Nov 28, 2018 | House Race Analyses, Straight-ticket Voting
When Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton), author of the bill that ends single-punch, straight-party voting in 2020, narrowly lost to Democratic challenger Michelle Beckley, we assumed straight-party voting was the reason. After all, in the largest counties, several...
Oct 11, 2018 | Campaign News
GOV: Humorist Kinky Friedman, himself a former independent candidate for the state’s highest office, endorsed Libertarian nominee Mark Tippetts. “They still try to screw the Libertarians and independents,” Friedman said in a statement. “Ironically, most Texans are...
Mar 4, 2018 | Campaign Finance, Campaign News
Primary Election Day is Tuesday. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time across the state. Counties begin releasing early voting results shortly after polls close. We will have live returns and analysis beginning at 7 p.m. CST at https://txelects.wpengine.com/live....
Feb 15, 2018 | Campaign News
Filing deadline: Candidates for offices on the May 5 uniform election ballot must file by tomorrow, or by Tuesday if they wish to be write-in candidates. Early voting for the March 6 primary election begins Tuesday. COMP: The San Antonio Express-News endorsed Joi...
Feb 13, 2018 | Campaign News
Early voting for the March 6 primary election begins Tuesday. GOV: The campaign of Gov. Greg Abbott (R) released its first re-election ad focused on the Texas economy and business climate. LAND: The Dallas Morning News endorsed former Comm. Jerry Patterson (R) over...
Feb 7, 2018 | Campaign Finance
Last week, we explored how the success rate of open-seat primary candidates varied with how their contribution totals ranked among their rival candidates. In general, money has been a pretty good predictor of primary success since at least 2006, the first year of our...
Feb 6, 2018 | Campaign News
AGRIC: The Trey Blocker campaign released a new ad attacking Comm. Sid Miller for several publicized actions he has taken while in office. The two engaged in a testy debate in Tyler this evening at an event sponsored by Grassroots America We the People. LAND: In a...
Jan 17, 2018 | Campaign Finance
January semiannual reports were due for state officeholders and candidates on Tuesday. They cover contributions received and expenditures made during the second half of 2017. For most primary challengers and open-seat candidates, they are the first window into their...
Jan 16, 2018 | Campaign Finance, Campaign News
Redistricting: The U.S. Supreme Court will not consider the Texas Democratic Party’s partisan gerrymandering case for “want of jurisdiction.” The claim was separate from two Texas racial gerrymandering cases the high court has already agreed to hear this spring. The...
Nov 17, 2017 | Campaign News
Filing for a place on the 2018 continues until 6 p.m. local time on December 11. Please see our Crib Sheets for candidates’ filing status. SD8 open: Texas Values Action endorsed Angela Paxton. SD25: Dripping Springs attorney and five-time gubernatorial appointee...
Nov 2, 2017 | Campaign News
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility/Empower Texans released a series of legislative primary endorsements focusing on challengers and open-seat races. HD2: The group endorsed challenger Bryan Slaton in his rematch against Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van). The group previously...
Oct 23, 2017 | Campaign News
Early Voting is underway for the November 6 general and constitutional amendment election. SD10: Democratic challenger Beverly Powell resigned her seat on the Burleson ISD Board of Trustees to “focus full-time on her race” for SD10. Powell will continue to serve until...