TribCast

TribCast: More fundraising headlines, Texas GOP reaction to Trump and Russia, SD-19 special election

On this week's TribCast, Patrick talks to Ross, Aman and Evan about the latest campaign finance reports, how Texas Republicans reacted to President Donald Trump's summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the July 31 special election for Senate District 19.

by Patrick Svitek and Michael Rey de Leon July 18, 20186 PM Central

1. Money, money, money

In recent days, there have been fundraising deadlines for candidates for federal and state office in Texas. Several Democratic congressional contenders posted very impressive numbers, outraising their Republican opponents and in some cases, building up a bigger war chest. The story was a little different for Democratic statewide challengers, who mostly continue to trail GOP incumbents in money raised and cash on hand.

2. Texas GOP weighs in — or doesn't — on Trump and Russia

Trump got bipartisan criticism for his news conference earlier this week with Putin, in which the American president sided with his Russian counterpart against the U.S. intelligence community's consensus that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election. In the Texas GOP, the usual suspects spoke out — U.S. Rep. Will Hurd of Helotes and retiring House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio, for example — while most others offered gentle disagreement or stayed quiet.

3. Sleepy summer special election

Early voting is underway in the July 31 special election to replace ex-state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, who resigned last month after being found guilty of 11 fraud-related felonies. Eight candidates are on the ballot in SD-19, but much of the action has centered on just two Democrats in the race: state Rep. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio and former U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine.

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