Dark Money: By a unanimous vote, the Texas Ethics Commission dismissed complaints against Texans for Fiscal Responsibility/Empower Texans’ Michael Quinn Sullivan. The earliest complaints were filed in 2012 by Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) and former Rep. Vicki Truitt (R-Keller), and they led to the initial investigation into whether the group coordinated with donors, who they weren’t required to disclose, to influence primary elections. The group also has a PAC, which discloses its donors and expenditures.

The commission issued subpoenas in 2014. As several lawsuits slogged their way through the judicial process, the AG’s office said that Empower Texans made a judicial admission of raising less than the $500 threshold that legally requires establishing a PAC. The commission’s director of enforcement recommended the case be dropped.

Sullivan was quoted by the Texas Tribune as saying the commission is “going to find out what real punishment looks like.”

CD27: The Corpus Christi Caller-Times endorsed challenger Roy Barrera.

RRC: Former RRC Chair David Porter endorsed former Rep. Wayne Christian (R-Center).

SC: The San Antonio Express-News endorsed incumbent Justices Paul Green (SC5), Eva Guzman (SC9) and Debra Lehrmann (SC3).

HD29: Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed Rep. Ed Thompson (R-Portland).

HD107: The Kenneth Sheets campaign released a new ad, “Proud,” in which Rep. Sheets discusses a few bills of which he has been most proud.

 

HD118: The Texas Parent PAC endorsed challenger Tomas Uresti.

HD120 open: The San Antonio Express-News endorsed Barbara Gervin-Hawkins.

HD133: The Houston Chronicle endorsed challenger Jesse Ybanez.

HD137: The Houston Chronicle endorsed Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston).

Travis Co.: County Comm. Gerald Daugherty’s campaign has one of the more clever ads of this cycle so far.

 

Daugherty faces mediator and Democratic Party activist David Holmes.