Pub. 60 2019-2020 Issue 5

10 by extending the early voting period. Texas is nearing the start of absentee voting for the November election. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot in Texas is Oct. 23 — 11 days before Election Day. As was noted, many states adjusted the way people could cast their votes, either in person or by mail, due to the pan- demic. So far, the results appear mixed. In Georgia, for example, a shortage of poll workers, new polling procedures and a surge in mail-in votes created delays in primary voting. Likewise, in Pennsylvania, election officials were still counting votes a week after its June 2 primary, which saw an increase in mail-in ballots and an unexpected jump in votes cast at polling stations. And in New York’s recent primary, with more than 10 times the number of mail-in ballots received over recent elections, election officials were still counting absentee ballots six weeks after the election. Congressional Elections There are 100 Senators in the U.S. Sen- ate, and while 51 is a simple majority, under current rules (filibuster/cloture), it takes 60 votes to move most legisla- tion to a final vote in this chamber. The Republicans hold a 53-45 majority over the Democrats with two independents (both of whom caucus with the Demo- crats). There are 33 senate seats up for election this cycle (including John Cornyn here in Texas) and two special elections (Arizona and Georgia). These 35 seats break down into 23 Republican and 12 Democratic ones. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) represent states that went for Clinton in 2016. Republican seats in Iowa, North Carolina and Arizona are also targeted, as are the two seats in Georgia. Republicans have targets of their own. Democratic Sen. Doug Jones (Ala.) represents a state that heavily supported Trump and will face a tough reelection battle. Democrats need to net three seats to gain parity HD 14 John Raney (R-College Station) HD 26 Open seat (R-Sugar Land) HD 28 Gary Gates (R-Rosenberg) HD 45 Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) HD 47 Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin) HD 52 James Talarico (D-Round Rock) HD 54 Brad Buckley (R-Salado) HD 64 Lynn Stucky (R-Denton) HD 65 Michelle Beckley (D-Carrollton) HD 66 Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) HD 67 Jeff Leach (R-Plano) HD 92 Open seat (R-Euless, Bedford) HD 96 Open seat (R-Arlington, Mansfield) HD 97 Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth) HD 102 Ana-Maria Ramos (D-Richardson) HD 108 Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) HD 112 Angie Chen Button (R-Garland) HD 113 Rhetta Bowers (D-Rowlett) HD 114 John Turner (D-Dallas) HD 121 Steve Allison (R-San Antonio) HD 126 SamHarless (R-Spring) HD 129 Dennis Paul (R-Houston) HD 132 Gina Calanni (D-Katy) HD 133 JimMurphy (R-Houston) HD 134 Sarah Davis (R-West University Place) HD 135 Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston) HD 136 John Bucy (D-Cedar Park) HD 138 Open seat (R-Houston) with the Republicans, in which case the vice president serves as the tiebreaker. There is also some talk about an effort to do away with the 60-vote rule. Al- though this rule can be cumbersome and does provide the minority party with the power to hold up bills, it also serves to limit extreme positions of both parties and necessitates compro- mise on contested issues. Figure 1 continued from page 9