AG: Democratic challenger Justin Nelson’s campaign announced he raised $911K during the last six months of 2017, of which $500K came from the candidate himself. Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R) has not reported his fundraising totals for the second half of 2017. As of June 30, he had $5.2M on hand after raising just over $1M in the last 12 days of June.
SD2: The Texas Assoc. of Realtors TREPAC endorsed Rep. Cindy Burkett (R-Sunnyvale), a Realtor, in her primary challenge against Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood).
SD30: Young Conservatives of Texas endorsed Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Frisco) over Sen. Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls).
HD52 open: James Talarico’s campaign announced he raised more than $100K from 751 donors during the last half of 2017, and he will report having more than $70K on hand. Talarico is the lone Democrat running to succeed retiring Rep. Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock). A majority of those donations were less than $50. Talarico also loaned his campaign $25K, which may be included in his contribution total.
CD2 open: Houston council member and former Rep. Ellen Cohen (R-Houston) endorsed Todd Litton for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Humble).
CD7: The campaign of Alex Triantaphyllis announced he raised more than $255K during the fourth quarter of 2017 and will report having $630K on hand. He is one of seven Democrats seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R-Houston). Triantaphyllis and rival Lizzie Pannill Fletcher each out-raised Culberson during the third quarter, and both had more on hand than Culberson as of September 30.
CD21 open: Fifteen candidates seeking the Republican nomination to succeed the retiring U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio) appeared at a forum hosted by the San Antonio Republican Women. Most of the candidates agreed on most of the conservative positions articulated, so most tried to distinguish themselves from the unusually large pack of candidates. Rep. Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs) stressed that he wanted to “make America like Texas.” Several candidates pledged to serve no more than three terms. Some pointed out that others did not live in the district. Some praised President Trump’s agenda while some others said they would reach across the aisle and work with Democrats to solve the Nation’s problems. “Who do you trust to go to Washington and fight for you?” asked former Ted Cruz aide Chip Roy. The 18-candidate field is the largest for any state or federal race in Texas since 1993, when 24 candidates ran in a U.S. Senate special election.
Meanwhile, the Stonewall Democrats of Austin endorsed Elliott McFadden.
CD27 open: The Washington Post editorial board called on U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Corpus Christi) to resign after failing to repay an $84K sexual harassment settlement made from public funds. According to the editorial, a Farenthold spokesman said the four-term congressman was, on the advice of counsel, “waiting to see what changes the House would make to the Congressional Accountability Act before repaying the treasury.”
Presidio Co.: A candidate for county judge was withdrawn after it was determined he was registered to vote in both Presidio and adjacent Brewster Cos. Dennis McEntire, the superintendent of Presidio ISD, never voted in both during the same election, but he has voted in each county. He also listed a Terlingua address as his home address during court proceedings that ended recently. His departure leaves incumbent Cinderela Guevara facing Presidio Mayor John Ferguson and Dina Jo Losoya, a former probation officer, in the Democratic primary. No Republican filed for the office.
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