The Texan Podcast - Weekly Roundup - February 27, 2026

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

Show off your Lone Star spirit with a free "Remember the Alamo" hat with an annual subscription to The Texan: https://thetexan.news/subscribe/The Texan’s Weekly Roundup brings you the latest news in Texas politics, breaking down the top stories of the week with our team of reporters who give you the facts so you can form your own opinion.Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! Got questions for the reporting team? Email [e-mail] — they just might be answered on a future podcast.Texas Primary Candidates Spending Big in Final Stretch Before Election Day on March 3Casino Interest Betting Big in in the 2026 Texas PrimariesOpen Congressional District 21 Sees 15 Candidates to Succeed Congressman Chip RoyCongressman John Carter Faces Valentina Gomez, 'ShamWow Guy' in Crowded GOP PrimaryTexas Congressional District 19 Candidates Square Off in Radio DebateIncumbent State Rep. Janie Lopez Faces One GOP Challenger in South Texas House RaceEast Texas Senate GOP Primary Candidates Ward, Ashby, See Major FundraisingJohn Lujan’s Bexar County Texas House Seat Draws Multiple Republicans, One DemocratTexas Leadership Increases Security After Takeout of Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Mencho’, Cartel Violence IncreasesAustin High School Parent Files Complaint With Attorney General Over Male Student Using Girls' RestroomPatrick Asks to Block Camp Mystic's License to Operate Until Further Investigation into July 2025 Flooding

Folks, these are a lot of races we're running through today, but all of this can be found at the Texan. And if you have specific districts you're looking at and saying, hey, is my district competitive? Go check out our Texas Partisan Index for a breakdown of that as well. But we likely have a story about races in your area, so make sure to go check that out, Meredith. Well, howdy, folks? It's McKenzie here with Hannah, Meredith, and Mary Elise on another edition of the Texans Weekly Roundup. We are just a few days out from primary elections here in Texas if you've not voted. today is the last day to early vote to get out there and do so if you've not already. But Election Day is March 3rd next Tuesday, which is going to be wild to watch.

And of course, you have the option to vote on Election Day itself. So check that out. Make sure you get to the polls. But folks, we have so much to talk about today. And it comes down to fundraising, campaigns, contentious political advertisements, all the above is what we're talking about today. So we'll go ahead and jump right into it. But Mary Lisa, I want to start talking through this fundraising.

I also want to plug the war room on our website, which gives you a great insight into where the money is coming from for these candidates. Our managing editor, Rob Laus, make sure that folks are up to date. But it's a one-stop shop for all things, campaign finance, all sorts of information on the state's hottest races. And we have compiled there. Basically, we just choose races where there is, you know, a contentious race, so that folks can not be inundated with information about races. where maybe there's not an open seat, or maybe there's only one candidate, whatever it might be. This is a one-stop shop for all of those races that are the hottest this cycle. And it compiles all the finance numbers.

You can see what's going on. It's a fantastic resource. So definitely go check that out at the Texan.com. And as always, subscribe to our platform or our website if you have not already. But Maryle's, let's talk about the statewide campaign finance reports release as we do. They're the top lines for the biggest races, the most expensive races in the state and Lurdy, they expensive this cycle? Give us the details. Yeah, they sure are. So we saw the eight-day pre-primary reports come rolling in this week, which a lot of people had their eyes on,

especially with the primary being so close now. It's very interesting to look at these numbers, see how much these candidates are spending in this last sprint. They're really accelerating the last bit of their campaign spending. So, of course, Governor Greg Abbott led the field, per usual, and both spending and fundraising, kind of continuing this pattern he has of using the sizable war chest he usually has as a support for Texas Republicans that are in contingentist primaries or in just any other race beyond his own. His political action committee, Texans for Greg Abbott, spent 10.7 million between this reporting period, which spanned from January 23rd to February 21st.

So it was about, I believe, a little bit over a month that this covered. and then raised $2.1 million, and then this campaign account, this pack finished with $95.5 million in cash on hand. So sizable, of course. And then in his personal account, Abbott reported a little bit over $42,000 spent, and then $569,000 over that in cash on hand. And then the leading Democratic candidate for Texas governor, state representative, Gina Enoosa, She shared that she raised $951,000 and then reported that she had spent a little over $673,000, and then she wrapped up with a little bit over $600,000 in cash on hand. And so she's, of course, the leading Democratic contender for this Texas governor race.

And so we'll see if she winds up running against Abbott in November for Texas governor. We also cover Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's pack how much they raised. They spent $5.9 million during this reporting period and then raised $736,000, and then finished with $31.7 million in cash on hand. And then through his own personal account, Patrick raised $150,000 and then reported nearly $500 in cash on hand. And then a total of $169,000 in expenses. State Representative Vicki Goodwin, who we've covered, who is the most high-profile Democratic challenger that's aiming for Patrick's seat as lieutenant governor. She reported spending $78,000 and then raising about $83,000 over this approximately month-long period.

Then moving on, this one was very interesting to look at with the eight-day pre-primary numbers. The Attorney General Race, so this is the race to select a success. for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He's, of course, running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. He's going against U.S. Senator John Cornyn, the incumbent, and then Congressman Wesley Hunt. So this is to select whoever will be Texas Attorney General after Paxton leaves.

So this is definitely one of the more contentious races that's shaping up in Texas and that we're about to get to see some solid voting numbers on on Tuesday. So every Republican primary candidate actually, for Texas Attorney General spent over $2 million during this reporting period. So some large numbers here being thrown around.

Republican candidate State Senator Mays Middleton led the primary in fundraising. He raised $2.9 million. He spent $5.4 million and then reported about $28,000 in cash on hand. He did give his own campaign

$2.7 million over the past two weeks, which has been a trend with him since he launched his campaign as he's able to pour money millions into his race from his personal funds. Then we've got Congressman Chip Roy, who raised 376,000, and that was through his Texans for Chip Roy Pack, and then he spent over $2.3 million during this period, and then he's got $1.2 million in cash on hand. Then we saw a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Rights.

