Jasper Scherer
@jaspscherer
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Politics reporter @TexasTribune . Formerly @HoustonChron , @ExpressNews , @NorthwesternU . Email: jasper.scherer @texastribune .org
Austin, TX
Joined March 2010
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Thrilled to be joining the
@TexasTribune
’s politics team later this month! Competing with the Trib’s ambitious & dogged reporting has made me a better journalist, and I’m so excited to work w/ their powerhouse team to continue covering the messy, important world of Texas politics
We’re thrilled to announce that
@jaspscherer
is joining
@TexasTribune
as our newest politics reporter!
#txlege
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Inbox — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (R) calls on
@GovAbbott
to end his "catastrophic" truck inspection policy at the border: "This is not solving the border problem, it is increasing the cost of food and adding to supply chain shortages."
#txlege
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4K
9K
With 133K Election Day votes as of 3 p.m., Harris County turnout has now reached 1.57 million, a bit more than 63% of registered voters. This is the county's highest turnout rate since 1992 (72%), per
@TXsecofstate
.
#txlege
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4K
Republicans are winning or have won 24 of 27 U.S. House races listed as "toss-ups" by
@nytimes
... and 13 of 36 ones listed under "Democrats expected to win narrowly."
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A group of about 50 trail riders has arrived, with at least one man wearing a “Black Cowboys Matter” shirt.
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Some guys riding a Gator/ATV with an American flag along the Bush funeral train
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NEW: The Texas Supreme Court has DENIED
@GovAbbott
's request to block a Travis County judge's temporary restraining order that allowed local mask mandates. The court's ruling allows school mask orders to stand.
#txlege
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NEW: Private contractors are reaping millions w/little oversight under
@GovAbbott
's border crackdown, made possible by the guv's monthly renewal of his border disaster declaration.
One deal went to a firm that sold TX over $400M in unreliable COVID tests.
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With
@GovAbbott
confirming 14 children and one teacher were killed in Tuesday's shooting at a Uvalde elementary school, this is now the 4th-deadliest school shooting in modern U.S. history, behind only Virginia Tech (2007), Sandy Hook (2012) and Parkland (2018).
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JUST IN: Harris County, TX has surpassed its final 2016 turnout of 1.34 million, setting an all-time record.
That's about 54% of the county’s 2.48 million registered voters. Per
@HarrisVotes
, final turnout was between ~61-63% in ’08, ’12 & ’16, when the voter rolls were smaller.
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Harris County turnout thru three days of early voting, in-person + mail-in:
2008: 161K (8.3% of registered voters)
2012: 198K (9.9%)
2016: 287K (12.9%)
2020: 399K (16.2%)
#txlege
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My Dog Won’t Go Potty During Tropical Storms: A Houston Story
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There it is:
@LinaHidalgoTX
looks to have narrowly defeated
@AlexMealer4HCTX
in the race for Harris County judge, with a nearly 16,000-vote lead and all voting centers reporting.
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As
@GovAbbott
issues a statewide mask order, worth re-upping that
@DanPatrick
called
@LinaHidalgoTX
's order “the ultimate government overreach,"
@DanCrenshawTX
said it could “lead to unjust tyranny" &
@paulfsimpson
called it an “unenforceable power grab.”
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In-person turnout, first two days of early voting in Harris County:
2008: 83K (4.3% turnout)
2012: 99K (4.9% turnout)
2016: 141K (6.3% turnout)
2020: 204K* (8.3% turnout)
*As of just after 3 p.m. on Day Two
#txlege
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Harris County ends early voting with almost 1.44 million votes after seeing a surge of 90K votes Friday, the most in a day since Oct. 19 (the 7th day of early voting)
Final totals, minus some remaining mail ballots:
In-person: 1,264,811
Mail: 170,410
Total: 1,435,221
#txlege
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Harris County has now surpassed its final 2018 early voting turnout of 855,711. Next up: 2016, when 977,279 people voted early. (Turnout through yesterday was 801,807.)
#txlege
61,687 votes have been cast in Harris County so far today. Voting Centers close at 7 p.m. and reopen tomorrow at 7 a.m. Keep going!
#HarrisVotes
#HouNews
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824
Starting early next month,
@BetoORourke
’s campaign is making a big push to expand its volunteer ranks, with 120 planned organizing rallies to sign up and train volunteers around the state. Goal = 5 million door knocks:
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Inbox:
@GregCasar
urges the Biden admin to reverse its "needless decision" to go ahead w/border wall construction: "Republicans may have pushed for this funding in 2019, but President Biden did not have to take extra steps to make it easier to build a border wall in South Texas."
