Good morning, 

Yesterday I asked how readers thought their neighbors were voting. The good news? Most of you have right-thinking neighbors.

But first, here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, October 29, 2020
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• Thousands of mail-in ballots returned by voters in Texas’ third-largest county have a printing defect that keeps them from being counted, forcing election workers to “remake” duplicate ballots by hand—a process that is raising concerns about election integrity.
    
• Erin Anderson reports that when Tarrant County election workers began processing mail-in ballots last week, they noticed nearly a third were being rejected by equipment used to scan and process the ballots.

• San Antonio billionaire Charles E. Butt, whose family owns the H-E-B chain of supermarkets, has for years bankrolled efforts against conservatives in the Republican primary and funded Democrats in general elections. That has continued this fall with a new political action committee he seeded with $10 million.
      
• Brandon Waltens reports that Mr. Butt’s PAC has given double the amount of money to Democrat candidates as to Republicans. One of the biggest beneficiaries is State Rep. Drew Springer (R-Muenster), who is in a heated runoff against newcomer Shelley Luther for an open Senate seat.

• The Texas Freedom Caucus lost another member this week, as State Rep. Kyle Biedermann (R–Fredericksburg) announced he was leaving the group over disagreements regarding the upcoming vote for Speaker of the Texas House. Brandon Waltens reports on the statement made by Rep. Biedermann to our friends at The Texan.
      
• “Currently, there are two main factions in the [Republican] caucus, ‘Team Texas’ and ‘Team Bonnen’, that are vying to have the next Speaker come out of their group,” said Biedermann, describing the behind-the-scenes factions that have formed as GOP members attempt to select a nominee to lead the 150-member House in 2021 following the scandal created by the unethical behavior of outgoing Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R-Lake Jackson). 
      
• The Texas Freedom Caucus now has less than 10 members.

• No issue will dominate the next session of the Texas Legislature – which is slated to begin on Jan. 12, 2021 – like the state of the state’s economy under the weight of Gov. Greg Abbott’s shutdowns and mandates. 
   
• In a new commentary, Bill Peacock ponders whether Texans will see lawmakers exercise real spending restraint, or simply rely on old budget gimmicks. 
   
• “The unwillingness of Republicans and Democrats to control spending for decades, including their overspending in 2019, have put them in a bind for 2021. The only solution is for taxpayers to tell policymakers to stop spending growth.” – Bill Peacock

• Earlier this month, seven senior officials in the Office of the Attorney General signed a letter accusing Attorney General Ken Paxton of serious but unspecified criminal behavior. He responded that it was them who had committed ethical lapses. Less than a month later, reports Brandon Waltens, all seven have been terminated, placed on leave, or resigned.
   
• The seven officials – including First Assistant Jeff Mateer – claimed to have spoken to law enforcement officials about Paxton, but no charges or public notices of investigation have been announced.

• Robert Montoya reports Keep Dallas Safe has finally received a response on their demands for the city to produce a plan to deal with possible riots on Election Day.
   
• Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is deploying the National Guard to several cities – including Dallas – to make them available to assist law enforcement officers should riots take place.

• The City of Lubbock is one step closer to joining the growing number of cities across Texas that have passed enforceable ordinances outlawing abortion within their city limits. Mark Lee Dickson explains the details.

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