The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 29, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Monday, July 29th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the National Republican Congressional Committee named former Congresswoman Myra Flores to its Young Gun list, signifying heightened attention it'll give to her race against Congressman Vicente Gonzalez. The list includes GOP challengers to 26 Democratic-held seats the NRCC believes it can flip this year, signaling to party activists and donors the heightened interest and opportunity. Flores is the only Texan on the list that spans 20 states. The NRCC has been boosting Flores' candidacy for a while now, and her addition to the Young Guns list is more of a formal declaration of what the group has known since last election cycle.

Starting point is 00:00:59 The 34th congressional district is near the top of its target list. Her addition ensures a boost of campaign resources and access to additional dollars. Flores told the Texan in a statement, quote, It's an honor to be selected by the NRCC as one of the top GOP candidates in the country. The Young Guns Program provides critical resources and guidance as we work to elect new leadership in Texas' 34th District, and I am grateful to the NRCC for their confidence in our campaign. Flores occupied the 34th Congressional District for half a year in 2022 after winning a special election to fill the seat, but lost to

Starting point is 00:01:38 Gonzalez in the general election that year after the latter moved districts. In other news, an illegal immigrant shot a Texas police officer during a confrontation spawning from a domestic violence call on Sunday, according to Fox News. Venezuelan national Jorge Chacon Gutierrez engaged in a shootout with officers of the San Antonio Police Department. Chacon Gutierrez is dead, though it is currently unclear if it is due to being shot by police or suicide. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said, When officers went into the apartment, he was lying in bed with a rifle by his side and he started shooting at the officers. The officers returned fire and exited the apartment.

Starting point is 00:02:21 One of our officers was shot multiple times and she is currently in the apartment. One of our officers was shot multiple times, and she is currently in the hospital. McManus said officers were responding to the domestic violence call around 3 in the morning from a woman who said she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, Chacon Gutierrez. Three officers were involved in the initial shooting before the SWAT team entered the apartment and found the suspect dead. One of the officers was shot multiple times and underwent surgery, but is expected to survive. According to Fox News, law enforcement officers later determined that Chacon Gutierrez was detained by Border Patrol after illegally crossing into Eagle Pass, Texas in November 2023. He was apprehended and released in the U.S. with a court date set for April 2026.

Starting point is 00:03:05 Also, new polling from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs shows large support for both school vouchers and education savings accounts, or ESAs, in Texas. The two primary ways the issue of school choice has been messaged. The respondents were given descriptions of school voucher legislation and ESA legislation. They were then asked if they strongly or somewhat supported, or strongly or somewhat opposed, the adoption of those plans and taxes for two different groups, first for all parents, and then low-income parents only. Survey respondents were shown four common arguments for school vouchers or ESAs and four common arguments against them. They were asked how much they agreed or disagreed with each argument.

Starting point is 00:03:52 Half of the respondents saw the pro-voucher arguments first and then the anti-voucher arguments, while the other half saw the anti-voucher arguments first and then the pro-voucher arguments. According to the results, when the issue is phrased as, quote, school vouchers, 65% support the proposition that it should be provided to all parents in Texas, and 33% strongly support that. ESAs are even more popular among respondents. 69% support the creation of ESAs for all parents, with 30% strongly supporting them. Last but not least, State Representative Cole Hefner sat down with the Texans' senior reporter Brad Johnson to discuss a Texas House committee's consideration of a ban on hostile foreign nations buying Texas land and

Starting point is 00:04:37 critical infrastructure. Check out our website at thetexan.news to watch the interview or find it here in your podcast feed tomorrow, wherever you get podcasts. 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.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 29, 2024

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