The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 10, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Well, howdy, folks, today is Monday, August 10th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texan senior editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden, who was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to succeed former Secretary of State Jane Nelson, has issued a notice in an ongoing lawsuit against his office and the state of Texas intended to close Republican primaries in the state. In September, the Republican Party of Texas sued Nelson in its quest for closed primaries, claiming the open primary system violated the party's First Amendment right to free association. On October 9th, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a joint motion with the party to, quote,

Starting point is 00:00:52 strike down an unconstitutional provision of the Texas election code, end quote, that would stop the party from conducting closed primaries. Nelson responded on October 30th, saying she would, quote, gladly implement any statutory changes that the Texas legislature sees fit to enact in the future. Houdin wrote in his notice on Monday that he still seeks a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and that, quote, the legislature is the proper forum for adopting any closed primary system and thoughtfully crafting the detailed scheme that would govern it. He added that he believes the legislature will do so in the coming months, presumably referring to the 90th session beginning in January. In other news? A Harris County Court rejected a request for a temporary restraining order or TRO, blocking the

Starting point is 00:01:41 enforcement of a Texas law requiring the display of donated copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Judge Bruce Bain of the 165th civil court heard the case for the TRO on Friday, in the case Roth v. Texas, which was filed by three Houston area mothers who challenged Senate Bill's 10 validity on the basis of existing state law instead of federal. law, as all prior suits on the issue have done. Plaintiffs described themselves as the mothers of school-age children in court documents, suing the state of Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and the Spring Branch, Cypress Fairbanks, and Houston Independent School Districts. They first sought emergency relief through a TRO halting the law's implementation, which Bain denied, and are now looking

Starting point is 00:02:27 ahead to the preliminary injunction hearing on their case, set for August 17th at 3 p.m., according to Bain's order denying emergency relief on Friday. SB 10, passed last year, requires public schools to display copies of the King James Bible version of the Ten Commandments in Classrooms, if donated by an outside source. Last but not least, a federal judge stopped the city of Austin from regaining extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, over a swath of land west of the city, representing a temporary win for the group of landowners who sued. Judge Robert Pittman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas preliminarily enjoined the City of Austin on August 4th from reclaiming ETJ authority over about 170 properties near Bee Cave's Armory. The lawsuit, filed by a group of affected landowners, argued that the city violated their due process rights when it tried to reassert the ETJ after previously relinquishing it. The City of Austin argued that it erred by releasing the properties in the first place.

Starting point is 00:03:33 and that maintaining municipal control over the properties would help protect Austin's drinking water supply, among other benefits. Senate Bill 2038, passed in the 88th Texas legislature in 2023, created a process whereby landowners can petition for their properties to leave a city's ETJ, an area wherein cities can levy taxes and impose land regulations, but where residents cannot vote in city elections. The law does not apply to property within five miles of a mill, military base at which an active training program is conducted among other exceptions. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan. News to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 10, 2026

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