July 6, 2022 10:22 AM Rep. Huberty, Charles Butt, and others take over Moak Casey, the largest public school consulting firm in Texas
Moak Casey, the largest public school consulting firm in the
state, has new leadership including HEB Chairman Charles Butt and retiring
Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble. Per a news release this
morning: The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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July 6, 2022 10:20 AM Whole Woman's Health, an independent provider of abortions in Texas for 20 years, will relocate to New Mexico
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July 6, 2022 9:44 AM UT Texas Politics Project Poll: Abbott leads Beto by 6 points The poll also shows a record high percentage of Texans believe the state is on the wrong track; majorities oppose outright ban on abortion James Henson, Director of the Texas Politics Project at the
University of Texas at Austin, wrote: “The results from several
items on abortion and guns illustrate that state policies pursued in these
areas by Texas Republicans in the 2021 legislative session remain at odds with
the views of a majority of Texans, including large
shares of Republicans. In a result consistent with years of previous polling on
the subject, only 15% of Texans agreed that “abortion should never be
permitted,” including only 23% of Republicans.” The full
results are here. Depending on your browser, you may have to right click
the link and open in a new tab. |
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July 5, 2022 6:30 PM TPPF Senior Fellow among Trump allies subpoenaed in Georgia criminal investigation
From the New
York Times this evening: Two other Trump lawyers
were also subpoenaed: Jacki Pick Deason, who helped make the Trump
team’s case before the Georgia legislature, and Kenneth Chesebro, whose role
has come into sharper focus during the House Jan. 6 hearings in Washington. In
an email exchange with Mr. Eastman in the run-up to the Jan. 6 attack, he wrote
that the Supreme Court would be more likely to act on a Wisconsin legal
challenge “if the justices start to fear that there will be ‘wild’ chaos on
Jan. 6 unless they rule by then, either way.” Most of those subpoenaed
could not be immediately reached for comment. A spokesman for the Texas Public
Policy Foundation, where Ms. Deason is a senior fellow, declined to comment. |
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July 5, 2022 5:07 PM Sen. Gutierrez and Uvalde Mayor McLaughlin ask Abbott to replace Uvalde County District Attorney as head of victim assistance
The letter from Sen. Roland
Gutierrez and Mayor Don McLaughlin to Gov. Greg Abbott can be downloaded
here. |
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July 5, 2022 10:02 AM Beto and the TDP announce a coordinated campaign directorAmid some private grumbling from down ballot Democrats, effort at coordination aims to "elect Democrats up and down the ballot who will go to work for the people of Texas.” The Texas Democratic
Party and the campaign of Beto O’Rourke on Tuesday
announced the hiring of a coordinated campaign director – something needed amid
private grumbling from down ballot Democratic candidates frustrated with a lack
of any sort of effort at coordination by O’Rourke. Lauren Harper, whose resume includes working on O’Rourke’s brief presidential
campaign, will serve in the role. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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July 4, 2022 8:23 AM Former East Texas State Senator Bill Haley passed away: Passed the biggest education reform to date, HB 72Elected to the House in 1978, went to Senate in 1989, served until 1995. Lobbied for public education afterwards. Arrangements pending |
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July 2, 2022 11:57 AM Uvalde ISD Police Chief resigns from city council
The news via
the Uvalde Leader News: Pete Arredondo told the
Uvalde Leader-News on Friday that he is resigning from his seat on the Uvalde
City Council. Arredondo, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District
police chief, was elected to the District 3 council
position on May 7 and was sworn into the role on May 31, days after the May 24
mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, where 21 people died. Arredondo maintains he was
not the incident commander that day. Community members as well as the Texas
Department of Public Safety director Steven McCraw have criticized Arredondo
and other law
enforcement officers for waiting more than an hour to enter classrooms where
the shooter and injured and dying students and teachers were located. |
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July 2, 2022 9:00 AM In overnight ruling, Texas Supreme Court allows for civil enforcement of 1925 total abortion ban
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June 30, 2022 9:00 PM HK: Wargaming politics and elections in Texas after the Supreme Court overturned RoeIt almost seems pre-ordained that Beto will squander the Roe opportunity by focusing on the danger to 1% of the population that is LGBTQ instead of the 53% of the Texas population legislated into second class citizen status Despite being fully
forewarned, the public reaction to the Supreme Court Dobbs
decision landed like a lightning bolt on an already unusually volatile
political environment. The competition for headlines is enormous amidst a war
in Ukraine, inflation, gun violence, and women’s health issues. The decision dramatically raises
the stakes of the next session of the Legislature because the current
statutory scheme in Texas effectively prohibits all abortions with no
exceptions – a position that does not even come close to matching national and
state polling of the general electorate on the issue. Nevertheless, Texas
Republicans remain sanguine presuming it to be yet another storm to
weather. With President Joe
Biden’s approval hovering around 40% in Texas, $5 gas, the border in daily
headlines, and “attacks” on guns, Texas Republicans perhaps appropriately
believe there is little to worry about in the current election lineup. With redistricting
