the ballot, saying their candidate filings had several errors. Davis formally challenged the ballot applications and … Continue reading

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Interview with Theresa Courts

Next up in CD38 is a first-time candidate, Theresa Courts. Courts is a school counselor who was a teacher for seven years before getting her Master’s in Education and becoming a school counselor. The youngest child of a single mother, … Continue reading

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DNC threatens to sue over surrendered voter files

We’ll see. Democrats warned 10 states Friday that they may have violated federal election law after entering into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to share sensitive voter data. In response, Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ’s … Continue reading

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Slightly better but still bad

That’s how one would describe the latest UT/Texas Politics Project poll numbers for Donald Trump and Texas Republicans. The dominant political narrative for much of the past year has been that Democrats are sitting pretty heading into the 2026 midterms, … Continue reading

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Dems call on Paxton to investigate Grok

That’s what I’m talking about. Texas House Democrats on Monday dared Attorney General Ken Paxton to take on Elon Musk. Led by Rep. Mihaela Plesa of Dallas, more than 40 Democrats demanded an inquiry into allegations that Musk’s social media … Continue reading

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Interview with Melissa McDonough

We move now to CD38, the new district from the 2021 redistricting cycle. I will have three interviews with candidates for CD38 this week, starting with the candidate who was the Democratic nominee in 2024, Melissa McDonough. McDonough is a … Continue reading

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SOS hands over voter roll to Trump DOJ

Surrender time. Texas officials have turned over the state’s voter roll to the U.S. Justice Department, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, complying with the Trump administration’s demands for access to data on millions of … Continue reading

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The Republican non-turnout problem

Simon Rosenberg flags something of interest, about how MAGA voters are unhappy with the way things are going. Of course this represents an extraordinary betrayal of what the flim-flam confidence man promised the American people when he ran last year. … Continue reading

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Dallas and Williamson forced to abandon voting centers for Primary Day

I have three things to say about this. In an about-face, Dallas County Republicans last week decided against hand-counting ballots in Texas’ March primary, saying they weren’t able to line up enough workers, among other hurdles. That leaves just two … Continue reading

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Who wants to take a “luxury commuter van” ride?

I dunno. Houstonians now have a new way to hop between cities, and it comes with Wi-Fi, leather seats, and a guaranteed Buc-ee’s stop. On November 17, mobility startup Shutto launched its luxury van service connecting San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, offering … Continue reading

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Fombonne named County Attorney

White smoke emerges from the chamber of Commissioners Court. Jonathan Fombonne, first assistant county attorney to Christian Menefee, was named Harris County attorney Thursday. The appointment came more than nine months after Menefee technically resigned to run for Congressional District … Continue reading

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So when will Ken Paxton sue Grok?

This year sure is off to a strong start. We’re now into the first full week of January, and not only are Grok users still able to manipulate the bot into generating inappropriate images of minors, but many of the offending deepfakes … Continue reading

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Dallas County sues to regain lost federal health funds

Better late than never. Dallas County, buoyed by a recent Harris County court win, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the clawback of $70 million in public health funds. Dallas County’s lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C. … Continue reading

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Interview with Leticia Gutierrez

There are six candidates running in the new CD09 but a couple of them don’t have any online presence, so in the interest of making this easier and more valuable for all of us, I’ve limited myself to two of … Continue reading

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Texas AFT files lawsuit over C*****e K**k investigations

Hell yeah. One of Texas’ largest teacher unions wants a federal court to block Education Commissioner Mike Morath and the state education agency from investigating teachers accused of making inappropriate remarks about conservative activist C*****e K**k’s assassination on social media, saying … Continue reading

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First trial over Uvalde law enforcement response to begin

First of two, assuming no plea deals or late-in-the-day dismissals. Former Uvalde schools police Officer Adrian Gonzales was among the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary in 2022 after a gunman opened fire on students and teachers. Gonzales’ criminal … Continue reading

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Andrew White drops out of Governor’s race, endorses Gina Hinojosa

Very interesting. Houston businessman Andrew White on Monday dropped his Democratic bid for governor and endorsed state Rep. Gina Hinojosa to take on Gov. Greg Abbott in November. “With the primary just weeks away, the responsible choice is to come … Continue reading

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Four fewer contested judicial primaries

Sometimes the fiercest action occurs outside of public view. Four judicial candidates withdrew from their 2026 election bids after incumbent judges and other Democratic opponents filed lawsuits alleging their candidacy filings contained forged signatures and other irregularities. Allison Mathis, a … Continue reading

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Interview with Terry Virts

It’s January of an even-numbered year, and that means we are off and running for primaries. Believe it or not, we are six weeks (and one day, thanks to Presidents Day) out from the start of early voting for the … Continue reading

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An opening statement on the 2026 elections

This is going to be a somewhat long post about the upcoming elections and my coverage of candidates in the primaries. I’ve got some ground to cover, so settle in. At this time, we have the following elections on the … Continue reading

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Dallas County Republicans abandon hand count plan

Some unexpected sanity. After months of laying the groundwork to hand-count thousands of ballots in the March 3 primary, the Dallas County Republican Party announced on Tuesday it has decided not to do so, opting instead to contract with the county elections … Continue reading

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DPS investigating Flock

More of an administrative matter than anything else, but potentially with real consequences. State troopers are investigating the company behind thousands of license plate-reading cameras used by police agencies and private groups across the Houston region, over claims the company … Continue reading

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The contested judicial primaries

There’s actually fewer than you might think this year. At least three dozen lawyers are vying for 17 contested judicial races on the Democratic ballot, crowding down-ballot races for Harris County courts that handle the most serious crimes to probate … Continue reading

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Appeals court upholds restraining order on prosecutor reporting requirements

From the inbox: The newly created 15th Court of Appeals has upheld a temporary injunction blocking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to force local district attorneys to give him sweeping access to their prosecutorial data, marking the second time … Continue reading

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