By Lauren Fairbanks and J Pete Laney
TAD Governmental Affairs
In-person early voting in the Texas primaries began Feb. 17 and runs through Feb. 27. On the ballot are many statewide seats, including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, comptroller and more. Republicans and Democrats also will choose candidates for congressional and state legislative offices, the State Board of Education and judicial seats.
The Texas Tribune, an online nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization, has put together a complete list of candidates for statewide and legislative offices, as well other voter resource information, here.
After the March 3 primary, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the primary, the top two vote-getters will compete in a runoff on May 26. Texas is an open-primary state, meaning voters can decide every two years which primary to vote in, but they can’t vote in both. We’ll have a full rundown of primary election results in next month’s newsletter.
While everyone has been focused on the primary election, a special election was held earlier in the year. The special election runoff for Senate District 9 in North Texas was held Jan. 31 to fill the seat vacated by Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock. Democrat Taylor Rehmet, a union leader, machinist and Air Force veteran, pulled an upset to defeat conservative activist and cell phone company executive Leigh Wambsganss, 57.2% to 42.8%.
Based on an analysis of the 95,000 voters who turned out in the election, 51% had Republican-modeled histories and 35% had Democratic-modeled histories while 14% had no primary history (Independents). To compare, the partisan makeup of November’s special SD 9 election that included Republican John Huffman was roughly 50% Republican, 25% Democratic, and 25% Independent. So, between then and the runoff, Democratic proportions actually increased and the share of Independents dropped. Around 50,000 voters who cast ballots in November did not return to vote in the runoff, many of whom potentially voted for Huffman last year, as both Rehmet’s and Wambsganss’s vote totals were only about 2,000 less than their general election returns.
The Tarrant County-based district voted for former Sen. Kelly Hancock by more than 20 points in his previous election, and President Trump by more than 17 points last year. The two will meet each other again in the November General Election.
First Round of Senate Interim Charges Announced
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Jan. 30 issued the first round of Senate interim charges for a handful of Senate committees including:
- Business & Commerce
- Education K-16
- Health & Human Services
- Finance
- State Affairs
Interim charges ask committees to take a look at the implementation of legislation passed in the 89th Legislative Session as well as detail key issues for committees to review and analyze in preparation for the upcoming 90th Legislative Session.
New Appointments by Gov. Abbott
Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners – Gov. Abbott reappointed Sue Allen, Larry Moczygemba, D.V.M., and Victoria Whitehead to the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners for terms set to expire on Aug. 26, 2031. The mission of the Board is to establish and enforce policies to ensure the best possible quality of veterinary and equine dental provider services for Texans.
