Updated: Women Governors by Time in Office

Update: Kate Brown has been Governor of Oregon for a little over 6 months so let's update list.  If the rumor mills in Alabama are true, we may see another woman become governor.
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It's International Women's Day.  So let's look at the women in the U.S.  Namely Governors.  The idea for a unique way of looking at the women who have served as governors came from BC Iconoclast in Canada.

First, a look at the 37 women who served as governor by their time in office through today.  Bold are currently serving:

Governor	State	Time in Office
Ruth Ann Minner	Delaware	2940 Days
Christine Gregoire	Washington	2927 Days
Linda Lingle	Hawaii	2927 Days
Jennifer Granholm	Michigan	2923 Days
Christine Todd Whitman	New Jersey	2571 Days
M. Jodi Rell	Connecticut	2380 Days
Kathleen Sebelius	Kansas	2298 Days
Janet Napolitano	Arizona	2208 Days
Madeleine Kunin	Vermont	2192 Days
Jeanne Shaheen	New Hampshire	2192 Days
Ella Grasso	Connecticut	2185 Days
Jan Brewer	Arizona	2176 Days
Jane Dee Hull	Arizona	1950 Days
Susana Martinez	New Mexico	1712 Days
Mary Fallin	Oklahoma	1703 Days
Nikki Haley	South Carolina	1701 Days
Kathleen Blanco	Louisiana	1464 Days
Judy Martz	Montana	1464 Days
Dixy Lee Ray	Washington	1464 Days
Ann Richards	Texas	1464 Days
Kay Orr	Nebraska	1462 Days
Martha Layne Collins	Kentucky	1457 Days
Miriam Ferguson	Texas	1457 Days
Joan Finney	Kansas	1457 Days
Barbara Roberts	Oregon	1457 Days
Beverly Perdue	North Carolina	1457 Days
Rose Mofford	Arizona	1123 Days
Maggie Hassan	New Hampshire	979 Days
Sarah Palin	Alaska	966 Days
Nellie Tayloe Ross	Wyoming	729 Days
Jane Swift	Massachusetts	633 Days
Lurleen Wallace	Alabama	478 Days
Olene Smith Walker	Utah	426 Days
Gina Raimondo	Rhode Island	246 Days
Kate Brown	Oregon	203 Days
Nancy Hollister	Ohio	12 Days
Vesta Roy	New Hampshire	8 Days

Looking at just how many days someone served doesn't tell the whole story.  Ruth Ann Minner may have been the longest serving governor, but how does serving as governor of Delaware compare with serving as governor of Michigan or Texas?

Another way we can look at this list is by their population when they took office multiplied by their days in office through today.  Those in bold are currently serving.

Governor	State	Total Governing Pop.	Time in Office
Jennifer Granholm	Michigan	29,463,796,155	2923 Days
Ann Richards	Texas	24,868,250,640	1464 Days
Christine Todd Whitman	New Jersey	20,359,224,516	2571 Days
Christine Gregoire	Washington	18,404,270,593	2927 Days
Jan Brewer	Arizona	14,352,412,928	2176 Days
Beverly Perdue	North Carolina	13,667,947,988	1457 Days
Janet Napolitano	Arizona	12,322,430,688	2208 Days
Jane Dee Hull	Arizona	8,876,803,650	1950 Days
M. Jodi Rell	Connecticut	8,338,577,520	2380 Days
Miriam Ferguson	Texas	8,265,902,000	1457 Days
Nikki Haley	South Carolina	7,867,778,184	1701 Days
Ella Grasso	Connecticut	6,735,262,500	2185 Days
Kathleen Blanco	Louisana	6,611,087,280	1464 Days
Mary Fallin	Oklahoma	3855753	1703 Days
Kathleen Sebelius	Kansas	6,258,619,086	2298 Days
Dixy Lee Ray	Washington	5,528,137,200	1464 Days
Martha Layne Collins	Kentucky	5,382,863,188	1457 Days
Barbara Roberts	Oregon	4,141,261,697	1457 Days
Rose Mofford	Arizona	3,970,010,509	1123 Days
Jane Swift	Massachusetts	3,808,397,025	633 Days
Linda Lingle	Hawaii	3,643,816,446	2927 Days
Joan Finney	Kansas	3,609,825,318	1457 Days
Susana Martinez	New Mexico	3,525,314,448	1712 Days
Jeanne Shaheen	New Hampshire	2,571,739,888	2192 Days
Ruth Ann Minner	Delaware	2,303,784,000	2940 Days
Kay Orr	Nebraska	2,290,291,714	1462 Days
Lurleen Wallace	Alabama	1,652,924,000	478 Days
Judy Martz	Montana	1,320,813,480	1464 Days
Maggie Hassan	New Hampshire	1,290,511,926	979 Days
Madeleine Kunin	Vermont	1,161,836,720	2192 Days
Olene Smith Walker	Utah	1,001,724,942	426 Days
Kate Brown	Oregon	805,958,517	203 Days
Sarah Palin	Alaska	647,271,198	966 Days
Gina Raimondo	Rhode Island	259,572,558	246 Days
Nellie Tayloe Ross	Wyoming	157,464,000	729 Days
Nancy Hollister	Ohio	134,853,024	12 Days
Vesta Roy	New Hampshire	7,581,752	8 Days

