The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 7, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Thursday, November 7th, 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. First up, Texas House District 80 will see Don McLaughlin Jr. fill the seat after picking up 58 percent, according to Decision Desk HQ and defeating Cecilia Castellano. Castellano picked up 42.1% at the time of reporting. McLaughlin said, quote, this victory belongs to the people of South Texas. I am both humbled and honored to serve as your voice in Austin. I am committed to working tirelessly to make our communities safer, our economy stronger, and our future brighter. Thank you for trusting me to represent you and our community's values."

Starting point is 00:00:52 Castellano defeated challenger Rosie Cuellar, sister of Congressman Henry Cuellar, in a runoff for the nomination back in May. Cuellar crossed party lines and endorsed McLaughlin following her defeat. McLaughlin resigned from his position as mayor of Uvalde to run for House District 80. He was first elected mayor in 2014 and made headlines in 2022 after calling Beto O'Rourke a, quote, sick son of a B-word for interrupting a press conference following the shooting at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 students and two teachers. HD80 was left vacant after the current representative, Tracy King, made the decision to not seek an eighth term in office last year. Next, Collin County's House District 70 will see Representative Mihaela Placa

Starting point is 00:01:39 hold her seat after she defeated Republican challenger Steve Kennard. With 94% of the vote reporting, Placid picked up 52.1% to 47.9% for Kennard. Known for being a purple district, HD70 has a Texas Partisan Index rating of D52%, meaning Democrats hold an advantage of just four points. It was seen as a battleground race for both political parties. The district has seen partisan shifts over the past few years. From 2018 to 2020, it was rated even according to the Texans' partisan breakdown. Leading into the November 5th general election, Playsa had raised almost $662,000 and spent almost $459,000, while Kennard had raised almost $128,000 and spent over $71,000. In the final days of the campaign season, Governor Greg Abbott made an $18,000 donation to Kennard

Starting point is 00:02:34 to aid his digital advertising. Placer also put out an advertisement hitting Kennard for his support of school choice. In other news, a Republican Fort Bend County Commissioner handily won re-election Tuesday in a race marred by a scandal over stolen identity, online impersonation, and faked racist messages about the Indian American community. According to unofficial election results, Commissioner Andy Myers took 59% of the vote, while Democratic challenger Taral Patel captured 41 percent in a precinct that was redistricted to lean towards Democratic voters by 54 percent. Myers said in a statement, quote, I am deeply grateful for the historic victory we have achieved. With support from both Republicans and Democrats, we earned 59 percent of the vote. Earlier this year,

Starting point is 00:03:23 Patel was arrested and charged over a series of racist messages posted on Facebook under the name Antonio Scaliwag. Investigators with the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office and the Texas Rangers say that Patel created the fake account using the photo of a local resident along with his wife and minor children. Since then, the investigation found evidence indicating that Patel also impersonated Judge Surindran Patel and sent emails as Paul Rosenstein to residents, political donors, and business owners. The emails cited a non-existent poll and claimed that Myers

Starting point is 00:03:59 could not win re-election and should not be supported financially or otherwise. Last but not least, Tarrant County, with a population of over 2 million, has been referred to as the last red urban county in America. But in 2020, President Joe Biden won Tarrant County by just under 2,000 votes, and in 2018, Beto O'Rourke received 4,000 more votes than Senator Ted Cruz. So the question of Tarrant County's status as a Republican stronghold came into question, with U.S. News & World Report calling it a battleground county. During this presidential election, with former President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, Tarrant County's unofficial results were solidly red with only a couple of exceptions. Of the 61 races reported by Tarrant

Starting point is 00:04:46 County elections, 46 were won by Republicans and 15 by Democrats. Turnout was strong with 64 percent of the nearly 1.3 million registered voters. 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.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 7, 2024

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