Redistricting: The U.S. Supreme Court denied plaintiffs’ request for an expedited hearing schedule to resolve the stay it issued on rulings invalidating several congressional and state House districts.
SD2: The Texas Medical Assoc. TEXPAC endorsed Rep. Cindy Burkett (R-Sunnyvale), who is challenging Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood).
Rep. Dan
Flynn
HD2: Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van) announced he would seek re-election. His 2016 primary opponent, Royse City financial services manager Bryan Slaton, is seeking a rematch. Flynn defeated Slaton, 51%-49%.
HD46: District Judge Brad Urrutia granted a continuance in the criminal trial of Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin). Travis Co. District Attorney Margaret Moore requested the delay after a state witness changed his testimony, prompting her office to shelve felony charges until more investigation could be done. Dukes’s trial, originally scheduled for October 16, has been moved to December 11, but Urrutia told prosecutors that they must decide whether they will pursue felony charges by October 30. Dukes has also been charged with two misdemeanor counts of abuse of official capacity.
HD52 open: Round Rock case manager Cynthia Flores established a campaign committee to seek the seat being vacated by Rep. Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock) as a Republican. We previously reported her campaign announcement. Meanwhile, Empower Texans attacked Flores in a blog post for using a web design vendor that also works with Democratic candidates, at least based on verbiage accidentally published on Flores’s web site,
HD62 open: Sherman medical supply manager and transgender activist Valerie Hefner established a campaign committee for a potential race for the seat being vacated by Rep. Larry Phillips (R-Sherman). Social media activity suggests she would run as a Democrat.
HD64: Rep. Lynn Stucky (R-Sanger) announced he would seek re-election.
Dorotha
Ocker
HD115: Carrollton attorney and 2016 Democratic nominee Dorotha Ocker has withdrawn from a potential rematch against Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) and will instead run for a Dallas Co. judicial office. In a Facebook post, Ocker said she has been in contact with several people interested in running and Democrats “will without doubt have a qualified and energetic candidate.” Rinaldi defeated Ocker by just over 1K votes in the 2016 general election.
CD21: The Elliott McFadden campaign announced the endorsements of Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and former Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin).
Upshur Co.: County Judge Dean Fowler announced he would not seek re-election and is considering running for the open 115th District Court. Fowler was first elected to his current position in 2002.
Green Party: The Green Party of Texas will hold a prospective candidate and “petition collection training” in Dallas this weekend. These events indicate that the Green Party will attempt to gain ballot access in 2018. The party lost automatic access to the general election ballot when none of its statewide candidates received at least 5% of the vote in the 2016 general election.
©2017 Texas Election Source LLC