Some interesting things when broken down by population and time in office.  Ann Richards is #14 for time in office, but #2 when you factor in population.  Ruth Ann Minner is the longest serving but drops to #24 with the population factor.  Maggie Hassan has been governor for about 3 months, but look how far she has to go to overtake Nancy Hollister.

The population factor at the very least shows us that not all states are created equal.  Let's remember there are essentially 50 different economies.  Larger states are likely to have larger economies.

Just as an FYI, if Ann Richards had won re-election she would have easily taken the top spot when population is factored in, blowing past Jennifer Granholm with a population of 49,719,514,770.

A Mini-H-E-B Rant

Let me start off with the fact that I love H-E-B...BUT...

There is something that annoys me about not just H-E-B, but numerous other stores with the exact same problem.  It just so happens that this particular time, this incident occurred at H-E-B.

Anyone could probably guess my problem if all I said as "X items or fewer."

My problem is what is the point of these 10, 15, or 20 items or fewer checkout lanes if H-E-B (as well as other stores) are just going to let anyone checkout through them.

I had the unfortunate pleasure to be behind a customer in the 15 items or fewer lane and this person had 2 bags of groceries amounting to at least 25 items.  I'll be honest, I lost count past 20.

It offends me that H-E-B and other stores allow customers to go through these without telling them, politely, that, "I'm sorry, but this is the X items or fewer lane, you have too many items, you have to use one of the other lanes."

For anyone who says, "Well what about those people who only have 16 or 17 items?"

To those I respond with this, "What's the point of having these maximum item lanes if you're not going to abide by the rules?  And where does it stop? It's only a few items over.  It's only 5 items over.  It's only 10 items over, etc. etc."

Either 15 items or fewer means 15 items or fewer or else it means nothing and you might as well take out those lanes altogether.

I happen to think they really mean nothing.  Why?  Let me recount this little tale that I was a witness to...

A customer in front of me checked out of the 15 items or fewer lane with a basket full of groceries, at least 50 items.  The checkout girl politely told the woman that this was the 15 items or fewer lane. The customer rudely replied, "Well, I've already taken them out of the basket."  Said customer then went and complained to the manager.  The manager then came over the to checkout girl and told her not to refuse to checkout anyone.  (Essentially, it doesn't matter that it said 15 items or fewer, you can't stop them.)

After checking out, I went over to the manager and explained to her that in fact it was not the checkout girl who was rude, it was the customer.  I also complained that I don't appreciate that I follow the rules and get stuck behind these customers (and I'm thinking jackasses and assholes) who decide they just use whichever checkout lane they damn well please.

To conclude, either 15 items or fewer means 15 items or fewer or there's not point whatsoever to having those lanes and they should be removed. Checkout people should be able to tell customers, "No you have too many items and need to checkout at another lane" and then be secure in the knowledge that their managers will back them up.

If H-E-B is too afraid to tell people no, then I have an idea.  Why not invent a checkout machine that only will checkout X number of items or fewer?  After that checkout person scans in item #15 that machine stops accepting items and the customer has to pay.  And if someone comes up there with too many items, too bad.  They were warned ahead of time when it says X items or fewer.

Updated: Texas House 2017

Updated: We're now up to 12 House Reps not running for re-election. 3 Democrats and 8 Republicans.

Below is a Seniority listing of the House. Strikethroughs have passed on re-election.

