Gov. Greg Abbott named Mike Swanson as judge of the 143rd Judicial District Court, which covers Loving, Reeves, and Ward counties. He named Sara Kate Billingsley of Odessa to the 446th Judicial District Court in Ector County.  He also appointed a pair of judges to courts in Collin County — and Piper McCraw of McKinney to the 469th Judicial District Court and Emily Miskel of Dallas to the 470th Judicial District Court.

Miguel Romano, Jr. of Austin was named by Abbott to the State Securities Board for a term to expire Jan. 20, 2021.

Malinda L. Cowen of Beeville was named by Abbott to the Texas Historical Records Advisory Board for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2018.

Abbott also made three appointments to the Stephen F. Austin University board of regents. He named Alton Frailey of Katy, Nelda Blair of The Woodlands and Scott Coleman of Houston, who is a reappointment, to terms to expire Jan. 31, 2021.

Peter Cramton, an expert in energy auctions at the University of Maryland, will join the board of directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the grid covering most of the state.

Hood County businessman Kevin Downing launched his candidacy late last week to replace retiring state Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland.

Chente Quintanilla intends to run to regain the El Paso County House seat that he represented for five Legislatures beginning in 2003. In 2012, he opted for an unsuccessful run for county commissioner.

Senate District 1 candidate Bryan Hughes rolled out Monday the endorsement of the DPS Officers Association. He is running to succeed Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, who has opted not to run for re-election.

Senate District 24 candidate Dawn Buckingham announced Monday the endorsement of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Corsicana businessman Thomas McNutt announced Tuesday an endorsement from former Republican Party of Texas Chairwoman Cathie Adams for his candidacy for the Texas House district currently held by Byron Cook.

Houston mayoral candidate Bill King announced on Wednesday that he has the backing of former Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.

Julie Linn is stepping down as president of Texans for Education Reform to take a job as senior vice president at Great Hearts Texas. She will take a seat on TER's board of directors next month.

Deaths: Sam Tasby, 93, the lead plaintiff in the 1970 class-action lawsuit that would usher in the desegregation of Dallas ISD schools. A northeast Dallas middle school is now named for him.

Disclosure: Stephen F. Austin University was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune in 2014. Texans for Education Reform was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune in 2013. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.