Runoff Elections: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered January 28 special runoff elections for HD28, HD100 and HD148. The five-day early voting period begins January 21.
HD2: Ben Wheeler veterinarian and Edom Tea Party founder Dwayne Collins established a campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van).
HD18: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) endorsed Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd) for re-election.
HD88: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) endorsed Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) for re-election.
HD109: Cedar Hill resident Eugene Allen established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Carl Sherman (D-DeSoto). We were unable to identify him conclusively, and he has not yet filed for the seat, as far as we can tell.
HD115: Coppell communications specialist and Coppell Republican Women board member Karyn Brownlee established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Addison).
HD119 open: San Antonio laboratory worker Sean Villasana has filed to run for the seat being vacated by Rep. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) as a Democrat.
HD142: Houston resident Whitney Hatter established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), potentially as an independent. Hatter previously established a federal campaign committee to challenge U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston) as an independent.
HD146: Houston community advocate Ashton P. Woods established a campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of Rep. Shawn Thierry (D-Houston).
CD12: Fort Worth aircraft assembler Danny Anderson filed to challenge U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) as a Democrat.
PRES: Former Vice President Joe Biden leads the Democratic presidential field among Hispanic/Latino registered voters, doubling up second-place candidate Elizabeth Warren, according to a new Telemundo poll (PDF). Biden is the preferred choice of 33% of respondents, followed by Warren (16%), Bernie Sanders (11%), Julián Castro (6%) and Pete Buttigieg (3%). No other candidate received even 1% support. Nearly a third of Hispanic/Latino registered voters who identified themselves as Democrats were undecided.
A quarter of respondents said they would vote to re-elect President Trump while 66% said they would vote to replace him. Men were 7 percentage points more likely to re-elect Trump (28% to 21%), and women were 13 points more likely to vote to replace him (72% to 59%). Respondents aged 50 and older were 12 points more likely to re-elect him (29% to 17%) while voters under age 50 were 14 more points more likely to vote to replace him (74% to 60%). Similar gender gaps occurred when respondents were asked about Trump’s job performance, impeachment, Trump’s immigration policy and whether “your personal economic situation” has improved during his time in office.
The poll of 625 “likely” Hispanic/Latino voters was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy by live telephone interviews including landlines and cell phones. It was in the field November 5-8 and has a stated margin of error of ±5.0%.
El Paso: Council member Samuel Morgan has been charged with misdemeanor assault. He was arrested last month after he allegedly struck his wife during a dispute.
Ballot Order: A federal court has struck down Florida’s ballot order statute, which lists the nominees of the governor’s party first on general election ballots. “It is difficult to imagine what other purpose it could possibly serve than as a thumb on the scale in favor of the party in power,” District Judge Mark Walker wrote in his ruling, in which he issued a permanent injunction on the law as a violation of the First and 14th Amendments. The state may appeal the decision.
Texas has a similar statute. As is the case in Texas, the Florida law was originally passed by Democrats. Plaintiffs in the Florida case included the Democratic National Committee, which is seeking a similar injunction in Texas.
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