House Speaker: By a 36-28 vote, the executive committee of the Bexar Co. Republican Party approved a resolution calling for “a change in leadership in the Texas House … due to the non-support of the Republican Party of Texas platform by the current incumbent,” Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio). There were 244 Republican precinct chairs in Bexar Co. (out of a potential 723 precincts), so the vote occurred at a meeting where nearly three quarters of the membership were absent. With one week left before a special legislative session convenes, no other representative has filed paperwork making him or her a candidate for Speaker.
CCAP: Fate attorney and Court of Appeals Justice (D5-P6) David Bridges updated his campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller (R). Bridges was first elected to the Fifth District Court of Appeals in 1996 and was re-elected in 2002 (100%), 2008 (52%) and 2014 (100%). He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1992 and 1994, losing to U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall (D-Rockwall), 58%-38% and 59%-40%, respectively.
HD71: Rep. Stan Lambert (R-Abilene) announced he would seek re-election.
CD2: Houston editor J. Darnell Jones established a federal campaign committee for a potential challenge of U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Humble) as a Democrat. According to his campaign web site, he is exploring the race.
See our 2018 Challengers page for all 198 challengers and open seat candidates who we confirm have taken a formal step toward running for state and federal office from Texas in 2018.
Redistricting: The federal trial continued today in San Antonio over the 2013 plans adopted for the Texas House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives. Plaintiffs’ witnesses discussed the legislative process during the 2013 special session and presented alternative plans demonstrating the potential for drawing more Hispanic/Latino congressional districts.
Voter Fraud: A Dallas Co. grand jury has indicted a man with a second-degree felony for illegally voting with someone else’s mail-in ballot. reported the Dallas Morning News‘s Robert Wilonsky. Miguel Hernandez remains at large more than a month after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Oklahoma Special Elections: Democrats flipped a pair of Oklahoma legislative seats in special elections tonight. In both cases, the incumbents resigned in the wake of scandals. Several other special elections are scheduled or necessitated because of a spate of resignations in that state.
©2017 Texas Election Source
