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MustReadTexas.com [ [link removed] ] – @MustReadTexas [ [link removed] ]
BY: @MattMackowiak [ [link removed] ]
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MONDAY || 10/28/24
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“If something of importance is known in Texas, Matt knows it. With a decline in the number of credible news organizations, the Must Read Texas morning email is indispensable for anyone that wants to continue to be informed.” – Former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX)
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TOP NEWS   
“More than 3M Texans have cast their ballots in the Nov. 5 election,” San Antonio Express-News' Isaac Yu — “Is turnout up or down in Texas in the 2024 election? It depends on how you look at it.
Since early voting began Monday, more than 3 million of the 18.6 million Texans registered to vote have already cast their ballots, with many counties across the state reporting long lines at the polls.
When compared to the last presidential election in 2020, the percentage of voters showing up to the polls in person is higher this year. But the overall voter participation rate this cycle is lagging when factoring in mail-in ballots, which soared in popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Early voting ends on Friday, Nov. 1.
Some counties report record voter numbers
A record 143,625 people voted in person in San Antonio’s Bexar County during the first three days of early voting, a 32% increase over 2020.
“Three and a half days in, It is spectacular. We are having more voters than we’ve had in the past, since I’ve been here,” Bexar County’s longtime elections administrator Jacque Callanen said at a press conference on Thursday.
In Harris County, in-person participation is slightly down from 14% to 13% of registered voters. Polling places in some Houston-area counties, especially Fort Bend and Montgomery, are surpassing or meeting 2020 turnout numbers.
In-person participation is up, mail-in voting is down
Despite the high volume of voters, Texas’ overall participation rate is lagging slightly behind 2020. In the first three days of early voting, 15.1% of registered Texas voters cast ballots, slightly down from 15.7% in 2020, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
That decrease can be in part attributed to a quirk of the 2020 election, when many voters used mail-in ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In this year’s election, only 221,417 mail ballots had been cast as of Wednesday, less than half of the mail ballots that were cast in the first three days of early voting in 2020.
Despite the huge increase of in-person voting in Bexar County, for example, the overall turnout rate is still slightly lower than it was in 2020 because of a drop in mail ballots from 56,573 in 2020 to 15,679 this year.
Republicans nationwide have cast doubt on the security of mail ballots, which are available only to certain Texas voters including those age 65 or older. A new Texas law in 2021 also changed some rules about mail-in voting, adding ID requirements and banning officials from proactively sending eligible voters mail ballot applications that hadn’t already been requested by voters.
Meanwhile, isolating just the votes cast in-person at polling locations shows a participation increase statewide: 14% of registered voters in the first three days compared to 12.9% in 2020, according to state data." SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
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HOU CHRON: “KinderMorgan stops flow of West Texas oilfield geyser” Houston Chronicle [ [link removed] ] ($)
SAEN: “Comal County teenagers arrested in connection to two shootings” SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
HOU CHRON: “Prairie View A&M leaders want to become a top 10 public HBCU” Houston Chronicle [ [link removed] ] ($)
DMN: “Colin Allred embraces Democratic roots in race against Ted Cruz” DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
FW REPORT: “Will Tarrant County go for Harris or Trump? Experts, voters say it's a toss up” FW Report [ [link removed] ]
HOUSTON LANDING: “Houston ISD bond would make $200 million bet on pre-K. Here's where new programs would be” Houston Landing [ [link removed] ]
DMN: Ted Cruz guest column: “Bipartisan work brought microchip jobs to Texas” DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
DMN: “$2 billion mixed-use development in the works near DFW Airport” DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE   
 > TX TRIB: "As Texas refuses online voter registration, paper applications get lost" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
