The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - January 23, 2026

Episode Date: January 23, 2026

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Howdy folks, today is Friday, January 23rd, 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, ahead of the winter storm that is expected to hit much of the eastern and southern United States hard this weekend, Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 134 of Texas 254 counties, quote, to ensure that every necessary resource is made available to Texans. Abbott encouraged Texans to stay off the road and also touted the strength of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Power Grid. The state grid has been a controversial political issue for the last few years following

the February 2021 blackouts due to winter storm Yuri. However, the storm could cause local outages due to freezing rain or ice-on power lines, like what happened to the Travis County area in early 20. In other news, Webb County Sheriff Martin Quayar, the brother of the recently pardoned Congressman Henry Quayar, was indicted alongside his assistant chief for misusing his office's funds for a disinfecting business during the COVID-19 pandemic. After turning themselves in and appearing before U.S. magistrate judge Christina Bryan in Houston, Sheriff Quayar and his assistant chief, Alejandro Gutierrez, had their five-count indictment unsealed, which had been handed down in the fall of 2025. It included the allegations that between 2020 and

2022, Quayar and Gutierrez conspired with others to misappropriate Webb County Sheriff's Office funds. They allegedly did this by running a disinfecting company, Disinfect Pro Master, during COVID-19, employing almost solely county employees and using Sheriff's Office resources, incurring minimal overhead, per a press release from the U.S. Southern District of Texas. The indictment includes their former assistant chief, Ricardo Rodriguez, as also being involved in disinfect pro-master. He is set to receive his sentencing in March after previously pleading guilty. Sheriff Kouyar's brother, Congressman Kueyar, and his wife Imelda Kueyar, were recently pardoned by President Donald Trump under the premise that they had been targeted by a weaponized U.S. Department of Justice under the Biden administration.

The Kueyars had faced allegations of accepting bribes from foreign entities. Last but not least, early voting began this week in a special runoff election to replace the late U.S. Representative Sylvester Turner in Congressional District 18. But candidates Amanda Edwards and Christian Menofy will be back on the ballot in March to face off against Congressman Al Green in hopes of representing a drastically redrawn 18th Congressional District. Of the 16 candidates who ran in the November special election, former Harris County Attorney Christian Menofy emerged with the highest vote count, but his 29% take was short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. Former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards landed not far behind him with 26%.

Edwards and Menofy have spent recent weeks campaigning heavily within the current boundaries of CD18, and last week they met in several candidate forums to discuss issues such as health care access, policing, and voting rights. The two largely share policy views and both invoke opposition to President Donald Trump and Texas Republicans, a tactic likely to appeal to a district with a D-79% rating per the Texans' Texas Partisan Index. When asked about the need for public safety improvements and better relationships between police and neighborhoods, Edwards voiced full support for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, federal legislation that includes restricting the use of force and limiting qualified immunity, along with other provisions

aimed at enhancing police accountability. She also called for funding to promote community policing. 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.