The Mignon Memo

The April 13th runoff results are in. Two Texas House incumbents lost but one prevailed. Three contests determined general election challengers for incumbents and three races were for open seats. Don’t forget about the three special elections in legislative districts for May 8th. Those lineups have been set as well. Continue Reading »

Soon after being named the sole finalist for the post of chancellor of the Texas State University System, Rep. Brian McCall (R-Plano) resigned his House District 66 seat effective April 2nd. It is likely that Governor Perry will set a special election for May 8th to fill the seat for the remainder of the current term. Continue Reading »

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced this morning that she plans to complete her term rather than resign early as she had planned. Hutchison, who was first elected to the Senate in a special election in 1993, won re-election to a third full term in 2006. Her term runs through 2012. Continue Reading »

The 2010 election is very important to Democrats and Republicans in Texas because it will determine who will have the upper hand in redistricting. You may be asking yourself, what exactly is redistricting and why should I care? Generally, redistricting is done every 10 years after the conclusion of a U.S. Census in order to equalize population among state and congressional districts by redrawing the boundaries of a district to increase or decrease population. Continue Reading »

Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) announced that he would resign his seat effective March 17th, which will prompt a special election, likely to be held in May. The winner of the special election will fulfill Averitt’s current term which ends in January. The special election is open to all candidates of all parties. Averitt has not taken the additional step of taking his name off of the November general election ballot, so the election for the rest of his current term can proceed while he’s still the Republican candidate for the November election. Continue Reading »

The 2010 Texas primary election results are in. The following is a brief recap. If you would like to see exact percentages, follow this link to the Texas Secretary of State’s website: http://www.sos.state.tx.us Continue Reading »

The 2010 primary election day is less than a week away. Early voting ends this Friday, February 26th so get out there and vote. Keep in mind that several races will likely result in a runoff to be decided on April 13th. Continue Reading »

Early voting has begun and the candidates and their supporters are out in full force. Keep in mind that some races with multiple candidates will result in a run-off election. The run-off primary election will be held on April 13th. Continue Reading »

Ed Serna was named as the first Executive Director of the newly created Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Serna previously served as Texas Department of Transportation’s assistant executive director for support operations. He also headed the transition team that moved motor vehicle services from TxDOT to the TxDMV. Continue Reading »

In a surprise announcement a week after the filing deadline, Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) said that he is suspending his re-election campaign due to health reasons. According to the Texas Secretary of State’s office, it is too late for Averitt to take his name off the ballot. Republican Darren Yancy of Burleson is the only other candidate to file for the Republican primary. No Democrats filed to run although there are two Libertarians competing for the Senate District 22 seat. If Yancy wins the primary, he’ll be the only major party candidate in the race, and as such, would be the probable winner in November’s election. However, if Averitt wins the primary and then quits, the Republican and Democratic parties will each nominate a person for the general election ballot.

Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) no longer faces a contested Republican primary. Her opponent David Hall was disqualified by the Republican Party of Texas because he had filed for county precinct chair prior to filing for the Senate District 8 race. Hall becomes the second Republican disqualified from running for a legislative office due to a previous filing for precinct chair. Monte Mitchell was disqualified from running for the House District 95 seat currently held by Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Ft. Worth).

Governor Rick Perry along with Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus sent state agency heads a letter last Friday asking them to submit ideas to cut spending by five percent this year.

ESPN sportscaster and Collin County businessman Craig James has joined the board of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. James has said that he is considering a run for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s Senate seat when it becomes vacant.

The controversy over the proposed addition to the Texas Governor’s Mansion seems to be over for the time being. The plan to build an addition onto the north side of the historic building has been withdrawn from further consideration.