It's another week and another round of election news in Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) has been busy setting special elections to finish the unexpired terms of legislators who have decided to step down before the next election. Voters will decide who succeeds state Reps. John Zerwas (R-Richmond) and Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) on November 5, 2019, which is also the date of the state constitutional election. The winners of those two races will have to turn around and defend their seats in the 2020 elections next year.

In the meantime, another Democrat has filed to run against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the 2020 election. Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez is a Latina organizer who started the Workers Defense Project and Jolt Texas, the latter of which aims to mobilize young Hispanic voters. Ramirez will join a Democratic field that already includes state Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), former congressional candidate MJ Hegar, and former congressman and gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell.

Finally, Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) Member Ruben Cortez (D-Brownsville) announced plans late last week to challenge state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville), who has often sided with his Republican colleagues in the 31-member Texas Senate on issues such as school privatization. This sets up a potentially heated Democratic primary for the South Texas Senate district.

This November's election will decide a number of important potential amendments to the Texas Constitution, including one relating to school finance. It is critical that educators stay engaged beginning this November and following through the party primaries in March 2020 -- all the way to the November 2020 general election. Now is a good time to check if you're registered to vote, which you can do by using resources put together by the Texas Educators Vote coalition of which ATPE is a member. Check out the coalition's new website at TexasEducatorsVote.com.