Redistricting: The U.S. Supreme Court could announce as early as tomorrow whether it will hear the state’s appeal of federal court rulings invalidating two of the state’s congressional and nine state House districts. The case was scheduled to be considered as part of the high court’s conference last Friday.
GOV: Former Dallas Co. Sheriff Lupe Valdez officially kicked off her campaign for the Democratic nomination to challenge Gov. Greg Abbott (R). “We have to have a campaign that gives hope to all, hope for a better life in a greater Texas,” she said during a rally in Oak Cliff. She is one of 10 Democrats in the race.
SD31: The Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND and the Texas Medical Assoc. TEXPAC endorsed Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo).
HD9: The Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND endorsed Rep. Chris Paddie (R-Marshall)
HD52 open: The Texas Society of Anesthesiologists TSAPAC endorsed Cynthia Flores for the seat being vacated by Rep. Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock).
Reginald
Grant
Rep. Dan
Huberty
HD127: Attorneys representing Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Humble) and his primary opponent Reginald Grant appeared before District Judge Bill Burke on Friday in a dispute over Grant’s eligibility. Huberty’s attorney argued that Grant moved to a relative’s home outside the district in March and did not move back into the district within six months prior to filing for the office. Grant’s attorneys said Grant intended the move to be temporary, and he never changed the address on his driver’s license or voter registration. Even if Burke ruled Grant is ineligible, the deadline to remove his name from the primary ballot has passed. Last month, Harris Co. Republican chair Paul Simpson denied Huberty’s request to declare Grant ineligible.
CD5 open: The Bunni Pounds campaign announced she raised $200K during the last 33 days of 2017. Her year-end campaign finance report will list 283 individual contributions, including donors from at least 26 cities and every county within the district, according to a press release issued by the campaign.
During the third quarter of 2017, three congressional open-seat candidates – Rep. Van Taylor (R-Plano), former El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar and former El Paso ISD board president Dori Fenenbock – raised at least $200K. Congressional challengers Jay Hulings (CD23), Ed Meier (CD32) and Alex Triantaphyllis (CD7) also raised at least $200K during the third quarter.
Year-end campaign finance reports are not due until the end of the month.
CD32: The Colin Allred campaign announced he raised $160K during the fourth quarter of 2017. This figure is about $100K more than he raised during the third quarter and would bring his year-to-date total to just over $400K.
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