Campaign finance reports were due today from candidates running, or at least on the ballot, for the unexpired term of former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Corpus Christi). These reports cover contributions received and expenditures made during the period ending June 10 and beginning May 2 for runoff participants, April 1 for everyone else who filed an April quarterly report, or the date their campaign committee was established.
As of 10 p.m., we were able to locate reports from four of the nine candidates on the ballot:
- Bech Bruun (R) – raised $111K, spent $199K and has less than $2K on hand
- Michael Cloud (R) – raised $95K, spent $146K and has $26K on hand
- Judith Cutright (I) – raised $1K, spent $2K, has less than $1K on hand; and
- Mike Westergren (D) – raised $9K, spent $8K, has $4K on hand
No pre-runoff report was available from Marty Perez (R), but a 24-hour report shows he gave his campaign $24K about a week ago. We did not find reports from Roy Barrera (D), Eric Holguin (D), Chris Suprun (I) or Daniel Tinus (L).
Cloud, Holguin and Tinus are on the November general election ballot as the nominees of their respective parties. Bruun remains on the special election ballot but has endorsed Cloud, who defeated him in the Republican runoff. Most of their contributions and expenditures were connected to that runoff race. The other candidates would have to qualify as write-in candidates to appear on the general election ballot.
Early voting continues through June 26 for the June 30 special election. In Nueces Co., 4,920 people have voted early in person or by mail. In Victoria Co., almost 2,500 people have voted so far in person or by mail.
SEN: Club for Growth PAC endorsed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R).
CD6 open: The loser of the Democratic runoff has filed suit in Ellis Co. contesting the eligibility of the victor. Ruby Faye Woolridge alleges Jana Lynne Sanchez “knowingly filed petitions with fraudulent signatures” to get on the primary ballot. In a Facebook post, Woolridge said, “The facts shall speak for themselves!” Calling the suit “frivolous,” Sanchez said in a Facebook post, “Unwarranted accusations cannot undo months of hard work spent collecting qualifying signatures on voters’ doorsteps and at public events, cross-referencing names and addresses with databases and eliminating any that raised questions. The voters clearly and decisively chose us in the primary.” Sanchez defeated Woolridge, 53%-47%, in the runoff.
©2018 Texas Election Source LLC
