Counties have canvassed their election results, making them official. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) may canvass the state vote as early as Saturday, but he has until December 7 to do so. Counties must provide electronic precinct-level returns to the Secretary of State by December 3.
Updated statewide results, though still unofficial, reduced President Trump’s margin of victory in the state to just over 631K votes. He received 52.06% of the vote, defeating President-elect Joe Biden by 5.58 percentage points, the narrowest margin of victory for a Republican presidential nominee in the state since 1996.
The new statewide numbers placed Court of Criminal Appeals Judge David Newell (R) alongside Supreme Court Justice Jane Bland (R) in the 6 million vote club. Bland’s 6.05M votes remains the most in state history.
Absentee Applications: Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) filed proposed legislation that would expressly prohibit a state or local government employee from providing an application for an absentee ballot “unless otherwise authorized” by law. Senate Bill 208 was filed in response to former Harris Co. Clerk Christopher Hollins’s plan to mail absentee ballot applications to the county’s 2.2M registered voters. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in October that Hollins lacked the authority to do so. The bill would not affect the ability of political parties or other third parties from sending applications to voters. Rep. Valoree Swanson (R-Spring) filed companion legislation (House Bill 25) earlier this month.
Arlington: Early voting begins Monday for the at-large District 7 council runoff between incumbent Victoria Farrar-Myers (48% in the general election) and Antoine Lane (20%). Election Day is December 8.
Denton: Early voting begins Monday for the mayoral runoff election between council members Keely Briggs (48.5% in the general election) and Gerard Hudspeth (42%). Runoff elections are also on tap for District 2 at-large Place 6. Election Day is December 8.
Hutto: The city council accepted Mayor Doug Gaul’s resignation. First elected in 2016, Gaul’s term does not expire until May 2022. In a statement, Gaul said he wanted to spend more time with his family and business.
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