Correction: In yesterday’s edition, we erroneously indicated Jacey Jetton was running for Congress when we reported that U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Sugar Land) had endorsed him. Jetton is running to succeed the retiring state Rep. Rick Miller (R-Sugar Land). We regret the error and have corrected the story online.
Filing period: Monday is the deadline for candidates to file for a spot on the Democratic or Republican primary ballot or to be considered for nomination at a minor party convention. As of the end of today (Saturday), at least 559 people have filed for federal, statewide or legislative office as a Republican or Democrat. Our Crib Sheets show the filing status for the candidates we are tracking.
We expect tomorrow (Sunday) to be fairly quiet, and we anticipate a late rush of candidates filing right on the deadline. As of this moment, all incumbents who have announced plans to seek re-election have filed except possibly for three members of Congress: U.S. Reps. Colin Allred (D-Dallas), Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) and Ron Wright (R-Arlington). It is possible Allred and Castro could have filed at their county party office and that information has not been reported. In general, we are seeing much less information about candidate filings at the local level than in past years.
Because of the expected high volume of filings on Monday, and the fact that we have very little information on Libertarian and Green Party filing activity, we expect it will take us up to a week to capture all of the filed candidates in our Crib Sheets.
RRC: Dallas attorney Mark Watson filed as a Democrat to challenge Comm. Ryan Sitton (R).
HD14: College Station university student Raza Rahman filed as a Democrat to challenge Rep. John Raney (R-College Station).
HD27: Stafford development director Tom Virippan filed as a Republican to challenge Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City).
HD38: Brownsville IT officer Erasmo Castro amended his campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville). He unsuccessfully ran for Cameron Co. Democratic chair in 2016 (38%), losing to Amber Medina.
HD46: Pflugerville resident Jesus Cano established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Sheryl Cole (D-Austin). We were unable to identify him conclusively.
HD89: Allen accountant Jon Cocks established a campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of Rep. Candy Noble (R-Lucas). Cocks unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Fairview earlier this year (40%) and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Collin Co. Comm. P3 in 2016 (17%).
HD112: Garland resident Shane Newsom established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Angie Chen Button (R-Garland) as a Libertarian.
HD118: San Antonio resident Eric Velasquez established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Leo Pacheco (D-San Antonio) as a Libertarian. He unsuccessfully ran for Bexar Co. Justice of the Peace P3, Pl1 in 2018 as a Libertarian, losing to former Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio), 70%-30%.
HD119 open: Live Oak resident Arthur Thomas IV established a campaign committee for a potential run for the seat being vacated by Rep. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) as a Libertarian.
HD136: Cedar Park attorney Brian Elliott established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. John Bucy (D-Cedar Park). We were unable to determine his political affiliation conclusively.
HD138 open: Houston consultant Jenifer Rene Pool filed as a Democrat to seek the seat being vacated by Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston). Pool unsuccessfully sought the 2018 Democratic nomination for the seat (43%) and lost a 2016 race for Harris Co. Commissioner (42%).
HD139: Houston IT security professional and 2018 Libertarian nominee Shohn Trojacek reauthorized his campaign committee for a potential rematch against Rep. Jarvis Johnson (D-Houston).
HD146: Project developer Emily Wolf filed to challenge Rep. Shawn Thierry (D-Houston) in the Democratic primary. We were unable to identify her conclusively.
HD150: Spring gun rights activist Kory Watkins amended his campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Valoree Swanson (R-Spring) as a Libertarian. Watkins unsuccessfully sought the Libertarian nomination for Governor in 2018.
CD1: Saginaw data architect Johnathan Kyle Davidson filed to challenge U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler) in the Republican primary. He unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Coppell) in the 2018 Republican primary (26%).
CD22 open: Fort Bend Co. Sheriff Troy Nehls (R) announced he would seek the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Sugar Land). He was first elected in 2012. His late official entry into the race was caused by his desire to serve out his term. Had he announced sooner, he would have triggered the constitutional resign-to-run provision. Nehls faces at least 12 primary opponents.
CD32: Dallas executive coach Ed Rankin updated his state campaign for what would appear to be a challenge of Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi) in HD32, but it is possible he is intending to run in CD32 as a Libertarian against U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas). Rankin was the Libertarian nominee for CD32 in 2014 (3%) and 2016 (19%), CD30 in 2012 (2%). The Libertarian Booster PAC website indicates Rankin may be running in HD108. Accordingly, we have him listed on the House Crib Sheet in that race until we gain more clarity.
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