Ahead of the primary, Pierson lacked endorsements from Gov. Greg Abbott, former President Donald Trump, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, each of whom backed pro-voucher challengers in a number of other House contests.

Early voting in the special election to replace the late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, will begin April 19. Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas TribuneGov. Greg Abbott has selected May 1 as the date for the special election to succeed late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington. The candidate filing deadline for the special election is March 3, and early voting starts April 19. The special election for the Republican-leaning seat is set to draw a large crowd, and several candidates have already announced or filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. AdTwo Democrats have declared their candidacies: Jana Lynne Sanchez, the 2018 Democratic nominee for the seat, and Lydia Bean, last year's Democratic nominee for state House District 93.

SAN ANTONIO Working to shore up historically red Texas, Republican President Donald Trump's reelection campaign launched a bus tour of the state here Thursday where Lt. Gov. "Welcome to the Trump bus tour in Texas," Patrick said in his first remarks to reporters off the bus, before quickly volunteering: "We are absolutely 100% confident that President Donald Trump will carry Texas" and "solidly" so. "That's all just a little bit of smoke and mirrors," said Parscale, who was Trump's campaign manager earlier this election cycle. Still, the existence of a bus tour two months out from the election, no less seemed to speak for itself. "It's nice to the lieutenant governor and part of [Trump's campaign] staff, but yeah, it'd be nice for him to come back again."

Says Pierson, At the ballot box, Americans will resoundingly reject the abysmal failures of Biden-Harris in favor of the America First strength of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.__4:17 p.m.Joe Biden has chosen California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. Its a move that fulfills the wish of Democrats clamoring to see a woman of color on a major partys presidential ticket for the first time in history. The 55-year-old Harris was elected to the Senate in 2016 after serving as Californias attorney general. Harris competed against Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination but left the race before voting began as she struggled to raise money. One of Harris standout moments of her presidential campaign came at the expense of Biden, when she slammed his past opposition to school busing.