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Harris County has officially reached half a million votes, ending the fourth day of early voting at 512K.
@HarrisVotes
recorded 113K ballots today: 105K in-person votes, the fourth straight day of 100K+, along w/ 8K mail-in ballots returned.
#txlege
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.
@DanPatrick
to O’Rourke: “Excuse me. You’re out of line and an embarrassment.”
Beto O'Rourke has entered the auditorium and walked up to the table, says to Abbott and state leaders, "this is on you" says "This was totally predictable."
Someone on stage: "You're a sick son of a bitch to come to a deal like this and make a political issue."
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What voting looks like in Houston right now:
Now at NRG, another location, where Bun B is rapping part of a drive-in concert to kick-off the 24-hour voting sites. First story of the night coming soon.
Security guard who checked me in: “I remember when we had two newspapers.”
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New: 50 Texas House Democrats are asking the Justice Department + DHS to investigate
@GovAbbott
’s border program, Operation Lone Star.
#txlege
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One in five registered voters in Harris County has now voted. Thru 4 days of early voting, in-person + mail:
2008: 208K (10.7% of registered voters)
2012: 253K (12.6%)
2016: 366K (16.4%)
2020: 512K (20.7%)
Harris County has officially reached half a million votes, ending the fourth day of early voting at 512K.
@HarrisVotes
recorded 113K ballots today: 105K in-person votes, the fourth straight day of 100K+, along w/ 8K mail-in ballots returned.
#txlege
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773
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.
@LinaHidalgoTX
on drive-thru voting decision: "While we fully expect more appeals and litigation from those seeking to suppress the voices of our citizens, we will continue our fight to zealously protect the sanctity of each and every ballot cast here in Harris County."
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Biden is thumping Trump in Fort Bend County, 59.3% to 39.7% thru early voting.
This was a Clinton +7 county and O'Rourke +12, now Biden +20. Turnout hit 75% (!) here this year.
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Harris County is rightfully getting attention for its turnout, but neighboring Fort Bend County has actually seen a more pronounced spike vs. 2016.
Fort Bend's 328K turnout is up 54% from '16, vs. Harris' 47% increase. And 68% of Fort Bend voters have voted, vs. 58% in Harris.
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Emails show Texas governor requested the voter purge that used flawed data via
@gmaninfedland
#txlege
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The view from Bush’s funeral train as it passes Spring, on the way to College Station.
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Letter from officials including Paxton’s
#2
: “We have a good faith belief that the attorney general is violating federal and/or state law including prohibitions related to improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential criminal offenses.”
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Congrats to this Astros fan who was just immortalized picking his nose seconds before an all-time dramatic franchise moment
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Harris County turnout today: 74K in-person votes + 17K mail ballots returned for a total of 91K votes. Turnout thru 7 days of early voting:
2008: 360K (18.5% of registered voters)
2012: 416K (20.8%)
2016: 567K (25.4%)
2020: 720K (29%)
#txlege
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Just in: 128,186 people voted early in Harris County today,
@HarrisVotes
announces. An additional 41,337 mail ballots were returned, for a total of 169,523. That crushes the record total of 68K in-person votes and ~129K in-person + mail votes from the first day of 2016.
#txlege
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New: The Texas Supreme Court has denied the petition by Republican activists and candidates to throw out votes cast at Harris County drive-thru polling sites:
#txlege
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.
@HarrisVotes
reports 72,488 votes today, bringing Harris County's cumulative early voting turnout to 874,295 thru nine days. How this compares to previous years at this point:
2008: 491K (25.3% of registered voters)
2012: 551K (27.5%)
2016: 713K (31.9%)
2020: 874K (35.2%)
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.
@LinaHidalgoTX
, who was criticized by
@DanCrenshawTX
for her mask mandate, has endorsed
@SimaforTX
, Crenshaw's Democratic opponent in
#TX02
. Hidalgo says "we need engaged and collaborative partners in Washington" to continue progress on COVID, health care, Harvey recovery.
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🚨 Harris County, with 82K votes today, has reached 800,000 votes & is within striking distance of the final early voting turnout from 2018 (855,711).
