A rare mix of competitive races up and down the ballot has voters turning up to the polls in droves ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, which will set match-ups in the high-stakes midterms in November.
Austin, TX
Freshman Camden Taylor Hits 50 Free PB As Texas and TCU Square Off in Long Course
Texas vs. TCU
- Friday, February 2, 2024
- Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, TX
- LCM
- Full Results
- Unscored
Friday was senior day for the Texas men (although they’d swim the next day as well), and Texas and TCU opted for a fairly unique format: an unscored meet in a long course (50m) format. With a few weeks until conference meets, there weren’t any super-crazy fast times, but there were definitely a few notable swims as the teams continue to fine-tune heading into championship season.
This was the penultimate regular-season home meet for longtime Texas men’s coach Eddie Reese, who is set to retire this summer after 46 season in Austin.
In context of championship-season implications, perhaps the biggest swims came from Texas freshman Camden Taylor. With the Longhorn men having lost so much sprint talent over the last two seasons, they’re relying heavily on freshmen this year, and Taylor is their fastest freshman who’s primarily a freestyler. He anchored the medley relay in 22.30, then came back to win the individual 50 free in 22.97. That’s a big improvement over his previous lifetime best of 23.77, which came last summer. Taylor should be a key relay piece heading into Big 12s and NCAAs, so hitting lifetime bests at this point in the season has to be promising. Taylor also flexed some versatility, winning the 200 IM in 2:03.40. His previous best of 2:04.96 also came last summer.
Luke Hobson is prepping to represent the US in Doha, but Coby Carrozza, who has international experience as part of the USA’s 4×200 free relay team, won the 200m free in 1:48.95.
The race of the night may have been the 100 breast. TCU’s Kito Camossato ran down Texas’ Will Scholtz over the second lap, and just got his hand on the wall first, touching 1:02.72 to Scholtz’s 1:02.73. Another Horned Frog, Jadon Wuilliez, came in just behind at 1:02.89, followed by Longhorn Brayden Taivassalo at 1:03.25. Camossato would double up with a 2:16.71 win in the 200 breast, again beating both Scholtz and Taivassalo.
On the women’s side, Kelly Pash also hit a big lifetime best, clocking a 4:45.60 in the 400 IM. Don’t expect to see Pash swim this during championship season — she’s one of the top 200 freestylers in the country, and those two events conflict. But it still had to be fun for Pash to hit her first personal best in that event in almost 5 years, since she went 4:50.62 back in March 2019. Pash also won the 100 free in 55.11, not far off her personal best of 54.71.
The Longhorn women boast maybe the best 1-2 punch in the 100 breast in the nation, and so it wasn’t a surprise to see Olympians and Texas teammates Lydia Jacoby and Anna Elendt battle it out in their signature event, the 100 breast. Jacoby led by just .08s at the halfway point, and she retained the lead until the end, touching in 1:06.91 to Elendt’s 1:07.21. Elendt would come back to win the 200 breast in 2:30.02.
Other notable wins for the Longhorn women included Olivia Bray in the 200 free (2:00.79) and 100 fly (58.42) and Alicia Wilson taking the 10 back in 1:01.70. Ava Longi also got in on the lifetime best collecting with a 25.50 in the 50 free.
Texas opted not to enter anyone in the 200 fly, arguably the Longhorns’ signature event, and TCU’s Alessandra Senis responded with a 2:16.74 win, setting a new school record in the event, one of seven in total on the day for the Horned Frogs.
Swimming action continued Saturday at the Jill Sterkel classic, which you can read about here.
Texas Release
Courtesy of Texas Athletics
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 2 Texas Women’s Swimming & Diving earned 15 victories and the ninth-ranked Men’s Swimming & Diving squad earned 14 against TCU on Senior Day at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center on Friday.
Racing on the long course, the women’s team opened the swim session with the quartet of Berit Berglund, Lydia Jacoby, Emma Sticklen and Erin Gemmell winning the 200-meter medley relay, clocking 1:51.21 for the victory.
Kelly Pash collected a pair wins on Senior Day, first in the 400-meter IM with a career-best 4:45.60 in the 400-meter IM, improving her previous best time by over five seconds, then in the 100-meter free with a time of 55.11.
