Elections and Voting

The Washington Post Sees Striking Similarities Between Greg Abbott and Vladimir Putin

At first blush, it wouldn't seem that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott have much in common. The former is an ex-KGB agent who, through a bizarre combination of dictatorial repression and sheer animal magnetism, has cemented his status as Russia's de facto leade ... More >>

Rambo Romney Should Call for Restarting the Draft

Make us believe you mean it, Mitt. Bring back the draft. For the better part of a week, I have been reading all these thinly veiled suggestions by Mitt Romney that President Obama isn't enough of an ass-kicker in the Middle East. His aides have been telling reporters that a President Romney right n ... More >>

Dallas State Rep. Stefani Carter, Now a Romney Surrogate, on Why Romney Should Get the Black Vote

Seems like it was only a month-and-a-half ago that Stefani Carter, the Republican state rep from North Dallas, was just another face in that Mitt Romney campaign piece about how, despite having just been booed during his speech to the NAACP, black people love him. Now, she's a full-fledged surrogate ... More >>

Garcia Says He Didn't Actually Lose That Election

Last I checked, Domingo Garcia lost his bid for Congress. Marc Veasey got about 53 percent of the vote in last month's Democratic primary runoff, which is more than half, which is what it takes to win an election. Except Garcia doesn't see it that way. "While it may appear that I have lost the ele ... More >>

Dallas' Next Mayor Will Face Tough Budget Choices. Too Bad The Candidates Won't Talk About Them.

Welcome To The Dull House

Rawlings Nabs Top Spot as Mayoral and City Council Candidates Pick Ballot Positions

Photos by Sam MertenThe selection of the top spot by mayoral candidate Mike Rawlings turned out to be anticlimactic because it was the only envelope left.​City Secretary Deborah Watkins and her staff oversaw the selection of ballot positions this morning in the Flag Room at City Hall, as mayor ... More >>

Tom Leppert for Senate. Let's Talk About That.

​Dear Opposition Researchers working for U.S. Senate campaigns other than that of former-after-midnight Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert: Please contact me about the following things Leppert is going to say about himself in a campaign. First, he is going to say he led two successful referendum campai ... More >>

As City Awaits Ruling in "Billion-Dollar Case," New Lawsuits Were Just Added to the Pile

Joe Betzel, one of the Dallas Fire-Rescue workers who filed suit against the city -- yet again -- today​Back in December we wrote a few items about the so-called "billion-dollar case" currently being considered by the Supreme Court of Texas. Very long story way too short: It stems from a 1979 refe ... More >>

Bill White Officially Enters Gubernatorial Fray

Sam Merten​When we cornered Houston Mayor Bill White in late October after his campaign speech in Plano, he said he can appeal to conservatives and moderates as a Democrat because he knows how to make government run efficiently. He added that he's "honest and straightforward," which had been t ... More >>

Something About Tennell Atkins's Campaign Finance Reports Doesn't Quite Add Up

Brian Harkin/Sam MertenTennell Atkins says Tennell Atkins & Associates hasn't been operational since he took office as a council member in June 2007, but his campaign finance reports show nearly $9,000 in rent payments for an office bearing that name.With the city council campaign season heating up, ... More >>

The Day Before the Big Game, Bruce Sherbet's Pep Talk

Obama's Counsel Wants DOJ to See if Harold Simmons Broke Election Law

Wherein We Step Gingerly Into That Whole Sandra Crenshaw "Imbroglio"

Dallas' Political Designing Woman

When Dallas' political elite need a win, Carol Reed cheers them on and calls the plays

When Jim Schutze Has No Problem With Convicted Murderers

Slow Tide Rising

Did the Latino vote push Democrats over the top?

Save it for a Rainy Day (As If)

Jew Shouldn't Vote Today

Coloring Book

What color will the district attorney be, and who gives a rat's rear end?

Ballot Boxed

Kinky love

Friedman for Governor? Why the hell not?

Licensed to Speak

Run from any political group with "freedom" or "liberty" in its name

Place Called Hope

Prop 2 could fail, if the right people stay home

Premature Election

Allegations of early voting fraud tear up Forney

Democracy Inaction

Mr. Gonz doesn't go to Washington

Still Thirsty

Plano petition fails to wet the dry lands

Cell-bloc Voting

A new effort tries to unlock former felons' votes

Best Political Move

Judge Sally Montgomery

Bench Warmers

In many contested judicial races, the Republicans are grabbing all the incumbencies they can

Mad TV

The race for governor gets dirty fast

Inhale With Hale

Itinerant pro-pot candidate Steven Hale is down again, but not out

Mayor Nuke

The bad guys in the Sheetrock drug cases better be up on their game

Fixing the Fixers

Dallas makes slow but steady progress in cleaning up mail-in ballots

The Lazarus Effect

Moribund Dallas County Democrats set their sights on judgeships

Absentee Minded

Hey, Mr. Zillionaire Developer, got a big public project you want to sell? Black Dallas has the votes you need--dirt cheap.

Busting the Ballot Brokers

County officials hope reforms will prevent absentee-ballot trickery

Vote Early, Vote Often

The story behind the failed Caraway campaign is both farce and tragedy

The Real Cheaters

Officials showed courage by cracking down on Dwaine Caraway's campaign

Deep Doo-doo

One side or the other broke the law in a messy city council race, Dallas' top election official says

The Race Race

In the battle for the District 6 council seat, the dark horse has a white face

Not easy being Green

Ralph Nader's running for real this time

PAC men

Down but not out, local Democrats
show feeble signs of life

Ross on the ropes

Ross Perot inspired his Reform Party followers to throw the hypocritical rascals out of politics. They did.

The Nerd Behind the Throne

Karl Rove has masterminded all of Bush's political victories. Now he faces his toughest challenge: convincing you that the presidential front-runner owns his own soul

Ignorance is bliss

Two supposed champions of open government are pushing hard to keep campaign finance records off the Internet. What don't they want you to know?

It's the details, stupid

Candidate Bob Stimson claims his opponent's shoddy bookkeeping is a sneaky way to campaign at taxpayer expense

Candidate X

Michael Capehart finds the going lonely for a yellow-dog Democratin GOP country

The vote's in the bag

Labor hall offers the homeless cash and sandwiches to be good citizens

Zero tolerance

Voters dump the Wise County attorney for going easy on recreational pot users

The Kirk connection

How Dallas' new mayor pulled it off