Progress Texas Podcasts

This week's roundtable is from the road in South Texas at the wonderful Barrel House Kitchen and Bar, location of Tuesday's very first live Progress Texas podcast recording in the Rio Grande Valley! We thoroughly enjoyed making a bunch of great new friends as we platformed Democratic nominee for TX HD 41 Julio Salinas, Latino Victory Texas Coalition Senior Advisor Michelle Vallejo, and LUPE Votes...

With Ken Paxton's fundraising skills largely MIA, Elon Musk has stepped into the breach with his massive wallet - rendering the Texas Senate race one between James Talarico, representing everyday Texans, and billionaires looking to buy influence. Members of the Bush political dynasty have begun publicly falling in behind Talarico. And GOP Texas Comptroller nominee (and current, appointed compt...

Thanks in part to lackluster data from the Texas Secretary of State, it's still hard to interpret which party will benefit from record-breaking midterm election turnout over the first days of early voting. A new poll of South Texas voters confirms deep rejection of Donald Trump's policies and solid numbers for congressional candidate Bobby Pulido. State officials have continued administrat...

Huge numbers of Texans voted at their very first opportunity yesterday - some enduring waits of over two hours. Donald Trump and James Talarico will both appear in Lubbock on the same day next Tuesday, October 27. A new University of Houston poll shows independent voters tacking significantly towards the Democrats. And Matthew McConaughey, in an effort to promote independent candidates, has ended...

New CBS News polling, on the first day of early voting, shows Ken Paxton gaining slightly on James Talarico, cutting the Democrat's lead to two points - a statistical tie. A win for Paxton - a man who has twisted our legal system to fundamentally undermine reproductive freedom in Texas - would be a disaster for abortion rights across America. Big Tech is banking on Governor Abbott's recent...

Gina Hinojosa showed up at the Governor's Mansion in Austin yesterday, hoping to have a conversation with Governor Greg Abbott - she was met with a phalanx of moving trucks instead. Donald Trump is raging against John Cornyn and Karl Rove as GOP prospects worsen in Texas and James Talarico sets new fundraising records. And new Texas connections emerge regarding medical fraud suspects Ken Paxto...

Between the recoiling of America at the appearance of Susan Dell, to Shane Gillis bombing on Saturday Night Live with jokes intended for a...certain audience, examples of how progressive America and conservative America have diverged in their values surrounding beauty and entertainment have become as disparate as their views on policy, justice and human dignity. We explore the ways in which an &qu...

Harris County DA Sean Teare says his office is seriously considering felony assault charges against the ICE agent who ran over Miguel Parra-Hernandez near Houston last weekend. For only the second time in 20 years, Planet K has cancelled their annual San Antonio Dia De Los Muertos community gathering, citing concerns about ICE targeting of attendees and vendors. The Trump administration is prepari...

The last UT Austin/Texas Politics Project poll before the election finds Democrats with slight edges in six statewide races. The Houston Chronicle endorses Gina Hinojosa for Governor, Vikki Goodwin proposes a new environmental rights amendment, and Jon Rosenthal out-raises Republican Bo French. Yet another Ken Paxton scandal hits as the Washington Post identifies a range of donors who benefited fr...

In the latest of a recent daily string of newly-revealed scandals, Ken Paxton was caught on camera partying with his mistress in Dubai alongside two Americans wanted in a multi-million dollar hospital fraud case in Chicago. While he's done all he can to cast himself as a candidate of faith, Paxton's conduct is at direct odds with Christian teachings - while his opponent James Talarico has...

Proving they have little to talk about really, all that bluster about James Talarico's campaign trail absence looks quite silly as the Democrat re-emerges at the ACL Festival and a Dallas Kacey Musgraves concert. Houston-area community leaders demand answers after an ICE agent runs over a targeted man with his car, leaving him with a severely broken leg. And Democratic Ag Commissioner nominee Clay...

Still more new revelations regarding Ken Paxton, as an investigation reveals millions of taxpayer dollars spent on security for his very frequent personal travel over his 11 years as AG, and more audio from that September fundraiser shows him complaining of John Cornyn's contempt for his campaign. And a public execution proposed at Fort Hood reduces Texas and America to the cultural and ethica...