locked down, the wind is even more at their backs. But that confidence may be
misplaced. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Harvey Kronberg |
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June 30, 2022 7:15 PM Uvalde Mayor favors Texas House approach to investigating Robb Elementary School shooting, dismisses Texas Senate hearing
During a special meeting
of the Uvalde City Council, Mayor Don McLaughlin voiced an
appreciation for the way Texas House leadership is handling their
probe into the massacre at Robb Elementary School. Mayor
McLaughlin, who not unlike Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been a semi-regular guest
on Fox News Channel, added that the Texas Senate’s
public hearing in Austin was of little value. The only witness before
the Senate, he said, was Texas Department of Public Safety Director
Col. Steve McCraw. Mayor McLaughlin said he
appreciated the closed-door proceedings of the House, "because they're
trying to get witnesses to be more candid to talk and tell their story more truthfully
than they would in a public setting." But in the Senate, McLaughlin
said “You had nobody from Uvalde, nobody from anywhere else. The DPS commander
is the only one who spoke." It is also becoming apparent
now that many of the people who live in Uvalde are also aggravated to have seen
the DPS commander presenting his most detailed account how the tragedy unfolded
to lawmakers before anyone in the local community was given that information. Developing… |
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June 29, 2022 4:18 PM After migrant deaths in San Antonio, Abbott orders new round of truck inspections at the border
The
news flash from Bob Garrett at the Dallas Morning News:
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg
Abbott on Wednesday ordered state police to resume inspecting trucks
entering Texas from Mexico after 53 migrants died in a tractor-trailer
abandoned near San Antonio. Abbott continued to blame President Joe Biden,
saying the truck carrying Mexican and Central American migrants who died wasn’t
inspected by Border Patrol agents because that federal agency lacks sufficient
manpower. The death toll among
unauthorized immigrants crossing deserts or clambering into the back of trucks
as temperatures soar will keep rising if Biden doesn’t act, Abbott warned. “I
urge the president, stop the loss of life,” said Abbott, a two-term Republican
who is up for re-election this year. “You have the ability to stop people from
losing their lives if you make it clear that no one can come across illegally.” |
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June 28, 2022 10:56 AM Gov. Abbott, Speaker Phelan, and Lt. Gov. Patrick announce $105.5 million investment in school security, mental health ahead of school year
After a bit of a tug of
war between Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Dade Phelan about
how to allocate state resources for the coming school year following the massacre
in Uvalde, Gov. Greg Abbott and the two presiding officers on Tuesday morning
announced an agreement to spend $105.5 million for security and mental health
resources. Per an announcement from them
along with the Texas House and Senate’s top budget writers,
a budget execution will provide the following: The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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June 27, 2022 6:00 PM Abbott campaign announces nearly $9 million ad buy on broadcast and cable“This significant investment in ad time will allow Texans for Greg Abbott to secure prime ad slots in live sports programming and local news before they sell out” The campaign of Gov. Greg
Abbott on Monday morning announced an ad buy of $8.8 million on broadcast
and cable ahead of the general election. “This significant investment in ad
time will allow Texans for Greg Abbott to secure prime ad slots in live sports
programming and local news before they sell out,” the campaign said in a statement. “As I have crisscrossed
the Lone Star State, I have seen the momentum building for a pro-freedom tidal
wave this fall. This media buy will allow us to reach every corner of the state
and speak directly to voters about the issues that matter most to them,” Abbott
said. “Texans want to ensure that we continue to have a growing economy,
improving schools, and a secure border. We'll use these ad buys to remind
everyone across the Lone Star State that Texas is still the best place to live,
work and raise a family.” In addition to this, Abbott’s
campaign had already announced buying $2.75 million in Hispanic media. |
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June 27, 2022 5:49 PM Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez withdraws as nominee to lead ICE
The latest via
CBS News: Ed Gonzalez, who was President Biden's nominee to be the
director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has
withdrawn from consideration. The Harris County, Texas sheriff announced in a
series of tweets that he informed the administration on Sunday of his decision,
noting that it's been over a year since he was nominated, and Congress has yet
to act on his nomination. Gonzalez is serving his second term as the sheriff of
Texas' most populous county, where Houston is located. Gonzalez also pointed
out that ICE "has not had a Senate-confirmed director since the Obama
administration." |
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June 24, 2022 1:24 PM Abortion services halted at clinics across Texas following SCOTUS ruling
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June 24, 2022 9:15 AM US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortions
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June 24, 2022 9:10 AM Texas Supreme Court rules Texas Central has eminent domain authority for plan to build high speed railSome supporters of the project, though, say it is "too little, too late." |
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June 23, 2022 4:48 PM Retiring Congressman Gohmert among those who asked for a pardon after Jan 6 insurrection
The Hill has this
news flash: The Jan. 6 committee
investigating the attack on the Capitol revealed Thursday that Republican Reps.
