Progress Texas Podcasts

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: James Talarico's general election campaign for Senate kicked off last night with the first of a series of events: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/us/politics/ken-paxton-james-talarico-texas-senate-race.html ...The Cook Political Report, upon the nomination of Ken Paxton, has shifted the Texas Senate race from "Likely Republica...

We enjoyed immensely a gathering last week at the super fun Creekwood Grill in Cypress for a live podcast taping with Kendra Camarena, Lesley Guilmart, and Dr. Cleveland Lane Jr, the three freshly-elected members of the Cy-Fair School Board who have re-established a balance of responsibility and pro-public education priorities on that board, to the great benefit of the students and families served...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The results are largely in from yesterday's 2026 midterm primary runoff: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2026/texas-primary-runoff-results-2026/ ...The marquee result: Ken Paxton defeats Senator John Cornyn, clarifying the race for Democratic nominee James Talarico and largely spelling the end of the old Republican guard: https...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Election Day is here for the 2026 midterm primary runoff - that record turnout in March has dwindled significantly for Democrats, but remains strong for voters in the Republican runoff, powered by the Cornyn/Paxton bloodbath: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-to-expect-in-the-texas-us-senate-republican-primary-runoff ...A final Q...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: On this last day of early voting in the runoff, a tour through the reasons Texas is notorious for bad voter turnout - and several good ideas to fix that are presented in the new Party Politics show from Houston Public Media: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/shows/party-politics/2026/03/20/546612/why-texans-dont-vote-and-what-co...

As early voting winds down and Election Day looms on Tuesday in the 2026 Democratic Party runoff in Texas, we stole a few brief moments with Congressman Christian Menefee, endorsee of our board here at Progress Texas in his run to keep the job he won in a special election just a few short months ago to fill an almost-year-long vacancy cruelly engineered by Governor Greg Abbott after the untimely p...

Both the Trump endorsement of Ken Paxton and the CD 35 Democratic runoff shenanigans this week provide examples of what could eventually happen when toxic candidates end up on the ballot - and how that toxicity can be weaponized across the aisle. Fort Worth attorney and Progress Texas board member Jason Smith is back for a deep dive on gross voting options as the 2026 primary runoff winds down - d...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A Guatemalan woman, denied a critical surgery by her ICE captors, has become the latest symbol of the cruelty of the Trump immigration enforcement machine: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/doctors-say-woman-in-texas-ice-detention-center-urgently-requires-surgery-shes-being-denied/ ...An ICE arrest in the parking lot of a San Anto...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Donald Trump's endorsement of Ken Paxton over John Cornyn in the Republican runoff for Senate has sent shockwaves through the GOP elite: https://apnews.com/article/trump-texas-senate-endorsement-paxton-cornyn-adb4c7213fc2d0db0b29d0ab65d49384 ...Paxton's manipulation of Trump appears to have paid off handsomely: https://www.cnn.com...

Yes, it's rare for Progress Texas' board to issue an endorsement in a Democratic runoff after early voting has already begun - but the situation in CD 35, situated on the eastern range of the San Antonio area, is a bona fide emergency. Not only is there a strong candidate in lifelong law enforcement professional Johnny Garcia, but his opponent Maureen Galindo - yes, a Democrat - has proven...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Our board at Progress Texas has issued a late endorsement for Johnny Garcia, running in the primary runoff in South Texas' CD 35 against Maureen Galindo, whose campaign has been marred by a broad variety of rhetorical missteps: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/antisemitism-congressional-election-22260523.php New...

Time to vote, y'all! Early voting in the 2026 primary runoff is underway as of today (Monday 5/18), and the board at Progress Texas has picked Democrat Kevin Burge as one of our endorsees in this crucial midterm election. We welcome Kevin back for a runoff update - you can also hear our earlier conversation, which presents a deeper dive on his extensive background in government, the military a...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Early voting in the 2026 primary runoffs has begun, continuing through Friday, and culminating in Election Day on Tuesday May 26th. Progress Texas has made several endorsements in the runoff: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-endorsements-may-primary-runoffs Governor Abbott's push for the Texas Supreme Court to remove Hous...

Among the important statewide races still in primary runoff mode is the contest for the Democratic nomination to replace the highly toxic and ethically bankrupt Ken Paxton. Of the two candidates remaining - Dallas State Senator Nathan Johnson and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski - only Jaworski has successfully undergone the process of becoming a Progress Texas Certified Progressive. We've been...

Through sheer determination, Ken Paxton and the state of Texas overcame a federal court stay of execution and put to death Edward Busby in Huntsville last night - a man that multiple experts agreed was intellectually disabled. Both the Trump SCOTUS and Texas' Republican leadership, in their zeal to achieve our 600th state-sanctioned killing in the modern era, demonstrate the callous indifferen...

This week's roundtable discussion was recorded prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's last minute clearing of the execution of Edward Busby, at a moment when we were hopeful that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals staying of his execution, based on finding that he is intellectually disabled, would be honored. Sadly, it was not. Capital punishment is a stain upon civilization, and we explain that...

Despite orders from the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to suspend the scheduled execution of Edward Busby, state officials are still trying to kill him today: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/after-having-his-execution-halted-edward-busby-awaits-supreme-court-ruling/ Governor Abbott is attempting a novel legal maneuver claiming that State Rep. Gene Wu's leadership of last summer'...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: President Barack Obama joined Democratic nominees James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa yesterday at The Taco Joint in East Austin to fire up progressive voters in Texas: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/article/barack-obama-austin-james-talarico-tacos-22255610.php ...Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders has been added to the speakers at t...

Our board has chosen to endorse former Houston City Council Member and longtime healthcare entrepreneur Dr. Letitia Plummer in her run for Harris County Judge. Dr. Plummer comes from a long line of Houston area civic leaders, and the Progress Texas board believes she is the right choice for the Democratic nomination for this key position of leadership in Texas' most-populous county. Check out...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Pending a SCOTUS call on intellectual eligibility for execution, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the Thursday execution of Edward Busby of Tarrant County: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/05/11/texas-execution-edward-busby-appeal/ With the runoff election coming up next week, Senator John Corynyn and Attorney General Ken...

The numbers remain in the favor of Democrats to regain control of the U.S. House, despite interference by the Virginia Supreme Court: https://thehill.com/newsletters/morning-report/5872121-democrats-house-control-midterms-trump-iran/ A new University of Houston study shows the dissatisfaction with Trump and Republican governing that's likely to be the real factor this fall - in particular rega...

The Progress Texas board has endorsed Congresswoman Julie Johnson in her runoff race for the Democratic nomination for CD 33 due to her dedication to the issues that matter most to us: protecting and building upon Social Security and Medicare, raising the minimum wage while lowering health care costs, beating back the MAGA assault on reproductive freedom, putting a general check on Donald Trump an...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: State Rep. Mihela Plesa outlines the advantages that Texas is missing out on due to partisan gerrymandering - and how the Callais decision will make things worse: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/texas-doesn-t-many-real-elections-anymore-22247593.php ...The same is happening next door in Louisiana: https://www.current...

Today's "funeral" protest at Texas Tech - mourning the demise of that institution's academic reputation at the hands of Chancellor Brandon Creighton - is only the latest chapter in the continuing story of the dismantling of Texas' statewide reputation for our public universities. This election year gives us a chance to begin to undo the damage, but it could take a generation...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: As a protest against the conservative undermining of academic integrity at Texas Tech under new Chancellor Brandon Creighton happens today, officials there are accused of asking faculty to downplay the limitations that have been placed on research: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/05/06/texas-tech-university-graduate-research-limit-warni...