We recap the wild week in Texas politics. Grab a coldie and hang! Learn more about us at ProgressTexas.org.
Never a dull week in Texas, but we've managed to narrow yet another crazy Texas political news cycle down to three items: the 100% partisan decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling and allow the racist, Trump-demanded gerrymander of Texas to very likely be in place for next year's mid-terms, the inexplicable but somehow fitting pardon of Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar by Trump, relieving Cuellar for accountability under suspicion of international corruption, and the impending announcement of...something, coming from Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett on Monday.Thanks to Common Cause Texas Policy Director and PT bestie Emily French for joining us! Learn more about their work at https://www.commoncause.org/texas/.And we're super stoked that this In Progress episode, and all thereafter, will be airing in Houston on Sunday morning starting at 11:30 on KPFT-FM 90.1 FM HD-2 starting this weekend! Stream at https://kpft.org/listen-live-hd2/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:As expected, the U.S. Supreme Court has stayed the 2-1 lower court decision to block the racial gerrymander of Texas, paving the way for the new map Donald Trump ordered to be in place for the midterms: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/04/texas-redistricting-map-us-supreme-court-2026-midterms/...It's time for Democrats and progressives to get familiar with the new map, both for your own voting purposes and for bringing the fight to the most advantageous places: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/04/2025-texas-redistricting-maps/Progress Texas is hitting the airwaves in Houston this weekend! Our "In Progress" weekend roundtable will be featured on KPFT-FM HD-2 each Sunday morning at 11:30, starting this weekend on December 7. Our new radio initiative will require both new equipment and manpower expenses, and this Giving Tuesday, we could use your support: https://progresstexas.org/donateWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Donald Trump's pardon of Henry Cuellar on conspiracy and bribery charges is curious in that it strengthens Cuellar's reelection chances , just as the Trump-ordered new map changes CD-18 for stronger GOP performance: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/trump-help-texas-democrat-cuellar-2026-21221113.php...Cuellar was accused of intervening on the behalf of Azerbaijan in Congress, while living lavishly on the proceeds of the bribe: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/03/henry-cuellar-donald-trump-pardon-bribery/On the same day, a concert venue developer accused of rigging the bidding process for Austin's Moody Center was also pardoned: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-pardons-tim-leiweke-oak-view-group-charged-justice-department-rcna247307Progress Texas is hitting the airwaves in Houston! Our "In Progress" weekend roundtable will be featured on KPFT-FM HD-2 each Sunday morning at 11:30, starting this weekend on December 7. Our new radio initiative will require both new equipment and manpower expenses, and this Giving Tuesday, we could use your support: https://progresstexas.org/donateWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Rural Texas used to have a robust Democratic presence, and thus its fair share of Democratic officeholders - of course, that hasn't been the case for decades, since the coordinated campaign efforts of the early '90s. But there ARE still progressive people living in MAGA country, and the four courageous Texans featured on today's talk have stepped up to give ALL rural Texas voters a better option in 2026.Learn more about Diana Luna at https://www.facebook.com/61580017416028/.Learn more about Mark Nair at https://www.marknair.com/.Learn more about Kyle Rable at https://www.rableforwesttexas.com/.Learn more about Riley Rodriquez at https://www.rileyforsenate.org/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, long thought to be considering jumping into the race for the U.S. Senate, has scheduled an announcement for Monday afternoon: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/02/jasmine-crockett-senate-texas-allred-talarico/...Multiple progressive thought leaders in Texas point out the issues with a Crockett candidacy - including an overstacking of the most influential Democratic players in a single race, and the high level of MAGA "negative partisanship" directed at Crockett: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/whether-its-jasmine-mania-or-fantasyProgress Texas is hitting the airwaves in Houston! Our "In Progress" weekend roundtable will be featured on KPFT-FM HD-2 each Sunday morning at 11:30, starting this weekend on December 7. Our new radio initiative will require both new equipment and manpower expenses, and this Giving Tuesday, we could use your support: https://progresstexas.org/donateWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:As the 2025 congressional map looks more likely, so does a Senate run for Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett - leading to fears of division among Texas Democrats: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/texas-2025-maps-hang-on-scotus-stay-as-rep-jasmine-crockett-weighs-senate-run/ ...Austin State Rep. and declared Senate candidate James Talarico continues to preach Democratic solidarity: https://www.texasobserver.org/james-talarico-big-tent-revival-primary/...On the GOP side of the Senate race, Congressman Wesley Hunt is shaping up to be an actual factor against John Cornyn and Ken Paxton: https://ballotbeacon.substack.com/p/polls-show-heated-republican-primary?