He raised about $428,000, and he beat Roy in terms of spending with his over-tive-old. 2.8 million in expenses reported. And then he showed that he's got about 400,000 cash on hand. The one other Republican candidate in this primary for Texas Attorney General is Joan Huffman. Her PAC came in with about 500,000 raised, and then they spent over 2.5 million. So again, all these Republican primary candidates spent over 2 million during this reporting period. Yeah, and then moving on to one of the other more contentious primaries that we've got shaping up is the Texas Agriculture Commissioner. You know, we saw that Governor Abbott endorsed the challenger to incumbent Sid Miller. That garnered a lot of attention, and so there's been a lot of eyes on this race, of course.

Nate Sheets, who Abbott endorsed came out and taught financially. He raised over $1 million over the past month, He spent about $1.2 million. Sid Miller raised a total of $351,000, and then spent about $200,000. And then reported about $160,000 in cash on hand. So sheets came out on top there financially. Then there's a couple of Texas legislature,

Republican primaries, that are particularly interesting this cycle. Just because of how contingent. There's a couple other primaries that are less interesting, so to speak. But this one, a state representative, Angela Orr, House District 13, she's facing a self-funded contender Kathleen Wall. And Wall shared that in her eight-day report, she raised $200,000 and then spent about almost $600,000 and then finished up with $17,000 in cash on hand. But Orr did come in first and come in or came in first with over $500,000 raised. And then she spent about $300,000,

Another, the one other Republican primary in the Texas House I'll mention that's taking place is House District 88. That's for State Representative Ken King's seat. He raised over $800,000 during this time, and then he spent about $1 million. And then his top opponent, who's John Browning, and we'll have a piece out shortly just with a preview on this race. It was a very interesting one. He raised nearly 700,000 through his pack and spent around 700,000. So, yeah, we've got, it's so fascinating to get these numbers. I think because people are just, especially people who are so invested in Texas politics,

are very eager to look at these numbers and see, you know, how much money is being thrown around just before the primary, kind of see where candidates currently stand. So, yeah, we're just days away now from the primary. was the eight-day pre-primary reports. Yeah, so we'll keep an eye on it as we get closer and closer, but these, I mean, watching where the money's coming from is always fascinating. And, you know, it's only one factor. I think, you know, when we look at polling, which Mary Leads, I believe you wrote the piece

a week or two ago of the latest kind of statewide polling we're seeing on some of these races. And money can certainly help. It aids a lot. But oftentimes, you know, there's a name ID. factor, there's favorability. There's a lot going into these races besides just fundraising and money. But it's fascinating to watch and I encourage folks to go check out Maryle's piece to kind of get insight on all of that because that is, there's just a lot going on, lots of factors here.

So Mary Lisa, thank you so much for your coverage. Mary Lisa, we're going to stick with you here. Let's talk about a very interesting race here. This is a long-time member of Congress facing some very notable challengers in this Republican primary. walk us through with this race. Yeah, Congressman John Carter has found himself in a pretty interesting primary. It's gotten a lot of attention recently at the national level, particularly because of who he has running against him. So he's facing nine Republican challengers in this primary election for his seat. He's held this seat for 23 years.

So some of the individuals in the primary that have entered the race include offer Vince Shlomi, who's also known as some of you may be familiar with, sham wow guy, the infomercial pitchman from very popular in the early 2000s. And then we've also got Valentina Gomez, who is kind of a social media sensation. She's really well known online for her very unfiltered, very vocal videos that she'll post online speaking out on very hot button issues, I'll say. And she's gotten so much attention for that. A lot of eyeballs on her videos. So it's Valentina Gomez. And then we've got other candidates that are in the running include U.S. Army veterans, William Abel, Steve Dowell, and Elvis Lassa. And then we've got physician David

Barry, Eddie Wald, and then entrepreneur and billionaire, Obiram, Guru Potty, and businessman Raymond Hampton. So Shulomi has gotten nationwide attention, like I was saying, after he announced that he'd be running for CD-31 because, you know, he's got his familiar infomercial brief. branding, he's got his signature voice. He has a very interesting campaign motto. I'll let you go to the article to see what that is. I might not say it here on the podcast, but kind of with a similar style of branding, as seen from Gomez, which is very bold, very out there. So, and then we've got Carter, who is the incumbent, and he's the Texas is actually third longest serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was a first member elected to the seat after the district was created

through redistricting that happened after the 2000 census. On his website, Carter talks about how the 9-11 terrorist attack was an event that really spurred him on to run for Congress in 2002, and that caused him to leave his role as a district judge for a district court in Williamson County. He currently serves on a couple different committees. So he's a member of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, and then he's also on the military construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.

He's also on the Defense Subcommittee. And he's gotten the endorsements from President Donald Trump and Governor Greg Abbott. And actually this morning we saw Senator Ted Cruz come out in support of John Carter and endorse him for re-election. We saw the end-of-year campaign reports that we covered earlier for the Republican primary. we saw that the top fundraisers were Carter, Gomez, and Garapati. Carter came in with about 100,000 and reported about 400,000 in cash on hand. And then Gomez raised 56,000 about and then had about $20,000 in cash on hand. Then three other Republican candidates raised them out in the thousands that include Dow,

