The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - June 12, 2025

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

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Howdy folks, today is Thursday, June 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, Aaron Wrights, a former staffer for three top Republican figures, jumped into the race for Texas Attorney General on Thursday after resigning from his appointed position in the Trump administration. Wrights said in a release announcing his run, quote, we are in a fight for the

soul of Texas, our nation and Western civilization itself. Wright served as a senior aide to Attorney General Ken Paxton for two and a half years from 2020 to 2023. After that, he served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz for two years before he was appointed by President Donald Trump as Assistant Attorney General under Attorney General Pam Bondi, serving in that position for 77 days before resigning to run for this office in Texas. In his launch video, Reitz leaned heavily into his ties to Trump, Cruz, and Paxton. Next, after anti-deportation riots and protests erupted across the country in recent days, including in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott announced that Texas National Guard troops will be deployed

across the state in an effort to quote, ensure peace and order. Abbott wrote late Tuesday in the deployment announcement, peaceful protest is legal. He added that the Texas National Guard will use every tool and strategy to help law enforcement maintain order. Protests have popped up in many of Texas's largest cities, including Austin, Dallas, and Houston. Abbott stated Wednesday in reference

to the riots in Los Angeles, quote, we want to make sure that what has happened in California does not happen in Texas. In other news, Governor Greg Abbott touted the 89th Texas Legislature's pass of each of his seven 2025 emergency items in a wide-ranging roundtable discussion with media, during which he also stated he's undecided on both a special session and a prospective veto of the state THC ban. Abbott stated, quote, without a doubt, this is the best session I've ever had. More importantly for Texans, this has been the most transformative session for the future

of Texas, and the positive effects of the session are going to be felt for decades. End quote. To Abbott's delight, legislation addressing all seven of his emergency items passed the legislature. As outlined in his 2025 State of the Dress, those emergency items were property tax relief, water infrastructure investment, teacher pay raise, expanded career training, education savings account program, bail reform, and create a Texas cyber command. Also, Anise Parker, the former mayor of Houston, has announced that she is officially running against Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo in 2026. Parker told press at the Harris County

Civil Courthouse, quote, I have no idea if there's going to be anybody else in this race at the moment. There is nobody else in this race, and with the chaos in Washington and the continued drumbeat of attacks from Austin on cities and counties across the state, I think Harris County residents need certainty." Parker served as mayor of the nation's fourth largest city from 2010 until 2016. When she was first elected, Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay individual to the office of mayor. Parker was the author of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, or HERO, in 2015, which was supported by the Houston City Council. HERO would have created a new Equal Rights chapter in the Municipal Code addressing discrimination in city employment, city contracting, housing, public accommodations, and private employment. Last but not least, runoff

elections last weekend determined several mayoral and major city council seats in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. In Dallas, former City Plan Commissioner Lori Blair beat ex-councilman Eric Wilson with 56% of the vote for Place 8 on the City Council. Blair will replace long-standing Councilmember Tanelle Atkins, who has represented Place 8 for 16 of the last 18 years. In Place 11, Republican-supported attorney Bill Roth beat Democrat-supported North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Chief Operating Officer Jeff Kittner with 53% of the vote. Roth succeeds

council member Janie Schultz who spent two terms on the council and did not run for re-election. 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.