GOV: On the day Gov. Greg Abbott formally announced his plans to seek re-election, Dallas businessman Jeffrey Payne announced he would seek the Democratic nomination and pledged to loan his campaign $2.5M. He is the second Democrat to take a formal step toward running, joining Houston electronics businessman Joe Mumbach, and the third to announce he was exploring the race, joining Tom Wakely, a San Antonio Air Force veteran who ran unsuccessfully for CD21 in 2016.
HD18: Liberty attorney Wes Hinch has named a new treasurer for his campaign account for a potential primary rematch against Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd) as a Republican. Hinch unsuccessfully sought the 2016 Republican nomination for what was an open seat in 2016, receiving 21% of the vote. However, he has filed campaign finance reports regularly since the 2016 primary, suggesting this may be purely an administrative filing. We found no social media or other web-based evidence that Hinch is actively running for the seat.
HD126: Houston minister and author Undrai Fizer established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Kevin Roberts (R-Houston) as a Democrat.
See our 2018 Challengers page for all 203 challengers and open seat candidates who we confirm have taken a formal step toward running for state and federal office from Texas in 2018.
El Paso: Cissy Lizarraga defeated Robert Cornell, 55%-45%, to win the special runoff election for the D8 council seat. Turnout was just under 9%, and 22 voters cast blank ballots. She overcame a slight deficit in early voting. Lizarraga wins the unexpired term of former council member Cortney Niland, who resigned in April.
Socorro: Ivy Avalos (32%) and Elia Garcia (30%) advanced to a runoff out of the four-way special election for mayor. Former council member Alejandro Garcia, who resigned to run for mayor, finished third (28%). The winner of the runoff will fill the unexpired term of former Mayor Gloria Rodriguez, who was removed from office in March. Garcia’s resignation created the D2 special election, which also resulted in a runoff between Jesus Ruiz (51 votes) and Ralph Dunn (42 votes). Turnout was about 4% for both races.
©2017 Texas Election Source LLC
