Redistricting: The U.S. Supreme Court did not indicate whether it will hear the state’s appeal of federal court rulings invalidating two of the state’s congressional and nine state House districts. No new cases were included in orders issued by the court this morning. The case was scheduled to be considered as part of the high court’s conference last Friday. The high court also did not release its ruling on the Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering case, which could have implications for how Texas draws its districts going forward.
LTGOV: The Manufacturers PAC of Texas endorsed Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R).
SD19: Stan Bates, a co-defendant in the criminal case against Sen. Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio), pleaded guilty to nine felony charges, including conspiracy to commit fraud. The former CEO of defunct frac sand company FourWinds Logistics withdrew his motion to sever his case from Uresti and another co-defendant. The three men were indicted in May. Uresti, who is not up for re-election until 2020, has maintained his innocence throughout. His trial is scheduled to begin on January 18.
Lisa Luby
Ryan
Rep. Jason
Villalba
HD114: Republican challenger Lisa Luby Ryan’s campaign announced she received more than $220K in contributions from around 270 donors. More than “80% of her funding was from Dallas County,” according to the campaign’s press release. She will report having more than $270K on hand as of December 31. Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) reported having $29K on hand as of June 30.
HD115: In a tweet, Democratic challenger Julie Johnson said she raised over $204K since she announced her candidacy in October. Johnson, an Addison attorney, faces Dallas attorney Rockwell Bower for the Democratic nomination against Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving).
CD2 open: Harris County Judge Ed Emmett endorsed Rep. Kevin Roberts (R-Houston) for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Humble).
CD7: The Laura Moser campaign said she raised around $215K during the fourth quarter of 2017. She raised $166K during the third quarter and has raised around $615K for the year ending December 31. Moser is one of seven Democrats seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R-Houston).
CD21 open: A poll conducted for the Elliott McFadden campaign showed the candidate receiving the support of nearly one out of four voters, enough to give him a narrow lead over Austin pastor Mary Wilson. Austin bookstore owner Derrick Crowe and Austin tech entrepreneur Joseph Kopser polled just below 10%. Two in five voters were undecided. The results were for the “informed ballot question,” indicating respondents were provided information about one or more of the candidates before being asked their preference. The interactive voice response survey (PDF) of 510 “likely Democratic primary voters” was conducted by InForcus Campaigns. A margin of error was not provided. Details indicating how the ballot question was “informed” were not provided. The four Democrats are running for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio). The winner will face the winner of the 18-way Republican primary, a Libertarian candidate and up to three independent candidates.
Austin: Former council member Laura Morrison announced she will challenge Mayor Steve Adler. The mayor and half the council are up for election in November.
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