HD46: District Judge Brad Urrutia denied a motion by attorneys representing Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) to dismiss four felony counts against her. Her attorneys argued last month that a waiver signed by Dukes waiving the statute of limitations was invalid. Had the motion been successful, Dukes would still have faced nine felony counts. Following the ruling, Dukes will face all 13 counts originally filed against her.
CD16: El Paso ISD board president Dori Fenenbock said she is considering running for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso), who is running for U.S. Senate.
CD19: Lubbock university professor Dan Epstein announced his challenge of U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Lubbock) as a Democrat. We first reported his filing of a statement of candidacy on Monday. Epstein, a Vermont native, has lived in Lubbock for less than a year. He left a teaching post at Colgate Univ. to work for the Bernie Sanders campaign in Virginia. No Democrat sought the seat in 2016. Two years earlier, the Democratic candidate in the race against then-U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Lubbock) received 18% of the vote.
CD21: Austin bookstore owner and former congressional staffer Derrick Crowe filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission for a potential challenge to U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio) as a Democrat.
El Paso: City council member Cortney Niland has resigned. Citing ongoing family issues, Niland said “service as a public figure is no longer feasible for me or fair to my constituents.” First elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2015, Niland has been absent from the council since December. She intends to serve until a successor is elected. Early voting for the May 6 uniform election begins in two weeks, likely not leaving enough time for a special election to coincide with that election. In a statement, Mayor Oscar Leeser said he expects the city council to call a special election for June 10.
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