MJ HEGAR

Wednesday’s biggest developmentsFind the latest results in Texas' biggest races815 Texas mail-in ballots found in post office sweepTexas Democrats underperformed their high expectationsPresident Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden in TexasJohn Cornyn retained his U.S. Senate seatSweep of Postal Service finds 815 mail-in ballots in Texas facilities[6:26 p.m.] The U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday it found 815 mail-in ballots in Texas processing facilities and delivered them to county election offices. Under Texas law, mail-in ballots that were postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day will be counted if county election offices receive them by 5 p.m. the following day. Sullivan ordered facilities in 12 districts across the country, including Houston, to sweep for lost mail-in ballots Tuesday. Postal Service to immediately sweep Texas processing facilities for mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Tuesday.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, visited College Station on Oct. 28, 2020, as part of his statewide bus tour. Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas TribuneU.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has defeated Democratic challenger MJ Hegar. Hegar called Cornyn and conceded within minutes of the race being called, according to both campaigns. State Sen. Pat Fallon, R-Frisco, opted against challenging Cornyn after a short flirtation, and Cornyn easily dispatched four primary opponents in March. The Cornyn campaign seized on the bombshell, cutting ads highlighting West’s comments.

Daines’ first election in 2014 broke a Democratic lock on the Senate seat that had lasted more than 100 years. The six-term congressman from northern New Mexico defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti, a former television meteorologist, and Libertarian Bob Walsh. ___10:15 p.m. TuesdayFormer Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville has recaptured a Senate seat for Republicans by defeating Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama. Reed cruised to victory over Waters, an investment consultant who mounted earlier unsuccessful campaigns for state Senate and U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Warner defeated Republican challenger Daniel Gade in a low-key race in which the incumbent had a massive cash advantage.

Candidates push for votes in San Antonio on the eve of Election DayPublished: November 2, 2020, 1:32 pmRepublican incumbent John Cornyn and Democratic challenger M.J. Hegar paid a visit to San Antonio in hopes of securing votes in the race for U.S. Senator in Texas.

SAN ANTONIO – Texas Democrats Gina Ortiz Jones and MJ Hegar will visit San Antonio for a Get Out The Vote event ahead of Election Day. Congressman Joaquin Castro and Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez will also attend the event, which begins at 10 a.m. Delays are possible; if there is not a livestream event available, check back at a later time. Perez also spoke in San Antonio Sunday amid a tour in South Texas to encourage residents to vote on Election Day on Tuesday. Election Day is Tuesday, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Keep up with the latest voting headlines here.

Find other election results Type to search all races...ABC News has projected U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, as the winner in the race for U.S. Senate in Texas. Senator (Texas) View All CandidatesGet more election results on our homepage and Vote 2020 page. — MJ Hegar (@mjhegar) November 4, 2020Early voting results will be released at 7 p.m. CST on Nov. 3, 2020Stay tuned for election results. I don’t know any Texans that are,” Hegar said during a virtual debate series in mid-September hosted by the Texas Tribune.

David Ibañez has been managing editor of KSAT.com since the website's launch in October 2000.

In the end, the candidates did have one same message for the public: get out and vote.How Bexar County voter turnout in 2020 compares to last presidential electionVoters have turned out in big numbers in Bexar County. With four days to go until the end of early voting, nearly half of registered voters in Bexar County have already turned out before Election Day. In total, more than 543,000 Bexar County residents have already voted in the 2020 election. As of Monday night, the turnout in Bexar County surpassed 45% of registered voters. By the end of the 2016 election, 57% of registered voters in Bexar County had cast a ballot.

WASHINGTON – With the support of Texas' two senators, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday evening. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both Republicans, were early and robust backers of President Donald Trump's nomination of Barrett. She will fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month. Barrett is President Trump’s third confirmed nominee of his first term. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Democrat MJ Hegar and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, debated Oct. 9 at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. Money is how you do those things, especially in the expansive mediaverse of Texas — a state notorious for the expense of running effective advertising campaigns. Early money is coveted by campaigns because it lets them start their campaigns earlier, before the noise level is so high. The U.S. Senate race in Texas is a test of sorts. Cornyn has run six, starting in 1990: three for U.S. Senate (not including the current race), one for Texas attorney general and two for the Texas Supreme Court.

Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate MJ Hegar at a debate in Austin this month. MJ Hegar, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, is keeping up her fundraising momentum as the race nears its end, according to the candidates' latest campaign finance reports. Hegar outraised Republican incumbent John Cornyn by nearly 3-to-1 in the first two weeks of October, $3.7 million to $1.3 million. Their spending was less lopsided during the 14-day period, with Cornyn unloading $5.6 million and Hegar $5.3 million. Two national Democratic super PACs are pouring at least $12.5 million into the contest, and Hegar has been outspending Cornyn on TV for weeks.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and challenger MJ Hegar faced off in a debate on Oct. 9at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. His once-staggering cash-on-hand advantage — 16-to-1 earlier this year — is gone, he is confronting a late surge in outside Democratic spending and his challenger, MJ Hegar, has been outspending him on TV for a month. Neither Cornyn nor Hegar has released numbers in advance, though Hegar is expected to have raised multiple millions of dollars in the short period. During the most recent week, Hegar's campaign benefited from joint TV spending with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, while the Cornyn campaign's TV buys have been boosted by the state Republican Party. Last week, the top Democratic super PAC in Senate races, Senate Majority PAC, announced it was plunging into the contest with an $8.6 million TV ad buy against Cornyn.

MJ Hegar and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, faced off in a debate last week. Credit: Bob Daemmrich/Courtesy Nexstar Media GroupMJ Hegar, the Democrat running against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, nearly doubled his fundraising over the past three months and has eliminated his long-running cash-on-hand advantage. That's according to the third-quarter report that Hegar filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission, as well as figures provided by Cornyn's campaign. While Cornyn declined to release release his numbers until Thursday, he had admitted she soundly outraised him for the period and "basically wiped out our cash advantage." During the most recent quarter, Hegar reported spending $6.4 million.

Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas TribuneSenate Majority PAC, the top Democratic super PAC in U.S. Senate races, is launching a major late investment in Texas, spending $8.6 million on TV ads supporting MJ Hegar's bid to oust Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. "John Cornyn is a fraud who sold us out.”Separate from the TV buy, Senate Majority PAC is also planning digital advertising in the race's home stretch. Both Cornyn's campaign and a supportive super PAC have gone on TV in recent days attacking Hegar for the first time. Senate Majority PAC also invested in the 2018 Senate race in Texas, when Beto O'Rourke came within 3 percentage points of beating Cruz. After the election, it was revealed that Senate Majority PAC funded a pop-up super PAC that spent $2.3 million on an 11th-hour ad blitz against Cruz.

Recent polling shows that Biden is up by 17 percentage points in Bexar County. Rickhoff, who has previously held office as Bexar County clerk, said he’d bring a fresh perspective to help resolve the ongoing issues within the sheriff’s office. READ MORE:Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar touts experience, jail system improvements for re-electionFormer Bexar County clerk seeks to replace current sheriffBexar County Commissioner Precinct 3Watch the Bexar County Precinct 3 Commissioner debate above. With Kevin Wolff, the lone Republican Bexar County Commissioner, stepping down from the Precinct 3 post, voters who live in northern Bexar County will decide on their next representative. Previously, only two women have ever held a seat on Bexar County Commissioner’s Court, according to the Express-News.

(Bob Daemmrich/Nexstar/KXAN via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Buoyed by massive fundraising success, Democratic Senate candidates are mounting a push in Republican states that few would have thought possible just a few months ago, placing continued GOP control of the chamber at risk. MJ Hegar in Texas reported raising over $13 million during the same period for her race against Republican Sen. John Cornyn. In deep-red Kentucky, Amy McGrath has posted strong fundraising numbers against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. In Mississippi, Mike Espy reported raising $4 million in his rematch against Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. O'Rourke was criticized for being too stingy with his cash, only reluctantly aiding other Democrats, though he eventually donated large amounts to the Texas Democratic Party.