Craddick	Tom
Thompson	Senfronia
Dutton, Jr.	Harold
Smithee	John
Oliveira	Rene
Turner	Sylvester
Naishtat	Elliott
Coleman	Garnet
Davis	Yvonne
Giddings	Helen
Farrar	Jessica
Elkins	Gary
Pickett	Joe
Dukes	Dawnna
Raymond	Richard
McClendon	Ruth Jones
Bonnen	Dennis
Keffer	Jim
King	Tracy
Deshotel	Joe
King	Phil
Morrison	Geanie
Alonzo	Roberto
Crownover	Myra
Geren	Charlie
Martinez Fischer	Trey
Hunter	Todd
Riddle	Debbie
Guillen	Ryan
Smith	Wayne
Flynn	Dan
Hughes	Bryan
Bohac	Dwayne
Laubenberg	Jodie
Cook	Byron
Rodriguez	Eddie
Phillips	Larry
Allen	Alma
Vo	Hubert
Martinez	Armando
Anderson	Charles
Anchia	Rafael
Otto	John
Zedler	Bill
Straus	Joe
Hernandez	Ana
Howard	Donna
Farias	Joe
King	Susan
Zerwas	John
Lucio, III	Eddie
Aycock	Jimmie Don
Parker	Tan
Harless	Patricia
Darby	Drew
Herrero	Abel
Gutierrez	Roland
Walle	Armando
Miller	Doug
Alvarado	Carol
Button	Angie Chen
Fletcher	Allen
Marquez	Marisa
Murphy	Jim
Miles	Borris
Johnson	Eric
Frullo	John
Kuempel	John
Huberty	Dan
Sheets	Kenneth
Workman	Paul
Lozano	J.M.
Price	Four
White	James
Munoz, Jr.	Sergio
Davis	Sarah
Isaac	Jason
Simpson	David
Larson	Lyle
Burkett	Cindy
Gonzales	Larry
Reynolds	Ron
Moody	Joe
Turner	Chris
Raney	John
Guerra	Bobby
Krause	Matt
Gonzalez	Mary
Sanford	Scott
Bell, Jr.	Cecil
Wu	Gene
Schaefer	Matt
Stickland	Jonathan
Dale	Tony
Thompson	Ed
Turner	Scott
Collier	Nicole
Miller	Rick
Springer	Drew
Sheffield	J.D.
Leach	Jeff
Paddie	Chris
Rodriguez	Justin
Farney	Marsha
Fallon	Pat
Longoria	Oscar
Stephenson	Phil
Ashby	Trent
Bonnen	Greg
Capriglione	Giovanni
Simmons	Ron
Clardy	Travis
Rose	Toni
Goldman	Craig
King	Ken
Canales	Terry
Nevarez	Poncho
Frank	James
Klick	Stephanie
Kacal	Kyle
Villalba	Jason
Anderson	Rodney
Israel	Celia
Metcalf	Will
Phelan	Dade
Galindo	Rick
Wray	John
Schofield	Mike
VanDeaver	Gary
Keough	Mark
Murr	Andrew
Shaheen	Matt
Rinaldi	Matt
Landgraf	Brooks
Spitzer	Stuart
Koop	Linda
Meyer	Morgan
Pena	Gilbert
White	Molly
Blanco	Cesar
Faircloth	Wayne
Paul	Dennis
Burrows	Dustin
Tinderholt	Tony
Romero, Jr.	Ramon
Burns	DeWayne
Bernal	Diego
Schubert	Leighton
Cyrier	John
Minjarez	Ina

Long Campaign?

It's almost August.  There are about 66 weeks until the 2016 election.  There's going to be a presidential debate next week.  The media has us in the full throws of a presidential election.

I had to laugh when I read about our neighbors to the north: A lengthy 11-week federal election campaign could give the Conservatives, armed with a significant war chest, a marked edge over their political rivals. 

You read that correctly.  They're about to have a "lengthy" 11 week federal election in Canada.

Would that our campaigns in the United States were only 11 lengthy weeks.

Game Show Network Hosts Republican Debates

I think the Game Show Network is really missing out on a great opportunity.  With so many Republican candidates, what about some debates game show style.

Imagine it....