Matt Gaetz (Fla.) Mo Brooks (Ala.) Louie Gohmert (Texas) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.)
asked for a presidential pardon for their role in voting to overturn election
results in certain states on Jan. 6, 2021. Rep. Adam Kinzinger
(R-Ill.), a member of the panel who played an elevated role in Thursday’s
proceedings, presented an email from Brooks, dated Jan. 11, 2021, in which the
congressman asked for presidential pardons for himself, Gaetz, and lawmakers
who objected to the Electoral College vote for Arizona and Pennsylvania. “President Trump asked me
to send you this letter. This letter is also pursuant to a request from Matt
Gaetz,” the email reads. |
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June 23, 2022 9:56 AM Approval rating for Cornyn essentially unchanged since he started leading gun reform talks in DC
Via Morning Consult:
A chorus of boos may have
rained down on Sen. John Cornyn at the Texas GOP’s convention last week, but as
the Texas Republican shepherds the Senate’s bipartisan gun safety legislation
to the finish line, Morning Consult Political Intelligence
tracking shows he’s maintaining his typical level of popularity at home,
including among voters in his own party. Cornyn’s approval rating
among Texas voters: -
A 43% plurality
of Texas voters approve of Cornyn’s job performance, unchanged from surveys
conducted just before the May 24 mass shooting at an elementary school in
Uvalde, Texas, that prompted the latest gun control push on Capitol Hill. Just
over a third (36%) disapprove of him, up 1 percentage point over that time
frame. -
Positive
sentiment about Cornyn also hasn’t changed among Republicans, 68% of whom
approve of his job performance. But since his involvement in the bipartisan gun
legislation, the share who disapprove increased from 11% to 17%. -
A third of
independents (34%) in the Lone Star State approve of Cornyn, along with about 1
in 5 Democrats (22%). |
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June 22, 2022 3:30 PM HK: Looking below the surface of the Texas GOP conventionAn extra sour mood, some thoughts explaining the poor attendance, and the vision – or lack thereof – for the largest state GOP in the United States HOUSTON – While some extraordinary
headlines poured out of the Republican Party of Texas Convention this
past week, it took a little while to sort out multiple subtexts of what it all
meant. Sure, the metaphors for
the Convention were delegates booing a United States Senator who actually
accomplishes things for Texas while the Junior Senator who generally lives for
headline grabbing and inflammation was applauded. Then there were the two
booths raffling away guns in the weeks after the Uvalde massacre in the
smallest collection of RPT Convention exhibitors in at least 25
years. And while the Platform
Committee rejected a plank calling for the execution of women who had
an abortion, the Convention did adopt a classic science-denying amendment to
the platform declaring LGBQT humans “abnormal” and guilty of making “bad
choices.” Of course, Texas secession and ongoing arguments about the validity
of the 2020 election were ubiquitous themes. But as detached from
reality as both political conventions can often be, they do say something about
the state of their party and the country. Here are some of the takeaways
that flew below the general reporting coverage. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Harvey Kronberg |
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June 22, 2022 11:12 AM Senator Gutierrez sues Texas DPS for Uvalde massacre records
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Copyright July 06, 2022, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved 