The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 7, 2024

Episode Date: October 7, 2024

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Howdy folks, today is Monday, October 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, it has been one year since Hamas's October 7th attack on Israel, and the deadly event has continued to have an impact on Texas, the nation, and the globe. More than 1,200 people were killed in the terrorist attack, including 46 Americans. Hamas took 254 people hostage, 12 of those being Americans. The attack has been referred to as the single deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation for the one-year anniversary, declaring a day of observance for Israel.

Abbott wrote, In the proclamation, Abbott asked for a moment of silence for the four living Americans being held hostage, Idan Alexander, Sagi Dekelhen, Omer Nutra, and Keith Siegel, and three whose dead bodies, Judith Weinstein Haggai, Itai Chen, and Gadi Haggai, are still being held by Hamas. Next, there are less than 30 days until the 2024 election and the deadline to register to vote in Texas is Monday, October 7th. The presidential election notwithstanding,

November will see a number of important races be determined. Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Colin Allred are locked in a tight race for U.S. Senate and a number of congressional races, including Texas's 15th and 34th congressional districts, appear to be headed to the wire. In Texas, there are nearly 22 million people of voting age and almost 18 million registered voters. To vote in the state, one must be registered at least 30 days before the election date and meet eligibility requirements,

including U.S. citizenship, residency in the county of registration, and being at least 18 years old on election day. Texas voters do not declare a party affiliation when registering, and registered voters can verify their status on the Secretary of State's website. In other news, Republican Denise Villalobos and Democrat Solomon Ortiz Jr. will square off in a race for a South Texas House seat focused on two of Texas' hot-button topics, the border crisis and school choice. Following Democratic Rep. Abel Herrero's decision to forego re-election to his House District 34 seat after over a decade, particular attention was drawn to the district for its potential to swing from blue to red this November. The district moved from a D57% rating in the Texans-Texas Partisan Index before last cycle to D54% after the 2022 election. The district consists of the portion of Nueces County in which Corpus Christi is located, with a population of over 774,000,

a median age of 30.6, and a median household income of just over $48,000, according to 2022 data published by DataUSA. No stranger to the border crisis, the oil and gas industry, and ranching, South Texas voters have started voting increasingly red since 2020, a turn that Republicans attribute largely to the differences in the parties on the border situation. Also, it's a presidential election year, which means most of the attention on election night will be trained on a handful of swing states. But Texas is not one of those. Trump will win the Lone Star State, the only question is by how much.

But the top of the ticket is far from the most interesting contest up for grabs on November 5th. Visit thetexan.news for the top races in the state to watch next month. Last but not least, Texas General Land Office Commissioner Don Buckingham has signed the deed of the Alamo Cenotaph, officially accepting ownership of the monument after a years-long saga. Buckingham first announced ownership would be transferred to the GLO in May after a vote by the San Antonio City Council. The Cenotaph, a Greek word meaning empty tomb, was completed in 1940 and erected by the Texas Centennial Commission. Designed by Italian sculptor Pompeo Coppini,

the monument honors fallen Texas soldiers and all defenders who are buried elsewhere. In 2020, the city of San Antonio requested to move and restore the cenotaph as key part of the Alamo Project, citing concerns about corrosion and the monument's anachronistic appearance. However, the Texas Historical Commission voted against that proposal.

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