 > TX TRIB: "Texas’ high housing costs sparked a movement to bring them down. The fight could shape the state for years to come." TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
 > DMN: "President wanted: Texas colleges face leadership turnover amid heightened scrutiny" DMN [ [link removed] ]
 > TX TRIB: "In Dallas, ballot propositions could drastically change police and city government" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
 > FWST: "Family of 4 and woman killed, man hospitalized in wrong-way Loop 820 crash in Fort Worth" FWST [ [link removed] ]
 > KXAN: "‘Potentially in play,’ Trump, Harris come to Texas in campaign crunch time" KXAN [ [link removed] ]
 > THE TEXAN: "Two Texas House Coalitions Provide Different Responses to OAG Robert Roberson Documents Release" THE TEXAN [ [link removed] ]
 > SA REPORT: "Facing tough reelection, Republican John Lujan softens approach on school vouchers, abortion" SA REPORT [ [link removed] ]
 > SA REPORT: "Ken Paxton agrees to pause probe into Texas civic group’s voter registration efforts" SA REPORT [ [link removed] ]
 > MRT: "AI aids methane detection in Permian Basin energy sector" MRT [ [link removed] ]
 > COMMUNITY IMPACT: "More than 225,000 votes cast in 4 days in early voting in Tarrant County" COMMUNITY IMPACT [ [link removed] ]
 > MRT: "Civitas Resources expands in Permian Basin, boosts oil production" MRT [ [link removed] ]
> SA REPORT: "Is San Antonio’s ‘cutting-edge’ ballpark agreement just ‘a paper full of good intentions?’ An expert sizes up the plan." SA REPORT [ [link removed] ]
 > COMMUNITY IMPACT: "DFW Airport, Dallas Love Field Airport to receive $28M in federal grants" COMMUNITY IMPACT [ [link removed] ]
 > COMMUNITY IMPACT: "City moves to buy Southwest Austin offices to serve as new public safety HQ" COMMUNITY IMPACT [ [link removed] ]
 > TX TRIB: "The presidential race comes to Texas on Friday with dueling Harris and Trump campaign visits" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
 > TX TRIB: "Robert Roberson’s case spotlights Texas’ GOP divide on criminal justice" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
 > TX TRIB: "Political divisions deepen over Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson’s innocence claim" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
 > AP: "Harris, Beyoncé team up for a Texas rally on abortion rights — hoping battleground states hear them" AP [ [link removed] ]
 > TX TRIB: "How a boom in East Texas high schoolers taking college classes is transforming Kilgore College" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
 > DMN: "Richardson man, 80, found guilty in child sex abuse case" DMN [ [link removed] ]
EXTRA POINTS   
Last weekend's Texas sports scores:
 Sat
  > NCAAF: #5 Texas 27, #25 Vanderbilt 24
  > NCAAF: #14 Texas A&M 38, #8 LSU 23
  > NCAAF: #22 SMU 28, Duke 27
  > NCAAF: TCU 35, Texas Tech 34
  > NCAAF: Baylor 38, Oklahoma State 28
  > NCAAF: Houston 17, Utah 14
  > NCAAF: Tulane 45, North Texas 37
  > NCAAF: Tulsa 46, UTSA 45
  > NCAAF: Connecticut 17, Rice 10
  > NHL: Dallas 4, Chicago 2
  > NBA: San Antonio 109, Houston 106
  > NBA: Phoenix 114, Dallas 102
Sun
  > NFL: Houston 23, Indianapolis 20
  > NFL: San Francisco 30, Dallas 24
Tonight's Texas sports schedule:
  > 7pm: NBA: Houston at San Antonio
  > 7:30pm: NBA: Utah at Dallas
DALLAS COWBOYS: "Cowboys running out of time to fix problems after loss to SF" DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
DALLAS COWBOYS: Cowlishaw: "Cowboys-49ers report card: A damaging October loss" DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
HOUSTON TEXANS: "Houston Texans: Defense makes two stops in final minutes" Houston Chronicle [ [link removed] ] ($)
TEXAS FOOTBALL: "Quinn Ewers throws for 3 TDs as No. 5 Texas beats No. 25 Vanderbilt 27-24 in 'culture' win" AP [ [link removed] ]
TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL: "Reed rallies A&M past LSU in first-place SEC showdown" Bryan Eagle [ [link removed] ]
TCU / TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL: "Hoover throws 3 TDs as TCU rallies from 17-point deficit to beat Texas Tech 35-34" AP [ [link removed] ]
BAYLOR FOOTBALL: "Baylor runs past Oklahoma State for homecoming win" Waco Trib [ [link removed] ]
SAN ANTONIO SPURS: "Spurs rookie Stephon Castle passes crunch time test" SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
TEXAS A&M-SAN ANTONIO BASKETBALL: "Texas A&M-San Antonio basketball teams to start inaugural seasons" SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)

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