2018 elections in Texas start to shape up

This week's Federal Tap brings you a summary of Texas' filing deadlines, an overview of net neutrality, more details Jones' win in Alabama, and the [View this email in your browser]( [Ballotpedia](   [Facebook](   [Twitter](   [The Tap](   Good morning readers! Thanks for spending part of your weekend with us. This week we've brought you what you need to know from the week in federal political news. We're taking off the next three weeks, but after that, we'll be back in your inboxes. If you're worried you'll need news between now and then, follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](facebook.com/Ballotpedia/). [Get the full version of the Federal Tap here]( Texas filing period comes to a close - The deadline passed for Texas candidates to file for the [2018 elections](. However, official candidate lists are still unavailable in most races. In Texas, candidates file with party chairs, not with the [secretary of state]( office directly. The party chairs then have five days to review filings before they are required to pass those on to the secretary of state. Parties are later required to submit their final ballot order for each race to the secretary of state by December 21, 2017. The final primary candidate list is then populated using that information. Ballotpedia will provide more in-depth analysis on those filings once that information becomes available. - Eight of Texas’ 36 congressional seats are open in 2018 (22.2 percent). Comparatively, in 2016 and 2012 there were two open seats in Texas, and in 2014 there was only one. There are currently 37 open U.S. House seats in the country, meaning that Texas makes up 21.6 percent of open seats in the country while only accounting for 8.3 percent of the total number of congressional districts. In 2016, 40 members of the U.S. House did not seek re-election (9.2 percent). There are also fewer uncontested races than in recent history. At least one Democratic candidate filed in all 36 districts in 2018, while the Democratic Party fielded candidates in 28 districts in 2016. The Republican Party fielded a candidate in 33 districts in 2018, down from the 34 in 2016. - The [candidate filing process]( varies from state to state. This can result in shorter or longer delays between the passage of the filing deadline and the release of an official candidate list.  In some states, candidates file directly with local or state elections offices in order to run for office. In other states, such as Texas, candidates file with political party officials or campaign finance regulatory agencies instead. For example, in Virginia, party candidates who file to run in a primary election must file two forms with the state department of elections, a filing fee with the local treasurer's office, and two other forms with the political party chair. FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2, along party lines, to [repeal net neutrality rules]( instituted during the Obama administration. Under the 2015 Open Internet Order, internet service providers (ISPs) are considered a public utility and are regulated like gas, water, electric, and phone service companies. ISPs are prohibited from blocking or slowing web traffic or providing paid internet fast lanes. Under the new rules, ISPs will not be regulated as a public utility. They will have to disclose their practices, and the Federal Trade Commission will investigate any anti-competitive behavior. It is unclear when the new rules will take effect. It is likely that lawsuits will be filed against the new rules. - Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said that the new rules will allow consumers to know what they are getting from their ISPs. According to The Wall Street Journal, under Pai’s plan, “[A] buyer of a monthly cellphone plan would be able to find out if access to a particular streaming-movie service is prioritized over other traffic from a rival service. His plan envisions enforcement of that transparency by both the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission, whose mission is consumer protection against anticompetitive and deceptive behaviors.” - Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat on the FCC who voted against the repeal, said, "As a result of today’s misguided action, our broadband providers will get extraordinary new power from this agency. They will have the power to block websites, throttle services, and censor online content. They will have the right to discriminate and favor the internet traffic of those companies with whom they have pay-for- play arrangements and the right to consign all others to a slow and bumpy road.” Jones becomes first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama since 1992 - Former U.S. attorney [Doug Jones]( (D) defeated former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice [Roy Moore]( (R) in the [U.S. Senate special election in Alabama]( by a margin of 1.5 percentage points. It was the only [congressional special election in 2017]( to result in a flipped seat, and the first Senate race in Alabama won by a Democratic candidate since 1992. The state has been represented by two Republican senators continuously since 1997 when Howell Heflin (D), who was first elected to office in 1976, retired. - Moore refused to concede and [released a video]( statement the following day, where he argued that the United States was being overcome by immorality. “We are indeed in a struggle to preserve our republic, our civilization and our religion and to set free a suffering humanity. Today, we no longer recognize the universal truth that God is the author of our life and liberty. Abortion, sodomy and materialism have taken the place of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Moore said. He added that the race was not over, and that he was waiting on military and provisional ballots to be counted and the election results certified by the state. Alabama Secretary of State [John Merrill]( said on Tuesday night that it was highly unlikely that the final count would change the election outcome. - After the election, party leaders and journalists tried to explain the [causes and consequences]( of Jones defeating Moore. Frequently mentioned issues included the sexual misconduct and assault allegations against Moore, the involvement of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in the race, discontent with the Republican Party, and Democratic coalition-building. - See also: [United States Senate special election in Alabama, 2017]( Senate confirms Steven Grasz to Eighth Circuit - On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted 50-48 to confirm [Steven Grasz]( to a seat on the [United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit](. The Eighth Circuit hears appeals from courts in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas. The vote fell along party lines, with Republican Senators John McCain (Ariz.) and Thad Cochran (Miss.) not voting. Grasz was one of four Trump nominees [rated]( qualified by the American Bar Association (ABA). The ABA's ratings have been the subject of controversy in recent months. Conservatives have criticized the ABA of being a partisan organization. Ed Whelan, a conservative constitutional law scholar, called the ABA’s report of their rating of Grasz “feeble beyond the point of incompetence.” Both of Grasz's home state senators, Deb Fischer (R) and Ben Sasse (R), gave speeches on the floor criticizing the rating. In his speech, Sasse challenged the line of questioning used in the ABA’s interview with Grasz, including specific inquiries into why Grasz’s children attend a religious school. “I don’t know what that has to do with someone’s competence, man or woman, to sit as an