The Legislature adjourned sine die this evening (Thursday) – a couple of days before it would have expired – stranding an election “audit” bill that rocketed through the Senate just two days since it was filed.
Senate Bill 97 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) would have required various “audits” and “reviews” of, and “explanations” from, county election officials. It passed the Senate today on a 17-14 vote but did not make it over to the House for further action. At least one Republican voted against it.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) could add the measure to his call for a to-be-called third special session.
A new Univ. of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll may provide some context. Among “extremely” conservative Texans, 31% doubt the accuracy of the state’s elections and a stunning 78% of these potential primary voters doubt the accuracy of national election results, including 59% who think they were “very inaccurate.” No credible evidence of widespread election fraud has been presented to place the outcome of the presidential election in doubt in any state, including this one.
AG: Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker endorsed Land Comm. George P. Bush (R) over Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R).
CD32: Dallas physician assistant and clinical director John Porro established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) as a Republican. He becomes at least the sixth Republican to take a formal step toward entering the race. Porro’s campaign website indicates he may have been considering running for a state office. He has a specific-purpose campaign committee registered with the Texas Ethics Commission that shares the name with his federal campaign committee.
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