Plano’s Van Taylor Exits Race After Affair Revealed. Real weird deal here. If you want the sordid details, you can Google them—and there’s at least one text that’s really wild—but Plano state Rep. Van Taylor made the runoff on Tuesday and promptly bowed out after conservative media ran with a story that he had an affair with an ex-jihadist named Tania Joya. The third-place finisher in his race, Suzanne Harp, brought news of the affair into the mainstream, that Taylor had been cheating on his wife with a woman who was the widow of an American man who joined Isis. She fled to Plano and apparently met Van Taylor. I leave you with this detail, from the Morning News: “Joya said she didn’t intend to inject herself into the election and didn’t even realize the primary was five days away when she contacted Harp. She was just annoyed at having to see her ex-lover’s face on billboards as she drove around Plano.”
Judge Halts State’s Investigation Into Transgender Girl. Gov. Greg Abbott is using an order issued by Attorney General Ken Paxton that attempts to present gender-affirming pediatric treatment as child abuse. The state has already launched a number of investigations, one of which the ACLU is fighting in court. A district judge on Wednesday blocked that investigation. Expect the state to appeal it.
Thousands of Ballots Still Being Reviewed. The GOP-led voting restrictions have resulted in thousands of ballots not meeting the new requirements, which require mail-in voters to write their ID on the envelope containing their ballot. It’ll take another week to know how many got kicked back; voters can still correct their mistakes.