Texas Take

With the March primary coming up faster than you think, candidates for statewide office are crisscrossing Texas making their pitch to voters. The Republicans and the Democrat trying to oust Gov. Greg Abbott are slamming him on everything from the border to covid. Meantime, the race for Texas Agriculture Commissioner emerges as maybe the nastiest race of the moment. Join the conversation with Scott...

2022 in Texas politics starts with GOP politicians going out of their way not to speak too harshly about the January 6th insurrection. That includes Sen. Ted Cruz, who called the attackers "terrorists" until a Fox News host took him to task for it. Plus, the race for governor is heating up with bipartisan attacks against Gov. Greg Abbott. Join the conversation as we start the year with Scott Bradd...

Now that the Supreme Court has let stand a six-week abortion ban in Texas enforced by civil lawsuits, Democratic states want to crack down on guns using a similar scheme while some GOP states want to unleash private lawsuits over "critcal race theory." Plus, Texas' highest criminal court puts an end to Attorney General Ken Paxton's prosecutions of what he calls "voter fraud" cases. Join the conver...

With the filing deadline approaching Monday, this is when the rubber meets the road for anyone who wants to run for office in Texas. Plus, the state is in court with the feds over abortion, redistricting, and more. And Attorney General Ken Paxton is lavished with praise by ex-President Trump. Is that really all it takes to win this GOP primary? Join the conversation featuring Scott Braddock, edito...

As Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke ramps up his attacks on Gov. Greg Abbott over the failure of the Texas electricity grid earlier this year, the Republican governor says he can "guarantee the lights will stay on." Plus, the vaccine mandate wars continue in Austin and Washington as Abbott tries desperately to avoid another special session of the Legislature. Join the conversation featuring Scot...

After months of anticipation among Texas Democrats, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke this week announced his candidacy for governor against Gov. Greg Abbott. Plus, retirements are stacking up in the Texas Legislature as new candidates come forward to file for office all across the Great State. Join the conversation featuring Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, and Houston Chronicle political wri...

The Texas Attorney General's race got a jolt this week as archconservative Congressman Louie Gohmert announced he's considering running against Trump-endorsed incumbent Ken Paxton in the GOP primary. Plus, some in the Texas GOP now have a new target for their anger: Big Bird. Yes, you read that right. Join the conversation featuring Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, and Houston Chronicl...

From abortion to election laws, Texas and the United States are locking horns in court. Plus, retirements abound in the Texas Legislature just as the campaign season is set to kick off with candidates throwing their hats in the ring starting in about a week. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace.  Support the show: https://o...

Why are Texas Republicans, including Gov. Abbott, embracing a chant that goes "Let's go Brandon"? Well, the answer actually informs just about everything happening in the state's politics at the moment. Plus the new Texas abortion law will be before the Supreme Court next week. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace.  Support...

Gov. Abbott racked up wins and losses in the finally-concluded special legislative session, including a big loss on vaccine mandates. Plus the new Texas Secretary of State is a Trump loyalist who tried to overturn the election last year. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace.  Support the show: https://offers.houstonchronicl...

Amid a flurry of issues in Texas politics as another special session careens toward its end, we thought it would be good to slow down a little and talk about potential long term consequences of some of the debates unfolding at the Capitol this year. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace.  Support the show: https://offers.hou...

Even when a school shooting dominates national headlines after every parent's nightmare unfolded at a high school in North Texas, it only gets a passing mention from this state's leadership as they seek to focus attention on the border. Plus, women take to the streets of Texas to protest the state's new abortion law and Matthew Dowd starts taking some heat in his bid to be the Democratic nominee f...

Gov. Abbott finds himself between Trump and a hard place as he tries to placate the former president with elections audits and stiffer penalties for illegal voting. Will Trump withdraw his endorsement of the governor? Also, the new Texas abortion law has the attention of lawmakers in DC this week. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, and Houston Chronicle political writer Jere...

Both President Biden and Gov. Abbott are under fire from members of their own political parties over the crisis at the Texas-Mexico border. Plus, former President Trump now wants Abbott to push for a forensic audit of the Texas 2020 election. Hoo boy. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace.    Support the show: https://offers...

There's still at least one more special session of the Texas Legislature starting Monday, but we are already seeing the outlines of what campaign season in this state will look like in 2022: Abortion, guns, immigration, and more are on the agenda. Plus two Houston-area members of Congress who usually play nice with each other are now clashing on Capitol Hill. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of...

Roe vs ...Who Knows? Under Texas' new 6 week abortion ban, enforcement will not be up to District Attorneys like it was decades ago when Dallas DA Henry Wade became the Wade in the landmark Supreme Court Case. The new law instead empowers anyone to file civil litigation against abortion providers, creating a more diffiulct patth to legal challenges. We'll explain. Plus, the year's second special s...

After the Democratic quorum break and months of public fighting over the elections bill, it finally came to a head on the Texas House floor this week. Right out of the gate, Speaker Dade Phelan asked lawmakers to avoid the term "racism," and you can imagine how that played out. Plus, former Gov. Rick Perry made a sales pitch at the Texas Capitol that even rubbed some Republicans the wrong way. Con...

Gov. Greg Abbott this week announced he has tested positive for coronavirus just as he ramps up his fight against independent schools districts to prevent them adopting covid restrictions to protect children. Plus, the quorum break ends in the Texas House of representatives. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace. Support the...

It has been a week of open defiance to Gov. Greg Abbott's orders banning cities, counties, and school districts from mandating masks and taking other precautions to contain the spread of coronavirus. Plus, a dramatic filibuster of the elections bill unfolded in the Texas Senate while Texas House Democrats continue to deny GOP leadership a quorum. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum R...

Republicans wish Texas House Democrats would get out of the way and stop blocking an agenda from moving forward in Austin while President Biden wants Gov. Greg Abbott to get out of the way of an effective response to coronavirus. Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace. Support the show: https://offers.houstonchronicle.com/?off...

Even with covid cases on the rise in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is attempting to keep extra health measures from being implemented while he instead focuses on border security and rounding up immigrants. Meanwhile, Texas Democrats in Washington testified before Congress about the ongoing voting rights fight and their dramatic measures aimed at stopping elections legislation. Connect with Scott Braddoc...

The Texas House Democrats in Washington breaking quorum to stop elections legislation had their plans complicated by positive covid tests this past week. Meantime, Gov. Greg Abbott says he will absolutely not reinstate mask mandates despite rising cases of coronavirus.  Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace.   Support the sho...

Stalemate  On this special edition of the show, Scott reports from Washington on the latest in the standoff between Texas House Democrats who fled the state to delay an elections bill and GOP leadership demanding they return.  Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report. Support the show: https://offers.houstonchronicle.com/?offerid=125&origin=newsroom&ipid=podcast See omnystudio.com/...

On this special edition of the show, Scott updates you on the developing story of Texas Democrats breaking quorum to try to block elections legislation from moving forward in Austin.  Connect with Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report.   Support the show: https://offers.houstonchronicle.com/?offerid=125&origin=newsroom&ipid=podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn m...

Texas lawmakers will convene in Austin again this week after Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled a lengthy list of mostly red meat topics for them to address in the first of what could be several special sessions. This happens as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick moves away from some of the more controversial proposals in an elections bill that was killed by Democrats in the regular session. Connect with Scott Braddock,...