AUSTIN, Texas — Arson investigators are searching for a man who placed a molotov cocktail and a "threatening note" inside the Travis County Democratic Party headquarters in Downtown Austin in the early morning hours Wednesday.

A small fire broke out just after 2:15 a.m. at the headquarters located at 1311 E. Sixth St., and employees in the neighboring businesses called 911 and put out the flames with a fire hydrant.

Brandon Jennings, an arson investigator at the Austin Fire Department, said at a press conference later in the morning that video from the surveillance cameras showed a man mulling around the building before he threw what appeared to be a rock at the window on the front door. The man is then reportedly seen coming back into view with a Molotov cocktail that he placed inside the door.

Jennings said it's also believed that he put a commercial smoke bomb inside the door.

The building had minor damage, and no staff was inside the building when the fire happened.

When asked if the Molotov cocktail could have destroyed the building, the fire investigator said, "absolutely."

Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign, announced Wednesday that he is running for lieutenant governor of Texas — as a Democrat.

In an announcement video, Dowd, who worked more recently as a political analyst for ABC News, takes aim at the Republican incumbent, Dan Patrick, detailing a list of purported shortcomings, both on policy and character.

“The GOP politicians have failed us, especially the cruel and craven lieutenant governor,” Patrick says in the 2½-minute video. “He does not believe in the common good. ... He puts his ‘me’ over our ‘we.’”....

That includes work on a campaign of former Texas lieutenant governor Bob Bullock, the last Democrat elected to the office in the state, in 1994.

In his bio, Dowd also highlights his break with Bush in 2007 over his handling of the Iraq War and his identification as an independent afterward.

Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign, announced Wednesday that he is running for lieutenant governor of Texas — as a Democrat.

In an announcement video, Dowd, who worked more recently as a political analyst for ABC News, takes aim at the Republican incumbent, Dan Patrick, detailing a list of purported shortcomings, both on policy and character.

“The GOP politicians have failed us, especially the cruel and craven lieutenant governor,” Patrick says in the 2½-minute video. “He does not believe in the common good. ... He puts his ‘me’ over our ‘we.’”....

That includes work on a campaign of former Texas lieutenant governor Bob Bullock, the last Democrat elected to the office in the state, in 1994.

In his bio, Dowd also highlights his break with Bush in 2007 over his handling of the Iraq War and his identification as an independent afterward.

A new Quinnipiac poll in Texas finds that 51% of voters don’t think Gov. Greg Abbott (R) deserves to be reelected.

However, 50% of voters do not think Beto O’Rourke (D) would make a good governor and 49% do not think Matthew McConaughey would make a good governor.

United Airlines announced Tuesday that only 593 of its workers face dismissal for not complying with the requirement to get a Covid-19 vaccine. That is less than 1% of its 67,000 US workers who are covered by the rule.

About 2,000 other employees, or less than 3% of the workforce, have applied for a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine, and their cases are now being considered by the airline.

"Our rationale for requiring the vaccine for all United's US-based employees was simple -- to keep our people safe," said United CEO Scott Kirby in a letter sent to United employees, which was also released to the media. "The truth is this: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated, and vaccine requirements work."

Some of the 593 employees who have not yet complied with the requirement could still be kept on staff if they have received the vaccine or started the vaccine process and had not forwarded proof to the airline.

A North Carolina-based hospital system announced Monday that roughly 175 unvaccinated employees were fired for failing to comply with the organization’s mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy, the latest in a series of health-care dismissals over coronavirus immunization.

Novant Health said last week that 375 unvaccinated workers — across 15 hospitals and 800 clinics — had been suspended for not getting immunized. Unvaccinated employees were given five days to comply.

Novant Health spokeswoman Megan Rivers tweeted Monday that almost 200 of the suspended workers, including those who had submitted approved exemptions, received their first dose by Friday. The hospital confirmed that the rest of the suspended employees who did not comply were fired, although the exact number of those dismissed was not specified.

“We stand by our decision to make the vaccine mandatory as we have a responsibility to protect our patients, visitors and team members, regardless of where they are in our health system,” Novant Health said in a statement. “We couldn’t be prouder of our team members who made the choice to receive the covid-19 vaccine and remain part of our team at Novant Health.”

Rivers told The Washington Post that more than 99 percent of the system’s roughly 35,000 employees have followed the mandatory vaccination program. She said in a statement that Novant Health was “thrilled” those who chose to be vaccinated have given patients and visitors “better protection against COVID-19 regardless of where they are in our health system."