Lh, and Abel. And Ebal did not report raising any funds. So Gomez, as I was saying, she's kind of the social media sensation. She's described herself to the Texan as the Michael Jordan of politics. We have a piece kind of taking a look at her political tenure, the different races that she's jumped into, and kind of her political branding that's captured a lot of attention kind of follows a similar style as President Donald Trump

brought into the political world with a lot of personality. So she was actually recently, barred from Williamson County GOP events after there was an altercation between her and Congressman Carter. That was when they were having a gala in late January. She confronted Carter and was recording a video and similar style of a lot of the videos that she does. And she was questioning him about how old he was. He is 84 years old and then various policies and telling him why she thought that she would be best to represent C-31. and then later the chair of Williamsman County, Michelle Evans,

highlighted her for having her P.O. Box listed as her residential address on her voter registration form, which doesn't, of course, qualify as illegal residence in Texas. So if you check out our Texas Partisan Index, CD31 has a rating of R63%. And that's both before and after the GOP favored redistricting that passed last summer, so it wasn't affected by redistricting. The district does include Fort Hood, which is an important aspect of this race, which was briefly known as Fort Cavazas

under the Biden administration. That's in Bell County. So this will be a fascinating race to watch. I mean, it's just been interesting to watch them campaigning against each other. The Shamwell guy and Valentina Gomez have actually teamed up together to do one particular, almost like a campaign ad.

it was pretty it was pretty interesting but they're kind of leaning more into the theatric side of campaigning and then Congressman John Carter is just been reiterating that he has been representing this seat for so long he's experienced so we'll see what those results wind up to be on Tuesday as with all of these races

but that's a little rundown on CD 31 a spicy race to be sure and I you know Mary Lee's you mentioned your your piece on Valentina Gomez definitely worth the read. Folks, go check that one out. We wish to re-up that because it is a fascinating profile of somebody who kind of entered the Texas political scene and set it on fire. And very interesting to hear, and she spoke directly with you.

It's very fascinating to kind of hear her perspective on how she views her involvement in Texas politics. So definitely go check that out. Mary Elise, thank you so much for covering that for us. And we'll keep an eye on CD-31. Let's move on to Hannah here. Hannah, let's talk about one of the biggest spenders in Texas politics, the casino lobby. What's the scoop on casino interest in these primaries in 2026? Yes, so millions have been funneled into the Texas primary elections,

but two notable GOP donors come from a similar source. So Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Miriam Adelson have individually contributed about 10 million each this year. to GOP committees. Las Vegas Sands is a resort slash hotel slash casino based in Nevada and Miriam Allison is its majority owner. So her husband Sheldon Allison started the resort slash casino

and it grew to be a massive empire worth over $35 billion and it has branches in Singapore and in China. So Las Vegas Sands and Miriam Adelson and have been involved in Texas politics before. So they've specifically been involved in lobbies to legalize gambling in Texas, with Tarrant County and Dallas County being the locations of some of that work.

The corporation sought to create a casino development in Irving City last year, and it was under the premise that Texas legislature would approve of gambling in the state, which didn't happen. But at a town hall meeting, local attendees and residents were reportedly upset by the proposition, but the city did end up approving of a zoning change to allow Sands to build the development if there was legislative approval, which didn't happen in the end. But actually in Meritus, one of Meredithus articles recently, she talked about a candidate in the Tarrant County election, and she mentioned that they were concerned about the casinos, heavy financial patronage

in elections. So the issue will probably still be disputed in the next session, but Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has expressed that he and the Senate have no interest in legalizing casinos in Texas. But there's a lot of money coming from those sources. Absolutely. Wild to watch this influx of money. And, you know, Texans have a lot to say about the casino lobby entering state and so do state leaders. So we've covered that extensively. So folks, go check that out and check out Hannah's reporting. Let's talk about another congressional district here, Hannah.

You've reported on many, but let's talk about Congressional District 21. This is Chip Roy's seats. He's now running for Attorney General. Who's running in this seat to replace Congressman Roy? Yes, there are 15 candidates running to replace Congressman Roy. So the district covers Fredericksburg, northern parts of San Antonio, New Bromphels, Bernie Curville, parts of St. Marcus. the district trans-Republican according to our Texas Partism Index at 62%. But candidates running for the GOP spot include Mark Tashira, Paul Rojas, Trey Trainer, Mike Wheeler, Zeke Enriquez

and Democratic candidates, Kristen Hook, Regina Van Berg, and Gary Taylor. So Mark Tashira has been endorsed by both President Trump and Governor Greg Abbott. He is a former Yankees' first baseman. and he's also raised most of the money in his campaign at over $2 million and has reportedly loaned himself like a lot of that money. So his key issues have been energy dominance and border security. He was reportedly criticized by opponents for an interview he did in 2016, where he was discussing the importance of athletes participating in climate change organizations and getting

involved in climate change issues. And he's also been accused of having a lack of Republican. voter history. So we got to talk with Paul Rojas, whose main issues were related to Texas land and water protection, foreign remittance taxing, education issues related to loans and interest and empowerment of tribal nations. About empowerment of tribal nations, Rojas explained that he saw Native American government systems being treated as second-class systems and that it's difficult to efficiently get proper resources and supplies to these areas. So it's an issue that he's passionate about and has been involved in extensively, he said, for the last fortified years.

He also spoke about water issues, water usage by AI data centers. We also got to speak with Matt Wheeler, who, in addition to other issues, is focusing on national debt. He has a background in bonds trading and says he spent the bulk of his career studying what makes good debt situations and bad debt situations. he's seen companies and countries in good and bad situations. And he's talked about practical solutions to debt and inflation issues, one of which was leveraging national assets through leases or royalties. And last but not least, we spoke with Kristen Hook, who focused on issues of water strain, given the fast development happening in Texas.

And she also spoke about strengthening public schools and paying teachers higher wages. So that is CD 21. Thank you, Hannah. Oh, another fascinating race. We'll stick with you. We have another congressional district to talk about. That's what we were going to hammer here, Hannah. Let's talk about a debate between

Congressional District 19 candidates that you listened into. Yes, this is interesting. Congressional District 19 is referred to as the food, fuel, and fiber capital. It's West Texas, a lot of cotton. industry happening there. It's 98% Republican per our Texas partisan index. GOP candidates are James Barber, Jason Coralie, Abraham Enriquez, Donald May, Tom Sell, Matt Smith, and Ryan Zink. There's one Democratic candidate in the race. So Tom Sell is the fundraising lead. Enriquez has been endorsed by Greg Abbott as well as Turning Point Action. But last week, they were on

a radio show moderated by chat hasty. So Hasty started the conversation by asking Enriquez about recent controversy regarding U.S. rep Anna Polina Luna in which she alleged that he pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for providing access to senior officials in President Trump's administration through his organization, Vienvino. So she was working for Vianvino at the time. He stated that he believes her behavior was due to her being disgruntled about being sidelined by his mother who was leading in campaign efforts.

So the candidates also talked about farming issues, affordability, the cost of production, all those related to farming. Matt Smith criticized the SNAP program, wanting to prioritize farmers. Corley proposed an idea about reshaping categorization on farms, so changing measurements from acreage to pounds and bushels and bales for production.

And then Hacy also, asked about foreign wars in U.S. involvement in Iran, to which most of the candidates responded that they did not want a repeat of Afghanistan and Iraq and do not want American lives lost in foreign wars. So there we go. Anna, thank you. I think it's fascinating to watch the affordability conversation happen now in the primary because it's going to be a huge, huge topic of conversation in the general. It's for, you know, pitting Democrats against Republicans. It's going to be huge. And watching that play out in the primaries already is so interesting. And of course, you know, district focused issues like water and farming and agriculture as well. But Hannah,

thank you so much for your coverage. Meredith, let's come to you. Let's talk about a Texas state house districts. We've been talking about our folks in D.C. and those vying to represent Texans in our nation's capital. But let's talk about those who represent Texans in Austin. Let's talk about this. This is a South Texas house seat. Walk us through this race. Okay, so we're looking at Texas House District 118 in the San Antonio. area. This is a competitive race that's going to be coming up in the primary. There's three Republicans running for an open seat and one Democrat in the Democratic primary. So the seat is open because state rep John Lujan is not seeking reelection, but instead he's running for the Texas's

35th congressional district. So he wrote in a post online that initially he didn't, he hesitated to run for Congress. He wanted to make sure that this district stayed Republican. And he said he's not going to formally endorse a candidate in the primary, but he will support whoever the Republican nominee is moving forward. So this district covers parts of Bear County in the south and East San Antonio. And it also extends into part of Guadalupe County. And according to the Texans, Texas partisan index, it was rated evenly divided in the 2022 election cycle. So it's really interesting. There's two columns where you see the previous, like the previous two election cycles. And the only time was the only one that just said even. So it's very, very competitive. It's now rated Republican leaning

at 51% in the 2024 cycle, but it's tight. So who is running as there are three Republicans. There's Jorge Boraga, who is a former Texas Public Policy Foundation K-12 education director. Desi Martinez is the founder of Martinez and Associates Law Firm and Joe Schellhardt, a U.S. Army veteran small business owner and also currently substitute teaching in the district that he's at. So those are the Republicans. There is one Democrat, Christian Caronza. She's a political strategist, and she was actually the 2024 Democratic nominee for this district. So she ran against Lujan and ended up losing by about 2,600 votes, receiving 48.3% of the vote, and Lujan receiving 51.7. So not a tight race. So we'll continue watching this race, see if there's a runoff, and then see what happens in November. competitive seat all around. Meredith, thanks for your coverage. Hannah, we're coming back to you. Let's talk about the Texas State Senate now. So these are senators who represent Texans in Austin. Tell us about Senate District 3. Yes, East Texas. Welcome to East Texas.

Incumbent Robert Nichols is retiring. So state representative Trent Ashby and Rhonda Ward are the GOP candidates. This race has gained attention because both candidates have raised millions during their campaigning. Significantly, Ward received a $2 million donation from a single donor named James Moyer, who's a Sabine County resident. We spoke with Ward about her key issues, and she referenced protecting state groundwater voting the conservative will of the region in the Texas Senate. Ashby has received 100,000 from incumbent nickels and 260,000 from Texans for lawsuit reform PAC. And in the last year, he's authored dozens of bills related to issues of mental health

leave for jailers, establishing rural infrastructure, disaster recovery program, and fee exemptions for firefighters who are in certain higher education courses. So we also spoke with Democrat Bobby Tillman, who spoke to issues like protecting rural communities, protecting water, public education funding, the, the, the, the district is significantly Republican. So we'll see what happens. Whoever wins this seat will represent Texans in Austin, regardless most likely what happens in November. It is, you know, in certain districts, it's typically how this works, you know, the party with the very small sect of the district has very little chance of representing folks down in Austin. So the primaries are often where the bulk of the

decisions are made by voters of who represents them. So we'll keep an eye out. This is certainly one of those districts. Hannah, thank you. Let's cover another House race, Meredith. This is the State House. Walk us through this different South Texas seat. Yeah. So House District 37 is also a closer competitive race. So state rep Janie Lopez is running for re-election in the Republican primary. It's, the district is a heavily Hispanic district in the Rio Grande Valley. It covers all of Willis C County and most of Cameron County in South Texas. And last election cycle, Lopez flipped the seat with a 10 point win over Democrat Jonathan Gracia in 2024, winning by about 5,600 votes. So according to the Texans, Texas partisan index, HD 37 was rated D51 in 2022 and then R53 following the 2024 election. So it's had some changes in the last few. cycles. So Jamie, Janey, sorry, Janie Lopez is endorsed by President Trump and Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted Cruz, so she's really compiled a lot of high-profile endorsements there. She's running against Kristen Lucky, who is a, serves on multiple boards and is a community

volunteer. The Democratic primary has three different candidates. Stephanie Bauer is a former teacher and a doctoral candidate at UT Health Houston. Esmeralda Cantu Castle is a law student, and then Oseill O'Hoa is Harlingen CISD Director of Special Education. So check out the article at the Texan for more about each of the candidates' platforms and backgrounds. Like I said, another competitive race that will be watching to see how this shapes the Texas Statehouse in the future. Absolutely. Mary, thank you. And folks, these are a lot of races we're running through today, but all of this can be found at the Texan. And if you have specific districts you're looking at and saying, hey, is my district competitive?

go check out our Texas partisan index for a breakdown of that as well. But we likely have a story about races in your area, so make sure to go check that out, Meredith. Thank you. Mary Lees, let's talk about a huge story that started the week off on quite a high note. While a top drug lord was killed this week in Mexico in a coordinated effort, explain how the U.S. and Texas were involved in what the aftermath looked like. Yeah, so like you said, a top drug lord was.

killed in Mexico just at the start of the week it was on Sunday I believe and so it was the Mexican military that conducted the operation but White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt confirmed that the US provided the necessary intelligence so they collaborated with the Mexican Army to take out this individual and then we saw the cartels start responding as could probably be expected in Mexico When an individual like this is taken out, he's known as El Minscho. So he was considered a top target, Leavitt said, by both the U.S. and Mexico because of his role as they said, one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into the U.S. And, you know, President Donald Trump has made it clear that fentanyl is something he wants to crack down on from the start of his presidency.

