President Trump said his administration will no longer seek to include a question about U.S. citizenship on the Census form that is sent to all households. He instead issued an executive order instructing agencies to provide data that the Census Bureau could use to determine the number of citizens and non-citizens residing in the country, which they essentially committed to do after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Commerce Dept.’s rationale for including the question was “contrived.”
Following the ruling, the Commerce Department indicated it would no longer pursue adding the question. The administration reversed that decision shortly thereafter, though its legal efforts to move forward were rejected by judges overseeing the various lawsuits working through the federal courts.
While the Supreme Court’s decision left open a legal avenue for the administration, the ruling “has now made it impossible, as a practical matter, to include a citizenship question” on the questionnaire sent to all households. It last appeared on that form in 1950.
Interestingly, the executive order includes the potential for “states to design state and local legislative districts based on the population of voter-eligible citizens” as one of the rationales behind it. “States could more effectively exercise this option with a more accurate and complete count of the citizen population.” Whether a state can actually do this remains an open question, which the order acknowledges. “Whether that approach is permissible will be resolved when a State actually proposes a districting plan based on the voter-eligible population.”
HD100 special: Dallas consultant Damarcus Offord established a campaign committee for a potential run for the seat vacated by former Rep. Eric Johnson (D-Dallas). Offord unsuccessfully ran for Dallas ISD trustee D9 in 2015 (46%) and 2012 (37%), losing both times to incumbent Bernadette Nutall.
HD114: Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC endorsed Republican challenger Luisa Del Rosal against Rep. John Turner (D-Dallas).
CD22: Fort Bend Co. Sheriff Troy Nehls said he would make any decision to run for Congress known in December. If he were to declare openly prior to then, the Texas Constitution’s resign-to-run provision (Art. 16, Sec. 65) would be triggered. The filing deadline is December 9. Nehls has previously announced he would not seek re-election. He explored challenging U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Humble) in the 2018 Republican primary but ultimately did not enter the race. At the time, he said he would wait until 2020.
CD32: Former U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) reported no contributions during the second quarter. His campaign has $331K on hand. Sessions is rumored to be considering a rematch against U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas), who ousted Sessions, 52%-46 % in last year’s general election. Chandler paralegal and grassroots activist Tania Burgess is the only candidate to formally enter the race so far. Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) and former Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas) are reportedly considering challenging Allred.
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