The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 14, 2026

Episode Date: October 14, 2026

The Texan’s Daily Rundown brings you a quick recap of the latest stories in Texas politics so you can stay informed with news you can trust.Want more resources? Visit The Texan for complete access to our in-depth articles, newsletters, videos, podcasts, and more.Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to follow us and leave a review!

Well, howdy folks, today is Wednesday, October 14th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texan senior editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the Texans War Room has been updated with the most recent filings for the Texas Ethics Commission for the 30-day pre-election period. The war room provides a comprehensive look into the most pivotal campaigns of the 26 elections in the Lone Star state. Visit the texan. News now to read about the latest campaign finance numbers for all the statewide races, as well as elections for Texas House and Senate, the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, and the State Board of Education. Next, a new poll of likely voters in Texas's most populous county shows state representative James Tala Rico leading Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

by 22 percentage points in the U.S. Senate race, and that most Harris County voters believe the state and county are all headed in the wrong direction. Conducted by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, the survey of over 2,700 likely voters in Harris County found that 58% planned to vote for Tala Rico, 36% for Paxton, 2% for libertarian Ted Brown, and just 4% were unsure. Only 2% and 3% of Harris County likely voters did not know enough about Paxton in Tala Rico, to have an opinion of them. Governor Greg Abbott also trailed State Representative Gina Hina Hosa in his quest for a fourth term by 16 percentage points. Although Harris County has supported Democrats at the top of the ticket in the last several election cycles, the poll results indicated Republicans

have lost ground, at least at the statewide level. In 2024, former U.S. Representative Colin Alred bested U.S. Senator Ted Cruz by 11 points in the county, although Cruz won state-wide. by 8.5 percentage points. While 97% of Democrats polled said they would vote for Tala Rico, just 85% of Republicans said they planned to vote for Paxton, 7% for Tala Rico, and 3% for Brown. Of those supporting Abbott, 89% planned to vote for Paxton. In other news, in a race for a flip-prone Texas House seat, a former think tank advisor and a Democratic campaign alumna are now running for their own turn in office. Republican, Jorge Barago and Democrat Christian Carranza are squaring off to replace outgoing state representative

John Lujan in the Texas House this November. Previous election data suggests that House District 118, which wraps around the southern and northeastern edges of San Antonio, is a toss-up. The median percentage of Republican votes relative to Democratic votes in the past two statewide elections averages are 51%. Tied with HD-34, HD-70, HD-1-4-H-D-14. for the leanest partisanship in the state, according to the Texans' Texas Partisan Index. Though the district may be split, neither candidate is straddling the fence. While Caranza centers her platform on what she calls kitchen table issues, she maintains a focus on abortion, sexuality, and other social issues

that many statewide Democratic candidates have avoided this year. In a similar vein, Barago calls affordability a major priority for his campaign, but also pledges to keep girls' sports for girls and keep violent criminals off our streets. Last but not least, the city of Seminole is holding a special election on November 3rd to allow voters to decide whether to designate it as a sanctuary city for the unborn. The roughly 8,000 residents of the town in West Texas, near the border of New Mexico, will decide if they wish to make abortion at all stages of pregnancy illegal in their city, except when required to save the life of a mother, in a medical emergency. The ordinance would also make distribution of abortion-inducing drugs, abortion trafficking, and disposal of fetal remains from abortion illegal in the city. Similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act, the Seminole Ordinance has a private enforcement action,

meaning the government doesn't enforce it like a criminal law, but instead through a civil action. The woman securing the abortion cannot be sued under the ordinance. Whereas the Heartbeat Act's private enforcement action becomes available upon the detection of a fetal heartbeat, the ordinance's action would be available from the point of conception. A citizen-led initiative with 1,500 signatures brought the sanctuary cities for the unborn ordinance before the Seminole City Council in August, but it was unanimously rejected. The rejection triggered a proclamation certifying the citizen petition and then an announcement of the special election in November. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan. News to get full

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