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February 2, 2026 5:31 PM
Hittin’ rough water now in the Ag Commissioner’s race and the US Senate Democratic primary: Allred comes off the sidelines to slam Talarico for allegedly calling him a “mediocre black man,” Commissioner Miller set to debate GOP challenger Sheets, Texas opposition research leaks on ABC’s The View, and the Luke Warford phenomenon is explained
HOUSTON –
Reporting again from H-town, the site of this week’s scheduled debate between
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and his GOP challenger Nate
Sheets. It might be their only in-person exchange after Gov. Greg Abbott’s
campaign went so hard in the paint for Sheets in recent weeks, calling Miller
corrupt, among other things. But with only 15 days until the start of early
voting, the Republicans aren’t the only ones ripping each other apart.
Just two days
after Texas Democrats scored one of their biggest public relations victories in
decades with an upset win in Tarrant County, the US Senate race on their side is
starting to get about as nasty as I thought it would. One of the former candidates
in that race, Colin Allred, is now coming for Rep. James Talarico
after it was alleged that Talarico called Allred a “mediocre Black man” in a
comment meant as a compliment to Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Talarico answered
the allegation late in the day, arguing Allred is mischaracterizing what was
said in a private conversation.
Let’s
start with Miller vs Abbott, though.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright February 02, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 31, 2026 10:47 PM
Shockwaves emanating from the Metroplex: As Lt. Gov. Patrick argued last week, this is the first signal in 2026 that national Democrats could make a significant investment in Texas ahead of the November election; President Trump was trying to boost Wambsganss online while it sounds like the DNC was under the radar helping Rehmet
FORT WORTH
– “At least it could have been at a nicer restaurant,” grumbled a downtrodden
Republican activist on his way out of the election watch party held for Patriot
Mobile executive Leigh Wambsganss Saturday night as supporters of
her bid for Texas Senate began to trickle out just as the results
were coming in.
Just after
10:30pm, Wambsganss seemed to concede for now, telling the crowd “We’ll be back
in November.”
Though it
might prove to only be symbolic, a Democrat appears on his way to representing northeast
Tarrant County in the Legislature’s upper chamber for the first time
since the 1980s. And as top Republicans including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and
President Donald Trump himself had warned during early voting, the apparent
upset victory of Democrat Taylor Rehmet is the first signal to national Democrats
that this state could be in play if the minority party makes a significant financial
investment in the US Senate race here this fall.
Rehmet’s campaign wasn’t ready to declare victory
yet at his watch party, but just before 11:30 pm the Associated Press called the race for the Democrat.
It’s a
battle that played out in its final days on the icy streets of Fort Worth and had
some Republicans questioning why Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t call the runoff
in December, which wouldn’t have given Democrats as much time to organize and
get out the vote for their candidate.
Just last
week, some Republican candidates for other offices around the Metroplex were
talking more about this special election than their own races and describing the
campaign in Cowtown as an “all hands on deck” moment.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright January 31, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 31, 2026 10:08 PM
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Copyright January 31, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 31, 2026 7:30 PM
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Copyright January 31, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 30, 2026 3:02 PM
New lobby gigs, association news, advocacy, and a well-deserved recognition of a Texas icon
This is
about the time that grizzled veterans of Texas campaigns start to say things
like “well, this one’s basically over.”
Not quite
yet but it’s true the 30-day campaign finance reports are due to come out next week
– reporter James Russell will have complete coverage, of course – and candidates
in competitive or spirited-but-not-necessarily-competitive races are back on
the thawed out streets, knocking on doors, and talking with voters to shore up
support ahead of March 3.
Here in
Austin, some of the names and faces you know all too well announced new career
moves this week to tell you about. There’s also a well-deserved recognition
coming up stemming from the tragedy of the Hill Country flooding.
When you
have career news to share with the Texas Capitol community, it’s become common
knowledge that the Texas Capitol community hasn’t really been informed about it
until the scoop is in the pages of Quorum Report. But it only works when you
let me know what’s happening. Thanks so much for doing so week in and week out.
If there’s news to share – it doesn’t have to be yours – send it anytime to ksbraddock@gmail.com and use POTM in the
subject line for the fastest service.
Here’s the
latest edition of People on the Move.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright January 30, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 30, 2026 2:23 PM
Here’s the initial list.
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Copyright January 30, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 29, 2026 2:15 PM
Former Galveston Mayor Jaworski tries to paint Sen. Johnson as “MAGA’s favorite Democrat” and a sellout to Lt. Gov. Patrick; Johnson leads in the money race, says Jaworski is a three-time loser, and boasts that only he has experience in unseating a Republican: “I know how to beat these guys and it's gonna be fun.”
RICHARDSON
– While the contest to be the GOP nominee for Texas Attorney General is a wide open mess of a race nearly guaranteed to head to a runoff,
the Democratic campaign for the same job is more clearly defined but could also
end up in overtime after March 3. There are only two candidates with any name
ID among the political chattering class: Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas
and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski. But there is a lesser-known
candidate who could serve as a spoiler. “Who is the third?” asked an Austin
insider just this week.
We’ll get to
that.
Of course,
the boys in Vegas would still handicap the race for the Republicans in November.
But Democrats argue it’s critical to put their best foot forward with a solid
nominee for AG in an election cycle that could prove to be a wave year for the
minority party here and around the country.
Without
little room for doubt, the most aggressive campaigner in this contest is Jaworkski.
But his critics say Jaworski’s tone and nonstop attacks on Johnson are making
the race unnecessarily nasty.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright January 29, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 27, 2026 1:30 PM
Quorum Report Publisher Harvey Kronberg and Texas Capital Tonight Host James Barragan talked on Spectrum News in Austin about the fallout from the latest Minnesota ICE shooting, the Democratic US Senate primary in Texas, and more
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Copyright January 27, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 27, 2026 1:15 PM
QR first
reported on Saturday that Abbott was gathering information to do this.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
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Copyright January 27, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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January 27, 2026 11:57 AM
TV ads from the Crockett campaign would represent her first significant spending of the cycle; to date Talarico has dominated both on the airwaves and field operations
Punchbowl
News in DC reported
this morning:
During a
private donor call, a top supporter of Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s (D-Texas) Senate
run said the campaign is planning to start attacking state Rep. James Talarico
on the air.
...During
the Jan. 22 Zoom call, Crockett supporter Jason Lee — speaking alongside
campaign pollster Terrance Woodbury and deputy campaign manager Karrol Rimal —
said the campaign is “going to begin in earnest a very robust communication
strategy.”
Lee also
said "because her opponent is somewhat less well-known, people do need to
hear certain information so they can make an informed decision … The other
candidate needs to go through the same vetting.”
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Copyright January 27, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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