Redrawing the state’s congressional maps, though being challenged in court, has drawn 114 Republican candidates in the state’s 38 districts with nearly two months left until the filing deadline, the Houston Chronicle reported. The Texas Legislature redrew the maps at the request of President Donald Trump in hopes of gaining five additional GOP seats. As a result, there are winnable seats for Republicans in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas that have drawn 19 GOP candidates to date.Two Republican members of Congress are seeking statewide office instead of trying to hold on to their current seats. Chip Roy, who represents a Central Texas district, is running for Texas attorney general, while Houston Republican Wesley Hunt recently jumped into the U.S. Senate race.In addition, Michael McCaul, R-Austin, and Morgan Luttrell, R-Houston, are not seeking reelection. Those four open seats have drawn 25 GOP candidates.
Company tapped to run school voucher program
A New York tech company has been picked to administer the state’s new school choice program, the Texas Standard reported. The billiondollar program passed in the regular legislative session will help parents use taxpayer money to pay for private school tuition, homeschooling expenses, and other educational expenses.Odyssey, the company, manages education funding in several other states. It will be responsible for both processing applications and ranking families to determine who gets access to funding.Anyone can apply as long as they have a child eligible to go to public school in K-12 as well as 4-yearolds who are eligible for pre-kindergarten. Odyssey can receive up to 5% of the total school choice appropriation of $1 billion, meaning it could earn up to $50 million for administering the voucher program.
