The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 21, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Monday, October 21. 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, the 2024 general election has begun as the early voting period in Texas begins today, October 21, and will continue for 12 days. In addition to the presidential election, Texas will be voting across the ballot for 39 federal positions, including one U.S. Senate seat and 38 of Texas' congressional seats in the U.S. House, in addition to a number of statewide elections, including 24 state senators and 135 state representatives. Early voting concludes on Friday, November 1. Polls open on Election Day, November 5, at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Next, Governor Greg Abbott's General Counsel has weighed in on the stay of execution of death row inmate Robert Roberson, who was scheduled to provide testimony in front of the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. In a series of legal maneuvers, members of the House were able to secure a subpoena for Roberson to appear before a committee hearing about his case at 12 p.m. on Monday. Roberson was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2003, in connection with the death of his two-year-old

Starting point is 00:01:31 daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002. The day before Roberson was set to appear, questions concerning his viability to be physically present at the Capitol arose. The House members, led by State Representatives Jeff Leach and Joe Moody, filed a response with the Supreme Court of Texas requesting a denial of a previous motion by the Office of the Attorney General, which argued that the petition to have Roberson appear lacks jurisdiction. The Texas Supreme Court declined to rule on the OAG motion, noting that certain issues related to the case remain under consideration, and approved a stay of execution for the subpoena to be carried out.

Starting point is 00:02:09 Roberson did not appear in person or virtually during the Monday hearing. Moody indicated that the committee is weighing options for how to have Roberson provide testimony. In other news, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined a petition to the Federal Election Commission demanding that it close certain loopholes to prevent the Democratic fundraising operation ActBlue from allegedly participating in illicit activity. paid cards as an acceptable form of regulation, and procedures that ensure the identity provided by a donor wholly matches the information the donor's card issuer has on file. Paxton launched his investigation into ActBlue in December 2023 after concerns were raised that, quote, a large number of suspicious donations, end quote, were being made through the platform by unidentified donors, who allegedly labeled their identity as other, unaware individuals. The general allegation is

Starting point is 00:03:12 that large donations have been funneled through ActBlue by way of millions of small-dollar donations using prepaid cards under names of people who didn't authorize the payments. Also, the punchy debate between Congressman Vicente Gonzalez and former Congresswoman Myra Flores for Texas' 34th congressional district was a microcosm of the contentious race itself, as the pair grappled over the economy, social issues, and border security. The lattermost is the most pressing for the region, which has reeled from illegal immigrant crossings over the last handful of years, but federal data from August showed what the agency described as, quote, the lowest level in years, end quote, around 58,000 encounters that came after the agency limited the scope of those who could claim asylum. Gonzalez called for reforming the asylum laws such that those seeking entry under the law apply for it outside the U.S., rather than doing so once they cross the border here.

Starting point is 00:04:11 Last but not least, the Fort Worth Independent School District has experienced its fair share of turmoil over the past month and a half. The district's board meeting on August 27th featured Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, among many others speaking, urging the school board to make changes after a lackluster year in performance. In the same meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to accept the voluntary resignation of Superintendent Angelica Ramsey on Tuesday, September 24th, by a vote of 8-1. That resignation took effect on October 1st, leaving the district with no chief administrator. This comes just over one year after the district extended Ramsey's contract to 2026. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and

Starting point is 00:05:12 subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

Your Ad Here

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 21, 2024

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.