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Inside this edition of Capitol Roundup:
Please be advised: 2020 AGC-TBB Outstanding Construction Awards event cancelled due to COVID-19
2020 Election Updates
Special Election announced in Senate District 30 to replace Republican Sen. Pat Fallon.
Voters will select a successor from six candidates on Sept. 29 in the heavily Republican district, which includes suburban Dallas-Fort Worth.
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Quote of the Week:
"I am thankful for the proactive leadership by local officials and for the way Texans in the region took action to protect themselves and their families by evacuating ahead of the storm. I urge those affected by the storm to continue to pay attention to the direction of local officials as they seek to return to their homes."
The Texas governor's statement, made in an Aug. 27, 2020 release, comes on the heels of Hurricane Laura landing in Southeast Texas last week as a category 4 hurricane.
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Sept. 29 Special Election called: Candidates line up to replace outgoing state Sen. Fallon
Six candidates have thrown their hats in the ring to replace outgoing Texas state Sen. Pat Fallon (R-Prosper), who has resigned to run for the Texas 4th Congressional District seat.
The special election, which Gov. Greg Abbott expedited by declaring it on an emergency basis, is set for Sept. 29 with early voting beginning on Sept. 14.
Fallon, who is expected to easily win the November election to the open U.S. Congressional seat, was named by state GOP officials last month as the candidate to run in place of former U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Heath), who became director of national intelligence. The election for Fallon's state senate seat will include five Republicans and a single Democrat. The most well-known candidate is state Rep. Drew Springer (R-Muenster), who currently represents House district 68. Springer announced his campaign for the Senate seat just minutes after Abbott announced the special election.
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"I bring my conservative record & hard work to the race, along with a life of being raised, educated, & working in SD30," Springer tweeted.
Shelley Luther, a Republican and Dallas salon owner, is also well known to many voters. Luther made headlines earlier this year when she refused to follow Abbott's Covid-19 lockdown orders and was jailed as a result.
Republican Craig Carter is also running for Fallon's seat after losing to Fallon in a 2018 primary for the same senate seat with 15 percent of the vote in a three-way race. The other candidates include Republican Chris Watts, who is the mayor of Denton, Republican Andy Hopper, an engineer and member of the Texas State Guard, and Democrat Jacob Minter, a recording secretary for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 20.
Senate District 30 is situated primarily in the north and west suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth, and its voters have heavily favored Republicans in the senate seat for several years. Fallon was first elected to the seat in 2018 when he won with more than 70 percent of the vote. Republican Craig Estes overwhelmingly won the seat in 2012 and 2014 without a Democratic opponent before losing to Fallon in the 2018 primary election.
Fallon, who has not officially endorsed a successor, said he would like to hold several candidate town halls across the district before deciding who he wants to support. Fallon has already submitted his resignation from his senate seat, which will take effect Jan. 4, 2021.
Though Fallon is expected to easily win election to the Texas 4th Congressional District seat, he will face Democrat Russell Foster and libertarian Lou Antonelli in November.
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