Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 

Wednesday, July 15, 2020
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• Election results from the primary runoff are in, and conservatives have reason to celebrate! 
   
• Bryan Slaton, a conservative small-business man from Royse City, successfully defeated State Rep. Dan Flynn (R–Van), a 17-year incumbent with a record of voting against taxpayers. 
   
• Flynn wasn't the only incumbent to go down last night. In another major victory for Texas conservatives and a major defeat for Gov. Greg Abbott, liberal incumbent State Rep. J.D. Sheffield (R–Gatesville) was vanquished by attorney and small-business owner Shelby Slawson.
   
• Both incumbents' losses come despite being endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, who has become increasingly unpopular with conservative voters in recent weeks due to his string of executive orders in response to the Chinese coronavirus, ranging from business shutdowns to a statewide mask mandate.
   
• Meanwhile, Ronny Jackson, a retired Navy Rear Admiral and former White House physician, trounced former lobbyist Josh Winegarner to win the Republican nomination for the 13th Congressional District. Jackson carried the top three counties in the district, Potter, Randall, and Wichita, overcoming what seemed to be a firewall for Winegarner in the Amarillo area during the March 3 primary.
   
• For more up-to-date coverage on last night's results, check out TexasScorecard.com!

• Speaking of elections, one Central Texas city has decided to postpone theirs ... by a year!
   
• Jacob Asmussen reports that the Round Rock City Council almost unanimously voted to postpone their local election by an entire year. Mayor Craig Morgan and two councilmembers—Tammy Young and Will Peckham—were facing re-election this year, but all three voted to instead put off the election until May 2021.
   
• Originally, the election was supposed to take place two months ago, but the council delayed it until November after Gov. Greg Abbott’s recommendation because of coronavirus fears.
   
• Curiously, in April, Mayor Morgan joined other cities in sending Abbott a letter requesting to host the election sooner, saying it would benefit citizens to elect a new council before fall, when they will decide on next year’s tax rate and budget.

• Texas Democrats lost another effort to win 2020 elections in the courts—this time failing to block a decades-old Democrat election law they now claim unfairly helps Republicans. Erin Anderson has the details. 
   

• On Friday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed last year by the Texas Democrat Party and three national Democrat groups challenging a state ballot-order law passed by Democrats over 50 years ago. 
   

• The law grants the top spots on general election ballots to candidates whose party won the last gubernatorial election.

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