Today (Monday) was the filing deadline for most candidates seeking partisan office in 2020. At least 53 were “new” candidates for federal, state or legislative office in the sense that we were not tracking them, had not reported on them this cycle and did not have them listed on our Crib Sheets. As always, there were some surprises and unexpected decisions. We have updated our Crib Sheets to the best of our ability, but we expect there will be additional changes during the week as the final candidate rosters are prepared. We also have not seen any candidate rosters from the Libertarian and Green Parties.
Top News
HD2: Royse City financial services manager Bryan Slaton filed to challenge Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van) in the Republican primary for the third time. Flynn defeated Slaton, 52%-48%, in the 2018 primary and 51%-49% in the 2016 primary. Flynn also drew a new general election challenger in Como consultant Bill Brannon, who filed as a Democrat.
HD30: Victoria Army veteran, Texas Medical Board member and Republican precinct chair Vanessa Hicks-Callaway filed to challenge Rep. Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria) in the Republican primary. Morrison has not faced a primary challenger since 1998, the year she was first elected to the Legislature. Among sitting legislators, only Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) and Reps. Tom Craddick (R-Midland), Yvonne Davis (D-Dallas) and John Smithee (R-Amarillo) have gone longer without facing primary opposition.
HD60: Rep. Mike Lang (R-Granbury) reportedly filed for Hood Co. Commissioner just before today’s deadline, canceling his re-election bid. Lang initially said he would run for county office before abruptly reversing course and choosing to run for re-election. He filed for re-election on November 20. Three Republicans – Graford rancher Glenn Rogers, Granbury attorney Kellye Sorelle and, reportedly, Mineral Wells Mayor Christopher Perricone – have already filed for the race. Lang’s late decision not to run will reopen the filing period for the seat by one week.
HD96: Mansfield Mayor David Cook filed to challenge Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) in the Republican primary.
HD142: Term-limited Houston council member Jerry Davis filed to challenge Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) in the Democratic primary, as did educator Natasha Ruiz. Richard Bonton, a Houston transit business owner who unsuccessfully challenged Dutton in the 2018 primary (35%) previously filed for the race. Dutton also drew a general election challenger today (Monday) in Jason Rowe.
RRC: Austin journalist and 2016 candidate Cody Garrett announced he would not file to challenge Comm. Ryan Sitton (R) and endorsed Chrysta Catstañeda.
CD22 open: Sugar Land nonprofit executive Pierce Bush filed to seek the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Sugar Land). Bush is the grandson for former President George H.W. Bush. Meanwhile, Pearland attorney and former council member Felicia Harris Hoss announced she would not put her name on the ballot. Hoss raised $218K during the third quarter and had $179K on hand as of September 30.
New Filings
For each candidate listed below, we’ll provide as much information as we have. Due to the high volume of candidates, we were not able to do our typical research on new filers.
SC7: Attorney Tami Craft as a Democrat (Boyd)
CCA3: Attorney Jim Sharp as a Democrat (Richardson)
SD12: Fort Worth businessowner Randy Daniels as a Democrat (Nelson)
SD13: Milinda Morris as a Republican (Miles)
SD18: Katy attorney Michael Antalan as a Democrat (Kolkhorst)
SD27: Vanessa Tijerina as a Republican (Lucio Jr.)
HD2: Royse City financial services manager Bryan Slaton as a Republican – primary challenger – and Como consultant Bill Brannon as a Democrat (Flynn)
HD23: Galveston restaurateur Jeff Anotonelli as a Democrat (Middleton)
HD30: Vanessa Hicks-Callaway filed as a Republican (Morrison) – primary challenger
HD38: Brownsville attorney Erin Gamez as a Democrat (Lucio III) – primary challenger
HD44: Robert Bohmfalk as a Democrat (Kuempel)
HD45: Kyle bookkeeper Liliana Posada as a Democrat (Zwiener) – primary challenger
HD48: Entrepreneur Bill Strieber as a Republican (Howard)
HD50: Larry Delarose as a Republican (Israel)
HD60 open: Mineral Wells Mayor Christopher Perricone as a Republican, according to news reports (Lang)
HD74 open: Fort Stockton council member Ruben Falcon and former Del Rio Mayor Robert Garza as Republicans (Nevárez)
HD84: Attorney John Gibson as a Democrat (Frullo)
HD85: Abolaji Tijani Ayobami as a Republican (Stephenson) – primary challenger
HD96: Mansfield Mayor David Cook as a Republican (Zedler) – primary challenger
HD97: Fort Worth physician Dan Willis as a Democrat (Goldman)
HD122: San Antonio technical adviser and 2018 Democratic challenger Claire Barnett (Larson)
HD135: Merrilee Rosene Beazley as a Republican (Rosenthal)
HD141: Houston educator Willie Roaches Franlyn as a Democrat (S. Thompson) – primary challenger
HD142: Houston council member Jerry Davis and educator Natasha Ruiz as Democrats) – primary challengers – and Jason Rowe as a Republican (Dutton)
HD147: Grease recycler Colin Ross as a Democrat (Coleman) – primary challenger
HD148: Houston paralegal and special election candidate Adrian Garcia and Houston real estate broker Cynthia Reyes-Revilla as Democrats (vacant)
CD2: Houston attorney Sima Ladjevardian as a Democrat (Crenshaw)
CD8: Kirk Osborn as a Republican – primary challenger – and accounts payable associate Elizabeth Hernandez as a Democrat (Brady)
CD9: Julian A. Martinez as a Republican (Green)
CD11 open: Gene Barber and Casey Gray as Republicans (Conaway)
CD13 open: former White House physician Ronny Jackson as a Republican (Thornberry)
CD16: Patrick Cigarruista as a Republican (Escobar)
CD17 open: Defense consultant Jeff Oppenheim as a Republican (Flores)
CD18: Houston resident Robert Cadena as a Republican (Jackson Lee)
CD19: Vance Boyd and Kezia Tunnell as Republicans – primary challengers – and attorney Tom Watson as a Democrat (Arrington)
CD22 open: Pierce Bush and Brandon Penko as Republicans and Chris Fernandez and Carmine Petricco III as Democrats (Olson)
CD27: Victoria businessman Rick de la Fuente and Corpus Christi businessman Charlie Jackson as Democrats (Cloud)
CD29: Pasadena investor and unsuccessful 2018 candidate Jaimy Blanco as a Republican (Garcia)
CD31: Round Rock attorney Michael Grimes as a Democrat (Carter)
CD32: Mark Sackett as a Republican (Allred)
CD35: Guillermo William Hayward and Jenny Garcia Sharon as Republicans (Doggett)
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