Progress Texas Podcasts

At this early stage, understanding how and why America chose to re-elect Donald Trump is beyond anyone's reach - it will take years to analyze both the prelude and the eventual aftermath. For now, at Progress Texas we are preparing for the next step: the 2025 Texas Legislature will feature an even more entrenched and power-drunk Republican majority. We gathered most of the crew for this one to sha...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Multiple Texas news outlets are pointing to the Texas Democratic Party, led by Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa since 2012, which must own a major part of this historic defeat. Reform Austin: https://www.reformaustin.org/elections/after-three-decades-of-defeat-will-texas-democrats-finally-demand-change/ ...The Texas Observer: https://www.texasobser...

We are just like you in our dismay at the results of yesterday's election. Today is a day to absorb the shock and process our emotions. But tuning out and staying home in future political battles is not an option. We must continue to fight fascism and the erasure of our rights, together. Campaigns come and go, but our progressive movement is forever. An authoritarian extremist ruling party deserve...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: It's Election Day! Any questions? Hit https://govotetexas.org/ . Our endorsed candidates: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-november-general-election-endorsement-list While our early voting totals are technically down from 2020, that year was unusual due to extended early voting and massive mail-in voting due to the pandemic: http...

The draconian abortion ban that has stripped away the reproductive freedom of ALL Texans and endangered - and in at least two cases, ended - the lives of ALL pregnant people in Texas remains in place. No single election will fix this issue - only steady, sustained advocacy for our basic rights will get the job done. A group of talented musicians has put together a terrific way for people who are f...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Early voting totals turn out below 2020 overall, with encouraging stats for both sides - for Dems, heavy early turnout for women could be key: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/columns/2024/11/03/who-has-voted-early-in-texas-2024-elections-trump-harris/75989548007/ ...Almost half of the total of registered voters in Texas have showed up ea...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Today is the last day to vote early in the 2024 election - after today, only Election Day on Tuesday remains: GoVoteTexas.org In spite of huge urban turnout, the vast expanse of rural Texas continues outpacing the cities: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/suburban-texas-counties-see-surge-in-voter-turnout-as-early-voting-nears-end The Texa...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Urban turnout remains strong, but statewide, Republican turnout appears to be comfortably outpacing Democratic voting: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-republicans-lead-early-turnout-by-more-than-a-million-early-vote-data-suggests/ Elon Musk has sunk $2 million into a PAC dedicated to supporting Republican challengers to Democra...

In a case that has been winding through the courts for seven years, Laredo citizen journalist Priscilla Villareal has won a major battle in what's become a long war over the basic constitutional freedom of the press: her case, in which Laredo police charged her under a law that had never before been applied over her reporting of local, factual, non-biased news, has been sent by the U.S. Supreme Co...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: As early voting continues, Harris County closes in on one million early votes cast, while the top 5 most populous Texas counties remain under 40% turnout, and some Hill Country counties top 50%: https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/historical/index.shtml NBC News still shows very few Texans under 40 showing up so far - less than 10% have been...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Massive turnout in Texas' urban counties continues, as the early percentage performance of rural counties appears to be stalling: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/index.shtml An NBC early voting interface shows a striking lack of younger turnout: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/texas-results An Axios voter registration pe...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: In-person turnout has been massive in the first half of the 2024 early voting period, with higher percentages in rural counties than urban: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/index.shtml ...However, overall turnout is actually down at this stage compared to 2020, when mail-in ballots saw a giant spike due to the pandemic: https:...

This weekend, we all have an opportunity to catch one of the most important documentary films involving reproductive freedom to have yet been produced. The film Zurawski v Texas is a stunningly-intimate inside and real-time view of the highly personal dilemmas that faced Amanda Zurawski and the other eventual plaintiffs in her groundbreaking case for basic essential healthcare for pregnant people...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A growing number of urban Texas counties exceed 100,000 early votes cast, as a growing number of rural Texas counties top 27% early turnout: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/index.shtml ...Progress Texas weighs in on the huge early turnout: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-texas-early-voting-excitement-shatters-records ...Want to...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Even missing key data, the Texas Secretary of State's tally of early turnout shows massive interest in the election across the state, but the biggest numbers in our urban counties: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/index.shtml Keep in mind that you can't use your smartphone while voting: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local...

At publishing time, we're on the third day of early voting in the monumentally consequential 2024 election - which marks the 30th anniversary of the last time any Democrat won a statewide office in Texas (it just so happens that Kamala Harris is set to visit Texas this week - the first campaign visit by a Presidential candidate this close to the election over the same 30 years). We're joined by Ga...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Texas officially set a new all-time turnout record for the first day of early voting on Monday: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/elections/texas-early-voting-record-set/285-8314514c-859a-48bb-9311-08d7a591bd6f ...It's due both to massive population growth, and rates of voter registration that outpace that growth: https://thehill.com...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Massive, record-breaking turnout on the first day of early voting in the 2024 election yesterday in North Texas: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-is-the-third-least-safe-state-to-live-in-america-heres-why/3676621/?os=vb.&ref=app ...In the Austin area: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/long-wait-times-seen-as-early-voting-...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: We encourage all committed progressives to VOTE TODAY, and to spend the next two weeks pestering everyone you know to vote as well: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/11-day-early-voting-stretch-begins-monday-in-texas/3676004/?os=io....dbr5yxkr&ref=app ...Texas officials have made it plain that they don't want young, diverse Texans to part...

Early voting is almost here, and while many of our regulars are excited to vote for Kamala Harris and Colin Allred, we remind you that it's important to understand and vote your ENTIRE ballot - and nowhere in Texas is that more true this time than in Dallas. Propositions S, T, and U are written for the ballot to appear common sense, public safety and accountability measures, but in reality, they t...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Legal wrangling involving courts from a local Austin judge to the U.S. Supreme Court leaves death row inmate Robert Roberson still alive this morning, for now: https://www.khou.com/video/news/local/texas-supreme-court-blocks-execution-of-robert-roberson/285-2dbb3d89-871c-4579-a7df-0115682c07ba ...SCOTUS declined to intervene, Austin Judge Jes...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Texas is now hours from executing a man who experts - and his own prosecutors - agree was convicted on junk science. The bipartisan Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence has issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify before them at a date beyond his scheduled execution: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/17/texas-execution-robert-r...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Colin Allred consistently got Ted Cruz's goat during last night's debate: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/15/texas-senate-debate-ted-cruz-colin-allred/ ...Fact-checking finds a bunch of fudged facts (big surprise) from Ted Cruz: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/election-2024/2024/10/15/503107/cruz-v-allred-debate...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The only debate between Senator Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Congressman Colin Allred is scheduled for tonight in Dallas: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ted-cruz-colin-allred-meet-040719061.html?guccounter=1 ...The debate comes as internal Republican polling shows Cruz's lead having narrowed to one single point: https://www.politico.com/new...

There’s one week left until the early voting starts for the November 5 general election, and there’s still lots of work to do to make sure that every Texan is informed and ready to vote! We’re doing our part to increase turnout, including expanding our voter navigation website, GoVoteTexas.org , to Texas’ top, vote-deciding languages now available in Vietnamese, Mandarin, Hindi, English, and Spani...