Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) announced over the weekend there will be a special election Sept. 29 to replace outgoing state Sen. Pat Fallon (R-Prosper), who is vacating his seat in the Texas Senate in order to run for U.S. Congress.

Fallon won the Republican nomination to replace U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX 4), who President Donald Trump appointed Director of National Intelligence. In the overwhelmingly Republican 4th Congressional District of Texas, Fallon is virtually guaranteed to win the general election in November.

Fallon sent a letter to Gov. Abbott on Saturday announcing his resignation effective Jan. 4 at midnight. Abbott's proclamation states that the emergency special election is being set so quickly to ensure Senate District (SD) 30 is represented when the next legislative session begins in January. This marks an about-face from the governor's decision-making when then-state Sen. Sylvia Garcia (D-Houston) resigned her seat in order to run for Congress in 2018. The governor waited to set the special election for that seat, leaving voters in SD 6 without representation for several months at the beginning of the 86th Texas Legislature.

Candidates have until 5:00 p.m. Friday to file for the SD 30 special election, and several contenders have already announced their candidacy. State Rep. Drew Springer (R-Muenster) was the first to announce his candidacy and has received endorsements from Sen. Fallon and several members of the Texas House and Texas Senate. Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther, who achieved notoriety among certain circles for her arrest in violation of state and local public health orders, has announced her intent to run. Denton Mayor Chris Watts has submitted his resignation as mayor and has established a campaign committee for SD 30. ATPE will be profiling each candidate in the special election here on Teach the Vote as their campaigns are launched. Early voting in the SD 30 special election will begin Monday, Sept. 14.

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a GOP megadonor appointed to run the U.S. Postal Service in May, testified before Congress this week in response to an escalating scandal over ordering changes that have resulted in nationwide mail delays, which the postal service has warned could disrupt the delivery of mail-in ballots in the November election.

DeJoy promised to deliver election mail on time in November, but urged those voting by mail to request their ballots early and mail them in as soon as possible. DeJoy also defended his decisions to House and Senate committees and refused to put back more than 600 mail sorting machines that have been taken out of service and dismantled.

The agency and DeJoy's actions have come under bipartisan scrutiny after President Trump stated in an interview on Fox Business Channel and a subsequent White House briefing earlier this month that he will oppose funding for the postal service in order to prevent it from being able to process mail-in ballots. On Saturday, U.S. House Democrats and 26 Republicans passed bipartisan legislation that would continue funding for the Postal Service and block DeJoy's operational changes.

The Republican National Convention continues this week, with President Trump scheduled to close out the event with a speech Thursday night. The convention continued its focus on school privatization Wednesday by featuring a speech from a school voucher advocate before the primetime address by Vice-President Mike Pence, who emphasized that privatization would be a top priority for the administration in a second term.