You know, he's described it as lethal, and he's taken several actions. to crack down on fentanyl coming into the United States. So during this operation, the reports floating around indicate the 25 Mexican National Guard members were killed in six separate attacks in response to Almencho's death. While cartel members have been setting fire to various vehicles, buildings, we saw one very viral video of a Costco in Mexico being set on fire. That was a Costco grocery store in Puerto Valerta, and they've been blocking several roadways. When Leavitt announced that the United States was involved in this, we had provided intelligence for this operation to be conducted, she noted that President Donald Trump had designated this cartel that the struggle lord was the leader of as a foreign terrorist organization last year. she said President Trump has been very clear

the United States will ensure narco terrorists sending deadly drugs into our homeland are forced to face the wrath of justice they have long deserved Congressman Chip Roy responded to this he referenced this executive action of Trump's he posted on X and he said that Congress needs to act to codify it

into law American citizens after this killing and then the cartels respond by blocking roadways, setting fire to vehicles. American citizens were ordered to shelter in place until further notice by the United States Department of Consulate Affairs in Mexico. And they described this as being due to ongoing widespread security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity in many areas of Mexico. They said, while no airports have been closed, roadblocks have impacted airline operations with some domestic and international flights canceled,

in both Guadalajara and Porto Valerta. All taxis and rideshares are suspended there. And then they mentioned that some of the businesses have just ceased their operations for the time being, reiterating that American citizens should shelter in place. In response, I believe it was Monday morning. Abbott directed Texas's Department of Public Safety to increase its homeland security and then general public safety operations. He described it as being due to the escalating cartel violence happening in Mexico.

Mexico that he saw as posing a growing threat to American civilians. This included an increase in tactical marine unit and aircraft operations along Texas's border with Mexico and then a surge of various Texas law enforcement personnel to the border. He said to in order to prevent spillover activity resulting from transnational threats. And then he also activated additional personnel to monitor various online platforms, monitor them for suspicious activity 24-7. So he issued a statement, so he deployed these extra resources on Monday, but he issued a statement in response on Sunday night,

urging Texans to follow these federal warnings, encouraging them Texans that are currently in Mexico to follow the federal guidance to shelter in place. He said, I urge all Texans in Mexico to follow the guidance of U.S. officials stay alert and ensure that they are in contact with the U.S. Embassy or nearer U.S. U.S. consulant. He says situations on the ground can change quickly and staying informed can save lives. He listed several actions. He wanted Texans to be aware of that could increase her safety,

such as registering with the U.S. Embassy, because he said that would better equip the embassy to be able to assist Americans in the case of an emergency. Several lawmakers started responding, both Democratic and Republican, of course, because this was huge news at the start of the week, and with Mexico being so close to us is particularly relevant to Texas. South Texas reps, Vincent Gonzalez, Monica DeLitt Cruz, and Tony Gonzalez all weighed in on this and just reiterated the same message, follow the federal warnings, Texan shelter in place.

Then the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which is, of course, the largest such office in Texas, considering Harris County, issued a statement through Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. They said they're monitoring the situation, and that they're focused on protecting Harris County for any potential impacts. They said like shifts in fentanyl supply or related criminal activity. They said that their partnerships with partner agencies will help to keep the community safe,

and then they just reiterated, as many lawmakers did, stay vigilant and report suspicious activity. So those are the latest in updates on the situation, but of course it's going to be evolving. So we'll keep watching it. We'll see if the cartels end up responding further, and if this just escalates. But yeah, definitely a very significant operation that occurred with help from the U.S., but also concerning for Texans or any Americans that are in Mexico. It may be struggling to get out. I'm curious the timeline for this of when we'll see kind of these travel advisories lit up a little bit.

I'm fascinated to watch that, and of course, you know, the news coverage of what's going on there is interesting, and there are so many firsthand accounts of folks posting on social media. they're waiting in the hotel rooms. And so we, you know, thank and pray for the safety of these folks who are down there right now. And we'll just keep an eye on what's going on. And, of course, Texas, bordering Mexico and taking the stance it has against illegal immigration is all part of this discussion as well. So Marylea's thanks for covering that for us and certainly keep an eye on all of that. And, you know, travel advisors and both the federal government and state officials are important to take into consideration.

there's not just one entity that has, you know, guidance on how this all should, on how it's all going and how it's being handled. So thanks for your coverage there, Mary Elise. Meredith, let's talk about Austin ISD, parent filing a complaint with the Attorney General's office over an alleged violation of the Women's Privacy Act, something we're very familiar after last legislative session,

lots of discussion about that. That bill worked its way through the legislature, walk us through what's going on here. Yeah, so a little break from election coverage to take a look at a situation in Austin. So an Austin high school parent filed this complaint with the Attorney General, alleging that a male student was using the girls' restroom and that it was a violation of the Texas Women's Privacy Act. So as a reminder, this bill, Senate Bill 8 was requiring the separation of publicly funded private spaces by biological sex. So bathrooms, locker rooms, domestic violence shelters.

