Special Runoff Elections: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Election Night for voters in HD28, HD100 and HD148. We will have live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CST at txelects.com/live.
Registration Deadline: Monday is the deadline for Texans to register to vote in order to cast ballots in the March 3 primary elections. Approximately 2.36M Texans are eligible to vote but have not registered.
A record 16.1M Texans were registered in January, an increase of 144K (0.9%) since the November 2019 general election, according to statistics released by the Secretary of State’s office earlier this month. This represents 87% of the estimated voting-age population, the highest percentage since 2008 (91%).
Democratic House Targets: The Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee announced it was targeting 22 districts in an effort to take control the chamber, which would require Democrats to flip a net nine seats. In a memo, the group noted that “the top of the Democratic ticket won a majority of state legislative districts (76-74), laying out a clear path” to reclaiming a majority. That statement refers to U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-El Paso) performance against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. Seats were ranked based on O’Rourke’s margin, with the nine Republican-held districts he carried at the top of the last: HD134 (S. Davis), HD108 (Meyer), HD112 (Button), HD138 open (Bohac), HD66 (Shaheen), HD67 (Leach), HD26 open (Miller), HD64 (Stucky) and HD121 (Allison).
Five Tarrant Co. districts – HD96 open (Zedler), HD97 (Goldman), HD92 open (Stickland), HD93 (Krause) and HD94 (Tinderholt) – fall within the next eight, in which Cruz defeated O’Rourke by less than 3.3%. The other targeted districts are HD54 (Buckley), HD14 (Raney), HD28 open (Zerwas), HD126 (Harless), HD32 (Hunter), HD29 (E. Thompson), HD129 (Paul) and HD133 (Murphy).
TSTA Endorsements: The Texas State Teachers Assoc. PAC released its list of primary endorsements (PDF), almost all of whom were incumbents. Notable exceptions were State Board of Education member Ruben Cortez over Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. (D-Brownsville) in SD27 and Democratic challenger Brandy Chambers over Rep. Angie Chen Button (R-Garland).
SD19: Democratic candidate Belinda Shvetz was ruled ineligible by District Judge Peter Sakai, who granted a permanent injunction preventing her from being on the primary ballot, reported the San Antonio Express-News’s Elizabeth Zavala. The suit was brought by Xochil Rodriguez, another Democratic candidate. Shvetz did not meet residency requirements to seek the seat.
HD47: Young Conservatives of Texas endorsed Aaron Reitz for the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin).
HD59: Young Conservatives of Texas endorsed primary challenger Shelby Slawson over Rep. J.D. Sheffield (R-Gatesville).
HD60 open: Former Gov. Rick Perry (R) endorsed Glenn Rogers to succeed the retiring Rep. Mike Lang (R-Granbury).
HD65: Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC endorsed Kronda Thimesch for the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. Michelle Beckley (D-Carrollton).
CD10: U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul’s (R) campaign announced he raised nearly $500K during the fourth quarter of 2019 and has $1M on hand.
CD13 open: U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Midland) endorsed Josh Winegarner to succeed the retiring U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon).
CD36: Young Conservatives of Texas endorsed primary challenger R.J. Boatman over U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Woodville).
Georgetown: Mayor Dale Ross announced he would not seek re-election. He was first elected in 2015. Three candidates – retiree Larry Brundidge, rabbi Jonathan Dade and attorney Josh Schroeder – had already filed to challenge Ross.
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