The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 5, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Wednesday, November 5th, 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. Tuesday, November 4th was Election Day, with political developments all across the state. Let's get into some of them. Visit the Texan.News for a full look at everything that happened last night. First up, Austin voters soundly rejected a property tax proposal Tuesday that drew bipartisan opposition to a 20% rate hike, billed as a measure to cover a purported budget shortfall while expanding services for the city's homeless population. According to unofficial election results, voters in the Travis County portion of Austin rejected proposition Q by 63% and those in Williamson County by 67%. Under the measure, the city property tax rate would have risen from over 47 cents per $100

Starting point is 00:01:01 of valuation to over 57 cents per $100. The voter-approved increase would have not been temporary, but added to the maintenance and operations portion of property tax bills and would have added at least $300 per year to city property tax bills for the next year. The voter-approved increase was not temporary, but would have added to the maintenance and operations portion of property tax bills, and would have added at least $300 per year to city property tax bills next year for the average homeowner with a property value of $500,000. Next, all 17 state constitutional amendments were approved by Texas voters on Election Day, including several

Starting point is 00:01:43 tax prohibitions, exemptions, and a bail reform proposition. Among the propositions that were approved by Texan voters on Tuesday was Proposition 15, known as the Parental Bill of Rights. It amends the Texas Constitution to affirm that, quote, parents are the primary decision makers for their children. Proposition 3 was one of the most high-profile ballot items, an evolved bail reform initiative from several sessions prior to the 89th legislative session. It allows judges to deny bail to defendants charged with first-degree felony sexual offenses, continuous trafficking of persons, or certain violent offenses. If the district attorney, office presents clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is either unlikely to return for a

Starting point is 00:02:29 court hearing or poses a threat. It does not mandate judges to give detention without bail. Proposition 16 clarifies that in order to vote, one must be a U.S. citizen. It was added as a possible amendment in response to an increase in both state and federal attempts to further prevent non-citizens from voting in American elections. In other news, the special election for Texas Senate District 9 will continue into a runoff with two candidates, Republican Lay Wamsgans and Democrat Taylor Remit. Based on early voting and some voting day results, no candidates secured over 50% of the votes cast, so the two highest vote recipients will move on to the runoff election, the date of which remains to be set by Governor Greg Abbott. The North Texas Senate seat was vacated when former

Starting point is 00:03:17 State Senator Kelly Hancock resigned and was appointed by Abbott to fill the vacancy as the Texas comptroller of public accounts. Three candidates jumped into the race, Republican's Wams Gons, the former leader of Patriot Mobile Pack, and John Huffman, the former mayor of Southlake, and Democrat Remit, a veteran and union president. Last but not least, nearly nine months after a Houston area congressional seat was left vacant with the death of U.S. Representative Sylvester Turner, residents will have to wait until December to have representation in the U.S. House as no candidate won more than 50% of the vote in Tuesday's special election. According to unofficial election results for Texas Congressional District 18,

Starting point is 00:04:01 Democrats claimed the top spots with Christian Menifee winning 29% of the vote, while Amanda Edwards garnered 26%, sending the two into a runoff contest scheduled for December 13th. The field of 16 candidates also included State Representative Jolanda Jones, and Republican Carmen Maria Montiel, who won 19% and 7% respectively. Isaiah Martin, a former advisor to the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who held the seat before Turner, came in fifth place with just under 5%. 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. Thank you.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 5, 2025

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