The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - March 23, 2026

Episode Date: March 23, 2026

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Howdy folks, today is Monday, March 23rd, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans managing editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, both the Dallas and Williamson County GOPs are working to return to county-wide voting for the May primary runoff after their new system, requiring voters to only cast ballots in their assigned precincts, caused significant confusion on Texas. March 3rd primary election day. The Democratic primary for U.S. Senate remained in the balance late on the night of March 3rd after reports circulated that large numbers of voters in Williamson and Dallas counties were showing up to the wrong voting locations due to confusion over the new requirements that local residents cast their votes in their precincts. Around 13,000 Dallas residents were reported as having shown up to the wrong polling place on Election Day. In response, a Dallas County

judge extended voting hours until 9 p.m. per the request of both Democratic primary contenders, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and State Representative James Talleyico, polls everywhere else closed at 7 p.m. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as his own results in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate rolled in, filed a motion with the Supreme Court of Texas that night to halt voting and require any votes cast after the originally scheduled end time of 7 p.m. be separated, which was granted to him. In other news, residents of Fort Worth will be asked to approve an $845 million bond package and nine charter amendments, including a pay increase for the mayor and city council on May 2nd. A special election to fill the seat for District 10 being vacated by Alan Blaylock will also be

held. The city's bond package will be divided into six propositions. The largest of them is Proposition A for $511 million, accounting for more than 60% of the total package for streets and other transportation infrastructure projects. The city conducted several citizen feedback sessions about the bond proposal and said the bond package was based on that feedback and the city staff's data-driven approach. Because the bond package will extend the city's bond obligation, the state requires the ballot to include the language, quote, this is a tax increase. However, the city says it expects it will be able to repay the bond obligations without increasing the city tax rate. Last but not least, data centers use a substantial amount of water, and not only are they booming in Texas with over 400 currently active,

but the state's water-needy agricultural industry may struggle to keep up. AI data centers have garnered attention in recent months, especially as predictions anticipate demand for water outpacing supply in Texas in the coming decades. Areas like Corpus Christi, which forecasted it would run out of water next year, are facing serious crises, and the state's projected supply might strain to keep up with demand. Currently, laws regarding water use by data centers are ill-defined, and standardized reporting systems have yet to be strongly codified. The issue is being trumpeted by both Republicans and Democrats in a bipartisan push to formalize laws surrounding groundwater usage by the technological developments. Research published by the Houston Advanced Research Center called current

state planning regarding water in the quickly expanding industry a blind spot and insisted on transparency and modernized forecasting surrounding the issue. According to their 2026 paper, Texas data centers consume an estimated 25 billion gallons of water usage annually for electricity generation and cooling systems. And by 2030, that number could potentially rise to represent 2.7% of the state's water usage. 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.