Campaign Finance Reports: Legislators and state officials were required to file legislative special session reports by the end of the day. These reports must disclose contributions accepted during the special legislative session, including all in-kind contributions. No other information is required to be included in the reports. We will have highlights of those reports in the coming days.

HD1: Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston) announced he would seek re-election.

HD46: Travis Co. District Attorney Margaret Moore has decided not to pursue, for now, felony charges filed against Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin), citing “new, unexpected information pertinent to the case.” Moore told the Austin American-Statesman’s Tony Plohetski that further investigation was needed. Moore intends to go forward with the two misdemeanor charges at a trial scheduled to begin next month. Dukes has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

HD54: Salado veterinarian and former Killeen ISD trustee Brad Buckley has formed a campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of Rep. Scott Cosper (R-Killeen). Buckley contributed to the campaign of Austin Ruiz, who lost to Cosper in the 2016 Republican primary runoff election by 40 votes.

CD23: Judy Canales, a former U.S. Dept. of Agriculture appointee from Eagle Pass, formed a campaign committee for a potential challenge of U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-San Antonio) as a Democrat.

CD27: Politics1.com reported that Victoria marketing business owner and former Victoria Co. Republican Party Chair Michael Cloud will challenge U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Corpus Christi) in the Republican primary. Cloud is a member of the State Republican Executive Committee. As far as we can tell, Cloud has not yet established a campaign or exploratory committee.

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