Fellow senior Olivia Bray also won two events, winning in both the 200-meter free (2:00.79) and 100-meter fly (58.42).
Senior Bridget O’Neil posted a sweep on the springboards, winning on 1-meter with 337.50 points and scored 398.18 points on 3-meter for the victory.
Angie Coe earned two victories as well, winning the 200-meter back in 2:14.69 and the 200-meter IM in 2:17.89, while also placing second in the 50-meter free with a personal-best swim of 25.77.
Lydia Jacoby won the 100-meter breast with a swim of 1:06.91 and senior Anna Elendt won the 200-meter breast in 2:30.02.
Alicia Wilson led the Longhorns in the 100-meter back, winning with a swim of 1:01.70, while senior Ava Longi won the 50-meter free with a career-best 25.50, and Erin Gemmell collected the win in the 400-meter free with a time of 4:12.50.
Emma Davidson, Gemmell, Bray and Longi closed out the swim session with a win in the 200-meter free relay, combining for a time of 1:42.97.
On the men’s side, Will Modglin, Will Scholtz, Cole Crane and Camden Taylor kicked off the day with a win in the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 1:39.77.
Crane swept the butterfly events, winning the 100-meter in 53.62 and the 200-meter in 2:20.06.
Alec Enyeart won the 400-meter IM with a swim of 4:31.64 and the 400-meter free in 3:59.74.
Senior Coby Carrozza earned the win in the 200-meter free, touching the wall in 1:48.95, and took second in the 100-meter free with a time of 50.97.
Nate Germonprez won the 100-meter free in 50.84 and was the runner-up in the 200-meter free with a swim of 1:50.97.
Modglin was the victor in the 100-meter back with a time of 55.22 and Logan Walkerwon the 200-meter back in 2:09.07. Modglin also earned a runner-up finish in the 100-meter fly with a swim of 54.12.
Taylor swam a pair of personal-bests in wins in the 50-meter (22.97) and the 200-meter IM (2:03.40).
The Horns wrapped up racing with a win in the 200-meter free relay with the quartet of Modglin, Germonprez, Aleksej Filipovic and senior Peter Paulus IV combining for a swim of 1:31.06.
On the springboards, senior Noah Duperre captured wins on both 1-meter with 397.43 points and 3-meter with a season-best 449.63 points.
Texas returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 3 in The Sterkel Classic at the Texas Swimming Center. Racing is slated to begin at noon.
Longhorn Notes:
- The Longhorns celebrated 19 seniors prior to the start of competition.
- From the women’s squad, Texas honored Olivia Bray, Grace Cooper, Emma Davidson, Anna Elendt, Ava Longi, Bridget O’Neil, Kelly Pash, Abby Pfeifer, Jordan Skilken, Emma Sticklen and Erica Sullivan.
- For the men’s team, the Horns recognized Sam Artmann, Coby Carrozza, Cole Crane, Noah Duperre, Jake Foster, Brendan McCourt, Chris O’Connor and Peter Paulus IV.
Women’s Team Notes:
- Elendt registered a season-best 1:07.21 in the 100-meter breast to place second.
- Campbell Stoll swam 1:01.07 in the 100 fly to take second.
- Sticklen took second in the 200 IM with a swim of 2:19.68
- Skilken earned a runner-up result on 3-meter with 341.70 points and took third on 1-meter with 287.73 points.
- Amanda Stalfort scored 322.80 points on 3-meter to finish third and complete the Longhorn sweep of the event.
- Davidson finished as the runner-up in the 100-meter free in 57.05 and Brook Adams placed third with a personal-best 58.01.
- Berit Berglund posted a time of 1:02.17 in the 100-meter back to finish second and Emma Kern took third in 1:02.28.
- Sullivan was the runner-up in the 400-meter free with a swim of 4:16.72.
- Alexa Fulton placed third in the 50-free with a swim of 26.02.
Men’s Team Notes:
- In the 100-meter back, O’Connor placed second (56.19) and Filipovic took third (57.16).