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=3p63l&triedRedirect=trueThe recent wave of Republican departures from Congress is looking like a dark omen for GOP prospects in 2026: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/gop-retirements-texas-signal-trouble-ahead-trump-21217271.php...The retirement of Houston Rep. Troy Nehls is seen as an immediate improvement, no matter who replaces him: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/troy-nehls-ike-dike-good-riddance-evan-mintz-21217088.php...California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, with Prop 50 looming at home, is thinking about running for one of the freshly-reddened seats in Texas: https://punchbowl.news/article/house/darrell-issa-texas-major-shakeup/Progress Texas is hitting the airwaves in Houston! Our "In Progress" weekend roundtable will be featured on KPFT-FM HD-2 each Sunday morning at 11:30, starting this weekend on December 7. Our new radio initiative will require both new equipment and manpower expenses, and this Giving Tuesday, we could use your support: https://progresstexas.org/donateWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:With no word from the U.S. Supreme Court coming last week on the Texas congressional map, most players are resigned to the idea that the 2025 map will be in place for the 2026 midterms: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/u-s-supreme-court-texas-redistricting-case-extend-administrative-stay/...With Democratic redistricting wins in several other states, the new map is unlikely to give Donald Trump the edge he had in mind: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republicans-started-redistricting-war-win/story?id=127962734SB 8 - the bathroom bill - takes effect on Thursday, and the vague enforcement language in it will make abuse likely: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/01/texas-senate-bill-8-bathroom-restrictions-law/Trump lackey Troy Nehls of Fort Bend County has become the sixth Republican congressman to announce he's not running in 2026 for his current seat: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/troy-nehls-republicans-retiring-21215303.phpWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
It's helpful to occasionally step back and ask ourselves: what is it exactly about our morals, and values, and expectations, and hopes and dreams that makes us progressive people? The PT crew sits down to mull that thought for this Thanksgiving weekend.See the full list of priorities in our Certified Progressive Program at https://progresstexas.org/blog/certified-progressive.Thanks for listening and happy Thanksgiving! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder from Forbes Breaking News: https://youtu.be/dUxt8drC2lE?si=Rq1LZkuXv1MCqe-t...The call on the Texas map could come from the U.S. Supreme Court by the end of Thanksgiving week, as SCOTUS also wrestles with several other voting rights cases: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5622226-texas-redistricting-supreme-court/...Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act appears to be on shaky ground: https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/the-voting-rights-act-is-still-working-to-stop-racist-laws-the-supreme-court-might-not-care/...Data from a Spokane, Washington Flock camera system appears to indicate that the Johnson County sheriff's office was indeed using it in pursuit of a Texas woman on suspicion that she had had an illegal abortion: https://rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/...Johnson County Sheriff Adam King, since then, has come under multiple criminal indictments and lost his peace officer's license - but remains in office as Ken Paxton declines to intervene: https://www.keranews.org/politics/2025-11-24/adam-king-ken-paxton-opinion-indictment-harassment-retaliationTexas has dumped $5,000,000 - the first half of a planned $10,000,000 - into bitcoin: https://cryptoticker.io/en/texas-spends-dollar5-million-on-bitcoin-heres-why/...Meanwhile, worry grows that cryptocurrency mining and data centers will place an unsustainable burden on Texas' power grid, which could prove catastrophic when the next ice storm hits: https://www.govtech.com/question-of-the-day/will-all-of-texas-data-centers-lead-to-more-blackouts-this-winterWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:The response from the plaintiffs against the new Trump-ordered congressional map of Texas came yesterday in the form of an argument against the applicability of the Purcell doctrine, which in normal situations discourages courts from making decisions that alter impending elections: https://www.newsweek.com/samuel-alito-texas-election-map-supreme-court-challenge-11100706Governor Abbott's recent penchant for capitulation and submission to Trump is in stark contrast to Texas values - and Abbott's own recent track record with the feds: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/24/greg-abbott-trump-presidential-power-state-rights/Recent transparency moves at Twitter