January 26, 2018

This week's Capitol Roundup: Quote of the Week • PRIMARY ELECTION DEADLINES AND "I was in the Legislature for 12 years, and from my GUIDELINES standpoint, this is one of the low points of the relationship • Seventy between the UT System and the Legislature." House seats will see primary races in -Former Texas Sen. Kevin Eltife 2018. • Preview of House primary races in , Southeast Texas, West Texas, Panhandle, and Rio Grande Valley • Texas Facilities Commission votes out executive director Harvey Hilderbran Please feel free to forward this information to others and reply by email

with any changes or additions you'd like to Former Texas Sen. Kevin Eltife made the statement in an interview with the Texas see. Tribune shortly after joining the University of Texas System Board of Regents. Eltife, who served in the for 12 years before being appointed to the board, has said 2017 AGC Texas he plans to reign in university spending and redefine the scope of the system's offices and Building Branch administrators.

Legislative Agenda ARCHIVES Primary Election Deadlines and FAQ's Click here to access

past editions of Capitol Roundup. Primary Voting Deadlines

Join Our Mailing Monday, Feb. 5, 2018 - Last Day to Register to Vote List

Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018 - First Day of Early Voting Quick Links

Friday, Feb. 23, 2018 - Mail-in Ballot applications must be received AGC Texas Building Branch Friday, March 2, 2018 - Last Day of Early Voting [email protected] Tuesday, March 6, 2018 - ELECTION DAY (mail-in ballots must be received by 7 p.m. if [email protected] not postmarked. If postmarked by 7 p.m. at election location on election day, then mail-in ballots may be received no later than 5 p.m. on March 7) AGC of America How do I know if I'm registered?

AGC Texas You can confirm your registration status on this website by going to Am I Registered? Chapters where you will select one of three methods for conducting your search. You can base your search on: 1. your Voter Unique Identifier (VUID), which appears on your voter registration

certificate; 2. your Texas driver's license number, if you provided it when you applied for AGC of El Paso voter registration; or 3. your first and last name. Or, you can call the voter registrar's AGC of Southeast Texas office in the county where you reside. AGC Austin Chapter Centex AGC How to register? Houston Chapter AGC Panhandle of Texas You can obtain a voter registration application from your voter registrar's office, libraries, AGC most post offices, and high schools. You can also fill out a voter registration application Texo (Dallas/Fort online or request a postage-paid application be mailed to you. Worth/East Texas)

Rio Grande Valley AGC San Antonio Chapter When does my registration become effective? AGC South Texas AGC Your voter registration becomes effective 30 days after it is submitted (and accepted*) by West Texas Chapter the county voter registrar. The county office will then put your name on the voter AGC registration list, generate your voter certificate, and mail it to you. Once received, be sure to read the information on the back of the certificate, sign by the X on the "front" of the :: card (the blue area) and keep your voter card in a safe place.

*If your original application is missing required information, you will receive a notice in the mail and have a deadline to respond to the notice.

Click here for more answers to frequently asked questions about voter registration.

Texas House: Houston, Southeast Texas, West Texas, Panhandle and Rio Grande Valley

As is the case every two years, all 150 Texas House seats are up for election in 2018. However, only 70 of those seats will include primary election races, while 49 seats will have general elections only. There are also 31 seats this year with candidates running completely unopposed (10 Republicans and 21 Democrats).

Of the 70 primary elections on the 2018 ballot, 32 primary races contain Republicans only; 28 primary races contain Democrats only; and 10 races have both Republican and Democratic primaries.

Over the next three weeks, AGC TBB will outline all 70 House primary elections by region. These candidates are running in primary election races in the following regions: Houston / Southeast Texas, West Texas, Panhandle, and Rio Grande Valley. PRIMARY ELECTIONS ARE MARCH 6.

Click here to see a map of all House districts. Click here to find your district.

HOUSTON & SOUTHEAST TEXAS REGIONS

District 15 - The seat has been vacated by Republican Rep. Mark Keough. Two Republicans - and Mary "Jackie" Waters - will compete for the party nomination.

District 18 - Republican Rep. will square off against Emily Cook in the primary.

District 23 - Republican Rep. Wayne Faircloth will face in the primary.

District 25 - Republican Rep. Dennis Bonnen will compete against Damon Rambo in the primary. The winner will be unopposed in the general election.