- Artmann took second in the 200-meter fly, clocking 2:03.76 for the runner-up result, and Ryan Branon posted a time of 2:05.01 to finish third.
- Brayden Taivassalo was the Longhorns’ top finisher in the 200-meter breast, placing second in 2:18.01.
- Sasha Lyubavskiy took second in the 400-meter free with a time of 4:00.27.
- Nick Harris had a pair of runner-up results on the springboards, taking second on 1-meter with 377.70 points and scored a season-high 446.33 points on 3-meter.
- McCourt took third on 1-meter with 374.03 points and Tanner Braunton placed third on 3-meter with a season-high 419.63 points.
TCU Release
Courtesy of TCU Athletics
Austin, Texas – The TCU swimming and diving team wrapped up its final tune up before the 2024 Big 12 Championships Feb. 27- March 3. The Horned Frogs fell to Texas on Friday, Jan, 2 in final dual meet of the season before competing in the Sterkel Classic on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The Frogs tallied 10 first place finishes, 18 second place finishes and 27 third place finishes over the course of the weekend.
IN THE POOL VS TEXAS
TCU set seven new school records in Long Course Meters against Texas on Friday. The excitement began with the women’s 200 Medley Relay team setting a new record with a time of 1:55.69. The men’s 200 medley relay team matched the women’s team setting a record of their own with a time of 1:41.12.
Nina Vadovicova had a successful day going 2-2 on setting new school records in both events she competed in. The freshman set a new TCU record in the 100 breast LCM with a time of 1:10.79 before touching the wall at 2:32.59 in the 200 breast LCM.
Alessandra Senis was one of three Horned Frogs to touch the wall first against the Longhorns. Senis broke a 28-year-old school record in the 200 fly LCM while earning the gold with a time of 2:16.74.
Kito Camossato finished at the top of both of his individual races against Texas with a time of 1:02.72 in the 100 breast LCM and 2:16.71 in the 200 breast LCM.
The women and men’s 200 freestyle relays wrapped up the meet while also setting two more school records. The women’s team touched the wall at 1:45.14 and the men at 1:33.15.
ON THE BOARDS VS TEXAS
Five diving Frogs earned Zone Cuts against the Longhorns. Anna Kwong got things started with a score of 329.25 on the 1-meter. Alec Hubbard and Oliver Cazaly earned zone cuts in the 1-meter with scored of 339.38 and 307.20, respectively.
Emma Lacarda Herrera set a new career high on the 3-meter springboard and earned a zone cut with a score of 292.80. Kwong followed right behind her with a score of 288.90
Hubbard earned a score of 370.43 on the platform to earn his second zone cut of the day before Leah Fletcher earned her first of the weekend on the platform scoring a 247.80.
IN THE POOL STERKEL CLASSIC
TCU tallied seven first, seven second and eight third place finishes at the Sterkel Classic on Saturday which featured Rice and Texas.
Luke DiMiceli kicked things off in the 200 IM touching the wall first at 1:46.52.
Camossato closed off a successful weekend going 2-2 in the 200 breast and 100 breast with times of 1:55.93 and 53.82, respectively.
Piotr Sadlowski earned his first-place finish in the 200 fly with a time of 1:47.01.
Tania Quaglieri and Germia Freri finished in first place in the 200 freestyle with times of 1:48.82 and 1:37.89. Edgar Cicanci closed out the weekend for TCU with a first-place finish in the 200 back touching the wall at 1:46.40.
UP NEXT
The Horned Frogs will head to Morgantown, W. Va. for the 2024 Big 12 Championships Feb. 27-March 3.
FOLLOW THE FROGS
For more information on TCU Swimming and Diving, visit gofrogs.com and follow the team on social media: @TCUSwimDive on Twitter and Facebook, @TCU_SwimDive on Instagram.
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A shooting on West Sixth Street in Austin, Texas, early Sunday morning, killed three people and injured more than a dozen others, according to the Austin Police Department. APD confirmed one of the victims was 30-year-old Jorge Pederson, a Minnesota man who worked as an MMA fighter for the Med City Fighting Championships.
