News and Notes for November 9, 2018

 2019 STALLION SEASON AUCTION
The first round of bidding in the TTA’s online auction of 2019 stallion breedings has ended with 11 sold, several of which sold for ½ the stud fee.  The next round of bidding will open on Monday, November 26 and close at 5pm Central on Thursday, December 13.

Check out the list of available stallions at https://texasthoroughbred.com/stallion-register/online-stallion-auction/ and take advantage of the opportunity to purchase at special prices.  New listings have recently been added and are still being accepted.

Many thanks to donors and purchasers!

TTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION
Ballots for the TTA Board of Directors election were mailed on November 1 with a receipt deadline of December 15th.  There are six candidates vying for five at-large seats and two candidates for the single-seat representative of the North East Region.  Those elected will serve 3-year terms from 2019 – 2021.

If you are a current TTA member and did not receive a ballot, contact Mary in the TTA office at 512.458.6133.

TEXAS STATE ELECTION RESULTS
Statewide, all Republicans won reelection, but with margins from 50.85% (Paxton) to 56.08% (Abbott).

The Senate is currently 21 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Fifteen Senate seats were up for reelection. The Democrats flipped 2 seats. The final partisan break-down will be 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats (although the Democrat-held seat for SD 6 will be immediately vacated as Senator Garcia is going to Congress, and is not likely to be filled until a special election next year).  It takes 19 members to bring a bill to the floor under the current rules, meaning the Republicans could not lose one vote without working across the aisle.  New House members from the November 6 election are underlined.  The others were primary wins in March and a special election. 

This list shows District, previous Member, new Member:

  1. SD 6 (GARCIA) There will be a special election to fill this seat – she is going to Congress.
  2. SD 8 (V. TAYLOR) Angela Paxton
  3. SD 10 (BURTON) Beverly Powell
  4. SD 16 (HUFFINES) Nathan Johnson
  5. SD 19 (URESTI) Pete Flores
  6. SD 30 (ESTES) Pat Fallon

The House is currently 95 Republicans and 55 Democrats. The Democrats flipped 12 seats this week.  So the new partisan divide will be 83 Republicans and 67 Democrats.   At 83/67 the Republicans need 50 members to meet the Republican Caucus 2/3 rule for a Speaker, but just 42 to meet the simple majority for the Republican Party Speaker Pledge. Conversely, if the 64 Democrats vote as a block they will only need 12 Republicans to cross over and vote with them to crown one of them as Speaker. There is a total of 27 new members including the primary changes with 12 new Democrats from this election.

This list shows District, previous Member, new Member:

  1. HD 4 (GOODEN) Keith Bell
  2. HD 8 (COOK) Cody Harris
  3. HD 13 (SCHUBERT) Ben Leman
  4. HD 15 (KEOUGH) Steve Toth
  5. HD 23 (FAIRCLOTH) Mayes Middleton
  6. HD 37 (OLIVIERA) Alex Dominguez
  7. HD 45 (ISAAC) Erin Zweiner
  8. HD 47 (WORKMAN)  Vicki Goodwin
  9. HD 52 (GONZALES) James Talarico
  10. HD 54 (COSPER) Brad Buckley
  11. HD 62 (PHILLIPS) Reggie Smith
  12. HD 65 (SIMMONS) Michelle Beckley
  13. HD 89 (LAUBENBURG) Candy Noble
  14. HD 102 (KOOP) Ana-Maria Ramos
  15. HD 104 (ALONZO) Jessica Gonzalez
  16. HD 105 (R. ANDERSON) Terry Meza
  17. HD 106 (FALLON) Jared Patterson
  18. HD 109 (GIDDINGS) Carl Sherman
  19. HD 113 (BURKETT) Rhetta Bowers
  20. HD 114 (VILLALBA) John Turner
  21. HD 115 (RINALDI) Julie Johnson
  22. HD 116 (AREVALO) Trey Martinez Fischer
  23. HD 118  (URESTI) Leo Pacheco
  24. HD 121 (STRAUS) Steve Allison
  25. HD 132 (SCHOFIELD) Gina Calanni 
  26. HD 135 (ELKINS) Joe Rosenthal
  27. HD 136 (DALE) John Bucy

**Rep. Jonathan Stickland (HD 92) won with a plurality of 49.84% by 446 votes.

For more information, see www.texastribune.org.

NOTES: TRC Global Rankings currently shows trainer Steve Asmussen ranks 16th in the world with 1002 points.  For more information, go to www.thoroughbredracing.com.  Congrats!!