The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - February 25, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Howdy, folks. Today is Wednesday, February 25th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans managing editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, as early voting continues for the 26 Texas primaries and election day draws closer, statewide candidates' latest financial halls are rolling in, fulfilling the eight-day pre-primary deadline, before which many candidates appear to have been accelerating the last bit of their campaign spoils. The window covered in these latest reports spans from January 23rd to February 21st. Governor Greg Abbott led the field in both spending and fundraising, continuing his pattern of utilizing a sizable war chest as support for Texas Republicans

Starting point is 00:00:54 in contentious primaries and other races beyond his own. His political action committee, Texans for Greg Abbott, spent over ten, million dollars between January 23rd and February 21st, raised over 2 million, and finished with over 95 million in cash on hand. In his personal account, Abbott reported about $43,000 spent and about $570,000 in cash on hand. The leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate, State Representative Gina Hinojosa, touted raising over $950,000 and reported spending $673,000. She was a wrapped up with almost 618,000 in cash on hand. Visit the Texan. News for a look at the latest campaign finance numbers for all the biggest statewide races. Next, the Texas 20206 primary election

Starting point is 00:01:46 has seen millions of dollars funneled into candidates accounts this year, especially from the casino and gambling interest with which elected officials have wrestled for years. The Las Vegas Sands Corporation has individually contributed around $10 million, matching the amount given by Las Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson as an individual donor. In July 2025, Las Vegas Sands donated $9.1 million to the Texas Defense Pack, the political arm of the corporation. According to Transparency USA, Las Vegas Sands is the Texas Defense Pack's only current contributor. The Texas Defense Pack reported over $3.25 million in total expenditures and has donated thousands of dollars to candidates like Nathan Watkins, who is currently running for Texas House District 23 against State Representative Terry Leo Wilson,

Starting point is 00:02:39 and State Representative Angelia Orr, who is running for re-election against GOP challenger Kathleen Wall for her spot in HD13. The Texas Defense Pack involved itself in the race between Watkins and Wilson in more ways than one, reportedly leaving mailers and text messages claiming the incumbent voted against property tax relief. In other news, Texas Senate District 3 is seeing a competitive race as the two Republican primary candidates duke it out in the considerably red district, currently occupied by retiring state senator Robert Nichols. The candidates, state representative Trent Ashby and Rhonda Ward, have both raised millions of dollars during their campaigning. Ashby raised over one million in the eight-day pre-primilar. reporting period, while Ward raised 446,000, though she has spent over 1.2 million. Ashby also outspent her at 1.7 million in that reporting period. Ashby currently holds almost

Starting point is 00:03:36 $850,000 in cash on hand compared to Ward's $134,000. At his January end-of-year campaign finance report, Democratic candidate Bobby Tillman reported raising almost $2,500 and has just over $500 in cash on hand. The Texans Texas Partisan Index shows the district rated R-78%, heavily Republican and narrowly greater than its previous rating of R-76%. Last but not least, three Republican candidates are vying to fill the seat of State Representative John Lujan, who is instead running this year for Texas' 35th Congressional District. House District 118 is the only House District that was rated as evenly divided in the 2020-2020 election cycle of, according to the Texans' Texas Partisan Index, and now it is rated R-51% as of 2024. H.D. 118 covers portions of Bayar County in South and East San Antonio and extends into parts of

Starting point is 00:04:37 Guadalupe County. Other major cities include Live Oak, Universal City, Shirts, Converse, and Sigeon. Lujan confirmed that he will not be endorsing in the race, but that he will support the eventual GOP candidate. The three Republicans in the running are former Texas Public Policy Foundation K-12 Education Director Jorge Barago, attorney and founder of his own law firm, Desi Martinez, and U.S. Army veteran, small business owner, and substitute teacher Joe Shelhart. Political strategist Christian Carranza is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. She was the Democratic nominee for the district in 2024, losing by just over 2,600 votes to Lujan. 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.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - February 25, 2026

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