Free Republic

The House Appropriations Committee chairman was knocked out of his legislative seat Tuesday in a Republican runoff that saw more than $1 million in campaign contributions. Challenger Gene Shaw defeated five-time incumbent Kevin Wallace, winning 54% of the vote in the House District 32 election. Most of the $1 million raised for the runoff election in House District 32 went to Wallace, the House Appropriations and Budget Committee chairman from Wellston. The $780,000 Wallace raised came from other House Republicans plus three senators and the Senate Republicans PAC, as well as Attorney General Gentner Drummond, former Attorney General Mike Hunter...

Charlotte Mills, the county’s election administrator, says Republican state Sen. Jedediah Hinkle was removed from the area where election officials were tallying votes Wednesday afternoon. Hinkle was vying for reelection of Senate District 32 against Democratic challenger Pat Flowers, and candidates aren’t allowed in the area where ballots are being counted. According to unofficial results posted Thursday, Hinkle was defeated by challenger Pat Flowers, a Democrat, by 338 votes. A photo in Thursday’s Chronicle shows Hinkle hunched over a stack of ballots. The caption incorrectly states that Hinkle is an election official and was searching through the uncounted ballots. Mills...

By APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Martin Frost will announce plans Friday to challenge Republican incumbent Rep. Pete Sessions in a bid to preserve his congressional career. Frost's current district in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was dismantled by GOP map-drawers earlier this year who were looking to put more Republican Texans in Congress. A Democratic strategist confirmed reports, on condition of anonymity, that Frost will file to run in Congressional District 32. Reports were first published Thursday in The Dallas Morning News. The district encompasses part of north and west Dallas, the largely Hispanic neighborhoods of North...