Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, March 10, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

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Texas House Members Haven’t Won a Statewide Office in 30 Years

• The last state representative to win a statewide office straight from the Texas House was a former Democrat who’d recently became a Republican: Rick Perry, 1990. Sydnie Henry reports many others have tried to replicate the “quick” journey, but without success.
       

• The latest is State Rep. James White (R–Hillister) who ran unsuccessfully for Texas Agriculture Commissioner against incumbent Sid Miller in the GOP primary. 

      
• A few people – such as former Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, incumbent Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, and Ag Commissioner Miller – have moved from the state House to statewide office, but not successively. Each aforementioned official took at least one election cycle off before mounting their statewide campaigns.
      
• More common has been the path of incumbent Comptroller Glenn Hegar and Attorney General Ken Paxton: from the House to the Senate to statewide office.
      
• “Ultimately the House has traded temporary comfort with Austin insiders for long term support from Texas voters,” said political consultant Luke Macias in an interview. “Speakers Joe Straus, Dennis Bonnen or Dade Phelan could have positioned their members better by passing more GOP priorities, but have opted to prioritize being the favored chamber for socialists and moderates.”

GOP Voters Want To End COVID Vax Mandates

• Even as many of the vestiges of COVID-19 restrictions have been or are in the process of being gradually removed from most Texans’ everyday lives, vaccine mandates continue to be an issue for some Texas employees. Katy Drollinger reports 88 percent of Texas Republicans voted in favor of a ballot proposition rejecting vaccine mandates.
   
• “The vast majority of Texas Republicans made it clear they do not agree with discrimination against those that exercise their medical freedom to simply decline a COVID-19 vaccine,” said Christine Welborn, executive director of Texans for Vaccine Choice. “The overwhelming passage of Propositions 3 and 10 are a mandate to put medical freedom and vaccine choice on the list of priorities for the 2023 legislative session.”

Harris County GOP Pushes For Immediate Election Oversight

• Following this week’s resignation of Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria (which won’t be effective until July 1), the Harris County Republican Party is pushing forward with a lawsuit calling for independent oversight of key elections in May. Erin Anderson has the latest details.
      
• Some 10,000 votes were found over the weekend that had not been counted by Longoria’s office, and another 175 were discovered yesterday. 
      
• Longoria was a partisan appointee chosen by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and her Democrat-dominated county election commission in late 2020, even though Longoria had no experience running elections.
        
• Two more elections are scheduled before Longoria’s announced resignation date: May 7 local elections (which also includes two statewide constitutional propositions and a state House special election), and the May 24 primary runoffs.
        
• “Without independent oversight, these elections are at risk,” said State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston) on Wednesday, adding that both Republicans and Democrats have “had enough.”

School District Keeps Paying Scandal-Plagued & Suspended Superintendent

• After months of public outcry and delays, the Round Rock Independent School District board of trustees met behind closed doors this week to again discuss the status of the district’s investigation into recently hired Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez—who has been accused of domestic violence—and potentially decide on his employment. But, as Jacob Asmussen reports, the trustees took no action on Azaiez even though he is suspended and still collecting a very large paycheck. 
   
• Trustees did vote to reject a settlement agreement (without making the details known) and agreed to finalize an independent investigation report on Azaiez – an action that could make it potentially available to the public.
   
• “It’s obvious to me that for the last seven months, this board is only interested in themselves and covering up their own indiscretions,” said RRISD Trustee Mary Bone, who is one of only two trustees who has been demanding action. “This community should be demanding why some of this board are going to such extreme measures to hide the truth. What do some members of this board have to gain?”
   
• Texas Scorecard has sent the district an open records request for the investigation report.

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.