The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - February 2, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Howdy, folks? Today is Monday, February 2nd, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texan's Senior Editor Mackenzie Dulillo, and here is the rundown of today's news and Texas politics. First up, Republicans in Tarrant County, and even across the state, are reeling after a strong, right-leaning Texas Senate District, fell to a Democrat in a special election runoff. Democrat Taylor Remitt, political newcomer, who ran as a veteran and union leader, who said he would listen, show up, and get things done, defeated the well-known and longtime conservative activist Republican Lee Wamskons to fill the seat for Senate District 9 vacated last year by former state senator Kelly Hancock. According to the unofficial results, Remit won with over 57% of the nearly 95,000 ballots cast in the runoff election. A Republican had held the state Senate seat since 1991. President Donald Trump, who posted on Truth Social on

Starting point is 00:00:58 January 30th in support of Wamsgans, saying she had his complete and total endorsement, claimed to have no knowledge about the race on Sunday when asked about Wams Gons defeat. Next, former Harris County Attorney Christian Menofy defeated former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards in a special election runoff to fill the unexpired term of the late rep Sylvester Turner in Houston's Congressional District 18. During his election watch party Saturday night, Menofy vowed to strengthen the federal social safety net, impeach U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Christy Noem and fight for Medicare for all. A district court judge ordered two extra days of early voting after Winterstorm Fern forced poll closures last week. But due to federal

Starting point is 00:01:40 regulations, voters cast a provisional ballot on Wednesday and Thursday to be counted later. Menifee will not be taking a break from the campaign trail, however, since he is running in the March 2026 primary for the newly redrawn CD-18, where he will again face Edwards, along with U.S. Department of Defense Editor Gritchin Brown and U.S. rep Al Green. The new boundaries for the district largely followed those of Greens' former CD9. In other news, thousands of Texas public school students participated in protests against U.S. immigration and customs enforcement actions across the country on Friday, January 30th. Austin Independent School District students protesting alongside school officials and Austin ISD police

Starting point is 00:02:22 officers sparked online backlash from elected officials. The district said on social media, this is not an Austin ISD event and any presence of Austin ISD police is for the safety of students during the school day. The district continued, our students are exercising their right under the First Amendment and their parents have been notified. In other news, end-of-year financial reports for federal campaigns are in, showing Democratic candidates in Texas' U.S. Senate race posting competitive fundraising halls, while incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn remains in the lead in cash on hand, followed by state rep James Tala Rico and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Reports for federal campaigns were due on January 31st.

Starting point is 00:03:01 Although some candidates released and touted early fundraising and cash-on-hand numbers, including Cornyn, whose campaign announced in early January that it had raised more than $7 million when including his re-election campaign numbers, the Cornyn Victory Committee, and Cornyn Star Victory Fund. In the ring of Republican contenders for Cornyn's seat are Congressman Wesley Hunt and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, while Democratic candidates, Palo Rico and Crockett will square off in the Democratic primary come March. Last but not least, a Canadian National pleaded guilty on Friday to sexually exploiting and coercing 100 minor girls by posing as an American teenage boy over social media, a case investigated by the Houston branch of the U.S. FBI. The Canadian National's guilty plea was made in the U.S. District

Starting point is 00:03:49 Court for the District of Columbia, where he admitted to coercing children through video chats and his false online persona. During the calls, he would convince the minors to perform various sexual acts, recording them all the while and then use it as blackmail if the children refused to continue engaging in such acts. He pleaded guilty to threatening to distribute the recorded videos to their families and friends if he faced resistance from the girls. He is from Toronto, Canada, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison there for pleading guilty to similar offenses. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the Texan.com. And subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts. Thank you.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - February 2, 2026

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