Abbott Raised Nearly $2.3M During 1st Special Session

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) raised $2.27M during the first special session. His largest contributors for the period were Houston foundation president Nancy Kinder ($250K), Midland investor Douglas Scharbauer ($100K) and San Antonio alcoholic beverage distributor Alan Dreeben...

Abbott Signs Election Bill Already Facing 5 Lawsuits

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the session’s main election bill into law today (Tuesday) in Tyler, and it already faces at least five lawsuits. Senate Bill 1 by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) does not take effect until December 2, which means the changes in law it makes...

Harrison, Wray Advance to HD10 Runoff

Former U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services official Brian Harrison (R) and former Rep. John Wray (R-Waxahachie) advanced to a runoff in tonight’s (Tuesday) special election for HD10. Buoyed by a strong Election Day performance, Harrison finished first with 41% of...

Brief Election News for August 30

HD10 special: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Election Day. Our likely sporadic live coverage will begin at 7 p.m. here, or you can follow us on Twitter here. HD118 special: Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC endorsed former Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio). Election Legislation: The...

House Achieves Quorum After Threshold Drops to 99

Rep. Leo Pacheco’s (D-San Antonio) resignation is effective today (Thursday), triggering a special election to fill his unexpired term. With HD10 also vacant, the House now has 148 members, which temporarily lowers the threshold for establishing a quorum to 99. While...

8 File to Succeed Ellzey

Eight candidates filed for the August 31 special election to fill the unexpired state House term of U.S. Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Waxahacie): Kevin Griffin (R), Midlothian rancher Brian Harrison (R), Midlothian former U.S. Health & Human Services official and former...

Pacheco Resigning and Other Election News for August 7

Rep. Leo Pacheco (D-San Antonio) announced he would resign in the next few weeks to accept a teaching position at San Antonio College. A special election will be required to fill his unexpired term. Southside ISD trustee Katie Farias (D), daughter-in-law of former...

Analysis of Competitive Central Texas House Districts

We continue our series of analyses of competitive, or potentially competitive, legislative seats with an exploration of the I-35 corridor from Bell Co. to Bexar Co. Republican Targets HD45 (Lean Democratic): Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) won this open seat in 2018,...

Candidates Filing Up and Down Ballot as Deadline Looms

Correction: In yesterday’s edition, we erroneously indicated Jacey Jetton was running for Congress when we reported that U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Sugar Land) had endorsed him. Jetton is running to succeed the retiring state Rep. Rick Miller (R-Sugar Land). We regret...

Pomeroy Makes It Official and Other News for August 25

SD21: Frank Pomeroy, pastor of the Sutherland Springs church where a 2017 mass shooting occurred, announced he would challenge Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) as a Republican. He made the announcement following his church’s Sunday service. We previously reported he...