The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 15, 2024
Episode Date: October 15, 2024Want to support The Texan and help us continue providing the Lone Star State with news you can trust? Subscribe today: https://thetexan.news/subscribe/The Texan’s Daily Rundown brings you a quick re...cap of the latest stories in Texas politics so you can stay informed with news you can trust.Want more resources? Be sure to visit The Texan and subscribe for complete access to our in-depth articles, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, videos, podcasts, and more.Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review!
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Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, October 15th, 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, Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Colin Allred will meet in their
only head-to-head debate matchup tonight at 7 p.m.
Central Time, which comes as millions flow into the state and polls show a competitive bout between
the two heavyweights for Cruz's U.S. Senate seat. Cruz and Allred have spent much of the campaign
fashioning themselves as bipartisan. For Cruz, who's been among the most outspoken and divisive
politicians in American politics for a while now, the uphill climb is steeper.
But Texas' junior senator has spent this cycle touting business issues like bringing microchip manufacturing back stateside and facilitating their assembly in Texas.
Cruz has also launched a Democrats for Cruz initiative, headlined by outgoing Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Allred has his own crossover coalition, too. Headlining his Republicans for Allred group
are former congressional members Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Both camps have settled on their
homestretch wedge issues, which either side believes reduces the other's lukewarm support
or undecided numbers.
For Allred, that issue has long been abortion.
His campaign has run multiple ads featuring Texas women who've sued the state over its abortion restrictions since the overturning of Roe v. Wade,
highlighting each's health complications while pregnant that, for one reason or another, led to them obtaining an abortion or removing a deceased fetus.
In the other corner, Cruz's wedge issue is trained on biological males competing in girls' sports.
The Texans' senior reporter Brad Johnson is there now and will be reporting live all night.
Follow him on Twitter slash X at BradJ underscore TX. In other news, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the state of Texas' request
to pause a district court injunction against a 2021 Texas election law, citing the Supreme Court's
guidance against altering election laws close to an election. The order notes that, quote,
the law has been on the books for over three years, but the court did not see fit to enjoin until now.
In 2021, Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 1, which added provisions designed to prevent voter fraud by creating additional criminal statutes,
prohibiting unsolicited mail-in ballot applications, and setting more ground rules for early voting and voter registration.
The law creates an offense for vote-harvesting services and specifically bans, quote,
in-person interaction with one or more voters in the physical presence of an official ballot,
a ballot voted by mail, or an application for ballot by mail, intended to deliver votes for a specific candidate or measure.
Six progressive organizations sued the state over the election integrity laws,
with a federal judge issuing a ruling last month that declared the law unconstitutional
and enjoined state officials from enforcing it.
Last but not least, for the second time this year,
the State Commission on Judicial Conduct has issued a public reprimand for former Judge Franklin Bynum of Harris County,
this time for making false statements about an administrative court judge and Supreme Court of Texas Justice Nathan Hecht.
In August, the commission issued a public reprimand for Bynum, who formerly served as the presiding judge over a Harris County misdemeanor
court for his refusal to follow state law and behavior demonstrating bias against the state
and victims of domestic violence. The commission issued a second public reprimand last week
regarding Bynum's claims that Administrative Judge Susan Brown, presiding over the 11th
Judicial Region of Texas, had told him during a phone call
that Hecht wanted him removed. Bynum repeated his claims to the Houston Chronicle for an article in
2022 and again during his testimony before the commission during a hearing to consider a formal
suspension. 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.