March 2020 Election Ticker

via @MoveOn

Heidi Sloan, candidate for the Democratic congressional nomination in TX-25 (San Marcos to Fort Worth), was arrested when she joined DFW airport workers (Sky Chefs) on the picket line Tuesday as part of a nationwide protest supporting the workers in their fight for better wages and health care. (The picket line, notes the campaign press release, is not in TX-25.)...

Sloan's Democratic opponent Julie Oliver recently announced the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, who praised Oliver's direct engagement in fighting the Trump administration's border policies, including a visit last year to the now-demolished Tornillo tent city housing immigrant children. "It's that kind of clear-eyed moral leadership – doing the right thing, no matter the short-term political cost," said Escobar, "that we need more of in the Texas delegation."...

Judge Dimple Malhotra, appointed to succeed Mike Denton (who stepped down to run for Travis County Attorney), recently filed for the County Court at Law No. 4 bench and released a list of attorneys in support – Gary Cobb, Melissa de la Garza, Elizabeth Lawson, Mack Mar­tin­ez, Eve Schatelowitz, and plenty of others. Malhotra's campaign slogan takes advantage of her memorable name: "It's Simple, Keep Dimple."...

Meanwhile, Denton also filed last week, with a press release that identified him as the "Domestic Violence Judge," those cases generally being assigned to the CCL4. Denton has won praise for being proactive on such cases. But apparently not every attorney is ready to endorse him in the C.A. primary against Laurie Eiserloh, Dominic Selvera, and probably Delia Garza: In a Nov. 1 letter to Malhotra, the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyers Association charged Denton with maintaining an unwieldy backlog of cases, delaying trials while refusing personal bonds, and "the lack of even the appearance of partiality." The letter, signed by ACDLA Presiding Director Krista Chacona, urged Malhotra to reform these practices...

MoveOn and Need to Impeach are sponsoring mobile billboards in contested congressional districts this week (some in Texas), "calling out" Republican lawmakers for "ignoring their constitutional duties and failing to hold Donald Trump accountable for abusing the power of the presidency." Targeted GOP incumbents include TX-21's Chip Roy of Dripping Springs and TX-23's Will Hurd of Helotes, who has already announced his retirement. The TX-21 billboard reads in part: "Defend Democracy. Impeach Trump."