Sen. Royce West, D-Texas, and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate MJ Hegar. "MJ respects Senator West, they went through a spirited race and sometimes that leaves hard feelings," said Hegar spokesperson Amanda Sherman. At the debate, Hegar said she hadn't reached out to West because it was not her style to seek such endorsements. To be sure, Hegar's campaign is making a serious effort to court Black voters. While West is not backing Hegar, the third-place primary finisher, Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, has endorsed Hegar as the nominee.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and his Democratic opponent, MJ Hegar, butted heads Friday evening in a debate over a host of timely issues — the coronavirus pandemic, race and policing, and the U.S. Supreme Court. "Hi, I'm MJ Hegar, I'm a Purple Heart combat veteran and a working mom of two, and I am your opponent," Hegar told Cornyn at one point. But they also elaborated on some ancillary issues, including court packing and term limits for Supreme Court justices. Also on court reform, Hegar has advocated for term limits for Supreme Court justices. Disclosure: Bullock Texas State History Museum has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Credit: The Texas TribuneU.S. Sen. John Cornyn leads Democratic challenger MJ Hegar by 8 percentage points in his reelection bid, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. The poll found 50% of likely voters in Texas prefer the Republican incumbent, while 42% favor Hegar. In the state’s presidential race, where President Donald Trump is leading former Vice President Joe Biden 50%-45%, there is a marked gender gap: Men favor Trump by 16 percentage points, while women favor Biden by 5 percentage points. In the Senate race, however, the gap barely exists: Men favor Cornyn by 8 percentage points, and women favor Cornyn by 4 percentage points. What’s more, 24% of Texas voters, even after the years of seeing his name on the ballot, don’t report having any real impression of him.

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate MJ Hegar addresses supporters at a March rally in Austin. Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas TribuneMJ Hegar, the Democratic challenger to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced Wednesday that she raised over $13.5 million in the third quarter, a massive improvement over her previous hauls. The $13.5 million is nearly eight times more than what she raised during her previous best quarter. The fundraising bonanza left Hegar with over $8 million cash on hand at the end of this month, her campaign said. The third quarter saw Hegar win her party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in a July 14 primary runoff against state Sen. Royce West of Dallas.

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series reporting on the latest Bexar Facts poll. According to a new Bexar Facts-KSAT-San Antonio Report poll released Tuesday, Hegar leads Cornyn 49-38 among registered voters in Bexar County. Thirteen percent of respondents said they are undecided in the survey, which is the first publicly released polling of Bexar County voters for the November election. The race for U.S. Senate in Texas between M.J. Hegar and John Cornyn, among Bexar County voters, according to a Sept. 17-21 poll from Bexar Facts. According to the Bexar Facts poll, 52% of likely Bexar County voters say they will vote for Joe Biden while 35% percent said they’ll vote for Trump.

MJ Hegar’s Senate race this year illustrates the problem challengers face here. From that national perspective, the prize in a Senate race is the same, no matter where you win. By luck and design, he financed his statewide campaign without having to get the attention of the people in those national political strategy sessions in Washington. The Democrats won two congressional seats held by Republicans, and picked up a couple of seats in the Texas Senate and a dozen in the Texas House. Was the 2018 election in Texas — with its high turnout and close races — the result of a spectacular and expensive competition for Senate?

Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas TribuneEven before a pandemic struck, protests over racial justice took to the streets and a vacancy opened on the U.S. Supreme Court, this year’s U.S. Senate race was poised to be different from the last one in Texas. But in any case, it is a dynamic destined to shape the final several weeks of the top statewide race after the presidential contest. Underscoring the mutually embraced contrast, Hegar shot back in an interview: “I don’t know how much more Texas can survive John Cornyn’s experience. Throughout the pandemic, Cornyn has remained generally aligned with the leader of the state’s response, Gov. A total of 4.6 million people participated in the 2014 Senate election, and Cornyn said he likely will have to garner more votes than that alone this fall to win a fourth term.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and his Democratic challenger, MJ Hegar, are set for their first debate, though Hegar wants more and Cornyn has said he is open to additional debates. Nexstar Broadcasting announced Tuesday morning that it would host the first debate Oct. 9 in Austin and broadcast it live on 15 stations across the state. Hegar, though, used the announcement of the first debate to say she wants three total, each "televised statewide." Cornyn said in an interview this month that he would debate Hegar "at least once, and I'm happy to do more." "Senator Cornyn has agreed to debate MJ Hegar, and we look forward to considering other opportunities," the spokesperson, Travis Considine, said.

Dont measure the political color of Texas by the wins and losses at the top of the ballot this year. Examples are everywhere: Democrats have won congressional and legislative seats even as the Republicans have swept every statewide election since 1994. The state remained red in 2018, but Texas Democrats increased their congressional and legislative numbers. If the race for U.S. Senate in Texas isnt really in play, is Texas really in play? The Texas Democrats running for the U.S. House, on the other hand, are ahead.

Eddie Gaspar/The Texas TribuneThe Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced Tuesday that it will spend at least $1 million to help MJ Hegar in her challenge to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. The announcement comes after the DSCC commissioned a poll that found Cornyn and Hegar in a tight race. The DSCC said its polling, conducted late last month, found Cornyn barely leading Hegar among likely voters, 43% to 42%, with 15% undecided. The DSCC investment is much-needed financial aid for Hegar, who entered the general election with a large cash-on-hand deficit against Cornyn. She had less than $1 million in reserves at the end of June, while Cornyn had $14.5 million.

SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County voters joined the rest of Texas Tuesday in deciding the final nominees for the general election in November. With more than a dozen races on GOP and Democratic ballots, we’ve rounded up the biggest takeaways below, in case you missed it. RELATED: ‘Outstanding’ voter turnout reported in Bexar County for runoff electionBexar County Commissioner, Constable shake-upPrecinct 1 Commissioner Sergio “Chico” Rodriguez lost his seat on Tuesday night after being trounced by about 20 percentage points by challenger Rebeca “Becky” Clay-Flores in the Democratic runoff. She’ll face Republican Gabriel Lara in the general election. Voters gave Bexar County GOP Chair Cynthia Brehm an emphatic boot on Tuesday night, weeks after she refused calls to resign from top Texas Republicans, including U.S.

State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, and MJ Hegar are vying to be the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican John Cornyn in November. Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson and Eddie Gaspar for The Texas TribuneMJ Hegar was holding a single-digit lead over Royce West on Tuesday night in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. Senate, according to unofficial results. Hegar is the former Air Force helicopter pilot endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, while West is the longtime state senator from Dallas. West sharply questioned Hegar's allegiance to the Democratic Party, while she implied West, a wealthy lawyer, has enriched himself in office. By one count published Tuesday morning, Hegar's campaign and its allies outspent West $102 to $1 on TV and radio advertising.

