Campaign News
09/22/2019

Candidate Entries and Exits for September 22

TXElects

HD76 open: Lisa Tamayo, a legislative aide to the retiring Sen. Jose Rodriguez (D-El Paso) and a former aide of Rep. Cesar Blanco (D-El Paso), established a campaign committee for a potential run for Blanco’s seat, which he is vacating to run for Rodriguez’s seat.

HD100 special: In an email to supporters, Democratic candidate Paul Stafford announced he was ending his special election campaign because his “ballot application, which was originally accepted by the Secretary of State, was rescinded” because he had not lived in the district for at least 12 months. Stafford voted in the May mayoral election from an address outside of the district. Stafford said he would run for the seat in the March primary. Nonprofit executive James Armstrong III, attorney Lorraine Birabil, business owner Daniel Clayton and former Dallas council member Sandra Crenshaw remain on the ballot.

HD134: Houston education technology company founder Lanny Bose established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of Rep. Sarah Davis (R-Houston) as a Democrat.

CD12: Former Colleyville council member Chris Putnam announced he would challenge U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) in the Republican primary. Putnam served a single three-year term and did not seek re-election to his council seat in 2017. He was endorsed by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility/Empower Texans in his 2014 council race in which he ousted incumbent council member Stan Hall, 60%-40%.

CD32: Former Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas) will not challenge Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas), according to Quorum Report. The “timing is not right for me and my family.”

©2019 Texas Election Source LLC

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Texas Political Spotlight
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Michael and Susan Dell’s unprecedented $6.25 billion pledge to expand federal “Trump Accounts” aims to boost long-term savings for 25 million American children. In Lubbock, Texas Tech’s new classroom restrictions on race, gender identity, and sexuality have ignited an immediate clash over academic freedom and curriculum control. And in Northeast Texas, Rep. Gary VanDeaver’s decision not to seek reelection opens a pivotal Republican primary.

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USLege’s ‘Best in Government Affairs Awards’ Celebrates Heroes of the Texas Capitol with State’s First Peer-Nominated Government Affairs Honor
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Texas Political Spotlight
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Welcome back, friends

Michael and Susan Dell’s unprecedented $6.25 billion pledge to expand federal “Trump Accounts” aims to boost long-term savings for 25 million American children. In Lubbock, Texas Tech’s new classroom restrictions on race, gender identity, and sexuality have ignited an immediate clash over academic freedom and curriculum control. And in Northeast Texas, Rep. Gary VanDeaver’s decision not to seek reelection opens a pivotal Republican primary.

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Stay connected with TXLege News on X and LinkedIn!

Texas Political Spotlight
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Texas voters approved one of the largest property tax relief packages in state history on Tuesday, raising the homestead exemption to $140,000 and granting new tax breaks for seniors, people with disabilities, and small businesses. In Austin, residents rejected Proposition Q, a plan to fund public safety, homelessness programs, and city facility initiatives through a property tax hike, forcing city leaders to rework the budget and brace for service cuts. Meanwhile, Bexar County voters narrowly passed Propositions A and B, greenlighting up to $311 million in tourism-funded support for a new downtown Spurs arena and upgrades to the Freeman Coliseum grounds.

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Texas Political Spotlight
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Former Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the most influential and controversial figures in modern American politics, has died at 84, remembered by former President George W. Bush as a “patriot” whose intellect and conviction shaped decades of U.S. policy. In Texas, the Education Agency announced a sweeping takeover of Fort Worth ISD, the state’s second-largest intervention, citing years of academic underperformance and plans to install new local managers. And in Washington, a United Airlines flight was evacuated after a bomb threat, prompting an FBI investigation that later found no explosives, allowing operations to resume safely.

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