Fall Texas Broadcast Political Calendar Takes Shape

posted on 7.05.2022

Texas voters are just four months away from the Nov. 8 general election but there are other important dates broadcasters should note before then which detail campaign finances, the start of the FCC political window and the voter registration and early voting periods.

Campaign Finance

The next round of campaign finance reports for Texas statehouse and statewide candidates will be due July 15. 

These reports detail the amounts of money campaigns have raised, spent, and stockpiled for the first six months of the year by such candidates.  

There will be two more reports in the fall, the 30-day out report due Oct. 11, and the 8-day out report due on Halloween.

State campaign finance report information may be found at www.ethics.state.tx.us. 

New campaign finance reports for Texas congressional candidates are also due by July 15. 

There are two additional congressional campaign finance reports due Oct. 15 and Oct. 27.

Federal campaign finance report information may be found at www.fec.gov.

Voter Registration and Voting Dates

The last day to register to vote for the November general election is Oct. 10.

The early voting period opens Oct. 24 and runs through Nov. 4.

The general election takes place on Nov. 8.

FCC Political Window

The FCC’s fall political window for the November general election opens Sept. 9.

The date is important because most of the FCC’s political rules, such as lowest unit charge, come into play during FCC political windows.

The fall general election political window is a 60-day period, as is the political window for municipal and school board elections.  

The primary election and any primary election runoffs feature a 45-day period.

TAB Political Broadcast Resources

For a complete review of the LUC regulation and the FCC’s other political rules, stations can check out TAB’s Guide to Political Broadcasting compiled by TAB’s FCC legal counsel Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

The guide includes TAB’s copyrighted Political Forms which stations can use to capture the information the FCC requires for political recordkeeping and must be uploaded to the station Online Public Inspection File.

The guide and forms can be downloaded along with other TAB legal guides and advisories. 

Station staff will need to login to view the “Legal Guides/Hotline” page. The site will guide you to reset your password as necessary.

If you are a TAB member station employee, but don’t have an account, you can register to create one here.

TAB staff produce an ongoing series of “as needed” emails throughout the political season to impart information related to Texas political races, candidates, voter registration and voting, as well as campaign finance reports.

These are intended to help broadcast managers as well as sales staff and newsrooms keep abreast of developments that could impact the sale of airtime or news coverage.

This email is sent to member station GM’s, GSM’s and ND’s. 

If there are specific individuals at your station handling political advertising or news coverage who should be on the distribution list, email TAB.

Questions? Contact TAB’s Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.
 

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