Instead of Whammy! (the new version of Press Your Luck) they could change it up for Donald Trump and create Minority!  As contestants they have Donald Trump and whoever the other 2 most conservative Republicans are on the issue of immigration.  Picture it instead of Trump saying, "No Whammies, no whammies, no whammies, stop!"  instead he says, "No Mexicans, no Mexicans, No Mexicans, stop border crossing!"  As host, I suggest Iowa Congressman Steve King or former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo.

Or how about this...

Match Game 2015.  6 Republican candidates.  Just think of the questions.  "Johnny was so conservative." (Audience says, "How conservative was he?") "He was so conservative, that instead of firing bullets out of his gun, he fired _____________ (blank)."

Wouldn't you love to see them try to out-conservative each other trying to figure out an answer?

"Tammy was so anti-abortion." (How anti-abortion was she?) "She was so anti-abortion, that each time she went to Planned Parenthood she _________________ (blanked)."

Here's another...

Instead of Hollywood Squares, we have Conservative Squares.  I'm thinking Ted Cruz or Donald Trump as the center square.

Try this one...

Republican Family Feud.  Governors vs. Senators? Or establishment versus outsiders?

Governors vs Senators
Imagine a Republican Family Feud with on one side some combination of Bush, Christie, Gilmore, Huckabee, Jindal, Kasich, Pataki, Perry, and Walker.  And on the other Cruz, Graham, Paul, Rubio, and Santorum.

Establishment vs Outsiders
On one side Bush, Walker, Rubio, Huckabee, Perry.  On the other side, Carson, Christie, Cruz, Fiorina, Trump.

Texas Senate 2017

We already have 2 Senators who will not be returning for the 85th Legislative Session: Kevin Eltife & Troy Fraser.

Who knows, we may end up seeing a few more retirements.  Either by a Senator's own choosing, or by the voters choosing.

One of the factors when it comes to retirements is age. Of the 14 Senators still running for re-election in 2016, 7 are over the age of 60.

69 - Judith Zaffirini (D), Eddie Lucio (D), Juan Hinojosa (D)
67 - Jose Rodriguez (D)
64 - Sylvia Garcia (D)
63 - Jane Nelson (R)
61 - Rodney Ellis (D)
55 - Larry Taylor (R)
53 - Brian Birdwell (R), Charles Perry (R)
51 - Carlos Uresti (D)
50 - Lois Kolkhorst (R)
46 - Jose Menendez (D)
44 - Brandon Creighton (R)

Another factor to consider is Seniority.  Even though Democrats haven't been in the majority for a long time, Democratic Senators have stuck around for a while. You have to wonder though, with Lite Gov. Dan Patrick trying to relegate Democrats to an afterthought, how much longer some Democrats will want to stick around.  In any case, in terms of Seniority this is how it breaks down (Senators up for re-election in 2016 colored):

1. John Whitmire (D)
2. Judith Zaffirini (D)
3. Rodney Ellis (D)
4. Eddie Lucio (D)
5. Jane Nelson (R)
6. Royce West (D)
7. Troy Fraser (R)
8. Craig Estes (R)
9. Juan Hinojosa (D)
10. Kevin Eltife (R)
11. Kel Seliger (R)
12. Carlos Uresti (D)
13. Robert Nichols (R)
14. Kirk Watson (D)
15. Joan Huffman (R)
16. Brian Birdwell (R)
17. Jose Rodriguez (D)
18. Donna Campbell (R)
19. Kelly Hancock (R)
20. Larry Taylor (R)
21. Charles Schwertner (R)
22. Sylvia Garcia (D)
23. Brandon Creighton (R)
24. Charles Perry (R)
25. Lois Kolkhorst (R)
26. Don Huffines (R)
27. Van Taylor (R)
28. Bob Hall (R)
29. Paul Bettencourt (R)
30. Konni Burton (R)
31. Jose Menendez (D)

Who'll be the next Senator to pull the rip cord? It's anyone's guess.

Texas State Senate: Higher Education Committee

The map above shows the districts of the Senators who are on the Senate Higher Education Committee.  The dark red is the district of the Committee Chair.  The lighter reds and blues are the districts of the committee members.

Out of curiosity, which higher ed institutions did the committee members graduate from?

