Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) has been sworn in and former Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) has officially withdrawn his name from the November general election ballot. That clears the way for the Republican and Democrat county chairs in the ten counties that make up Senate District 22 to choose their respective nominees for the November ballot. The parties have until August 24th to make their selections. The Republican chairs are not required to choose Birdwell and the Democrats get a second chance since no one had filed to run for the seat in the Democratic primary. Stay tuned.
Campaign finance reports for the first six months of 2010 are due at the Texas Ethics Commission today. Expect them to begin showing up on the commission’s website as soon as tomorrow. To see how much money your favorite candidate has on hand, go to http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/php/cesearchSimple.html and type in their name.
Texas has been named America’s Top State for Business 2010 by CNBC. Those of you in Austin today can swing by Katz’s Deli on 6th street to watch a live broadcast touting the strength of the Texas economy.