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Former President Barack Obama has backed nine more Democratic candidates in Texas as part of his second round of midterm endorsements. The nine candidates include challengers in two of Texas' most competitive congressional races: Lizzie Fletcher, who is running against U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, and Gina Ortiz Jones, who is taking on U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes.
The first national test of the Democrats' surge of voter energy and their ability to influence the November election came to a head in Texas on Tuesday. The biggest race of the night for the party goes to a runoff, setting up months of conflict between the establishment and its progressive wing and leading to questions about whether or not the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee should have publicly interfered in the contest.
This year's midterm elections officially kick off Tuesday with the Texas primaries, where voters will sift through jam-packed fields of Democratic candidates vying to take on vulnerable Republican members of Congress. Polls open at 7 a.m. CST and close at 7 p.m. CST.Democrats are running in all of Texas' 36 congressional districts for the first time in 25 years.Democrats have an edge in early voting, a notable, though limited, gauge of voter enthusiasm in what's been a reliably red state.Candidates must top 50% in their primary, or the top two finishers will head to a runoff election in six weeks.Incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke are likely to win their respective primaries.
EMILY's List, a group focused on electing Democratic women to Congress, has endorsed Houston's Sylvia Garcia in the 29th Congressional District. Garcia, a current state senator, is battling six other Democrats in a bid to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Gene Green in Congress .
Veteran Democratic Rep. Gene Green - a key reason Houston has become America's largest Hispanic city without a Hispanic member of Congress - is retiring. The 70-year-old said in a statement Monday that he's "confident that I still have the support of my constituents and would be successful if I ran for another term" but wanted to spend more time with his family.
House Speaker Paul Ryan joined a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers Thursday to help remove debris at a in Friendswood, Texas home damaged by Hurricane Harvey and vowed that Congress will take up legislation next month to get help to those impacted by recent natural disasters. The Wisconsin Republican said the purpose of his visit was to show "that the recovery efforts are well on their way and there will not be any kind of delay with respect to the federal government."
U.S. Rep. Al Green has received multiple voice mails, containing racial slurs and lynching threats, for calling U.S. President Donald Trump to be impeached. The Texas congressman played the recording to an audience of around 100 in a Houston town hall, Huffington Post reports.
Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and the House reintroduced legislation Thursday intended to impede the offshore outsourcing of call centers. The bills, called the U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act, if approved, would create a list of firms that shift work overseas.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness is calling for legislation to ensure enforcement of the 2008 federal mental health insurance "parity" law and expanded coverage under the 2009 Affordable Care Act. While significant progress has been made, people living with mental illness continue to encounter significant barriers in getting necessary mental health services covered in health insurance, " declared NAMI CEO Mary Giliberti in a letter to Health Subcommittee Chair Joe Pitts and Ranking Member Gene Green NAMI cited its 2015 report, "A Long Road Ahead ," based on a survey of approximately 3,000 health care consumers and analysis of 84 insurance plans in 15 states.
Caught between the anti-globalist tirades of their presidential standard bearer and their state's close trade ties with Mexico, Texas congressional Republicans are straddling a tricky political line when it comes to talk of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has set a July 29 deadline for some Texas victims of April storms and flooding to seek government help. A statement Friday from Congressman Gene Green says federal relief efforts are meant to assist eligible residents with home repairs and other emergency-related needs.