LTGOV: The Houston Chronicle’s Andrea Zelinski reported that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s (R) campaign has purchased more than $1M in air time for advertising in the Houston TV market and $840K in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. Ads are scheduled to run during the Olympics, morning shows, afternoons and evening local news.
AGRIC: The Texas Patriots PAC and Llano Tea Party endorsed Comm. Sid Miller (R).
HD52 open: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) endorsed Cynthia Flores for the seat being vacated by Rep. Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock). Abbott previously appointed Flores to the Brazos River Authority.
HD89 open: Gov. Gren Abbott (R) endorsed Candy Noble for the seat being vacated by Rep. Jodie Laubenberg (R-Wylie).
HD122: Former Gov. Rick Perry (R) endorsed Hollywood Park Mayor Chris Fails over Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio).
CD3 open: The Dallas Morning News endorsed Lorie Burch for the Democratic nomination for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Plano). The paper endorsed Adam Bell, another candidate in this race, for the 2016 primary,
CD4: The Dallas Morning News endorsed Lander Bethel for the Democratic nomination to oppose U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Rockwall).
CD21 open: A three-week old Super PAC is behind an ad supporting William Negley, one of the 18 Republican candidates seeking to succeed the retiring U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio). Because the Super PAC was formed after the last campaign finance reporting period ended, there is no information available about the PAC’s donors at this time.
Meanwhile, Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) and Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin) endorsed Joseph Kopser for the Democratic nomination.
CD26: The Dallas Morning News endorsed Will Fisher for the Democratic nomination to oppose U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Lewisville).
CD30: The Dallas Morning News endorsed U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Dallas).
#PROJECTREDTX: A Super PAC created in April received a pair of contributions totaling $500K from Doss rancher Michael Porter, who contributed $1M to Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) campaign on the last day of June. Porter made his contributions to the Super PAC on November 2 and December 8, and these are the only contributions it reported. An identically named state PAC sharing the same address, treasurer and consultant reported a $469K contribution from #ProjectREDTX on December 12. The federal Super PAC shows no such expenditure. There is a Facebook page for the entity, but it is merely a shell. “Our mission is to create a national effort to bring solid, Christian values to the public square,” it says on the Facebook site’s About page. It’s minimal web site states a clearer mission to “secure Republican representation in redistricting across the state” through supporting candidates and providing “expert demographers, statisticians and legal counsel.”
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