The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 14, 2025

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

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Howdy folks, today is Monday, July 12th and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lauschus and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released information on nine individuals indicted over an alleged illegal vote harvesting scheme. Proported election crimes committed by mostly elected officials, such as a former mayor, a Frio County Commissioner, and a trustee of the Perasol ISD board. Among the indicted was State Representative Liz Campos' Chief of Staff Manuel Medina on two counts of vote harvesting. Cecilia Castellano, a former candidate for House District 80,

and former Dilley Mayor Marianne Obregon were similarly indicted by the grand jury. Medina is a former Bayard County Democratic Party Chair and a former mayoral candidate for San Antonio. Castellano has been mentioned as a name to watch to run for HD 80 once again come the 2026 election cycle. Next, an ongoing redistricting lawsuit will not be reopened for reexamined testimony until after the Texas Legislature attempts to redraw maps in the upcoming special session.

Judge David Guadarrama of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas denied a motion by three plaintiffs, including the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus, to reopen the trial record a couple of weeks after it had closed. Guadarrama wrote, quote, The court perceives no compelling reason to hail everyone back to El Paso for another round of witness examination right now on an emergency basis before the special session starts. The lawsuit, first filed in 2021 after the Texas legislature passed the currently established maps, alleges that lawmakers deliberately diluted Hispanic voting power in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston

by quote, cracking minority voting populations between multiple congressional and state legislative districts. A four-week trial concluded last month with loads of testimony from opponents and supporters of the current maps primarily divided along partisan lines. In other news, amid shifting public statements from President Donald Trump's administration regarding the release of documents related to financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a Texas congressman plans to introduce a resolution demanding the records be made publicly available. Representative Mark Veasey posted on social media that the Trump administration, and Trump himself,

quote, fueled the rumors of the significance of these Epstein files to help his campaign. I'll introduce a resolution demanding the Trump administration release all files related to the Epstein case." Vesey's comments came on the heels of a report from Axios, which obtained a U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation memo that found there is no evidence that Epstein kept a client list or blackmailed prominent individuals. It also concluded that he committed suicide.

Also, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a letter to an unverified flood relief fundraiser formally demanding it cease fraudulent operations, return all funds to donors, and preserve records, threatening legal action if the organizer fails to do so. In the wake of devastating floods across central Texas on July 4th, a plethora of fundraisers were launched in order to assist affected victims, volunteers, and first responders, one of which Paxton accuses of scamming Texans. Addressed to Trey Coppola, organizer of a GoFundMe marketed as supporting Kerrville flood victims, the letter from the Office of the Attorney General formally demands that he maintain and preserve all records for

legal purposes. It outlines Coppola's next options as ceasing all operations and returning all donations to the appropriate entity or else face all legal remedies, including but not limited to civil penalties, restitution, and court-ordered injunctions. Last but not least, according to a 2025 working paper by the University of Houston Education Research Center, 181 independent school districts in Texas adopted a four-day school week in 2024-2025. This number has been growing since two early adopters in 2017, with a significant increase from 62 districts to 156 in 2023-2024, particularly among rural districts where four-day school weeks are most common. Texas House Bill 2610, passed in 2015, changed the mandatory

instruction requirement from 180 days to 75,600 minutes, allowing for alternative schedules. Upcoming adopters for the 2025-2026 school year include Ponder ISD in Denton County, Kennedale ISD in Tarrant County, and Whitney ISD in Hill County. 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.