Thru eight days of EV:
2008: 423K (21.8% of registered voters)
2012: 486K (24.3%)
2016: 641K (28.7%)
2020: 802K (32.3%)
#txlege
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"Such a misguided program is going to quickly lead to $2.00 lemons, $5.00 avocados and worse," Miller says, urging Abbott to focus instead on fighting to keep Title 42 intact.
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At first, a
@TxDPS
spokesman said that a school police officer exchanged gunfire with the gunman outside Robb Elementary School.
Then, the DPS director said an officer confronted the gunman, but no gunfire.
Today, a DPS official says there was no school police officer at all.
BREAKING: Texas DPS now says that there was no school police officer who encountered or engaged the mass shooter at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX. Shooter was not confronted before entry and it appears he walked into the school through an unlocked door, per DPS.
@FoxNews
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New —
@LinaHidalgoTX
, who has generally avoided criticizing
@GovAbbott
during the pandemic: “At best, today’s decision is wishful thinking. At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state oversight of our power grid.”
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After nearly three years covering City Hall & local politics for
@HoustonChron
, I’m joining our Austin bureau to report on
#txlege
& Texas politics, starting … today!
Very excited to dive in, but I'll miss working with the Chronicle's stellar team of local government reporters.
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Handy WaPo map showing what the abortion policies of each state would look like post-Roe — and the considerable distance Texans would have to travel from certain parts of the state (e.g. Houston) to access the procedure:
#txlege
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New: 1,000 people voted in the first 12 minutes of early voting in Harris County, per
@HarrisVotes
. More than 8,200 voted within the first hour of polls opening.
#txlege
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Some 👀 comments in court yesterday from an attorney for Kinney County, the most active participant in
@GovAbbott
's Operation Lone Star...
While technically representing the state, the attorney called OLS "a waste of time and money." More details:
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Bexar County early voting results >
Abbott 40
O’Rourke 58
Patrick 40
Collier 57
Paxton 39
Garza 58
County Judge
DeBerry (R) 38
Sakai (D) 59
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Saying "the woke left just continues to go too far,"
@DanPatrick
says the Senate will propose legislation next session to allow college professors' tenure to be revoked if they teach "critical race theory" and "end all tenure for all new hires."
#txlege
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News: The Texas Supreme Court has denied
@TexasGOP
and
@HarrisCountyRP
's requests for writs of mandamus to block drive-thru voting in Harris County:
#txlege
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NEWS:
@SylvesterTurner
&
@LinaHidalgoTX
no longer plan to hold their annual state of the city & county addresses with
@GHPartnership
because the biz group has remained silent on
#txlege
voting bills, per three people familiar. w/
@zachdespart
&
@mmorris011
:
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With all but a handful of voting centers in,
@LinaHidalgoTX
is up more than 15K votes on
@AlexMealer4HCTX
.
Dems
@AdrianGarciaHTX
&
@LesleyBrionesTX
also maintaining leads in Precincts 2 & 4, setting stage for a possible 4-1 D majority on Harris County Commissioners Court.
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Just in:
@GovAbbott
, w/approval of
@DanPatrick
,
@DadePhelan
+ chief
#txlege
budget writers, has transferred $495M from other state agencies to continue funding his border initiative, Operation Lone Star. Nearly all ($465M) is going to the Texas National Guard.
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.
@poweredxpeople
has now raised over $430K to help cover expenses for
#txlege
Dems who left the state for D.C., per
@BetoORourke
. What are the funds being spent on? "Up to them to use it for whatever keeps them in the fight for as long as it takes," O'Rourke says.
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Texas Sec. of State
@SecJaneNelson
, a former GOP state senator appointed by
@GovAbbott
, says reports of mass voter registration w/o photo ID are "totally inaccurate." She notes that TX has added ~58K new voters since start of '24 — far less than 1.2M figure promoted by
@elonmusk
Read my statement regarding totally inaccurate information circulating about Texas' voter registrations:
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Update with just-about-final Wednesday numbers for Harris County early voting after Day Two:
2008: 83K (4.3% turnout)
2012: 99K (4.9% turnout)
2016: 141K (6.3% turnout)
2020: 243K (9.8% turnout)
#txlege
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Thus, 3 of the 7 deadliest school shootings in U.S. history have happened in Texas.
Texas is also the only state to appear more than once in the list of 10 deadliest school shootings.
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During the
#TX22
runoff,
@SheriffTNehls
’s campaign site said he would “stand with President Trump to defeat the socialist Democrats.” Now, all references to Trump are gone.
