Correction: In yesterday’s report, we erroneously identified the Williamson County Judge as former Rep. Dan Gattis (R-Georgetown). Judge Dan A. Gattis is of course the father of former Rep. Gattis. We regret the error.

AG: The office of Kaufman Co. District Attorney Erleigh Wiley (R) is investigating whether Attorney General Ken Paxton committed a crime when he accepted $100K from the head of a company under investigation for defrauding the state and federal government, reported the Dallas Morning News’s Lauren McGaughy and others. Preferred Imaging LLC CEO James Webb contributed $100K to Paxton’s legal defense in 2015. A year later, Preferred Imaging agreed to settle a Medicaid and Medicare fraud investigation for $3.5M. Federal authorities led the investigation, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office quoted in the story. “The role of the Texas state attorney general’s office, in the investigation and settlement, was very minimal,” she said. A Paxton spokesperson is quoted in the article as saying that Paxton’s personal financial statement “fully complies with Texas ethics law and has been thoroughly vetted by legal counsel who are ethics experts.”

SD2: The Texas Assoc. of Business PAC endorsed Rep. Cindy Burkett (R-Sunnyvale), who is challenging U.S. Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood).

HD85: Rosenberg resident and Democratic precinct chair Jennifer Cantu established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Phil Stephenson (R-Wharton).

Lubbock Co.: P2 County Comm. Mark Heinrich announced he would seek re-election. He was first elected in 2006 and has been re-elected twice. He already has a primary challenger in Slaton business owner Jason Corley, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for open CD19 in 2016 (3%). Nick Harpster, a Lubbock college instructor, is running as a Democrat.

©2017 Texas Election Source LLC