Friday has arrived, and so has the last day of early voting. To catch us up on all things political this week, we’re joined by Emily Ramshaw, editor in chief of the Texas Tribune.
“The takeaway trends are that in the big urban areas of Texas, early voting numbers are up among Democrats, pretty far up among Democrats, and just slightly repressed among Republicans,” she says.
Ramshaw says it’s too soon to say what that means for the results on election day, but it’s safe to say that Democrats are hyper-engaged this year.
“The two most interesting races in my perspective are the race for Texas land commissioner, that’s the one that pits Republican George P. Bush against Republican Jerry Patterson, who held the job before George P.,” she says. “The other one that is particularly interesting is the agriculture commissioner race, where the always-in-the-headlines, cowboy folksy Sid Miller is being challenged by lobbyist Trey Blocker.”
Ramshaw says another thing to watch is Governor Greg Abbott’s involvement in various primary races.
“There are three incumbents in the Texas House who he is really trying to take down – Wayne Faircloth, Sarah Davis, and Lyle Larson,” she says. “It will be really interesting to see whether he holds sway in those districts.”
Written by Jen Rice.