District 27 - Democratic Rep. Ron Reynolds will face Wilvin Carter in the primary. The winner will be unopposed in the general election.

District 28 - Democrats Durward White and Meghan Scoggins will compete for the primary spot, and the winner will face Republican Rep. in the general election.

District 29 - Democrats Dylan Wilde Forbis and James Presley will face off in the primary election, and the winner will face Republican Rep. Ed Thompson in the general election.

District 126 - The seat has been vacated by Republican Rep. Kevin Roberts. Three Republicans - , Gail Stanart, and Kevin Fulton - will vie in the primary election, as well as two Democrats - Undrai Fizer and Natali Hurtado.

District 127 - Republican Rep. will face Reginald "RC" Grant Jr. in the primary election.

District 132 - Two Democrats - Carlos Peña and Gina Calanni - will compete for the Democratic primary spot, and the winner will face Republican Rep. Mike Schofield in the general.

District 133 - Three Democrats - Martin Schexnayder, Sandra G. Moore, and Sam Tejas - will face off in the Democratic primary, and the winner will face Republican Rep. Jim Murphy in the general election.

District 134 - Republican Rep. Sarah Davis is set to face Susanna Dokupil in the party primary, while Allison Sawyer and Lloyd Wayne Oliver will compete for the Democratic primary spot.

District 138 - Democrats Adam Milasinec and Jenifer Rene Pool will square off in the primary, and the winner will face Republican Rep. Dwayne Bohac in the general election.

District 139 - Democratic Rep. will face Randy Bates for the Democratic primary position.

District 142 - Democratic Rep. Harold Dutton faces Richard Bonton in the party primary, and the winner will run unopposed in the general election.

District 144 - Two Republicans - Gilbert Peña and Ruben Villareal - will vie for their party's primary spot, and the winner will face Democratic Rep. in the general election.

District 146 - Democratic Rep. will face Roy Owens and Ricardo Soliz for the Democratic primary position.

District 147 - Democratic Rep. will face Daniel Espinoza in the party primary.

District 150 - Republican Rep. will compete against James Wilson in the primary election.

WEST TEXAS AND PANHANDLE REGIONS

District 75 - Democratic Rep. Mary Gonzalez faces Mary Sue Femath in the primary, and the winner will run unopposed in the general election.

District 84 - Democrats Samantha T. Fields and Austin Michael Carrizales will square off in the primary, and the winner will face Republican Rep. in the general election.

District 87 - Republican Rep. will compete against Drew Brassfield in the primary election.

District 88 - Republican Rep. faces two primary challengers in Jason B. Huddleston and Richard Beyea.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY REGION

District 31 - Democratic Rep. faces Ana Lisa Garza in the party primary election. The winner will run unopposed in the general.

District 37 - Democratic Rep. Rene Oliveira faces two primary challengers in and Arturo Alonzo. The winner will run unopposed in the general.

District 41 - Democratic Rep. Bobby Guerra faces Michael Pinkard, Jr. in the party primary election.

Hilderbran removed from Texas Facilities Commission

The board overseeing the Texas Facilities Commission voted Thursday to oust its executive director, former state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran. The Texas Facilities Commission is in charge of building and maintaining state office buildings.

The seven-member board voted 5-2 for Hilderbran's removal after board chairman Robert Thomas made the motion seconded by Commissioner Mike Novak of San Antonio, according to the Texas Tribune. Just two members of the board, Commissioners Patti Jones and Jack Perry, voted against the decision to fire Hilderbran, according to the Tribune. Deputy Executive Director John Raff was appointed interim executive director.

Hilderbran, who had served in the position since 2015, told the Tribune that at least eight other employees were either fired or resigned Thursday.

"I am proud of the work we did there and am grateful to the team of professionals that I was privileged to lead," Hilderbran said in a written statement. "I always personally received evaluations of 'good' or 'better' during my tenure, so today's decision was surprising, and in my view, unwarranted."

Thomas told the Tribune that personnel changes were a necessary measure.

"It was time to make to make a sea change to ensure that the commissioners and the executive staff are

aligned with ensuring that we're executing our mission,"

Harvey Hilderbran Thomas said. "There's nothing personal at all. It's focused in on just making sure we are 100 percent committed to moving forward in a positive, productive, collective way."