The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 20, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Well, howdy folks. Today is Monday, July 20th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texan senior editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Wednesday marked the deadline for both federal and state political candidates in Texas to publicize how their campaigns have fared in the latest fundraising windows. Proving the U.S. Senate race remains a focus for the Democratic Party, as State Representative James Talariko came in with more than triple what Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton raised. The Texas Ethics Commission Reporting Window covers the first half of the year from February 22nd through June 30th. On the statewide front, the races for Texas Governor and Lieutenant

Starting point is 00:00:50 Governor continue to have similarly sizable fundraising gaps financially favoring the Republicans. Governor Greg Abbott and his Democratic gubernatorial challenger, State Representative Gina Hina Hinojosa had about a $19 million difference between the amounts their campaigns raised. Abbott raised $25.5 million per his Texas Ethics Commission report with $67 million in cash on hand. Hina Hosa touted raising $6 million and wrapped up the reporting window with almost exactly $3 million in cash on hand. The Federal Ethics Commission's second quarter reporting window spanned from April 1st to June 30th. Talarico handily outraged Paxton, with his team announcing about a week prior to the deadline that he had raised about $32 million during the quarter, touting it as the largest ever raised by a U.S.

Starting point is 00:01:43 Senate candidate during the second quarter of an election year. In other news, a town hall in Houston on Sunday highlighted a factional divide within the Democratic Party as their U.S. Senate nominee, Talarico, was questioned and at times rebuked about his appeal or lack thereof to black voters. Republicans have emphasized unity as their goal moving forward into the general election, but they are not the only ones finding it difficult to switch off from intra-party conflict. The Democrats will need a strong showing from all the members of their base to give Talariko a fighting chance in a state where no Democrat has won statewide office in three decades, especially after Paxton's strong showing in his May GOP primary runoff with incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn.

Starting point is 00:02:30 Prior to Tala Rico's introduction to the crowd for his opening statement and Q&A session, elected officials expressed disappointment that he had defeated U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary while appealing to the audience to hear Talarico out. Tala Rico defeated Crockett in March with over 53% of the vote, while she received nearly 46%. In Harris and Dallas counties, Crockett did receive the majority of the vote, 52% and 59% respectively. Last but not least, six defendants pleaded guilty last week to oil theft conspiracy in the Permian Basin, following their indictment in April. The case involving 14 defendants saw six plead guilty last week, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas.

Starting point is 00:03:18 The seven-count indictment of the defendants alleges that they conspired to commit large-scale crude oil theft from Permian Basin oil producers. The charges state that the defendants then resold the crude oil for a significant profit. The defendants were also accused of transporting stolen oil across the Texas-New Mexico border. U.S. attorney Ryan Rabeld said to the Texan in a statement, quote, This administration is laser-focused on bolstering national security by protecting our energy infrastructure from both foreign and domestic hostile actors. Oil theft harms the economy, threatens national security, and hurts Americans' pocketbooks." End quote. Thanks for listening.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 20, 2026

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