In a highly polarized election season it is surprising and maybe heartening to see that voters of both parties in Harris County have shed some partisan loyalties to vote for candidates of another party than their own. A recent KUHF/KHOU… Continue Reading
Political analyst Bob Stein, Baker Institute fellow in urban politics, shows that it matters when Houstonians vote a straight ticket, but fail to vote for referendums at the bottom of the ballot: After every election the press reports how many… Continue Reading
Ted Cruz surprised many election pundits by forcing a July 31 runoff with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for the Republican senatorial nomination. Cruz, however, trailed the lieutenant governor by 144,422 votes in Tuesday’s ballot tally. How does Cruz, who was been out spent by Dewhurst 5 to 1, mount an successful runoff campaign? Continue Reading
This November, Houston’s elections for mayor, controller and City Council produced some surprises. Incumbent Mayor Annise Parker was re-elected but only avoided a run-off by less than 1 percent of the votes cast, the smallest margin in a general election since Mayor Lee Brown was forced into a run-off in 2001. Moreover, several incumbent council members found their own electoral margins smaller than expected, including at-large Council Members Stephen Costello, Melissa Noriega and Jolanda Jones and District A Council Member Brenda Stardig. Jones and Stardig will be in run-off elections on Dec. 10.
Why did so many incumbent officeholders have difficulty in their re-election bids? Surely a weak local and national economy comes to mind as a reason for voter dissatisfaction, especially when incumbent officeholders were responsible to cutting services and raising fees in a weak economy. But if this was the cause of declining vote margins for incumbent officeholders, why didn’t all incumbents suffer a diminution in their electoral margins? Continue Reading
Two hot topics for those of us who have an interest in elections — namely restrictive voter identification requirements and the curtailment of early voting — have generated a lot of debate and reporting that might suggest there is little hard evidence about their actual effect on voting behavior. In fact, there has been substantial research and testing that should allow us to analyze these trends without the hype.
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As Houston’s city council considers what to do with the current red light camera program, two choices seem to be on the table. Opponents want the program discontinued or at least curtailed. Proponents want the program continued or expanded. A new Baker Institute study offers a third approach. Continue Reading