Early Voting concludes tomorrow (Tuesday) for the May 6 elections in most jurisdictions holding them.
Redistricting: The three-judge panel overseeing ongoing litigation over the state’s House and Congressional maps denied the state’s request to appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Specifically, the state sought to appeal the court’s decision that the Legislature intentionally discriminated against minority voters when drawing the maps in 2011. The court’s permission was required because it has not entered a final order in the case. The court also denied the state’s motion to toss out claims against the 2013 maps adopted by the Legislature largely to conform with court-drawn maps. Instead, the court scheduled a five-day trial beginning July 10.
SEN: U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) said in a Facebook post that he will not run for Senate and will instead seek re-election, citing his positions on the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees of the U.S. House.
CD7: Houston journalist Laura Moser, founder of Daily Action, filed paperwork establishing a campaign committee for a potential challenge to U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R-Houston). Daily Action is an app that provides daily action items for Democratic activists nationwide. She would first need to get through a crowded primary. At least four people have taken some sort of formal step to run for the Democratic nomination, including four-time candidate James Cargas.
CD8: Magnolia engineer Sean Ricker has announced a primary challenge challenge against U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands). While Ricker has not yet filed a statement of candidacy, he has established a CrowdPAC fundraising page, Facebook campaign page and a campaign web site.
CD23: Boerne construction manager Devin Fitzpatrick is exploring a potential challenge to U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-San Antonio) as a Democrat. (CrowdPAC page, web site)
CD26: Lewisville resident John Wannamaker has created a CrowdPAC site for a potential challenge to U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Lewisville) as a Democrat.
CCA8 open: Fort Worth attorney Alex Kim filed paperwork naming a campaign treasurer for a potential race for the seat being vacated by Judge Elsa Alcala, likely as a Republican. Kim unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Tarrant Co. Criminal Court No. 3 in 2014, losing a runoff to Bob McCoy, 60%-40%, after nearly winning a three-way primary outright. Kim was endorsed by the NE Tarrant Tea Party, the Texas Home School Coalition and several other conservative and Tea Party groups.
Dallas Co.: After more than a week of deliberations, jurors found Dallas Co. Comm. John Wiley Price not guilty on seven federal bribery and mail fraud charges. Jurors were deadlocked on four tax evasion charges. Prosecutors have four weeks to decide whether to retry Price on those four tax evasion charges.
