GOV: Democratic challenger Lupe Valdez has accepted an invitation to debate Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on October 8, a Monday, in Houston, and she challenged Abbott to join her. Abbott has previously agreed to a debate in Austin on September 28, a Friday. It previously appeared that Valdez had accepted the September 28 date, but she objected to its Friday evening timing at that time. She also requested that some questions be asked in Spanish. Now it appears that neither debate has both candidates on board.
AGRIC: Democratic challenger Kim Olson has revised her cash-on-hand figure downward in a corrected July semiannual report. Her initial report showed her having more cash on hand than Comm. Sid Miller (R). The revised report shows her slightly behind him, $138K to $137.
SD19 special: Early voting continues for the special election to fill the unexpired term of former Sen. Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio). In Bexar Co., 1,227 people have voted early in person in Bexar Co. through the first three days, which we estimate to be less than 0.5% of registered voters. This total does not include voters who cast their ballots by mail. Meanwhile, the Eagle Pass News Leader endorsed former Rep. and U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine).
Ethics Fines: The Texas Ethics Commission fined 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis and Battleground Texas $3K each for failing to report $3.4M in contributions properly that year. The contributions were accepted, and reported, by the Texas Victory Committee, a joint fundraising venture benefitting Davis’s campaign and Battleground Texas. Each received $1.7M but did not report them in a timely enough manner. The contributions appeared on Davis’s and Battleground Texas’s July 2014 semiannual reports. The Ethics Commission concluded they should have appeared in their January 2014 semiannual reports.
Neither Davis nor Battleground Texas admitted to wrongdoing, and they accepted the fines to end the process. The Commission blamed the “complicated and novel fundraising operation” for the discrepancies. We also have noted that the campaign’s unusual fundraising structure made it difficult to determine exactly how much the Davis campaign raised.
Mission: Former Mayor Beto Salinas, who lost a runoff election last month to Armando O’Caña, has filed suit contesting the results. Salinas alleges a “systematic and flagrant scheme to cast illegal votes,” including bribery, ballot harvesting and fraudulently changing voter registrations so they could vote in Mission’s elections. The suit alleges several of O’Caña’s relatives either voted illegally or illegally assisted other voters. The suit also alleges that O’Caña lives outside the Mission city limits.
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