Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt (D) has resigned to seek the seat being vacated by Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin), whose resignation is effective April 30. Her resignation was required by the Texas Constitution. Former County Judge Sam Biscoe (D) was appointed to fill the post on an interim basis.
Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) announced his entry into the race on Saturday, but the Constitution does not require him to resign. He may have to withdraw from his current re-election bid if the special election were to coincide with the November 3 general election.
Austin council member Greg Casar has formed a campaign committee for the race but has not yet made any formal announcement. Pflugerville council member Rudy Metayer is also considering the race. Austin attorneys Adam Loewy and Chito Vela are also considering the race.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) appointed Sen. Pat Fallon (R-Frisco) to the Senate Select Redistricting Committee to replace Watson. The 17-member committee now has 11 Republicans and six Democrats.
Dallas Co. Recount: District Judge Emily Tobolowsky (D) has granted Election Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole’s request for a manual recount after discovering ballots from 44 tabulating machines were not included in the county’s election results. The recount of backup paper ballots will begin at 8 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) and is expected to take several hours. Results should be available later in the day. It is unclear at this point whether the recount will affect the outcomes of any primary races.
CD7: The campaign of Republican nominee Wesley Hunt released an internal Remington Research Group poll showing him tied with U.S. Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (D-Houston), 45%-45%.
CD22 open: The campaign of Fort Bend Co. Sheriff Troy Nehls released an internal Remington Research Group poll showing him leading runoff opponent Kathaleen Wall, 61%-28%. Nehls received 41% of the vote in last week’s primary, more than double Wall’s 19%. For what it’s worth, the internal poll’s ratio between Nehls and Wall is consistent with the primary results. Nehls received a majority vote in Fort Bend Co. against 14 opponents. Wall was second there with 18% of the vote. Fort Bend Co. voters cast nearly 72% of all ballots in the district.
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