The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 2, 2026

Episode Date: October 2, 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 Friday, October 2nd, 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, a man was arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on the Texas State Capitol in Austin early in the morning of Wednesday, September 30th. The attack was allegedly set to occur on October 1st. 40-year-old Benny Caldera Jr. of Converse was arrested by a Texas Department of Public Safety SWAT team. He was booked into the Bayar County Jail and charged with making a terroristic threat against a public servant, a third-degree felony, and was held on a $75,000 bond. Following public concern after the Bayar County Magistrate website listed Caldera as being out on bond, a spokesman for DPS clarified that he had been taken into federal custody to face yet undisclosed. federal charges. Next, at an event hosted by the U.S. Hispanic Business Council on Wednesday,

State Representative James Talariko spoke about his background and what he plans to do if he's elected to the U.S. Senate in November. The event is the second Senate candidate interview held this week by the U.S. HBC, which hosted Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate, on Monday. Talariko, who appeared via video chat because of a recent flu diagnosis, was interviewed by Javier Palomarez, USHBC's president and CEO. In his remarks, the Democratic candidate gestured toward the center of the political spectrum, saying that he was deeply grateful for our oil and gas industry, a shift from some of his prior comments about fossil fuels, and saying that he supported an all-of-the-above energy policy. He also expressed a desire to streamline the permit,

process and reiterated his call to suspend the federal gas tax. He described himself as a border security Democrat, though he added that he also supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and a new guest worker program. In other news, Texas lawmakers seeking answers from Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza on his decisions not to prosecute numerous criminals received few answers during a hearing at the Capitol on Wednesday and grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of transparency from Garza's office. In a day-long hearing held by the Texas House Select Committee on governmental oversight, multiple victims, advocates, and criminal justice stakeholders testified about their experiences with the Travis County District Attorney's Office. Examples included

dismissed charges for a man who was arrested for again attacking an Austin woman just last weekend, and dropped murder charges for Roy Garcia, who had been accused of shooting a man in the back of the head in 2022. Garza declined an invitation to testify and instead sent a five-page letter to the committee, according to Chairman Cody Vesud. But after State Representative Mitch Little suggested that the committee sent a subpoena hours into the hearing, the office sent a legislative liaison to testify. State Representative Ellen Trox Claire pressed the liaison for answers about Garza's office's failure to bring timely indictments leading to the release of 263 defendants in 2024, as well as other cases, including one in which Garza reduced murder charges to tampering with

a human corpse for a man accused of beating a woman to death. Last but not least, the rate-making process for Texas electricity prices and grid congestion were two topics addressed by the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce hearing on Wednesday, with the 765 kilovolt transmission line project also featuring prominently during the hearing. Texas Grid has drawn immense attention recently as large load users, like data center companies, seek connection to the grid and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas responds with a new approval process. With plans to build 765-kilovolt transmission lines as part of the Permian Basin Reliability Plan to move East Texas energy across the state to meet growing demand in West Texas.

Ryan King, manager of market design at Aircott, said that system congestion is a, quote, very valuable product these days, end quote. As while congestion generally creates costs for electric grids, limited power flows and transmission constraints can prevent infrastructure from being overloaded. Congestion also can create economic value because it identifies scarcity points on the grid and allows other economic resources and technologies to meet them. However, he conceded that reduced congestion means reduced costs on consumers. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan.news to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.