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Pennsylvania GOP megadonor Jeff Yass kicked in one other $4 million to Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this yr to spice up the governor’s bid to unseat Texas Home Republicans who oppose non-public college vouchers.
The April 3 donation, revealed this week in a marketing campaign finance report filed by Abbott, was Yass’ second main contribution to the GOP governor this election cycle. The billionaire TikTok investor donated $6 million to Abbott in December, believed to be the biggest single political donation in Texas historical past.
Yass’ more moderen $4 million contribution was a part of a haul of practically $30 million Abbott reported over the primary half of the yr, an eye-popping determine for a governor who isn’t on the poll this yr.
Abbott has established himself as essentially the most prolific fundraiser within the state’s political historical past. He ended June with greater than $51 million in his marketing campaign account, even after spending some $12 million on his campaign to safe a pro-voucher majority within the Texas Home.
Abbott spent a lot of 2023 making an attempt to muscle a program via the Home that may let dad and mom use taxpayer cash to ship their youngsters to non-public colleges. After hitting a wall within the decrease chamber, Abbott turned to the first elections, campaigning in opposition to Republicans — most of them from rural districts — who joined with Democrats final fall to dam vouchers.
He appeared to return away from the primaries with a pro-voucher majority, serving to oust 9 GOP voucher holdouts and nominate 4 extra 4 pro-voucher candidates to fill seats vacated by retiring voucher opponents.
After the Could runoffs, Abbott declared that the Home “now has enough votes to pass school choice.”
Voting FAQ: 2024 Elections
When is the following election? What dates do I must know?
Election Day for the overall election is November 5, and early voting will run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote and/or change your voter registration deal with is Oct. 7. Functions to vote by mail have to be acquired by your county of residence – not postmarked – by Oct. 25.
What’s on the poll for the overall election?
Along with the president, eligible Texans have the chance to solid their ballots for a lot of Texas officers working for workplace on the federal, state and native ranges.
This contains representatives within the U.S. and Texas homes and the next elected places of work:
-1 U.S Senator (Ted Cruz)
– 1 of three Railroad Commissioners
– 15 State Senators
– 7 State Board of Schooling members
– 3 members of the Texas Supreme Courtroom
– 3 members of the Texas Courtroom of Prison Appeals
– 5 Chief Justices and varied justices for Texas Courts of Appeals
– Decrease-level judges and native county places of work can even seem on the poll:
– Varied district judges, together with on felony and household courts
– County Courts at Legislation
– Justices of the Peace
– District Attorneys
– County Attorneys
– Sheriffs
– Constables
– Tax Assessor-Collectors
How do I be sure that I’m registered to vote?
You possibly can verify to see should you’re registered and confirm your data via the Texas Secretary of State’s web site. You’ll want one of many following three mixtures to log in:
Your Texas driver’s license quantity and date of start.
Your first and final names, date of start and county you reside in.
Your date of start and Voter Distinctive Identifier, which seems in your voter registration certificates.
How do I register to vote if I haven’t?
You possibly can request a postage-paid software via the mail or discover one at county voter registrars’ places of work and a few submit places of work, authorities places of work, or excessive colleges. You may as well print out the web software and mail it to the voter registrar in your county.
Functions have to be postmarked by the Oct. 7 deadline. Obtain your software right here.
Moreover, you possibly can register to vote via the Texas Division of Public Security whereas renewing your driver’s license. You might be able to register to vote on-line should you’re additionally allowed to resume your license on-line. That is the one type of on-line registration within the state.
After you register to vote, you’ll obtain a voter registration certificates inside 30 days. It’ll include your voter data, together with the Voter Distinctive Identifier quantity wanted to replace your voter registration on-line. If the certificates has incorrect data, you’ll want to notice corrections and ship it to your native voter registrar as quickly as potential.
The voter registration certificates can be used as a secondary type of ID if you vote should you don’t have one of many seven state-approved photograph IDs
Massive information: director and screenwriter Richard Linklater; NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher; U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California; and Luci Baines Johnson will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Competition, Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Purchase tickets as we speak!
