The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 17, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Monday, November 17th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Governor Greg Abbott scheduled a highly anticipated special election runoff for Houston's Congressional District 18 for January 31st, 2026. As candidate, Amanda Edwards and Christian Menofy face off to fill the unexpired term of the late Sylvester Turner. Harris County Attorney Menifee and former Houston City Council member Edwards emerged from the pack of 16 candidates vying for CD18 in the November 4th election with 29% and 26% of the vote, respectively. After Turner's death in March 2025, Houston-area Democrats pressed the governor to schedule a special election as early as

Starting point is 00:01:00 June. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Menafee threatened legal action against Abbott if he did not schedule the election at least for November. Next, Democrat Taylor Remit and Republican Lae Wams Gons will square off in the special election runoff for Texas Senate District 9 on January 31st next year. Governor Greg Abbott set the runoff date on Monday after canvassing the results for the special election that occurred earlier this month, in which Remit finished. only 2.5 points shy of winning outright. Wamsgans pulled in 36% of the vote, well ahead of the other Republican in the race, John Huffman. Nearly $6 million was spent between the two Republicans and those supporting them, about that became a proxy fight for

Starting point is 00:01:47 legalizing casinos in Texas. Meanwhile, Remit spent less than $70,000, but Democrats and their voters rallied behind him, exceeding the district's partisan rating by almost eight points. SD9 is rated R-60% by the Texans' Texas Partisan Index. In other news, Congressman Chip Roy will soon file a bill to freeze all immigration into the United States until certain objectives are achieved, including ending the H-1B visa system and responding to the advancement of Sharia law. During an interview last week with political pundit Benny Johnson on The Benny Show, Roy stated that he would file such a bill this week or

Starting point is 00:02:30 the next, stating that it had been delayed due to the government shutdown, which ended on Wednesday night after a record 43 days. Roy described the legislation as a freeze on all immigration until various goals are met, such as, quote, reforming things like chain migration and diversity and ending H-1B, getting birthright citizenship dealt with. Also, a criminal illegal alien and a Salvadoran National were arrested in Texas after allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulting one of the men's minor relatives, also an illegal alien, who was sponsored by and thus left alone with him. Felix Bustillo Diaz was taken into custody for immigration-related violations at the Montgomery County Processing Center in early November, and was shortly after transferred to the Harris County

Starting point is 00:03:19 Sheriff's Office. Per a press release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday, Bustillo was given sponsorship of his grandniece after her Honduran mother smuggled the girl into the country in 2014. Bustillo was granted temporary protected status in 2024 while President Joe Biden was in office, a status that's since been revoked. Jose Gerber Rivera, a 45-year-old Salvadoran National, also arrested for repeated rape of the minor, was taken into custody in the woodlands on November 4th by the Montgomery County Constable's office. Last but not least, the impending New World Screwworm threat remains a priority for the federal government, which recently announced the completion of a new combative measure south of the border.

Starting point is 00:04:05 Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture opened a sterile fly facility in Tampico, Mexico, as one of its first steps in the five-pronged plan for combating the pest. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rawlins, stated in a press release about the new facility, quote, the facility will ensure flexibility and responsiveness in northern Mexico, giving us a greater ability to drop sterile flies and continue to push the pest south. She added that the USDA is continuing conversations with Mexican government officials on how they can work together on, quote, completing a joint review of our screw worm operations in Mexico to ensure our protocols are being followed.

Starting point is 00:04:46 The plan for the new facility is to release hundreds of millions of sterile flies, so that these sterilized males mate with female New World screwworm and produce no offspring, which would in time lead to eradication of the threat. 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.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 17, 2025

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