It was passed during a special session of the 89th legislature and was authored by state senator Mays Middleton. So there was debate around the bill. Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about enforcement, about privacy. There were critics that questioned how people would implement this law. The author Middleton told the Texan that there are strict penalties in SB 8 because, and this is his quote, this is about keeping all the daughters of Texas safe. So in Austin high school parent files this complaint. said, my daughter told me that the male student continues to use the female restroom, notified them

January 15th, also notified them February 3rd, but said that the issue remained unresolved. So Texas Values, a conservative advocacy group, got involved and assisted the parent to send a letter on February 10th. And the parent contacted them just for guidance about the law to understand what her rights as a parent were. And we spoke to Mary Elizabeth Castle, who works at Texas values, she said that the school didn't provide any kind of updates or policy change of or action. And it just went completely silent after that. So in the complaint itself to the attorney general and Texas values uses this legal language, they say that the law allows schools a three, three days to cure a violation once notified. And the parent sent this final notice,

additional complaint. And Castle said that the clock starts ticking for the three days when they receive that. And so far they just, the parent still believes that that issue is happening. So the complaint has reportedly been received through the OAG portal. Texas Values is just waiting to see if there's an investigation. Middleton did say that if the district refuses to comply, it could face a $125,000 per day penalty, which would be enforced by the attorney general, possible lawsuits by this lawsuit by this individual. And he said, Middleton said, our laws are not suggestions. So this complaint. It could be some kind of precedent for how the Texas Women's Privacy Act is enforced in school. So we'll just keep tracking it and see whether the Attorney General opens a formal

investigation, how Austin ISD responds, and all that. So keep an eye out for this. Absolutely. Meredith, thank you. Well, it would not be the Texans podcast about some sort of education-related news delivered by Meredith. So thank you so much. Okay, let's move on. Mary Lee's here. Another wild story to watch this come down. It's odd to even talk about this story, but let's start. So the lieutenant governor is pushing back against Camp Mystic for attempting to reopen after the flooding that happened. Last summer, we're talking about the hill country, central Texas,

curville specifically for Camp Mystic. Give us the details here. Yeah, so Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is formally requesting that Camp Mystic not be granted a license for operation until there's further investigation and what he called corrective action is taken. And this is, of course, there were at Camp Mystic their 28 lives taken during the July 4th flooding. Many more lives taken in surrounding areas due to the flooding.

It was a very tragic time. But Patrick wrote to the Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner, Dr. Jennifer Shrewford, on Monday, and he just expressed his concern that the camp had not yet properly acknowledged the deaths, which occurred there on July 4th. weekend. He noted that both chambers of the Texas legislature, as we've covered before, have established general investigating committees on the July 2025 flooding events, and they're scheduled to meet collaboratively this spring. So then he said, these committees will gather the facts surrounding this extreme loss of life at Camp Mystic, and then he said, I expect,

after this facts are determined, there may be necessary corrective actions for Camp Mystic to take to make sure future campers and counselors are safe and do not lose their lives. There were 25 Camp Mystic campers and two counselors who were confirmed to have lost their lives during the flooding that swept through the whole country, including one of the executive directors of the camp, Dick Eastland. There's one camper who has yet to be found. The families of five children and two camp counselors filed in November 2025 a wrongful death lawsuit against Camp Mystic. They alleged that the young girls died because a for-profit camp put profit over safety.

And the campers were between, as Patrick notes in his letter, between the ages of 8 and 10 years old. Patrick continued in his letter, he said, nevertheless, Camp Mystic's public-facing website does not acknowledge the 28 deaths that occurred at their camp, nor does it acknowledge that the search for one little camper who lost her life is still ongoing. He said, may God rest their souls. Surprisingly, Dick Eastland, the camp director who died is still named on their website, is still being in charge, all as if 2025 never happened. Of course, Governor Greg Abbott did sign a

handful of disaster relief, Campy Safety-related bills in September, and this was after lawmakers conducted several hearings with the affected families throughout both the first and second special sessions of the 89th legislature. One of these was the called Heavens-27 bill named after those who died at Camp Mystic. It required camp to submit state-approved emergency plans, require that they train staff on flood procedures, install warning systems, and member of initiatives such as that.

Another one that was passed with Senate Bill 1, it prohibited cabins and floodplains and then also mandated evacuation route postings, rooftop letters. So Camp Mystic did respond to Patrick's letter in a statement to the Texan. They said that Camp Mystic, Cyprus, Lake is in compliance with all aspects of the state's new camp safety laws.

They said, then, there is consequently no regulatory basis to deny Camp Mystic Cyprus Lake its license. They said that Camp Mystic Cyprus Lake is actually a separate property that is not adjacent to the Guadalupe River, and they said sustain no significant damage from the historic flood on July 4th. They also reiterated an invitation that they had sent in October to several Texas leaders, including Patrick, inviting them to visit them. visit camp mystic. They said, quote, as we believe having each member of the committee

physically tour the camp location is the best and only way to learn exactly what happened. And then they said in their statement that Patrick had never responded to the invitation that they sent in October 2025. State Representative West Verdell weighed in on this, shared his opinion. Of course, he was greatly affected by this flooding. His district was greatly affected. He was boots on the ground there when all of the disaster was happening and he was there, aiding with the relief and such. So he really had a firsthand experience with the flooding. He disagreed with Patrick's letter to the agency. He said the camp is not reopening the same cabins that were in the flood. He said also the camp was hit with an unprecedented flood that

had not been seen in centuries. And Camp Mystic is the first camp to install the new flood warning systems way ahead of help from the government. He said, I'm strongly of the belief that this bill was directly targeted at shutting Camp Mystic down, and the charge was led by some very strong political influencers behind the scenes. So some significant allegations here from Verdell. He said, now that Camp Mystic has managed to make it through the excessive requirements of the bill, it looks like they're trying to take the camp down through another route. And then Patrick, in other aspects of his letter,

stated that it would be naive to allow Camp Mystic to return to normal operations before all the facts are known, so he's wanting to wait until these committees are conducted and they're able to investigate more and maybe come up with some corrective actions. He added that he wouldn't feel comfortable sending his grandchildren to the camp. Also, a lawsuit that was filed the same day by the parents of nine deceased campmistak campers and counselors, they filed this the same day suing six state officials of the DSHS, the same agency that Patrick was writing to to request Camp Mystic not receive a license to operate.

