The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 5, 2024

Episode Date: November 5, 2024

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Howdy folks, today is Election Day, Tuesday, November 5th, 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. It's here. There are just hours until polls close in Texas and the 2024 election results start rolling in. Visit thetexan.news to read the five themes to watch as election day voters head to the polls and ballots are counted, from the partisan changes in South Texas to the legislative math

over who could be the next speaker of the Texas House. Also visit The Texan for our Decision Desk HQ-powered live results tracker, which will start updating once the polls close tonight at 7 p.m. See results for the presidential election, state house and Senate races, and judicial elections. Next, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

announced that his lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice has succeeded as the federal agency agreed to back down on a plan to place federal monitors inside polling sites. Paxton explained that the DOJ would still be sending federal monitors, but that they would only be in the parking lot 100 feet away from the polling site entrances to speak with voters who chose to speak to them. DOJ officials set off a firestorm last week when, in response to requests from Texas Democrats, they announced they would send

monitors to eight counties, including Texas's most populous, Bayar, Dallas, and Harris. Texas law has long placed strict limits on who may serve as watchers inside polling locations and central count locations. The DOJ has previously sent monitors to Texas, including in 2022, but they were not authorized to enter polling sites. Paxton's lawsuit filed Monday mirrored that filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey over the DOJ plan to send unauthorized poll monitors to his state. In other news, Congressman Colin Allred has gone his own way, and from a cursory perspective, it will either pay off or crash and burn. But there is a third option available to the Democrat challenging Senator Ted Cruz, who is running for another six years in the U.S. Senate. Texas is not a Democratic state. Republicans hold every single statewide position, and they usually win those by double-digit margins. The minority party's only whiff of an upset in the last couple of decades came six years ago in an anomaly of a cycle marked by two GOP officials with high

negatives. One in then-President Donald Trump, two years into his term, and the other in Cruz. This year, both are on the ballot, a fact that motivates their opposition but also their supporters. However, the 2018 environment simply doesn't exist. Democrats have no hope of taking control of the Texas legislature this year, nor really of winning any other statewide race. The R-plus-12 state is just too much for an average Democrat running for an average seat to take a real stab. They're playing the long game before 2031's redistricting and, coincidentally, it starts with All Red's race. Also, situated in North Dallas, House District 108 will feature a clash between incumbent Representative Morgan Meyer and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Ginsburg.

Meyer won the Republican nomination after a tough primary matchup against Donald Trump-backed Barry Wernick. Meyer faced some opposition within his own party after his opponent in the primary was also backed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller. Meyer was part of the House Board of Managers during the impeachment trial of Paxton, irritating some in the right flank of his party. However, he has received support from Governor Greg Abbott, who continues to hit the road during campaign season and advocate for Meyer. Abbott has campaigned heavily with a number of incumbent candidates who voted against stripping education savings accounts from the House's 2023 Education Omnibus Bill. Ginsburg is a familiar foe to Meyer Meyer as he defeated her in the 2022

general election. Again, make sure to visit thetexan.news tonight for our live results tracker. The polls close at 7 p.m. and tune in tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a live stream on X or Twitter, whichever you prefer, featuring the Texans' whole team breaking down the outcomes and predicting what it could mean for the Lone Star State and the nation going into 2025. Our handle is at TheTexanNews. This is one conversation

you won't want to miss. 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.