The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 19, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks. Today is Tuesday, August 19th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Texas' new congressional map is now advancing, after a two-week quorum break by Democrats stalled it out during the first special session, with passage through committee coming in a Monday formal meeting. By a 12-8 vote, the new map, similar but not exactly the same as the one from the first special session, passed through the House Select Committee on Congressional redistricting on Monday evening. Some of the changes from the previous version include putting Fort Bliss and the El Paso Airport back into the 16th Congressional District, something Democrats from the area requested during past committee hearings, and shoring up the new 9th Congressional District. The 9th is

Starting point is 00:00:59 one of the five expected GOP pickups in this new map, and now encompasses the entirety of Liberty County, which it didn't have before. President Donald Trump won the previously drawn-up district by 15 points, but the new boundaries increased that margin to 20 points, taking it from GOP favorable to solidly Republican. Next, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick confirmed he was running for re-election in 26 on Tuesday afternoon. He told reporters at a press conference, reference, quote, I've announced I was running for LG five or six times and nobody seems to believe me. I didn't raise $5 million in five days not to run. I'm all in, end quote. Patrick originally announced his re-election bid in April one day after he received President

Starting point is 00:01:48 Donald Trump's endorsement. In other news, the gap between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Senator John Cornyn in the 26 U.S. Senate race is narrowing, according to new polling from Texas Southern University. Cornon trails five points behind Paxton in the GOP primary, according to a poll conducted by the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern, the same survey which had the senator nine points behind Paxton three months prior. Various polls in the field have gauged Cornyn and Paxton in a head-to-head primary scenario, generally showing the latter to be in a comfortable lead. The Senate leadership Fund estimates it to be about a 17-point gap after averaging 13 polls taken over the last six

Starting point is 00:02:36 months. Congressman Wesley Hunt, who's been flirting with a bid against Paxton and Cornyn through a number of campaign-style ads running across the state, was also measured in the poll. In a three-way match-up, Hunt collected 22% of the votes, contrasted with Paxton's 35% and Cornyn's 30%. Also, a state lawmaker from Harris County wants to make judges liable for harm done by violent suspects if they are released on a personal recognizance bond in response to numerous stories in Texas of repeat offenders who commit new crimes. State Representative Tom Oliverson's House Bill 163, identical to a bill he filed during the regular legislative session, would allow victims or victims of states to bring a civil cause of action against judges or magistrates who release suspects accused of violent crimes

Starting point is 00:03:29 on a PR bond. Unlike surety bonds, PR bonds do not require a cash bail payment and are usually awarded to low-risk suspects. Last but not least, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court opinion that had allowed West Texas A&M University to ban on-campus drag shows. In March 2023, an LGBT student group, Spectrum WT, represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, sued West Texas A&M President Walter Wendler and other Texas A&M University System officials after they, quote, unilaterally cancel the student group's charity drag show fundraising for LGBTQ plus suicide prevention, end quote. Fire and Spectrum WT argued that, banning the on-campus drag show was a violation of the student's First Amendment rights.

Starting point is 00:04:25 A few months later, a district court judge ruled against the LGBT student group, allowing the ban to remain in place. The case was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied the application to take up the emergency injunction. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts. Thank you.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 19, 2025

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