A look at how Houston-area Republicans are dealing w/Trump’s dipping poll numbers:
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It's official: 19% of the mail ballots received by Harris County for the March primary were rejected "as a direct result of Senate Bill 1," per
@HarrisVotes
.
The numbers from 2018 vs. this year....
2018: 135 mail ballots rejected out of 48,473
2022: 6,888 rejected out of 36,878
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So naturally, MLB assigns them all to work the series between the two best teams with the best records in baseball. Love it
FYI: Plate umpire Doug Eddings had an accuracy rating of 92.5 percent on balls and strikes, which was 12th worst among MLB umpires and a shade worse than both Ted Barrett and Angel Hernandez.
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Latest update, via
@RolandForTexas
, makes this the 3rd-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, trailing only Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook
NEW: Texas State Senator Roland Guttierrez says state law enforcement tells him 18 children and 3 adults are dead at Robb Elementary in
#Uvalde
. 21 total dead.
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Harris County turnout thru 11 days of early voting is 1,020,885 (41% of registered voters), per
@HarrisVotes
, which tallied 70K votes today.
Final turnout (early + Election Day) from prior years:
2008: 1.19M (63% turnout)
2012: 1.2M (62%)
2016: 1.34M (61%)
2018: 1.22M (53%)
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Harris County, where about 1/7 Texas ballots were cast in '16, has already today seen:
—technical issues w/voting machines
—lines wrapping around buildings b/c machines are down
—unconfirmed reports that a polling place hadn't opened by 8:30 a.m.
#txlege
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Harris County is on pace for 225K votes on Election Day, which would put final turnout at about 1.66 million, or about 67%.
#txlege
At 11 a.m., more than 75,000 votes have been cast in Harris County so far on
#ElectionDay
. Confused about anything? Have questions? Call us at 713-755-6965. Find Voting Centers at
#HarrisVotes
#HouNews
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.
@KenPaxtonTX
, hours after announcing that the State Bar plans to sue him over his challenge to the 2020 election, says he’s opened an investigation into the Texas Bar Foundation for “possibly aiding and abetting the mass influx of illegal aliens.”
#txlege
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Thread on Harris County early voting numbers...
Thru six days of EV, 628.7K people have voted: 553.2K in person, 75.5K by mail. That's more than 1/4 of registered voters.
A total of 100K people voted in person over the weekend. Another 17K mail ballots were returned.
#txlege
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More than 17,000 people have voted so far across Harris County within two hours of polls opening, on pace to set a record for the first day of early voting, per
@HarrisVotes
.
#txlege
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In long post-election email to supporters,
@BetoORourke
mentions Harris County among list of silver linings for Dems: "Though we lost our race, we helped those in other key races win theirs."
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Democratic
#TX02
candidate
@ElisaCardnell
says her campaign has netted more than $20K and over 10K Twitter followers off this
@DanCrenshawTX
tweet >
Democrats fear Elise so much that they began a nationwide fundraising campaign for her opponent. Let’s help out Elise. Donate below.
6K
5K
18K
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New: The Houston A/C repairman held at gunpoint last year by a former HPD captain who suspected the repairman's truck contained 750K fake ballots has sued the group that funded the operation, as well as its CEO, conservative activist Steven Hotze.
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NEW: Harris County's stay-at-home order defines liquor stores as an "essential business," meaning they can stay open under the order.
#coronavirus
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Abbott: "There are more people who are shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas."
He says some people "think that, well, maybe we can just implement tougher gun laws" to prevent mass shootings. But Chicago, LA & NY "disprove that thesis," Abbott says.
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Pretty wild turnout in the Harris County runoffs through 8 out of 10 early voting days >
2016 D turnout, runoff early voting: 21,277 ballots
2016 R: 28,038
2018 D: 33,706
2018 R: 33,768
2020 D: 81,839
2020 R: 35,384
*2016 and 2018 runoffs lasted 5 days.
#txlege
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Texas' "trigger law," passed by the Legislature last May and signed into law by
@GovAbbott
, outlaws nearly all abortions if SCOTUS strikes down Roe v. Wade. Doctors would face life in prison or $100K fines for performing an abortion:
#txlege
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Secretary of State: Prairie View A&M students allowed to vote without extra paperwork via
@houstonchron
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.
@RepSylviaGarcia
and
@AOC
volunteering at the Houston Food Bank tomorrow around 9 AM, per advisory. Earlier today, Ocasio-Cortez said she had raised $2M for Texas recovery efforts thru donor network/social followers:
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New:
@SenatorNichols
, 1 of 2 Republicans who voted to convict
@KenPaxtonTX
, says whistleblower testimony “combined with the totality of all the other evidence … proved to me beyond a reasonable doubt that [Paxton’s] actions violated Texas law and his oath of office.”
#txlege
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Just in: The House General Investigating Committee votes 5-0 to recommend impeachment of
@KenPaxtonTX
. Committee includes 3 Rs (Murr, Geren, Spiller) and 2 Ds (A. Johnson, Longoria).
#txlege
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Fort Bend County early voting results
O'Rourke 51%
Abbott 47.7%
Collier 51%
Patrick 46.9%
Garza 50.7%
Paxton 47%
County Judge
George (D) 51.1%
Nehls (R) 48.9%
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30 former immigration judges appointed by D & R presidents issue a statement saying Texas’ illegal entry bill (HB/SB 4) is “not lawful,” as “immigration is plainly a federal function.”
“As the bill’s sponsors must know this, the point of the exercise is unclear.”
#txlege
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Story here >
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The exact moment backstage at
#TribFest23
when
@SylvesterTurner
@billkellytexas
@IAmMaryBenton
@JeffSyptak
and I learned
@DallasMayor
is switching parties
#txlege
📸:
@SafoItsEddie
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The power of bad optics: after
@SylvesterTurner
asked
@DowntownHouston
Mgmt. District to have businesses turn off lights in empty buildings, district officials messaged downtown biz urging them to do so. It appears they are complying.
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New:
@LinaHidalgoTX
,
@SylvesterTurner
&
@CDMenefee
are asking DOJ to send “federal monitors” to Harris County for the midterm election after
@TXsecofstate
announced plans to send its own inspectors to the county.
#txlege
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Thru the first two days of early voting in Texas, 34% of voters had a Dem primary history and 30% had a GOP primary history, per the much-anticipated first round of analysis from
@longhornderek
.
#txlege
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In his inauguration speech,
@GovAbbott
said Texas is "the only state to build our own border wall."
So far,
#txlege
has approved 💰 to build 44.5 miles of barrier, out of 805 miles identified by state officials for building. As of July 2022, the state had built 1.6 miles.
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High-powered attorneys Dick DeGuerin & Rusty Hardin will present the House impeachment case in
@KenPaxtonTX
's upcoming Senate trial.
"This is not about punishing Mr. Paxton," DeGuerin says. "The people of the state of Texas are entitled to know whether their top cop is a crook."
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Harris County has officially surpassed its final turnout from 2008 and 2012, with 57K votes today for a 15-day turnout of 1,206,519. That’s 49% of registered voters.
The county needs 132,380 votes over the final three days of early voting to pass its 2016 turnout (1.34M)
#txlege
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Ahead of
@GovAbbott
's "big announcement" teased at 1:30 PM today,
@LinaHidalgoTX
&
@SylvesterTurner
urge Abbott not to lift his statewide mask mandate. "Masking requirements have allowed many small businesses to remain open and their employees to return to work," they write.
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.
@JoeBiden
's lead continues to expand in Harris County, where he now leads
@BernieSanders
, 30.6% to 26.2%, with 35% of voting centers reporting.
Early vote / Election Day splits >
Biden: 25.8% / 47.7%
Sanders: 25.6% / 28.6%
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Harris County Judge race, early voting
Hidalgo 50.7 (366,252 votes)
Mealer 49.3 (356,184 votes)
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Harris County presidential election results, early + mail votes
Biden 56% (789K votes)
Trump 43% (601K votes)
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.
@SylvesterTurner
renews his order for city employees to wear face coverings on city premises… after
@GovAbbott
orders that “no person may be required by any jurisdiction to wear or to mandate the wearing of a face covering.”
#txlege
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.
@harrisdemocrats
sending out GOTV robocalls tomorrow from
@KamalaHarris
and
@SnoopDogg
, per chair
@iamodus_
. Both were organized by
@JacksonLeeTX18
.
Here’s the one from Snoop:
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.
@gilgamesh470
reports that
@RolandForTexas
is nearly certain to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by
@tedcruz
in 2024, per two sources close to Gutierrez:
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NEW:
@SylvesterTurner
says the owner of Concrete Cowboy told him the bar's Wednesday night "Mask Off" party has been cancelled and the bar won't open at all that night. Turner and other officials condemned the event yesterday.
#COVID19
#hounews
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