“You meet tons of fighters and there are people that stand above the rest that you find you enjoy or find the most amusing,” MCFC Co-Owner Matthew Vogt said. “He was definitely one of them.”
According to Vogt, Pederson was also the owner of a Minnesota business called Metro Movers. Vogt said the MMA competitor touched everyone’s hearts since his first day of fighting professionally in Rochester.
“As soon as we met him when it was the weighing time, we just loved the guy already because he had a great mission or spirit about him,” Vogt said. “He was a funny guy and great fighter.”
Vogt told KTTC when he first saw the news that Pederson was killed, he could not believe what he saw.
“I was looking, like, ‘Wait a minute. Is this one of his shenanigans or did something actually happen there?’” Vogt said, recalling the moment he saw a social media post regarding the shooting in Austin. “I confirmed with a few people and I’m just like, sometimes, some things happen that you don’t even like, you don’t even know how to respond to it because it’s just so out of left field that you don’t immediately have a response to it.”
MCFC confirmed there is an online fundraiser dedicated to supporting Pederson’s family. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $10,000 has been raised.
“He was someone that always could make anybody laugh,” Vogt said. “Support his family through the fundraiser and take a look at his Instagram especially to see how funny he was.”
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Copyright 2026 KTTC. All rights reserved.
A voter heads into the Ben Hur Shrine polling place in Austin as early voting begins for the March primary elections in Texas, Feb. 17, 2026. Voters can cast their ballots to decide who represents Republicans and Democrats in the November midterm elections.
Voters will decide if U.S. Sen. John Cornyn gets to keep the seat he’s held for more than two decades and which candidates will likely take a slew of redrawn congressional seats meant to give Republicans an edge. The races could decide control of Congress.
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TEXAS VOTER GUIDE 2026: What’s on the ballot in Austin on March 3?
Plus, there are multiple statewide office openings for the first time in more than a decade. And voters will decide who will challenge Gov. Greg Abbott as he seeks a record fourth term in office.
U.S. Senate
After more than two decades in the U.S. Senate, John Cornyn’s political career hangs in the balance.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has led most of the public polling leading into the election, as he campaigns on a Make America Great Again platform that seeks to paint the more establishment Cornyn as out of touch. Further complicating Cornyn’s path to reelection is U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston, whose campaign has focused attention on Cornyn’s 74-years of age.
The primary is expected to be one of the tightest statewide races in recent history, with most political observers predicting it will go to a runoff.
On the Democratic side, two of the party’s fastest-rising stars are facing off in a race that has largely been a contrast of styles.
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U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a 44-year-old former public defender, has cast herself as a partisan fighter who is unafraid to go toe-to-toe with President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
State Rep. James Talarico, a 36-year-old former middle school teacher in San Antonio, skyrocketed to national fame last year by leaning into his Christian faith and warning that Republicans are trying to use religion as a wedge by pushing such legislation as requiring public schools to post placards of the Ten Commandments.
Attorney General
The race for attorney general has become one of the most closely watched elections this cycle after Ken Paxton opted to leave the job to run for U.S. Senate, opening up the seat for the first time in more than a decade.
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A crowded field of candidates is vying for the job and raising eye-popping totals. It’s become the second-most expensive race for political ad spending in Texas after the contest for U.S. Senate.
On the Republican side, state Sens. Joan Huffman and Mayes Middleton, former DOJ official and former Paxton aide Aaron Reitz, and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy are competing.
Public polling has shown Roy ahead, but more recent surveys indicate Middleton is gaining ground.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, for whom both Roy and Reitz worked as chief of staff, is backing Roy, while Reitz nabbed his own major endorsement from Paxton.
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The Democrats gunning for a chance to be the state’s top lawyer include former federal prosecutor and FBI agent Tony Box; lawyer, mediator and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski; and lawyer and state Sen. Nathan Johnson.
Jaworski and Johnson have emerged as early leaders, but many voters were still undecided, public polling showed.
Comptroller
The fight to run Texas’ top financial agency features an expensive GOP brawl. Gov. Greg Abbott is backing his ally Kelly Hancock, who is currently serving as acting comptroller, against former state Sen. Don Huffines, an antagonist of the governor’s who has lined up support from grassroots activists. Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick is running, as well, with support from the oil and gas industries.
