Saturday marked the first day Texas candidates for next year’s elections could file for office. Who files and who doesn’t could change the shape of Texas politics for years to come.
The Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek says that this time around, there are few major surprises.
“The closest news that happened was Dan Huberty, the state representative who chairs the house Public Education Committee decided to file for reelection,” Svitek says. “There had been some uncertainties surrounding that.”
Meanwhile, there are a handful of seats that have recently opened up.
“Right now we have five open congressional seats in 2018,” Svitek says. “Three of those became open just within the past two weeks due to retirements by various republican incumbents across the state.”
One of which was Lamar Smith, who announced his retirement Nov. 2.
“Even before lamar smith announced his retirement, there was already a spirited democratic primary unfolding in that district,” Svitek says. “You even had one of the democratic candidates, Joesph Kopser, outraise Lamar Smith for two quarters in a row, which is a pretty remarkable feat in such a traditionally republican district.”
And, he says, now that Smith is officially out, a republican primary is shaping up too. State Representative Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs) was the first to throw his hat in the ring. And just over the weekend, Susan Narvaiz, a former mayor of San Marcos, announced a run as well. Svitek says it could end up being a “crowded race.”
But it remains to be seen if the Democrats will be able to put forward a viable gubernatorial candidate.
“Theres already a group of very little-known democrats that are running but its unclear if there’s going to be a serious challenger emerge to Governor Abbott,” Svitek says. “here are some more prominent names that are currently considering a run for governor, including Dallas County Sherrif Lupe Valez and Andrew White, son of late governor Mark White. There aren’t too many other prominent names out there besides those two and the clock is ticking for the Democrats.”
Post by Alexandra Hart
