Counting Votes

Commentary said this yesterday about Day 1 of Early Voting in Harris County:

Yesterday (Monday), 3,050 Democrats voted in person and 20,357 mail ballots are in. The GOP did way better. 8,049 GOPers voted in person and 20,733 voted by mail.

That was based on the Pdf report the Elections Administrator’s Office sent me.

I got yesterday’s Pdf for Tuesday, and it didn’t add up. Yesterday’s pdf said 13,651 had voted by mail by Monday and not 20,357. For the GOP, it was 11,502 by Monday and not 20,733. My goodness. What happened? This is definitely not a good look.

For what it is worth, and I don’t know what it is worth, according to the Elections Administrator’s Office, 6,804 Democrats have voted early in person and 14,760 by mail. For the GOP, 17,699 in person and 12,156 by mail.

I don’t know what to believe and we have a confidence problem.

I don’t want to say I told you so, but….

_____

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo fired a howitzer at Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg yesterday. Your guess is as good as mine as to how this thing is going to turn out.

It is pretty clear Judge Hidalgo is not going to sit back and say nothing about her current and former staffers getting indicted. I am also pretty sure that she has had discussions with her legal and political team to make sure she is on solid ground. Here is from a Houston Public Media story:

Lina Hidalgo on Tuesday accused District Attorney Kim Ogg of using an investigation into three of Hidalgo’s staff members as a political move to try to push the incumbent county judge out of office.

Hidalgo accused Ogg of leaking out-of-context information about the investigation in an attempt to mislead the public during an election year, and of using misleading evidence to obtain search warrants that resulted in the arrest of her chief of staff and two former senior staffers.

“For whatever reason, she’s just not an ally,” Hidalgo said. “It’s very clear she’s doing this. It’s very clear she has an agenda, and that agenda is political. That agenda is not an objective search for truth, it’s some sort of search and destroy mission.”

In an email, Ogg spokesperson Dane Schiller denied the accusations.

“No one should diminish, degrade or dismiss the hard work of grand jurors who spent five months on this investigation and determined that the defendants should be indicted for two felonies a piece,” Schiller said.

Here is the entire read: Lina Hidalgo accuses DA Kim Ogg of election year politics in COVID outreach contract investigation – Houston Public Media.

It is an election year, and Judge Hidalgo does have to fight for reelection. This is still a lot to digest.

_____

What a second inning for the Astros at Fenway last night. Five dingers to tie the MLB record. Plus 9 second inning runs. Wow!

We won and we are 24-13 and still in first.

_____

Hall of Fame great Brooks Robinson is 85 today. Happy Birthday, Brooks Robinson!

Astros consultant and Hall of Fame great Reggie Jackson is 76 today. Happy Birthday, Mr. October!