Paxton, Christian Cruise; Cuellar Squeaks by Cisneros
As runoff elections go, it was a pretty good night to be an incumbent, or a former incumbent. Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R) and Railroad Comm. Wayne Christian (R) easily turned aside their challengers to secure nominations for a third and second term, respectively. Paxton...Runoff Candidates Raise More Than $17M for Final Push
State candidates facing runoffs were required to file their runoff campaign finance reports yesterday (Monday). These reports disclose contributions received and expenditures made between February 10 and May 14. Most reports were available online today (Tuesday), and...Paxton Criticizes ‘Liberal,’ ‘Woke’ Bush; Runoff Endorsement News for May 10
Early voting for the May 24 runoff election begins Monday. AG (Lean R): The campaign of Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R) released a new ad criticizing “liberal Land Commissioner” George P. Bush (R) for his “woke plan” for the Alamo....Poll: Abbott Over O’Rourke, Paxton Over Bush
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) leads challenger Beto O’Rourke (D), 50%-42%, among “likely voters,” buoyed by a better than 2-to-1 advantages among white voters and independents, according to a new poll conducted for the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation. Abbott’s lead rises to...By the Numbers: First-place Candidates’ Historical Runoff Performance
83% Winning percentage of runoff candidates who finished 10% or more ahead of their challenger in the primary election since 2002. There have been 204 “open” primary runoff elections for state, legislative and federal offices since 2002, and the candidate who finished...AP: 23K Absentee Ballots Couldn’t Be Counted
About one out of every eight absentee ballots cast in the March 1 primary election was rejected, according to a report by the Associated Press’s Paul J. Weber and Acacia Coronado. Nearly 23K absentee ballots were rejected, almost all of them because they did not meet...History Repeats Itself: Top Fundraisers Dominate Open-seat Primaries
We have analyzed historical campaign finance data and election results since 2006 to see how open-seat candidates fared in significant primary races based on their relative fundraising ranks. Unsurprisingly, we found a strong correlation between fundraising rank and...Primary Night Delivers Some Drama, Lots of Runoffs
Note: We will not have percentages for some races, including all statewide races, because of delays in counting Harris Co.’s votes (and some others including Dallas and Tarrant Cos.). Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) cruised to their...House Primaries Missing Some of the Big Bets from Conservative Groups
House candidates facing primary opposition raised nearly $11M and spent over $13M during the roughly monthlong period covered by their 8-day-out reports. While that’s a fair amount, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) outspent the entire slate of House candidates by himself....Early Voting Turnout Continues to Lag Behind Recent Elections
Corrections: We have at various times erroneously called CD8 open (Safe R) candidate Morgan Luttrell (R) by his twin brother’s name, Marcus. We have corrected these reports online and regret the errors. Campaign Finance: State and legislative candidates facing primary...Ad, Endorsement and Redistricting Lawsuit News for February 2
LTGOV (Lean R): The San Antonio Express-News endorsed Mike Collier for the Democratic nomination. AG (Lean R): U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert’s (R-Tyler) campaign released a new ad contending that Democrats are “licking their chops” to face Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R). We just...