And these parents were alleging violations of their, quote, daughter's constitutional rights to life and bodily integrity. And that was also filed on Monday. So we'll see what the agency's response looks like to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and we'll see if they're given a license to operate. And you know, maybe potentially Texas leaders will go and visit Camp Mystic. and so maybe there's some connection that can be made there.

Of course, we don't know all of the background there, but that was Camp Mystic's allegation is that Patrick has not responded to their invitation. So they just reiterated that. So we'll see where this winds up. But obviously a tragic situation all around, and then now just a difficult situation to navigate now in the political scene, considering Camp Mystic and everything that happened last summer. Absolutely. This only, watching this all after the fact, only just makes the tragedy more fresh and difficult to watch this go back and forth.

Most families are still grieving. We'll keep an eye on this. And thank you for your coverage, Mary Elise. Let's pivot to our tweetery section here. Always a phenomenal part of the podcast. I will say my favorite lead-in, maybe ever. We have a docket so folks understand we have a docket where we outline what we're going to talk about on the podcast. We put our story information in. And so we kind of know the flow of what we're going to talk about. In the tweetery section, everyone kind of puts a little description of what they'll be talking about. My favorite description of all time is in the docket right now. It's Hannah and it just says cheese.

So I really want to know what is going on. I'm probably telling you something you already know. I was just to remind this week, I don't know what it was. We were driving somewhere and we saw like a hill, which is really rare in the Brazzles Valley to see a hill. But we saw a hill and I was reminded of that cheese festival in the UK where they like, have you all heard of this? Oh yes. Where they like roll these big blocks of cheat blocks, circles. Yeah.

Circles. Wheels of cheese down a hill and then they chase it and they like break all the bones in their body. and it's like in Glucisher I don't know what it's called Gloucester something like that Yeah it's totally epic

TBD and it's amazing and I remember it just reminded me of going through this phase of just looking online and just watching video after video

of these races where they're rolling the cheese down and who are the 2025 cheese winners and it's like on this holiday in, I think it's in May, and they do it every year, and I want to go. So, that's my news. Would you want to actually roll the cheese?

They actually roll the cheese down, and it bounces, like, boing, and then they just run after it, and then they also bounce down. See, I just want to roll the cheese, and I just want to, like, pretend that I'm going to race, and then I actually just, I'm like, oh, no, I fell. You know what I mean? But I would go. Do they, like, have people actually broken bones doing this? Yes.

Oh, yeah. It looks like a bunch of people who's like, really chained up. Tens of dudes as well that are really going for it. I would not want to jump in the middle of that. It's true. It kind of sounds right to me. I'm mentioning some dudes really achieves downhills. I would love that. I saw this, this is like related and unrelated. I saw a video almost. media this week that was this woman it was you know one of those like silent videos were just watching her cook but she bought a wheel of cheese like one of those giant wheels of cheese from had to be Italy or some European country France maybe just a giant wheel of Parmesan cheese to do like the pasta like in the cheese you know what I'm like cut the top off and they like pasta pasta in

the cheese and put it on a plate but she bought one wheel of cheese to do it in her personal kitchen and I was cracking up at the comments because it was every everyone was saying this is out of my tax bracket. This is our tax bracket. Because I assume those bills of cheese are like hundreds of dollars. I don't know how much. You probably get a lot of cheese out of it. An unbelievable amount of cheese. Yeah, that's true. That's what I've told my husband. Many years. All I want for my birthday is a cheese wheel. It's happening. Forget flowers. Maybe 2026. I just want a cheese wheel. What? Yeah. It makes me hungry.

incredible. Meredith, let's come to you. What do you have for us? I'm excited about this one. Toy Story 5 is coming out. And they're like, actually, I should know the exact date. But, and it's actually going to be about the toys versus the tablet, which I am very curious how they're going to wrap that all up, because kind of when you demonize the

tablet, which is what, regardless of your opinions about it, many parents use and utilize and schools utilize. That actually will probably be something I'll be writing a newsletter about in the future. So it's just going to be interesting because it's kind of like the death of toys because of the tablet. So I'm curious to see how they're going to resolve that. And it just kind of made me go through the whole timeline of all the toy stories because I do remember when the first toy story came out. And we didn't have TV. So we watched it at my grandmas and I thought it was so cool. And I have a memory where I was seven. So I knew that toys didn't talk. But I remember opening my door. really quickly being like, I wonder if I don't know.

Like, just imagining my personal toys and what they would say to each other or something. Obviously, Toy Story 2 is amazing. And then I know three and four kind of fall off, especially four, was pretty trash. So everyone's kind of saying like, okay, this looks interesting because of the topic. And then also Woody has a bald spot in one of the previews. And they're like making fun of him. And so someone on Twitter was like, oh, like reminding us millennials how old we are because Woody is going.

So that was kind of funny. That's so funny. I said I was excited and obviously like I just love, like, who doesn't love Toy Story? But I said I was excited before I kind of remembered, I don't know, they did fall off. So, you know, is it a cash grab? Will it be good? BPD. Yeah.

It'll be interesting. I don't know. Hopefully good. Hopefully good. It better be. It was Toy Story 3. The Toy Story 2 was great. And then Toy Story 3 was more than 10 years.

later. And I want to say that's the one where everyone cries. Like everyone cried at Toy Story 3 because they're in the trash compactor and they think they're going to and they're holding each other. And literally, we've grown up. We're crying. That wasn't bad and because it was going off to college, all of that. But the whole thing where they're with those super weird toys in Toy Story 4 at a carnival or like an antique shop, that was not good at all. So we'll see. They're back in the bedroom. We'll see what happens. Going out to college one, I think it actually made me cry. I've cried maybe like two or three movies in my whole life and that was one of them. Like it's just sucked. No way. You need to take a poll.