With the election drawing nigh - and with the cast of characters on the Republican side of the ballot - we've got corruption on our minds. Far too many Texans have decided that politics itself is corrupt, and so we opt out. We're joined by Adrian Shelley, who heads the Texas office of Public Citizen, for an exploration of corruption: why it infects our politics, and why we should all be in...

Donald Trump's desperate appearance on behalf of Ken Paxton last night in San Antonio was marked by several protests - one protestor assaulted by a red-hatted Trump fan - and the notable absence of Governor Greg Abbott. And, a fourth leaked recording of Paxton expressing support for slashing federal benefits programs may indicate a disgruntled Republican insider in Washington. The Hill: https:...

Donald Trump is back in Texas for a third time to try and jump-start the sputtering campaign of Ken Paxton, as the dumping of millions upon millions of Republican dollars into Texas ad campaigns has done very little to improve polling for Paxton, Governor Abbott or any other statewide GOP candidate. Still no debates on the schedule, except maybe one between Railroad Commission opponents Jon Rosent...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Voter Registration Backlogs Continue; Competitive Elections Drive Ahead; Paxton Fundraising Best, Still Worse Than Talarico; Victory in Big Bend.  Check our our election protection series with the Texas Civil Rights Project: ⁠https://act.progresstexas.org/a/tcrpseries⁠ Become a poll monitor and more: ⁠https://progresstexas.org/podcast/ele...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Today is the last day to register to vote, check your status and remind your network to make voting plans at GoVoteTexas.org; Super PAC spending from GOP in TX; Gina Hinojosa Interview and the Texas Governor's Race; and more on Flock cameras. Check our our election protection series with the Texas Civil Rights Project: https://act.pro...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Are YOU Registered to Vote? You sure? The voter registration deadline is Monday, October 5th! Check your registration status and more at our voter navigation resource GoVoteTexas.org . Other news includes: Top Executive Branch Officials in TX; Paxton Spending Increases While Poll Numbers Don’t; Man Shot by ICE in recovery Austin American...

The Texas State Capitol building, known for being a place where it's easy - perhaps, even encouraged - for visitors to carry in their guns, saw a credible gun threat narrowly averted by law enforcement yesterday. Texas transplant Elon Musk is named a high-level consultant in a new Trump administration effort to extend American autonomous lethal weaponry “from subterranean depths to the cislunar fr...

Our friends at Texas Gun Sense envision a future free of gun violence. They advocate for stronger, safer gun laws and support policies that make our communities safer—all while protecting the rights of responsible gun owners. Texas Gun Sense held their annual fall fundraiser last week - this organization is very meaningful to our Executive Director Kathleen Thompson, as a former advisory board mem...

We are days away from the October 5 voter registration deadline - so, what’s changed for Texas voters in 2026, and who is working to protect our right to participate at the polls? All your questions answered, in our series with the Texas Civil Rights Project: today’s episode features the TCRP's Taylor Trevino and La’Dereka Sylvan, who discuss election protection and voter mobilization, what th...

By boldly reclaiming the actual teachings of Christianity and clearly expressing a vision of progressive success, even before the election arrives, James Talarico has reinvigorated a distinct and realistic vision for a much better Texas. While Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott continue to dodge the debate stage, Republicans in the Texas Legislature promise the same old culture war, despite the likelihood...

This week's In Progress roundtable discussion comes straight from the 2026 Texas Tribune Festival in Austin: a discussion of the current state and future of our state parks, with Texas Parks and Wildlife Executive Director Annie Brown, Texas State Parks Director Rodney Franklin, Texas Parks And Wildlife State Parks Advisory Committee Chair Brian Trusty, and Gulf Trust Executive Director, forme...

The ICE agent who shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston two months ago has been identified by the Texas Tribune as Gregory Feathers. A candidate for the Austin City Council was dramatically arrested on Saturday for taking part in a protest over the ICE shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin - almost a week after that protest. And CNN details heartbreaking court proceedings in...

Misael Ramos is the DSA-endorsed candidate running for the Austin City Council's District 1 seat, and was unexpectedly arrested by a group of law enforcement officers representing at least two different agencies on Saturday in connection with his attendance at a protest the prior weekend against the ICE-related shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in north Austin. Ramos joins us to share his...