Experts in the News

"Voters who do not participate in this year’s primaries are for all intents and purposes delegating their right of suffrage to the 2–3 million Texans who will cast a ballot in the March 1 primary,” said political science fellow Mark Jones.

"Gambling legalization will remain an issue in Texas politics until such time that casino gambling is legalized,” predicted fellow Mark Jones. Republicans are split on the issue, but with the governor and lt. governor opposed, the Texas Senate is unlikely to even vote.

"Not only do AT&T, Spectrum and the FCC need to engage in a much more robust education campaign to alert people to the existence of [low-cost internet] programs and how to sign up for them, but that especially needs to be done in Spanish," said fellow Mark P. Jones. His recent survey with the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation found most Dallas ISD families do not know about low-cost internet options, and significantly fewer Hispanic families who prefer to interact in Spanish are aware of these options than the overall population.

Many of the more moderate Republicans in the Texas Legislature are retiring, said fellow Mark Jones, opening the door to more conservative members replacing them — and after 2021 redistricting, their odds of winning are high.

Potter County's GOP is trading electronic voting for hand-marked, hand-counted primary ballots. This "opens the door wide to fraud" and "removes the Republican Party one more step away from standard electoral procedure,” said political science fellow Mark Jones.