Oct 23, 2018 | Campaign News
Early voting in person began Monday and runs through November 2. First, a look back at historic Day 1. More than 572K people voted early in person on Monday, or their mail ballots were returned by Monday, in the 15 counties with the most registered voters. That is...
Oct 19, 2018 | Political Climate
We have been exploring seats potentially in play by looking at specific metrics defining not only how a district voted in the most recent election but also how those voting patterns have changed over time. We also looked at fundraising totals and their historic impact...
Oct 10, 2018 | Campaign Finance
Note: This report has been updated since we issued our Breaking News alert. State, legislative and local (where required) candidates facing general election opponents were required to file 30-day-out campaign finance reports yesterday. Most of those have become...
Oct 3, 2018 | Political Climate
Last week we explored the shift in straight-party voting advantage in Republican-held districts toward the Democrats. Today we explore each party’s roles in those shifts. Between 2012 and 2016, Democrats either cut into the Republican straight-party advantage or...
Oct 1, 2018 | Ads, Campaign News
GOV: The campaign of Gov. Greg Abbott (R) released a two-minute ad, “Hope: Julie’s Story,” telling the story of a mother whose son was paralyzed in the Sutherland Springs mass shooting. LTGOV: The campaign of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) released a new ad focused on...
Sep 27, 2018 | Political Climate
We continue our look at districts potentially in play in November with our first statewide exploration of straight-party voting trends in Republican-held districts. Prior analyses have looked at districts that are bluer than the state as a whole, districts won by...
Sep 10, 2018 | House Race Analyses, Political Climate, Senate Race Analyses
The general election is eight weeks away, and early voting begins six weeks from today. Traditionally, we have rated contested elections on a 5-star scale, which one star indicating a very low-interest race with no chance of flipping and five stars indicating a...
Aug 19, 2018 | Campaign News
Filing Deadlines: Monday is the deadline for write-in candidates to file for a place on the general election ballot. It is also the deadline for municipal, school board and other local candidates to file for offices on the general election ballot. HD109 open: Glenn...
Aug 9, 2018 | Campaign News
EMILY’s List: EMILY’S List endorsed three legislative Democratic challengers: Beverly Powell over Sen. Konni Burton (R-Colleyville) in SD10 Terry Meza over Rep. Rodney Anderson (R-Grand Prairie) in HD105, and Julie Johnson over Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) in HD115....
Jul 17, 2018 | Campaign Finance
State candidates and officeholders were required to file their July semiannual campaign finance reports yesterday (Monday). These reports include contributions received and expenditures made between the last date covered by a report and June 30. The reporting period...
Jun 24, 2018 | Campaign News
SD19 special: San Antonio attorney and longtime Democratic activist Charlie Urbina Jones has filed for the race, becoming the sixth official candidate. San Antonio financial analyst Tony Valdivia established a campaign committee and updated his web site to run for the...
Jun 6, 2018 | Political Climate
Today we begin our exploration of districts that may be in play in the general election by examining a metric we call “relative performance factors,” which measure the partisan lean of a district relative to the state. Two dozen Texas congressional and...