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January 24, 2020 1:16 PM
Appointments, lobby hires, a new leadership team, and more
Looking forward to
seeing doctors from all over the Great State tonight at the Texas Medical
Association’s meeting here in Austin. The docs are never shy with
opinions and great questions for your editor. I might even have an answer or
two.
It kind of
feels like November with so many people voting early in that special election
in Fort Bend County where the “false attacks” about “false attacks” are flying on
TV and block walkers on both sides are working overtime to git ‘er done. A friend said they’d “eat a hat” if the Republican
wins by a substantial margin. Does anyone know if Tiff’s Treats
or some other company will make some custom cowboy hat shaped cookies? Surely
someone does that around here.
Meantime, there’s
career news to share here in the pages of Quorum Report. Last
week, after POTM was published, a staffer texted “I wanted to be in the POTM but I didn’t get the job.” Keep swinging, you’re doing great.
You know the drill: When you do land the gig – or someone else did and you want
to gossip about them – send the info on over to ksbraddock@gmail.com and use POTM in the
subject line. You’re all the best.
Here’s the latest
edition of People on the Move:
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright January 24, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 23, 2020 3:42 PM
If conservatives got everything
they wanted on revenue caps last session, why do they continue to express
frustration with the Texas Association of Counties and Texas
Municipal League?
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, was joined by
Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, and Rep. Andrew Murr,
R-Junction, on a property tax panel at the Texas Public Policy
Foundation’s Policy Orientation on Wednesday. Senior fellow Ellen
Troxclair moderated the panel.
“I know the bill is already working because the panic
among some of the taxing entities is preposterously high,” Chair Bettencourt
told the audience. “After five years of good behavior, Travis County decided to
juice their rate, and the City of Austin is always there, going to the maximum
of the rollback rate. El Paso raised its tax rates – by 10 pennies – more than
ISDs cut from HB 3.”
Burrows said he promised Bettencourt he would pass the
most conservative version of the Senate Bill 2 that could possibly
pass the House.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright January 23, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 23, 2020 2:01 PM
"If we are still the majority but the minority has the power to overrule us, we cannot let that stand," he said at TPPF event
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Copyright January 23, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 22, 2020 4:00 PM
Five of the six reports now online; in addition to the Fort Bend throwdown, Republicans are trying to make inroads in one district and a Democratic intraparty fight is playing out in another
We’re now just under a
week to go before voters make their final decisions to fill the unexpired terms
of three former members of the Texas House.
The nation’s eyes are
fixed on the House District 28 race in Fort Bend to pick a
successor to former Appropriations Committee Chairman John Zerwas. NBC News and the Associated
Press ran national stories about that race over the weekend, thanks in
large part to former Congressman Beto
O’Rourke’s involvement. Sen. Elizabeth Warren endorsed the Democrat
yesterday, becoming the latest of the White House contender to
take an interest in West Houston and Katy.
The two other races – in
Houston and Dallas – feature Republicans trying to make inroads in one district
and a Democratic intraparty fight in another.
In that Fort Bend race,
both candidates were the beneficiaries of large in-kind donations.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright January 22, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 22, 2020 3:35 PM
It’s fair to say the district’s electorate will likely not perform the same as other “suburban” communities where Democrats have a better shot this fall; Democrats maintain “we have one of the best data teams in the country who put us in a significantly better place than in the first round of voting for the November election so far"
New poll numbers are
coming to light – and early voting numbers are coming in – that may dampen the
spirits of Democrats working overtime to flip the Fort Bend County Texas
House seat vacated last year by former Appropriations Committee
Chairman John Zerwas.
The numbers in an internal
poll conducted for the campaign of Republican candidate Gary Gates were
reviewed by Quorum Report. The pollster who did the work is
reputable and has a reliable track record. That said, seasoned political
observers are quick to point out that polling in a special election presents
specific challenges.
These poll numbers show
Gates leading Democrat Dr. Eliz Markowitz by a substantial margin and they
reveal an electorate that is probably not representative of the kind of
district where Democrats may have much better chances of flipping Texas House
seats this fall. That’s part of why no one should ever read too much into one
poll or overanalyze the results of a single special election. Yes, dear reader,
you are correct that literally nothing could be said now to prevent the latter
from happening one week from today.
Now, to the numbers:
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright January 22, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 22, 2020 12:49 PM
Sen. Lucio's challenge, Chair Flynn, Sheffield, and others top the list of races to watch, per the powerful association
The Texas REALTORS® hot
list of races to watch in the primaries is right here.
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Copyright January 22, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 21, 2020 5:01 PM
The full announcement from
the Office of the Lt. Governor is right here.
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Copyright January 21, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 21, 2020 4:45 PM
Meantime Abbott blasts Markowitz supporter Beto O'Rourke as a gun grabber; already today the 5 early voting locations open *only* for the HD28 special election have voted more people than 23 sites countywide did all day on the 1st day of early vote in November
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Copyright January 21, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 20, 2020 4:31 PM
Invitation to block walk for Gates says: "Hello, what do we have here? Free room, board, and travel? ...Yes, it's all true!" Folks are asked to RSVP to a Greg Abbott staffer's email address to block walk all next weekend
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Copyright January 20, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 20, 2020 3:28 PM
Editor Scott Braddock and KFYO radio host Chad Hasty kick off the week breaking down the special election, President Trump's Texas visit, and more
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Copyright January 20, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 17, 2020 2:00 PM
Both Republicans and Democrats have several different efforts underway; Dems see significant resources pouring in while Republicans post Bonnen collapse lack a centralized structure for allocation of resources
The fallout from the audio
recording of Speaker Dennis Bonnen disparaging local officials,
Democrats and targeting members of his own party in a discussion with Empower
Texans spokesman Michael Quinn Sullivan seems to have meant
mutually assured destruction. Bonnen is retiring and Empower seems to be off
the battlefield in GOP primaries.
Republicans and Democrats,
for the most part in Texas House races, seem intent on having
most of the fights play out in November rather than March. And there are
somewhat disjointed efforts aimed at either flipping the lower chamber to the
Democrats or preserving the Republican majority.
Let’s dig into the
numbers.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright January 17, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 17, 2020 1:32 PM
Lobby moves, new hires, new projects, and more
The first unmarked envelope
of 2020 from a campaign – or at least, tangentially connected to a campaign – has arrived at
the Quorum Report offices. Primary season must be really be
starting now. “Stressed out,
getting fat, it’s campaign season,” said one veteran staffer. Relatable.
With a little more
than 6 weeks between now and election day, it’s time to put miles on the truck heading
to Houston, Dallas, South Texas, and elsewhere. Feels good to be on the road
again.
Meantime, the career
news is coming faster and furiouser (if that’s a
word) as movers and shakers settle into new roles in the Texas Capitol
community. Let us know what’s happening anytime by emailing career news to ksbraddock@gmail.com. If you could use
POTM in the subject line, that would be great. And to move swiftly to the front
of the line, put the text of your announcement right in the email rather than attaching
a file. Thanks so much.
Here’s the latest edition
of People on the Move.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright January 17, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 17, 2020 9:39 AM
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Copyright January 17, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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