Rep. Joe Driver (R-Garland) announced that he will not seek reelection to his House District 113 seat. Redistricting had paired Driver with Rep. Cindy Burkett (R-Mesquite).
Governor Rick Perry announced some staffing changes in the governor’s office. Jeff Boyd was named Chief of Staff and David Morales replaces Boyd as general counsel. Allison Castle was named communications director while Josh Havens moves into the deputy press secretary role. Jonathan Hurst was named director of Budget, Planning and Policy for the governor’s office.
This week Lt. Governor David Dewhurst issued interim charges related to issues surrounding the recent wildfires in Texas and the ongoing drought to several of the standing committees in the Texas Senate. Dewhurst has not announced his complete list of interim charges to all committees.
Optometrist Steve Nguyen is entering the Republican primary race for House District 115 currently represented by retiring Rep. Jim Jackson (R-Carrollton). He joins Bennett Ratliff, Matthew Rinaldi and Elizabeth Grimmett in that primary race.
Early voting begins for the November 8th general election next Monday, October 24th and continues through November 4th. There are ten constitutional amendments on the ballot. If you need a refresher course on these amendments, check out the Texas Legislative Council condensed analyses.