Good morning,

As it turns out, a lot of people don’t want candidates knocking on their door right now.

But first, here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, March 19, 2020
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• The latest edition of Texas Scorecard Radio is live. Tony McDonald, Cary Cheshire, and Brandon Waltens discuss actions being taken around the state to address the Chinese coronavirus. 
      
• After thousands of Super Tuesday ballots went missing, local and state officials now want answers from Dallas County Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole. In a new report, Erin Anderson describes efforts underway that would force Pippins-Poole to publicly disclose details about her office’s conduct during the March 3 primary elections.
       
• Meanwhile, upcoming local elections around the state could be postponed until Nov. 3 under waivers announced yesterday by Gov. Greg Abbott. The final decision on postponing a May 2 local election still rests with the specific governmental entities, but Abbott said he encourages them do so. Brandon Waltens has the full story.
      
• “Right now, the state’s focus is responding to COVID-19—including social distancing and avoiding large gatherings. By delaying this election, our local election officials can assist in that effort.” – Gov. Abbott
      
• The city council of Laredo has become the first in Texas to impose a mandatory lockdown of its residents. David Vasquez reports the unanimous decision requires citizens to remain in their homes, only able to leave for work or to purchase groceries, food, medicine, or home improvement materials. The measure also prohibits landlords from evicting tenants, or public utilities from being disconnected. Laredo is also requiring employers to make hand sanitizers or similar products available. 
      
• After receiving open records requests regarding last month’s controversial decision to remove certain cases from a Republican North Texas judge, Tarrant County commissioners are asking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to keep related records hidden. Robert Montoya has the details.
   
• Despite the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, Judicial Watch reports a caravan of illegal immigrants is heading north to the United States from Central America. 

• Yesterday we asked if a candidate going door-to-door in your neighborhood would make folks more or less likely to vote for that candidate. Just under 54 percent of survey respondents reported being “less likely.” The results on Twitter were generally the same, trending just over 55 percent.
     
• Here is a sampling of reader’s comments...
     
• Michelle F., wrote that campaigns need to remember “the message is what is important, not the hand-shake. My candidate needs to convince me that his agenda is right for my city/state/country.” That can happen, she says, with flyers, social media, and old-fashioned mail.
      
• Sam G. wrote, “All things considered and with everything that is going on, [the politician] would definitely appear selfish, with no regard for others ... and I would ask myself, how is this person going to handle future tasks regarding the entire population?”
     
• Several folks responded like Ginger K.: “Any politician going door to door would be violating the common sense restrictions that are put in place to contain the spread of COVID 19. What if said politician is a carrier of the virus? To be sure the politician is a carrier of the I am above the law attitude.”
      
• On the other hand, Jodie D. “would not mind if a candidate chose to walk door to door, or even interns out representing their candidate because we still need to get the message out that we have for the people in our communities. People tend to get stuck in their every day malaise, forgetting perhaps that huge elections are in our future, with or without the coronavirus... Of course, if either is ill, no communication should take place.”
     
• Same goes for Roger T., who “would be more likely to vote for a candidate that came to my door because it would give me a better opportunity to access his commitment to liberty.” 
      
• If candidates are going to be doing any campaigning in public, Philip J. expects they “would take precautions against infection and infecting others.”
     
• From the of two minds camp comes Steve S., who wrote incumbents should “be at work” dealing with the crisis and not knocking on doors. Candidates and challengers, meanwhile, would be welcome so “specific questions” could be put to them.

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