Texas politics

Beto O'Rourke, the young West Texas congressman who is challenging Ted Cruz for his Senate seat, will be in Amarillo this weekend as his campaign gears up for the final six months before the election.

As KFDA reports, the Democrat will host a town hall meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. this Sunday evening. The event will be held at In This Moment, at 3941 N. Western in Amarillo.

Motivated by the rise of Donald Trump, a plethora of first-time candidates have added their names to ballots in Texas--and many of them are women.

As The Guardian reports, these candidates are hoping to ride to victory on what many political observers are predicting will be a blue wave of Democratic voters this November in the Lone Star State.

 "A debate in Spanish would not be very good because my Spanish isn’t good enough," U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said at a campaign event Tuesday afternoon, "but I look forward to debating Congressman O’Rourke."

From The Texas Tribune:

A federal appeals court has ruled that the controversial Texas Voter ID law will be in effect for November's elections.

Last year a lower-court had ruled that the law was discriminatory, as it required voters to bring an ID to the polls in order to cast their ballots.

Poor and minority voters often do not have access to IDs, so critics saw the law as an effort by Republicans to disenfranchise voters who tend to vote Democrat.

During the primary elections in the Texas Panhandle this year much was heard about a heavily funded far-right group called Empower Texans, and how the group was trying to meddle in Panhandle elections. Republicans like State Congressman Four Price and State Senator Kel Seliger were targeted by the group, who funded primary challengers to try to torpedo these lawmakers’ re-election bids.

This wasn’t just happening in the Panhandle, either—Empower Texans employed their hardball tactics in races across the state. And they came up mostly empty-handed.

The dust continues to settle from Tuesday night’s Texas primary elections, and there were some expected results as well as a few surprises, both regionally and statewide.

As The Amarillo Globe-News reports, State Senator Kel Seliger successfully fended off challenges from former Midland Mayor Mike Canon and Amarillo restaurateur Victor Leal. Seliger just barely squeaked over the 50% margin to avoid a runoff, winding up with 50.41% of the vote.

As Texans head to the polls tomorrow morning, many of the nation’s largest news organizations are reporting on a massive Democratic surge in the Lone Star State during early voting.

In fact, as NBC news reports, through the first 11 days of early voting, the number of Democrats who had voted was up by more than 100 percent over the last midterm election 2014. This led NBC to openly wonder, “Can Texas Democrats turn the Lone Star State blue?”

The Texas Primary election will be held tomorrow. Here’s what Panhandle voters need to know before heading to the polls. Major Texas political figures are on the primary ballot this year, including Gov. Greg Abbott, and nine Democrats vying to challenge him in November, such as purported front-runner Andrew White.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is also defending his seat, as is Attorney General Ken Paxton. In addition, voters will decide on the fate of embattled Land Commissioner George P. Bush, as well as controversial Ag Commissioner Sid Miller.

If you want to find a place in Texas where conservatives are bucking the state’s rightward shift of recent years, look no further than the Texas Panhandle—at least that’s what The Dallas Morning-News alleged in a recent commentary.

President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that Texans should vote for Gov. Greg Abbott, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in March.

From The Texas Tribune:

Eight top Republican statewide elected officials in Texas have the support of President Donald Trump. 

Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke reported raising almost three times as much money over the first 45 days of 2018 as Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

From The Texas Tribune:

Early voting began yesterday in Texas, ahead of the state’s March 2 primary, which is the earliest in the nation.

As The Houston Chronicle reports, state electoral officials are warning residents to know ahead of time what is needed to make your voice heard.

In a statement, Secretary of State Rolando Pablos said, “It is imperative that all Texans wishing to cast a vote start early and undertake the necessary preparations to be able to vote.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is preparing Texas Republicans for a turbulent election year amid super-charged Democratic enthusiasm — including in his own re-election campaign.

From The Texas Tribune:

NEW BRAUNFELS — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is preparing Texas Republicans for a turbulent election year amid super-charged Democratic enthusiasm — including in his own re-election campaign.

A prominent policy expert wrote an editorial in The New York Times this week predicting that the recently passed Republican tax plan could result in a Democratic wave in 2020, if not this November.

According to recent polls, Texans are for the most part no great fans of President Donald Trump. But, as the online statistics blog fivethirtyeight.com notes, Trump’s abysmal polling numbers in the Lone Star State don’t necessarily signal a Democratic wave in Texas’s upcoming November elections.