SD30 special (Safe Republican): The six candidates running to fill Sen. Pat Fallon’s (R-Prosper) unexpired term collectively raised $770K and spent $1.4M since July 1. Candidates’ 8-day-out reports were due yesterday (Monday) and became available online today.
Rep. Drew Springer (R-Muenster) led the field with $560K in contributions, followed by Pilot Point salon owner Shelley Luther’s $136K in contributions and Denton Mayor Chris Watts’s $60K. Luther narrowly outspent Springer, $646K to $605K, fueled by a previously acknowledged $1M loan from Midland oil and gas executive Tim Dunn. Luther has a $551K to $192K advantage in cash on hand with a week to go, putting her into a fairly strong starting position for a potential runoff. Watts reported having $40K on hand. The other three candidates collectively reported having $13K on hand.
Springer’s top contributors included energy executive Javaid Anwar ($100K), Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC ($30K), Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND ($30K), distributor John Nau ($25K) and energy executive Ray Hunt ($15K). Luther’s largest contributors included Farris Wilks ($100K), former Sen. Don Huffines ($5K) and oil and gas executive Kyle Stallings ($5K). Watts’s largest contributors included Denton rancher Joe Mulroy ($20K) and Denton retiree Jim McNatt ($10K). The other three candidates collectively raised $14K and spent $9K.
Early voting continues through Friday. Through yesterday, 25K people have voted early in person, corresponding to approximately 4.3% of registered voters.
HD115 (Likely Democratic): The Dallas Morning News endorsed Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Addison).
HD134 (Lean Democratic): The Houston Chronicle endorsed Rep. Sarah Davis (R-Houston).
SEN (Lean Republican): A new Morning Consult poll conducted September 10-20 shows U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R) leading Democratic challenger M.J. Hegar, 45%-39%, virtually unchanged since August. Consistent with prior Morning Consult polls, no additional details were released.
CD23 open (Lean Democratic): The Tony Gonzales (R) campaign released a new ad, “Fighting for Quality Healthcare,” highlighting pre-existing conditions.
The Gina Ortiz Jones (D) campaign released a new Spanish-language ad, “Mi Historia.”
Voter Registration: There are now more than 16.6M registered voters in the state, tweeted the Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek. That figure represents an 824K increase since November 2018, 1.5M over November 2016 and 2.6M over November 2014. This increase comes despite a 70% drop in new voter registrations in April compared to 2016 because of the coronavirus.
©2020 Texas Election Source LLC
