WED brief 9.30.20
Springer underperforms
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Today's stories
SHELLEY LUTHER and Rep. Drew Springer are headed to a runoff in a special contest to fill the not yet vacated Senate seat of Pat Fallon.
The apparent plan by Governor Abbott, to run Springer quickly before any other candidate could establish name recognition in the district, didn't work. Whoops.
Luther and Springer tied with 32% of the vote, a Democrat took 21%, and the rest of the field split the remaining 15%.
In the past decade, 40% of special elections to fill Senate seats were won without runoffs by members of the Texas House.
Special elections, where an incumbent representative was not running against another incumbent representative or prominent local elected official, were won 100% of the time without a runoff by the House member.
Spending by Luther and Springer, according to available reports, was comparable at around $650,000.
Jacob Minter, the lone Democrat, performed well enough in urban counties but underperformed 2018 levels.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER injected himself into Texas elections, spending $250k to open more polling places in Cameron County. The South Texas county is home to and neighbors districts where claims and cases of voter fraud are prevalent.
USA TODAY analyzed Florida schools reopening and found that coronavirus cases didn't surge as a result.
REMOTE LEARNING is not working. Two school districts are getting media attention for canceling virtual classes and returning to the physical classroom after students logged on, then checking out, a foreseeable outcome for anyone who has interacted with a child.
Hit the links
Bexar Co. poll looks similar to the 2016 outcome
A Communist coming to the Texas House?
Falls Co. Sheriff has his license pulled.
Debate, Wallace's performance panned.
Texas service, retail sectors show signs of recovery
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