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Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt of Austin appears to be the favorite for her party’s nomination and faces former Houston ISD trustee Savant Moore and Houston resident Michael Lange.
The winner will have an outsized role in Abbott’s property tax-slashing agenda should he win a fourth term in office. They will also oversee the state’s new $1 billion private school voucher program.
Agriculture Commissioner
Three-term incumbent Sid Miller is battling beekeeper and entrepreneur Nate Sheets, who has the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott and several Republican lawmakers.
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Miller, a onetime rodeo champion, has won the endorsement of President Donald Trump, who made his choice known in a social media post after his visit to Corpus Christi on Friday.
Congressional District 31
U.S. Rep. John Carter of Georgetown is facing a crowded field of Republican primary challengers, including a one-time TV pitchman as he pushes for a 13th term in Congress.
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Carter has President Donald Trump’s “complete and total” endorsement.
His GOP challengers are: businessman Abhiram Garapati, who has challenged Carter three times before; Army veteran William Abel, who was among Carter’s 2024 opponents; Elvis Lossa, an Army veteran who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq; Steven Dowell, a former member of the Army’s military police; Vince “Shamwow” Shlomi, who hosted offbeat infomercials for cleaning products; and Valentina Gomez, a former collegiate swimmer who two years ago made an unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination for Missouri secretary of state.
A gunman opened fire outside a bar in Austin’s West Sixth Street entertainment district shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, killing two people and injuring 14 others, authorities said.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the suspected gunman drove a large SUV around the block several times before the attack. He then rolled down the windows and began firing a pistol, striking patrons at the bar.
The gunman then parked, exited the vehicle and continued shooting with a rifle, police said.
Paramedics and police arrived within a minute after the first 911 call, Davis said. Officers fatally shot the suspected gunman at the scene.
Here’s what we know so far.
Who were the victims?
Authorities identified the victims as 24-year-old Saditha Shan and 19-year-old Ryder Harrington, a student at Texas Tech University.
“It is unfair, to say the least, that my little brother was only given 19 years on this earth,” his brother, Reed Harrington, wrote on Facebook. “Watching the man he had become, and seeing all the lives he touched, leaves me certain that this world was robbed of a great future.”
Three people injured during the shooting remained in critical condition Monday, though one is expected to be taken off life support later today, Davis said during a Monday news conference.
Who was the gunman?
Austin police identified the gunman as Ndiaga Diagne, a 53-year-old man originally from Senegal.
The Department of Homeland Security said Diagne entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2000, became a lawful permanent resident in 2006 after marrying a U.S. citizen and became a naturalized citizen in 2013.
In 2017, Diagne legally purchased the guns he used in the shooting in San Antonio, Davis said.
Diagne was arrested in 2022 on a misdemeanor charge of “collision with vehicle damage,” typically issued when a driver leaves the scene of a crash.
The New York Post reported Diagne was arrested for “illegal vending” in New York City in 2001. Citing unnamed sources, the tabloid said he was arrested in New York three other times between 2008 and 2016, but those records are sealed. The Post did not report on whether he was convicted of any crimes.
Authorities said they expect to release more information on Diagne’s criminal history on Thursday as well as body camera footage and other details related to the officer-involved shooting that led to Diagne’s death.
What was the motive?
Investigators have not announced a motive. However, Alex Doran, acting special agent in charge of FBI San Antonio, said there were indicators that the shooting could be related to terrorism.
Diagne wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “Property of Allah” and a shirt with a design of the Iranian flag, according to the Associated Press. The shooting came hours after the United States and Israel carried out airstrikes in Iran.
What are elected officials saying?
Reactions from Texas politicians have largely fallen along partisan lines. Democrats are calling for stricter gun laws, while some Republicans have focused on the gunman’s immigration history.
After Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico called for proposals such as universal background checks, red flag laws and closing the gun show loopholes that allow for the private sales of firearms at gunshows, Gov. Greg Abbott said the problem wasn’t gun laws but with “unvetted” immigration.
Disclosure: Facebook and Texas Tech University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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