Interactive Flood-Bond Map from KTRK Reveals Voting Patterns Throughout County

Want to know where all the support for the flood bond came from? Want to know where the highest turnouts were? Want to see where the largest percentages of NO votes came from? Instead of pouring over the canvass spreadsheets until your eyeballs bleed, now you can get it at a glance thanks to some amazing work by the good folks at ABC13, KTRK-TV. Click on the map below and you will be taken to their web site. There are two layers to this “heat map.” A heat map reveals geographic patterns in data.

  • First select the layer you want: you have a choice of two: No Votes or Voter Turnout.
  • The darker colors represent higher numbers.
  • See the legend by clicking on the arrow to the right of the layer name.
  • Then click on a precinct, any precinct. A box will pop up that reveals:
    • The total number of registered voters in the precinct
    • The number who voted
    • The percentage of turnout
    • The number who voted FOR
    • The number who voted AGAINST

It’s that simple!

Click on map to go to KTRK’s website where you can play with the interactive heat map

KTRK Interactive Heat Map showing voter turnout for Harris County Flood Bond Election. Click on map to view interactive version.

A shoutout to Keaton Fuchs, a KTRK producer who has been working on making this technology available to all of us.

Posted by Bob Rehak on September 6, 2018

373 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Kingwood Precincts Deliver 5 of Top 8 Turnout Percentages County Wide for Flood Bond

Long-passive Kingwood voters have awoken and become a political force. The Harris County Clerk has posted the canvass for the recent flood bond election. It shows that Kingwood had five of the top eight precincts in Harris County as measured by the percentage of registered voters who turned out to vote.

Kingwood Voters Almost Triple County Average

Kingwood voters turned out at a rate of 16.97% compared to 6.69% for the county overall – almost triple the county average. Kingwood voters also exceeded the county average when it came to voting FOR the bond: 89.35% voted FOR in Kingwood compared to 85.34% FOR in all of Harris County.

On Closer Review, Kingwood Does Even Better

The turnout percentages are even stronger than they first appear. Of the three precincts that had higher turnout percentages (906, 281, 403), Precinct #906 had only 27 registered voters and nine voted (7 FOR, 2 Against) giving them the highest percentage of 33.33%. If you consider 906 a statistical anomaly, Kingwood precincts took five of the top seven places for turnout percentage.

Harris County Precincts with Greater than 20% Turnout in Flood Bond Referendum

Anomalies

Precinct 281 had a turnout of 27.13 percent and overwhelmingly voted for the bond (602 to 27). That’s a ratio of more than 22 to 1.

However, the precinct that voted most overwhelmingly for the bond in percentage terms was 361. Every single one of the 119 voters there voted FOR the bond; not one person voted against it.

Only one precinct in the entire county voted AGAINST the bond. Of the seven people who voted in Precinct 767, only 3 voted FOR and 4 voted against.

For More Information

Click here to view or download the entire Flood Bond Canvass.

Click here to download a complete Flood Bond AnalysisFloodBondAnalysis for all Humble, Kingwood, Huffman and Atascocita precincts in Microsoft Excel format.

What Does Canvass Show?

Two things become apparent when you cross-reference these numbers to a county precinct map. First, in Kingwood, people closer to the river voted in higher percentages than those who live farther from the river. Second, Kingwood precincts that did not flood turned out at higher rates than many other parts of the county that did flood.

This tells me that even after Harvey, Kingwood residents still feel fierce loyalty to their community. We know we live in one of the greatest communities in the country and we will fight to protect it. I trust the City, County and State will take away the same message from these numbers.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/5/2018

372 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Good News for Kingwood Residents along Ben’s Branch and Taylor Gully

Note: This story has been corrected. See the replacement post.

The City of Houston has finally signed and delivered the easements that will allow Harris County Flood Control to maintain Ben’s Branch and Taylor Gully in Kingwood.

Clearing the Way for Ben’s Branch Maintenance

Jessica Beemer, Chief of Staff for City Council Member Dave Martin said, “As of this morning, the City has completed its research regarding the orphan channels in Kingwood. The conveyance documents have been delivered to Harris County Flood Control District’s attorney for review and signature.”

Trees blocking Ben’s Branch. A common site for miles.

Many homes and businesses flooded along Ben’s Branch during Harvey. One-hundred percent of the businesses in Town Center, at least four apartment complexes, the Kingwood Public Library, a retirement home, Kings Harbor and the Enclave flooded partially as a result of Ben’s Branch.

The county identified sedimentation and fallen trees that were blocking this major stream, but legally could not address these issues until receiving the paper work.

Just yesterday, I posted about problems with this paperwork.

Hopefully, the County will now expedite remediation. I’m sure people along the stream will sleep better tonight.

A shout out to Barbara Hilburn in Kingwood Lakes who has been leading the charge for Kingwood residents on internal drainage improvements since Harvey.

Posted by Bob Rehak on September 5, 2018

372 Days since Hurricane Harvey