TX-04: Local GOP officials poised to select Texas' newest member of Congress,
On Saturday afternoon, roughly 150 local GOP officials will get together and decide who will likely become Texas' newest member of Congress representing the 4th Congressional District.
In an atypical election, that group of county and precinct chairs will pick the GOP nominee to replace former U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Heath, on the November ballot, who will face off against Democratic nominee Russell Foster. But given the district's strong conservative DNA — President Donald Trump won by a 53-point margin in this district in 2016 — it's widely expected the Republican on the ballot will win the district.
It's been a crowded, under-the-radar race marked by sudden tragedy, intense behind-the-scenes jockeying and a high-profile intervention by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz has endorsed state Sen. Pat Fallon of Prosper for the appointment and is expected to travel to Sulphur Springs, where the vote will take place, on Saturday to make a closing pitch.
The election was triggered in late May when the U.S. Senate confirmed Ratcliffe as director of national intelligence. Ratcliffe was first elected in 2014 to represent the staunchly conservative district, a largely rural swath of northeast Texas that spreads from the Dallas suburbs out to the Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana state borders.
The seat will remain vacant until the winner of the November election takes office in January because Gov. Greg Abbott declined to call a special election to fill the rest of Ratcliffe's term.
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/07/texas-4th-congressional-district/
