The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 29, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today's Tuesday, July 29th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lauschis, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the Democratic National Committee and other aligned groups are rallying to their Texas colleagues' battlements as the fight over congressional redistricting heats up in Texas. DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a Monday morning press release, quote, The DNC is all hands on deck to hold Donald Trump and Greg Abbott accountable for their scheme to use the tragic Texas floods as cover to redraw the Texas maps in a last ditch effort to save the Republican majority."

Starting point is 00:00:47 The National Party has sent over 250,000 texts into Texas to drive attendance at three House committee hearings, each of which has been teaming with public opposition to a redraw, has activated creators to attend the hearings and lambast the effort, and is urging activists across the state to flood the system with public comment. The last House committee field hearing on redistricting was held on Monday night in Arlington. Texas House Democratic Caucus Chairman Gene Wu said, quote, The DNC has been a leading supporter of our caucus since Trump and Abbott first introduced this cynical scheme.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Their new initiative to contact persuadable Republican voters across the state and deploy organizers directly against Republican state reps is exactly the type of partnership Texas Democrats need. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has hosted Texas Democrats in Washington, D.C., and is said to be voyaging to the state capitol, since news first broke about the push from the White House. He's privately urged Texas Democrats to consider breaking quorum if necessary to prevent a new maps passage, and has promised funding to help the

Starting point is 00:01:57 members through the difficult endeavor. Next, a new poll from the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs indicates a tight race is brewing in the upcoming special session for the vacant 18th congressional district, but nearly 30% of respondents have not yet settled on a preferred candidate. Former Houston City Councilmember Amanda Edwards and Harris County Attorney Christian Menafee, both Democrats, lead the pack with each touting support from 19% of likely voters. Not far behind those two are Republican Carmen Maria

Starting point is 00:02:30 Montiel and State Representative Jolanda Jones at 14% each. However, another 27% of respondents said they did not know enough about the candidates to have an opinion. Professor Mark Jones told the Texan that these early numbers indicate that none of the candidates appear to be poised to win outright in the initial election slated for November 4th. He said in an emailed statement, quote, the race looks very close right now, with all four of the leading candidates having a pathway to the runoff, which is all but certain. Edwards and Menafee have a very modest advantage, but only that." Edwards and Menafee both touted net favorability ratings of 30%, but of the undecided voters,

Starting point is 00:03:12 76% did not know enough about Edwards to have an opinion. 80% did not know enough about Menafee and 86% did not know enough about Montiel. Jelonda Jones was best known by undecided voters at 56%, but also drew the highest unfavorable ratings at 27%. In other news, one of Samsung's Texas plants will develop artificial intelligence chips for Tesla in an estimated $16.5 billion move announced by Elon Musk and highlighted by Governor Greg Abbott. Musk announced via an ex post on

Starting point is 00:03:47 Sunday, quote, Samsung's giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla's next generation AI six chip. He continued, quote, the strategic importance of this is hard to overstate Samsung currently makes AI for end quote, the manufactured AI six chips will be used for various AI-related technologies such as self-driving systems for Tesla vehicles. Tesla's partner in the deal, Samsung's Taylor Fab Semiconductor location, which broke ground in 2022 and is expected to be fully operational in the city of Taylor come 2026, aims to increase the production of semiconductor

Starting point is 00:04:25 related initiatives that will quote power next generation technologies and quote including 5g high-performance computing and various forms of AI. 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.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 29, 2025

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