The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - February 14, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Friday, February 14th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, school choice in Texas is one of the most significant issues facing lawmakers during the 89th legislative session, and now the world's richest man, who is also a Texas resident, has come out in favor of it. In the early hours of Friday morning, Elon Musk posted on social media his endorsement of school choice. Quote, I hope Dustin Burroughs passes school choice in Texas to give kids a chance. Pressure to pass school choice legislation this session

Starting point is 00:00:45 has continued to mount from all levels of government. President Donald Trump has explicitly singled out the Texas House regarding school choice, writing that it would be a, quote, gigantic victory for Texas students and parents. Senator Ted Cruz also penned a letter this week to Texas House Speaker Dustin Burroughs to make clear that, quote, school choice is the civil rights issue of our time and, quite frankly, a matter of common sense. Next, more Texas Republican voters would definitely consider voting for Attorney General Ken Paxton in the 2026 U.S. Senate Republican primary than incumbent Senator John Cornyn, while more voters would never consider voting for Paxton than Cornyn,

Starting point is 00:01:25 as indicated by a recent poll from the University of Houston. The poll, conducted by the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs, collected responses from 1,200 adults in Texas between January 13th and January 21st. The poll collected data from both likely 2026 GOP primary voters and those who voted Republican in the 2022 and or 2024 elections. In an interview with pundit Tucker Carlson on February 12th, Paxton lambasted Cornyn for his policies and reiterated his openness to running against him in the 2026 primary for U.S. Senate, saying, quote, The people of Texas know John Cornyn, and I don't think he'll survive another primary. I don't think he'll survive another primary. I don't know if I'm running for sure. In the next two months, I'll be talking to people

Starting point is 00:02:09 around the state. In other news, as part of a reform package that would include changes to criminal bail bond policies in Texas, Senator Joan Huffman has proposed adding a layer of transparency in cases where charges are dismissed for a lack of probable cause. Under current code, even after the local district attorney's office accepts charges, a hearing officer, often an appointed magistrate, may find the case lacks either probable cause or enough evidence to proceed, but does not provide any explanation to prosecutors or law enforcement officers. According to former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, the number of cases dismissed without explanation

Starting point is 00:02:48 began to rise significantly in recent years. Also, Texas sued a New York doctor for both violating the Lone Star State's pro-life laws and for operating in Texas without the medical license to do so, reaching a $100,000 settlement and permanent injunction against her distribution of abortion pills across the state. Texas originally filed the lawsuit against Dr. Margaret Daly Carpenter in December 2024, alleging that she had been providing abortion-inducing

Starting point is 00:03:18 drugs to Texas women through a telehealth program in violation of both the state's abortion and medicine laws, following life-threatening complications experienced by one of her patients. The court documents outlined a story reported as a result of Carpenter's abortion drug services, where she provided two abortion-inducing drugs or prescriptions to a 20-year-old pregnant resident of Collin County, who experienced severe bleeding and had to be taken to the hospital. The father of the child, quote, was told that the mother of the unborn child was experiencing a hemorrhage or severe bleeding as she had been nine weeks pregnant, end quote, before the child was killed by the abortion-inducing drugs provided by Carpenter.

Starting point is 00:03:59 Last but not least, Elon Musk has successfully secured a special election in Texas to determine if residents near the Rio Grande Valley want to incorporate a portion of the area into a new town named Starbase. Musk's space exploration company SpaceX is headquartered at its Starbase spaceport in Boca Chica, which has continued to build infrastructure and launch rockets since 2014. Located just miles from the Gulf of America, the location is near the cities of Brownville and South Padre Island. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. issued an order confirming that the petition for the incorporation of Starbase

Starting point is 00:04:35 meets the required statutory criteria with satisfactory proof. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - February 14, 2025

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