The first votes of the 2020 presidential campaign have now been cast by Iowans attending caucus meetings. Some Texans may have already cast votes by mail, but the first in-person votes will be cast on February 18, two weeks from tomorrow (Tuesday).
HD26 open: Rep. Rick Miller (R-Sugar Land) endorsed Matthew Morgan to succeed him.
HD109: The Dallas Morning News endorsed Rep. Carl Sherman Sr. (D-DeSoto).
HD148: Former Rep. Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) endorsed Penny Shaw over Rep.-elect Anna Eastman (D-Houston), who won last week’s special runoff election to fill Farrar’s unexpired term, defeating Republican Luis LaRotta. Shaw received 8% of the vote in the November special election.
SEN: VoteVets PAC is spending $3.3M on television advertising time to support M.J. Hegar, reported the Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek. The group released a new ad, “Fight of Her Life,” calling her “Texas tough.
Hegar ($2.2M) has spent more than the rest of the Democratic field combined ($1.8M) so far this election cycle, and she has $1M on hand.
CD12: Club for Growth Action released a new ad, “Just Like Joe,” attacking U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) over a flood redevelopment project her son oversaw.
Motor Voter: U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia has asked for more information about how long it would take the state to let Texans register to vote when they renew or change a driver license online. He ordered attorneys from both sides of the case to file sworn declarations by next Monday on proposed fixes. He also ordered the state to begin tracking how many people attempt to renew their registrations online. “Defendants’ decision not to track, record or preserve such information at this juncture, after four years of litigation, is concerning,” he wrote. State law requires an original signature on a voter registration form, which an online registration process does not provide, but the state informed Garcia that the three plaintiffs in the case were officially registered based on information provided by the Texas Dept. of Public Safety.
©2020 Texas Election Source
