Early voting has begun for the May 1 general and special elections and continues through April 27. Because this is not a statewide election, counties are not required to submit early voting totals to the state (except for CD6), and not all local elections are conducted by county election officials. Therefore, tracking early voting turnout can be challenging.
That said, Bexar Co. set a first-day voter turnout record for a May election. Just over 7K voters cast ballots in local elections there, edging past the previous record set in 2017 and running about 500 voters ahead of the first day in 2019. Just under 7K people voted in a local election in Tarrant Co., of which 1K voted at the Southlake Town Hall.
In Taylor Co., just 150 people voted early in the Abilene council elections, which was a third of the number who voted on the first day of early voting in 2019, when the mayor’s race was on the ballot.
CD6 special: The 13 candidates filing campaign finance reports as of press time combined to raise $2.6M, led by Rep. Jake Ellzey’s (R-Waxahachie) $504K, since January 1. The combined total exceeds the total amount raised by all candidates for what was then an open-seat race in 2018 ($1.9M). The late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright (R-Arlington) and his 2020 Democratic opponent combined to raised $1.5M during the 2020 election cycle.
Ellzey also led the field in cash on hand with $400K but was in the middle of the pack in expenditures with $103K.
Top contribution totals:
- $504K – Ellzey (R)
- $356K – Brian Harrison (R)
- $337K – Dan Rodimer (R)
- $322K – Shawn Lassiter (D)
- $299K – Jana Lynne Sanchez (D)
- $286K – Susan Wright (R)
- $223K – Lydia Bean (D)
- $116K – Mike Egan (R)
- $99K – Michael Wood (R)
Top expenditure totals:
- $258K – Harrison (R)
- $203K – Sanchez (D)
- $201K – Lassiter (D)
- $174K – Rodimer (R)
- $158K – Wright (R)
- $115K – Bean (D)
- $103K – Ellzey (R)
- $39K – Egan (R)
- $23K – Wood (R)
Top cash on hand totals:
- $400K – Ellzey (R)
- $383K – Harrison (R)
- $164K – Rodimer (R)
- $128K – Wright (R)
- $121K – Lassiter (D)
- $108K – Bean (D)
- $96K – Sanchez (D)
- $78K – Egan (R)
- $75K – Wood (R)
Candidates who have neither raised nor spent at least $5K over the election cycle are not required to file reports. Our Crib Sheet has been updated with the latest results.
Dallas: Mayor Eric Johnson endorsed challenger Donald Parish over incumbent council member Adam Bazaldua. Parish is the second challenger Johnson has endorsed this cycle, joining Yolanda Faye Williams, who is challenging Jaime Resendez.
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