With so many moving parts, it may seem as though nothing is yet certain for our election season in Texas. Today marked the beginning of candidate filing for the primary, though at least a handful of candidates have stated publicly that they will wait to see what the U.S. Supreme Court does before filing paperwork. There are copies of the stay requests linked at TX Redistricting in case you want to take a look; the attorneys also made the suggestion that the primary for the Texas House and Texas Senate be moved to May 22 to accommodate changes. There is also reason to believe a stay request on the Congressional map may be forthcoming.
That being said, many others feel confident and have begun to turn in their paperwork. It is hard to know exactly who has filed until press releases go out or county Republican parties see fit to share the information they have, but the most intriguing news so far is that Rep. Todd Hunter has filed for re-election. Hunter is currently chairman of the Calendars Committee in the Texas House and the only chairman who was “paired” in the redistricting maps (as redrawn by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals). His colleague Rep. Geanie Morrison was drawn into HD 32. No word yet on her intentions. You can see the details on how Reps. Hunter and Morrison voted here. Rep. Morrison was named a Taxpayer Advocate by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility for her record in the 82nd Legislative Session.
Other information on who has filed where is trickling in; another seat of note is HD 40, being vacated by Rep. Aaron Pena (R), where Democrat radio and television personality Miriam Martinez has announced that she is filing for that seat.
The best place to look for information on who has filed will be determined, but for now, keep an eye on the #txlege hashtag on Twitter.
