An Ad War is in the Making in CD-23

CD-23, the sprawling congressional district that reaches west from San Antonio all the way to El Paso, is Texas’ sole swing U.S. House seat.

As such, it is now attracting the attention of outside spending groups looking to flip the seat.

Alpine Democrat Pete Gallego said he’s already put down $500,000 on airtime for TV ads.

Meanwhile, The Hill reports that the American Action Network, an outside group supporting Republicans, and an affiliated super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund are spending more than $1 million in CD-23 as part of a larger $8 million investment in a handful of congressional races.

According to The Hill, AAN is spending $500,000 to defeat Gallego with CLF spending an additional $500,000. The two groups are also spending $350,000 on polling.

The Republicans have nominated former CIA officer Will Hurd to challenge Gallego for the seat.

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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz announced on Wednesday that he is moving his chief of staff, Chip Roy, over to the political side of his shop. It’s a move that has only intensified talk about Cruz’s ambitions to run for the White House in 2016.

Roy’s takes on a new title of senior advisor.

Paul Teller, Cruz’s current deputy chief of staff, gets the promotion to chief of staff while James Christoferson was named deputy chief of staff for operations.

Prior to his stint with Cruz, Roy was in charge of federal-state operations for Gov. Rick Perry. He is also a former senior staffer to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and a former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas.

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The Republican State Leadership Committee, which works to elect Republicans in legislative contests, has named a pair of Texans as part of its “14 in 14 Races to Watch.”

They are: Rick Galindo, who is challenging incumbent Philip Cortez, D-San Antonio, in HD-117, and Chris Carmona, who is challenging incumbent Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, in HD-148.

This watch list is part of the RSLC’s Future Majority Project, which was launched in 2011 to identify new candidates of Hispanic descent. The project has since expanded to find candidates that reflect the nation’s ethnic diversity in its totality.

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Here’s the week in endorsements:

• Republican House Speaker candidate Scott Turner: FreedomWorks

• U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas: National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund

• Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate Dan Patrick: Texas Alliance for Life PAC

• Republican Attorney General candidate Ken Paxton: National Federation of Independent Business/Texas, Texas Retailers Association PAC

• Republican state Comptroller candidate Glenn Hegar: Texas Retailers Association PAC

• Democratic HD-94 candidate Cole Ballweg: Arlington Professional Firefighters

• Republican HD-50 candidate Mike VanDeWalle: Texas Alliance for Life PAC