You don't cry at movies at all like at all. No, I don't. Not at not at all. I have like a handful, but I'm also just more emotional after I'm having a baby. So like that count has doubled since I'm I don't see. On videos or is there any, like, you know, if you watch, when you want, you love dogs. If you watch all the cute dogs saving people's lives or whatever, nothing. No. I mean, I feel deeply, but I don't, it doesn't result in crying. Like, I feel it super deeply and I watch it over and over again.

But I doesn't result in like tears coming out of my eyes. It's just like, my day might be ruined even if we should cry. I don't know why. I can't put my phone up and just immediately be like, I can't do this. Like, I cry out for everything. Like commercials, people coming back from war, any, the Olympics, anything. They're just like, this was their dream. Yeah.

Okay, the Olympics really got me this year because I feel like they were multiple. We shouldn't even talk about the Olympics. I know. I know it went on a rabbit hole. But maybe that'll be my tweetery. Okay, my tweetry is some Olympic tweet. I'm scratching my other one. We're going to talk about the Olympics.

I feel like there were multiple different events where Americans were so close to getting gold and didn't. And then at the end, I feel like we finished. so strong with the hockey victories, Michaela Schifrin, like there were so many huge gold medal moments. I think the momentum really ramped up as we headed toward the second week, but there were multiple, I feel like, just silver medals. And these Olympic sports, too, you get the chance every four years.

And there's just no guarantee that you'll be at the top of your game again in four years. So it just is like heart-wrenching to watch. Alyssa Lou is another one who is just like incredible to watch. But you just have no guarantee that you'll be able to come back. So watching people just barely lose was like, it's so hard. Also, there were so many videos where they gave out some kind of stuffed animal that had some, I don't know what the attack. And they show multiple teams or like the hockey team getting like a stuffed animal after people.

I mean, they're trying to be respectful, culture and everything. I remember thinking, oh, not every year. Every Olympics, not every year, obviously. in the Olympics not every year, but every Olympics there is a mascot that's handed out. And like, this has happened for several. And somebody can check me, like some historian can check me on this. I don't know how far this goes back, but I, you know, in Paris has happened. Like, it has happened in multiple Olympics or, um, in Greece in the beginning, they gave a little mascot, right? A little, exactly, yes. A little olive branch stuffed animal. No, I, uh, but in,

is it a mask. It's like a little hat and it looked so weird. but they had like a little a little stuffed hat that they would give folks and it was like the mascot for the Olympics or something. They always give them something. Like I remember in... With the metal. Yeah, like in Greece in the 2000s,

they'd give them like the... The reef. But it's turned into the mascot more frequently, you think? It seems that way. Yeah. It'd be cool to get something like Italian, like more Italian. You know, that would have been... The culture.

that would be cool yeah yeah of course i'm just thinking of like a like an olive branched wreath versus a stuffed animal is a little bit more elegant to receive when you're losing you know she has a grown hockey player man or something you know you're just like thank you i'll get my kid later really i don't yeah i don't get it but that's where we're at in terms of olympic handouts i guess but i'll take the you know the watching the canadian hawk hockey players get their silver medal, which was, I'm sure, heartbreaking for them. I mean, Go Team USA turned out to being sensitive here to the Canadians, but go Team USA. And received the little stuff, animal was ridiculous.

It was so, like, they just were like, you've got to be kidding me. I'm getting a silver medal in this thing. Like, how much worse could my day get? It was brutal. Totally brutal. Well, ladies, thank you so much. I think we just lost Mary Elise. Behind the curtain, folks.

We've had some technical difficulties. I think we just lost Mary Lee. So unless she comes back in in the next, like, 10 seconds. We're going to move on and let you get back to your day. But we will have all sorts of... Oh, there she is. I don't know. Let's see.

Let's see if we've got her. Check one, check two. Mrs. O'Barr, are you there? There she is. Mrs. O'Barr is here. Before we lose you, quickly, set your tweeterie. Okay, well, I watched a little bit of the state of the union. There were several veterans that were honored.

There's one in particular. They were all really inspiring to watch, but one in particular was a hundred-year-old Korean Warfewer. He received the Medal of Honor. And that was just the most precious thing because of the smile on his face. He's 100 years old and he was standing there and he got awarded. All these people were thanking him for a service to our country, which is a really beautiful thing. But then I heard he gave a little bit of a speech to the Department of Defense.

And it was so sweet. He just said, I never really sought this honor. I never really thought I would get it. And he said, but man, these past couple of years, of days have just been the most incredible thing. So it was so sweet that a hundred years old, he got to experience that. And he just had the sweetest smile when everyone was just applauding him for a solid couple of minutes. So I thought that was kind of beautiful that he was honored. And it seemed like I think that both Democrats or Republicans, I mean, there were some people

that stayed seated the entire time, but I think a fair amount of people stood up and clapped for him because no matter what party are you can appreciate the sacrifice that he put in to protect us and yeah should be a non-man is an issue 100-year-old veteran we should we should all be supporting absolutely absolutely what a note to end on mary lees i'm so glad we waited for you to return well folks with primaries just a few days away certainly keep watch of our coverage follow these gals on twitter follow the whole team make sure to keep up to date on what's going on we appreciate you tuning in to the weekly roundup each and every week. Next week's episode will certainly be a rundown of everything that happened on Election Day and shortly thereafter. So tune back in

next week. We're excited to run through it all. And thanks for listening. Thank you to everyone for listening. If you enjoy our show, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you want more of our stories, subscribe to the Texan at the Texan. news. Follow us on social media for the latest in Texas politics and send any questions for our team to our mailbag by DMing us on Twitter or shooting an email to editor at the texan. We are funded entirely by readers and listeners like you, so thank you again for your support. Tune in next week for another episode of our weekly roundup. God bless you and God bless Texas.