And Down the Stretch They Come...

_{*Correction appended.} 

With just a handful of days remaining before Primary Day, state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, is issuing a call for out-of-town volunteers to help him win re-election.

In a somewhat dire sounding message to supporters, Burnam writes, “This election is much closer than we'd like and unfortunately we haven't been seeing the voter turnout that we need to win. Phone-banking and block-walking are what drives turnout.”

Burnam’s primary opponent is Ramon Romero Jr. No Republican has filed, so the winner in the primary will have his ticket punched for Austin.

The HD-90 representative is no stranger to close contests. In 2012, Burnam defeated Carlos Vasquez by 159 votes out of nearly 4,000 ballots cast. A closer look at the results shows that Burnam lost the early vote (778 to 751) and turnout on primary day (1,042 to 1,004).

In the end, it was Burnam’s sizable advantage in absentee ballots cast — 318 to 94 — that allowed the incumbent to carry the day.

Texas Weekly is elevating the HD-90 Democratic primary to orange in this week’s version of The Hot List.

*****

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been vigilant about whether he’s been “endorsing” candidates in the upcoming party primaries or merely “supporting” them. Late last week, he made headlines by breaking out his endorsement stamp in one state Senate race.

On the receiving end was Konni Burton in the Tarrant County-based SD-10.

The Tea Party favorite is in a multi-candidate contest for the GOP nomination.

*****

Petroleum endorsements became an additional storyline in the heated GOP primary contest in Tarrant County’s HD-92 between the incumbent, Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, and Andy Cargile, a former high school principal.

Cargile late last week scored the endorsement of the powerful Texas Oil and Gas (TXOGA) PAC.

The next day, the Texas Petroleum PAC “reiterated” that it had endorsed Stickland.

One of these PACs is not like the other, though. While the TXOGA PAC had $250,000 in cash on hand in its last campaign finance report, the Petroleum PAC had $0.

*****

And state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, gets the award this week for most creative response to an attack mailer.

When Texans for Fiscal Responsibility sent a mail piece to voters in her district critical of her record, Crownover took to Facebook. This is what she wrote:

"Did you receive a yellow mail piece from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility this week Bring that S.I.L.L.Y. (Special Interest Lying Lobbyist Yellowcard) Card into Juniper House Coffee between now and Election Day to receive a free cup of coffee! Myra Crownover will donate $1 to the charity Serve Denton for every SILLY card collected."

Correction: A previous version of this story said U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz had endorsed state Sen. Donna Campbell, who is running for reelection. He has not formally endorsed her.