SD19: U.S. District Judge David Ezra has postponed the second criminal trial of Sen. Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio) until October 22 on the motion of Uresti’s co-defendant. A separate motion to be tried separately from Uresti was denied. The trial was scheduled to begin May 7. Uresti and Lubbock businessman Vernon Farthing III were charged in May with conspiracy and bribery in connection with a medical services contract for a correctional facility in Reeves Co., which is located within Uresti’s districts. The charges are unrelated to Uresti’s conviction last month on felony counts including wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a bankrupt frac-sand company and its executives. Uresti has maintained his innocence.
HD6: Tyler rabbi Neal Katz kicked off his independent candidacy against Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) on Monday night at the Tyler Rose Garden. Schaefer defeated former Rep. Ted Kamel (R-Tyler) in the Republican primary. Yolanda Prince, the lone Democrat to file for the seat, was declared ineligible and was not on the primary ballot.
Kerr Co.: A recount narrowed the margin but confirmed challenger Don Harris’s victory over Co. Comm. Bob Reeves. After the votes were tallied on Election Day, Harris led Reeves by 8 votes. Overseas mail ballots and provisional ballots were largely responsible for the shift in votes. Since Election Day, Harris received 3 more votes, and Reeves received eight, making the final margin was 3 votes.
Redistricting: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected challenges to a court-imposed map redrawing Pennsylvania’s congressional districts for this year’s election. The court-drawn map is widely considered to be more favorable to Democrats, who hold a statewide advantage in voter registrations, than the map drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2011. That map resulted in 13 Republican seats out of the 18 assigned to the state.
Illinois Primary: Early voting has concluded for the nation’s second earliest mid-term primary election. Generally speaking, early voting turnout is up sharply from 2014 and has set a record for gubernatorial election years. In Cook Co. (Chicago), turnout is nearly triple the 2014 early voting total and more than double the 2010 pace. Statewide, 18% of registered voters cast ballots in the 2014 primaries, and 23% voted in the 2010 primaries. Election Day is tomorrow (Tuesday).
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