Chair, Kel Seliger - Dartmouth College
Vice Chair, Royce West - UT-Arlington, University of Houston
Paul Bettencourt - Texas A&M
Konni Burton - UNT
Charles Perry - Texas Tech
Leticia Van de Putte - UT-Austin
Kirk Watson - Baylor

Updated: Dallas Cowboys Politics

Updated:  Another season under a Republican Governor and the Cowboys missed going to the Super Bowl.

Maybe the Texas Democratic Party can target a new type of voter in future elections: Dallas Cowboys fans.
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First, a word analogy:

Dallas Cowboys is to Super Bowl as _____________ are to Texas.

A) Democrats
B) Republicans
C) Independents

2015 TX Legislature: Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst

With the removal of the 2/3rds rule in the Texas Senate, I think this legislative session can easily be summed up as this: Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst.

Updated: Minority Governors by Time in Office

Update: With the 2014 elections, came a new addition to the list: David Ige of Hawaii.  The elections also saw Deval Patrick finish out his term.
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We've previously looked (and will continue to look) at women governors and their time in office.  What about minority governors?  There have been only 22 minority governors.  First let's take a look by days in office.  Those in bold are currently serving.

Governor	State	Time in Office
George Ariyoshi	Hawaii	4384 Days
Miguel Antonio Otero	New Mexico	3114 Days
Deval Patrick	Massachusetts	2927 Days
Bill Richardson	New Mexico	2923 Days
Ben Cayetano	Hawaii	2923 Days
John Waihee	Hawaii	2923 Days
Gary Locke	Washington	2920 Days
Bobby Jindal	Louisiana	2566 Days
John Sununu	New Hampshire	2191 Days
Susana Martinez	New Mexico	1483 Days
Brian Sandoval	Nevada	1481 Days
Nikki Haley	South Carolina	1472 Days
Bob Martinez	Florida	1464 Days
Douglas Wilder	Virginia	1463 Days
Toney Anaya	New Mexico	1462 Days
Jerry Apodaca	New Mexico	1462 Days
David Paterson	New York	1020 Days
Raul Castro	Arizona	1019 Days
Octaviano Ambrisio Larrazolo	New Mexico	732 Days
Romualdo Pacheco	California	286 Days
David Ige	Hawaii	53 Days
Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca	New Mexico	49 Days
P.B.S. Pinchback	Louisiana	36 Days

Looking at just how many days someone served doesn't tell the whole story.  As noted with our women governors, Ruth Ann Minner may have been the longest serving woman governor, but how does serving as governor of Delaware compare with serving as governor of Michigan or Texas?

Another way we can look at this list is by their population when they took office multiplied by their days in office through today.  Those in bold are currently serving.

Governor	State	Total Governing Pop.	Time in Office
David Paterson	New York	19,596,684,720	1020 Days
Deval Patrick	Massachusetts	18,825,173,193	2927 Days
Bob Martinez	Florida	17,564,022,312	1464 Days
Gary Locke	Washington	16,570,261,240	2920 Days
Bobby Jindal	Louisiana	11,318,102,536	2566 Days
Douglas Wilder	Virginia	9,052,104,754	1463 Days
Nikki Haley	South Carolina	6,808,565,248	1472 Days
Bill Richardson	New Mexico	5,479,496,722	2923 Days
Brian Sandoval	Nevada	4,033,239,882	1481 Days
George Ariyoshi	Hawaii	3,805,215,552	4384 Days
Ben Cayetano	Hawaii	3,741,167,728	2923 Days
John Waihee	Hawaii	3,074,300,326	2923 Days
Susana Martinez	New Mexico	3,053,762,457	1483 Days
Raul Castro	Arizona	2,328,259,093	1019 Days
John Sununu	New Hampshire	2,099,271,594	2191 Days
Toney Anaya	New Mexico	2,038,555,782	1462 Days
Jerry Apodaca	New Mexico	1,695,838,128	1462 Days
Miguel Antonio Otero	New Mexico	608,195,340	3114 Days
Octaviano Ambrisio Larrazolo	New Mexico	264,984,000	732 Days
Romualdo Pacheco	California	160,230,642	286 Days
David Ige	Hawaii	75,236,733	53 Days
P.B.S. Pinchback	Louisiana	26,168,940	36 Days
Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca	New Mexico	17,689,000	49 Days

One thing that probably stands out are 2 states. Hawaii and New Mexico dominate this list.  Of the 23 minority governors, 11 come from those 2 states. 7 from New Mexico and 4 from Hawaii.