SD19 special: Rep. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) and former Rep. and U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine) are runaway leaders in campaign fundraising, according to campaign finance reports filed on or by Monday. In fact, Gutierrez has out-raised the rest of the field and has more on hand than all the other candidates combined.
Gutierrez reported raising $184K and spending $126K between January 1 and June 21. He has $196K on hand. For the election cycle, Gutierrez has raised $342K and spent $250K. Gallego reported raising $173K and spending $18K between March 27 and June 30. He has $130K on hand.
No other candidate, including Rep. Tomás Uresti (D-San Antonio), reported receiving any contributions during the periods covered by their reports, and only one candidate, Pleasanton retired game warden Pete Flores (R), reported having any cash on hand ($2K). As of 6 p.m. today, no report from Charlie Urbina Jones (D) was available online.
All of the candidates will file July semiannual reports, which will cover the last few days of June, by July 16, and their 8-day-out reports will be due a week later (July 23). Early voting begins July 16.
We will provide an in-depth analysis of this race before the weekend.
Meanwhile, it appears that Maverick Co. Sheriff Tom Schmerber has endorsed Gallego, based on a Facebook post from Gallego’s campaign, not Gutierrez, as we previously reported based on a social media post by the Gutierrez campaign (It appears to have been deleted.).
Redistricting: All of the state’s current legislative and congressional districts will be used for the 2018 general election, a federal district court ruled today following last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision validating all but one legislative district. The court ordered parties to brief the court on what changes should be made, if any, to HD90 for 2020. Parties have until August 6 to propose changes to HD90 and August 29 to address any other outstanding issues. When it affirmed that HD90 represented an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, the high court noted that the Legislature’s changes to that district were made “at the behest of minority groups,” including plaintiffs to the ongoing litigation. The district is currently represented by Rep. Ramon Romero (D-Fort Worth), who ousted longtime Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) by 110 votes in the 2014 Democratic primary after the Legislature adjusted the district to increase its Hispanic/Latino population.
Wichita Falls: City council members appointed electrical services business owner Jeff Browning to fill an unexpired council term. He is expected to seek a full term in November. Browning has previously served on the city’s zoning and construction advisory boards.
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