SEN: Politico’s James Arkin looked at the prospect of a “prolonged, fractious nomination fight” between U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio); M.J. Hegar, the 2018 Democratic nominee for CD31; and Houston council member Amanda Edwards. None of those candidates have announced their intentions to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R); all are considering the race.
In 2018, then-U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso) spent a total of $4.2M heading into the March 6 primary election, which he won without a runoff against two little-known opponents. He would go on to spend $67.4M, or 94% of his total expenditures, for the general election, a 2.6-percentage point loss to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R). O’Rourke raised more money for that race than the combined amounts raised by every previous Democratic nominees for U.S. Senate going back to the creation of modern campaign contribution reporting requirements in 1975.
CD31: Temple resident John Bohlin amended his campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of U.S. Rep. John Carter (R-Round Rock). He previously indicated he would challenge U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) as a Republican, which itself was a change from his initial plan to challenge U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-San Antonio) in the Republican primary. Temple is located within CD31. Carter now has three announced primary challengers: Bohlin, Leander real estate investor Abhiram Garapati and Georgetown resident Michael H. Williams. Round Rock accountant Omar Kadir is the lone Democrat currently with a campaign committee for the race.
CD32: The campaign of U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) announced he raised $530K during the first quarter, and he has $527K on hand. Allred raised more than $5.2M for his successful challenge of former U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) last year.
Congressional Inquiry: A U.S. House committee seeking records related to the Secretary of State’s efforts to flag potential non-citizen registered voters “lacks jurisdiction over constitutional officers of the State of Texas,” said First Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Mateer in a letter to the committee. The request will be treated as a Public Information Act request, but much of the information requested is expected to be exempt from disclosure.
San Antonio: One of D9 council member John Courage’s three challengers has suspended his campaign and endorsed him. Nicholas Balderas, a 24-year-old software developer, will remain on the ballot because the deadline to withdraw has already passed. Financial adviser Patrick Von Dohlen, who narrowly missed a runoff in 2017, and personal trainer Richard Versace are still in the race.
The San Antonio Express-News endorsed incumbent D5 council member Shirley Gonzales for re-election and Melissa Havrda for open D6.
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