Texans will be voting in the middle of a pandemic on Tuesday in a runoff election originally scheduled for May. The wild card: Robert MorrowFor Republicans in Texas, Robert Morrow advancing to the GOP primary runoff for a seat on the State Board of Education was nothing short of frightening. The winner in the GOP runoff Tuesday will face Texas State University English professor Rebecca Bell-Metereau, a Democrat, in Novembers general election. When he issued a statewide mask mandate, Abbott excluded churches and people voting in the primary runoff elections. Disclosure: Texas State University and the Texas secretary of state have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Texas has become one of the world's virus hot zones and is in far worse shape now than when the runoff was postponed in March. Last week was the deadliest of the pandemic for Texas, and Republican Gov. Abbott did not include polling places in his recent statewide mask order, and unlike many states, Texas has fought efforts to expand mail-in balloting during the pandemic. The Senate runoff is between Air Force veteran MJ Hegar, who narrowly lost a race for a House seat in 2018, and state Sen. Royce West, who if he wins would become Texas' first Black U.S. senator. For now, both remain underdogs against Cornyn, a three-term Senate veteran who has a hefty stockpile of campaign dollars.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has $14.5 million saved up for his reelection bid after raising $3.5 million in the second quarter of 2020, his campaign announced Monday. Cornyn has regularly stayed ahead of his Democratic challengers in the money race as they have had to focus on their protracted nominating process. Cornyn’s campaign said that over $2 million of the $3.5 million he received in the second quarter came from small-dollar donors, or people giving $200 or less. The Hegar campaign has been on TV statewide ahead of the runoff, with coordinated financial support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The West campaign has also aired TV ads in recent days, though its buys are much smaller.

I worked five years in health care as well. Crises kind of come and go, but we still need access to quality, affordable health care. We have COVID issues and implicit in those COVID issues are issues of unemployment now and also that of health care. And they believe in Black Lives Matter.On Health Care:Hegar: When I was working in health care, thats when the implementation of the Affordable Care Act came down. Im going to fight like hell to make sure that my friends and neighbors and family have access to Medicare through a public option.

The winner will face off against Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in November. I don't think anyone thinks it was a perfect program, but how do you think the Paycheck Protection Program loans have played out in Texas? What is your strategy and message to beat John Cornyn? It's completely the fact that John Cornyn clearly doesn't have a spine, she said. I just think we have too much DC, and we need more Texas values, she said.

Prior to the EMILY's List move, Hegar's campaign was already spending $662,000 on television ads. Additionally, her campaign made a joint purchase of $605,000 with the Senate Democratic campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. EMILY's List endorsed Hegar shortly after she finished first in the crowded March primary, which had featured multiple other women. The commercials that are being paid for by the Hegar campaign and DSCC tout her commitment to health care, immigration and battling systemic racism. The ensuing days brought further recriminations, with West tying Hegar to "systemic racism" and Hegar implying his indignation was being driven by sexism.

MJ Hegar is facing state Sen. Royce West of Dallas in the Democratic runoff for U.S. Senate. John Jordan/The Texas TribuneMJ Hegar raised over $1.7 million in the second quarter of 2020, her campaign announced Thursday, unveiling a haul that marks her best three-month period yet while seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Hegar, the former Air Force helicopter pilot backed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, faces state Sen. Royce West of Dallas in the July 14 primary runoff to take on Cornyn. While West's second-quarter figures were not immediately available, Hegar had a major cash-on-hand advantage over him after the first quarter, $1.1 million to $121,000. Cornyn has stayed far ahead of his Democratic competition, with $12.9 million saved up by the end of March.

Eddie Gaspar/The Texas TribuneTexans who want to vote in the upcoming Texas primary runoff election have until Monday, to register. Greg Abbott delayed the upcoming primary runoffs from May to July after the coronavirus pandemic hit the state of Texas. The other statewide Democratic primary runoff is for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, a regulatory agency that oversees the oil and natural gas industry. Voters who voted in the Republican primary in March cannot cross parties and vote in the Democratic primary and vice versa. See the primary runoff ballot here and add key Texas 2020 election dates to your calendar here.

As the pandemic continues to prevent large in-person gatherings, the candidates in Texas' top Democratic primary runoff will meet Saturday for a virtual debate at the Texas Democratic Convention. The threat of the new coronavirus has meant MJ Hegar and Royce West have been campaigning almost exclusively online since the March primary. Hegar, a former Air Force helicopter pilot, has received the backing of the powerful Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Hegar finished first in the 12-way Democratic Senate primary on March 3. She remains the top Democratic fundraiser, ending the latest fundraising period which went through March 31 with $1.1 million cash on hand to West's $121,000.