objective judge on a court of appeals, and yet the interviewers decided they should go there,” Sasse said. - Grasz is the second of President Trump's nominees to the Eighth Circuit to be confirmed this year; the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on a third nominee, David Stras, on November 29. Judge Ralph Erickson was confirmed to the court earlier this year. Grasz will join the court upon taking his judicial oath and receiving his judicial commission. He will fill one of two current vacancies on the court. Under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, Grasz will be commissioned to serve a life term on the court. - Grasz is the 17th of President Trump's Article III life-term judicial nominees to be confirmed this year. As of December 12, there are 43 nominees to life-term judicial positions awaiting a final confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate. Willett confirmed to Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals - On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 50-47 to confirm [Don Willett]( to a seat on the [United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit](. The Fifth Circuit hears appeals arising from federal district courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The vote fell along party lines, with Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) not voting. - Willett, currently a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, is the first of President Trump's nominees to the Fifth Circuit to be confirmed this year; three more nominees await a final vote. One of those three, attorney James Ho, is expected to face a final confirmation vote in the Senate later this week. Willett will join the court upon taking his judicial oath and receiving his judicial commission. He will fill one of four existing vacancies on the 17-member court.  Under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, Willett will be commissioned to serve a life term on the court. - Willett is the 18th of Trump's Article III life-term judicial nominees to be confirmed this year and the second to be confirmed this week. As of December 13, 2017, there are 42 [nominees]( life-term judicial positions awaiting a final confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate. [Image] As the 2017 election cycle ends, Ballotpedia's staff has quickly pivoted to expanding our 2018 coverage to closely follow intra-party battles within the Democratic and Republican primaries. In Ballotpedia’s free, weekly newsletter launching January 15, 2018, our research team will allow you to feel like an insider as we update you on these primary battles. [Sign up now!]( Judge denies Trump administration’s request to prevent transgender people from joining the military - Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly [denied]( the Trump administration’s request to delay her earlier injunction against denying admission to transgender individuals into the military. She ordered that transgender recruits be allowed to join the military beginning January 1, 2018. - In response to the ruling, the Justice Department filed an emergency request with a Washington, D.C.-based federal appeals court asking to keep the ban in place. - White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the Pentagon is “preparing to implement a previous policy to remain in compliance” with Kollar-Kotelly’s order. - On August 25, 2017, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memo instructing the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to prevent transgender people from enlisting in the military and requested that the department develop a plan to implement the ban by March 23, 2018. The memo also directed the DoD to stop paying for gender reassignment surgeries, unless the surgeries were already in progress. Trump directed Secretary of Defense James Mattis to decide how to handle transgender people currently serving in the armed forces. Trump signs NDAA for fiscal year 2018 - President Donald Trump [signed]( the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2018. It authorizes $626.4 billion for the base defense budget and $65.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations. It includes a 2.4 percent pay raise for service members, an increase of 20,000 active duty and reserve troops, a $4.4 billion increase for missile defense programs, and an increase in the numbers of ships, planes, and other military equipment. The NDAA passed the Senate on November 15, 2017, by voice vote. It passed the House by a vote of 356-70 on November 14, 2017. It is the 56th consecutive year that Congress has passed the defense policy bill. The NDAA establishes the spending levels and policies for the Department of Defense, but it does not appropriate funding. Lawmakers will need to strike a deal to raise spending caps put in place by the 2011 Budget Control Act to pass an appropriations bill for the amount requested in the NDAA. Current law limits defense spending to $549 billion during this fiscal year. - During the bill signing ceremony, Trump said, “In recent years, our military has undergone a series of deep budget cuts that have severely impacted our readiness, shrunk our capabilities, and placed substantial burdens on our warfighters. And great warfighters they are. History teaches us that when you weaken your defenses, you invite aggression. The best way to prevent conflict or be -- of any kind -- is to be prepared, and really be prepared. Only when the good are strong will peace prevail. Today, with the signing of this defense bill, we accelerate the process of fully restoring America's military might.” Trump also praised members of Congress for passing the bill with “overwhelming bipartisan support” and called on Congress to eliminate the defense sequester and pass a clean appropriations bill. House-Senate conference committee releases final tax bill - The House-Senate conference committee released the final version of HR 1—the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It includes the following: - Seven individual tax brackets of 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35, and 37 percent. The top rate would fall from the current 39.6 percent. - Eliminates the personal exemption but increases the standard deduction to nearly double its current level. It would go to $12,000 for an individual or $24,000 for a family. - Child tax credit doubles to $2,000 per child from $1,000. It would be refundable up to $1,400 and start to phase out at $400,000 in income. It would end after 2025. - Twenty percent deduction for pass-through businesses. It phases out the deduction at $315,000 of joint income. - Corporate tax rate set at 21 percent. - Eliminates the individual mandate that requires most Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2019. - Eliminates the corporate alternative minimum tax, and increases the exemption from the individual AMT. - Keeps the estate tax, but the exemption from it would be doubled. - Allows the deduction of up to $10,000 in state and local sales, income, or property taxes. - Keeps tax breaks for charitable contributions and retirement savings plans. - Opens the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. - Sets corporate repatriation rate at 8 percent on illiquid assets and 15.5 percent on cash. - The House is scheduled to [vote on the bill]( on Tuesday followed by the Senate. Ballotpedia depends on the support of our readers. The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns. [Donate Securely Online]( Decide which emails you want from Ballotpedia. [Unsubscribe]( or [adjust your preferences]( →   Ballotpedia The Encyclopedia of American Politics 8383 Greenway Blvd., Suite 600 Middleton, WI 53562   [Facebook](   [Twitter](