reveal Elon Musk's platform to be the "worthless, poisoned hall of mirrors" it has long been suspected to be: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/11/x-about-this-account/685042/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:With SCOTUS Justice Sam Alito's stay on the El Paso court panel's decision against the Trump map, a full decision of the Supreme Court is next - and could take long enough to end the discussion for the midterms: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/2025/11/22/us-supreme-court-samuel-alito-grants-stay-in-texas-redistricting-lawsuit/87412332007/...The State invoked the "Purcell principle" in its application to Alito, which discourages courts from action interfering with impending elections: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/texas-asks-scotus-to-reimpose-anti-minority-gerrymander/Texas colleges and universities are becoming nationally notorious for our slipping standards regarding free speech rights on campus: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/free-speech-ut-college-protest-trump-21198378.php...A faculty committee at Texas A&M has determined that administrators did not have a solid case in firing English professor Melissa McCoul: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/22/texas-am-professor-fired-faculty-panel-ruling/...UT Austin remains silent on the Trump compact, even as the deadline to accept or reject passed on Friday: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/17/university-of-texas-trump-policy-changes-federal-funding/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
A guest episode here of an interview done with Progress Texas Podcasting Director Chris Mosser on the podcast The Progressive South and its leader Jesse Mayshark on what Progress Texas is, how we do what we do, and importantly WHY we do what we do. Thanks for the invitation Jesse!Learn more about The Progressive South at https://theprogressivesouth.org/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Since we recorded this episode, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito has placed a temporary stay on the El Paso ruling against the new Texas congressional map and requested that the plaintiffs respond by the end of Monday, putting the 2025 map back into play for the moment: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/21/texas-redistricting-supreme-court-temporary-stay/That Dallas Observer poll we discuss - we say dig in on both the political discussion AND the can-shaped cranberry sauce: https://www.dallasobserver.com/food-drink/most-hated-thanksgiving-dishes-and-topics-to-avoid-with-family-40618949/Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:The D/FW and Austin chapters of the Council On American-Islamic Relations or CAIR has sued to strike down Governor Abbott's inflammatory declaration that they are part of a terrorist organization: https://apnews.com/article/texas-muslim-group-governor-abbott-sues-terrorist-a60f8349892597d1df9131f3bddda721...Abbott has also attacked The Islamic Tribunal in Dallas, a mediation firm that serves the Muslim community, much like similar tribunals maintained by other religions and denominations: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/dallas-islamic-tribunal-targeted-by-governor-in-anti-muslim-push-40618806/...CAIR Texas says they'll continue their work in the meanwhile: https://www.houstonpress.com/news/cair-will-continue-civil-rights-work-despite-abbotts-terrorism-declaration/Abbott is hot under the collar over his former clerk and current Judge Jeff Brown, who wrote the opinion against Abbott's new map: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-redistricting-judge-21198732.php...Pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, county election officials in Texas have been instructed to prepare to use the old 2021 map: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/20/redistricting-order-2026-midterms-forces-election-officials-candidates-scramble/?_bhlid=623e4216f2eefc6bc4f2592a45cc1d1957f75d26...The rambling, ranting dissent opinion from Judge Jerry Smith serves as a great example of the perils of lifetime judicial appointments, while doing nothing to undermine the majority's opinion: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/11/texas-gerrymander-judge-soros-trump-crazy.html...Not only does Trump's GOP potentially lose the artificial advantage they were seeking, they also still have to face the wrath of the voters: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/redistricting-ruling-helps-democrats-congress-21197366.phpWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:The national redistricting arms race that Texas Republicans helped Donald Trump start is not going their way at the moment: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/19/texas-redistricting-map-california-national-arms-race/...Prop 50 in California was proposed as contingent on Texas going through with redistricting, not a failure to pass legal muster - thus, it's still in play: https://abc7.com/post/prop-50-impacted-judges-block-texas-using-new-house-map-expert-says/18175003/...On the 2021 map, Texas Republicans were faced with sticking with their own arguments or adopting Trump's deeply flawed narrative - they went with Trump, of course: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/11/20/texas-republicans-own-words-backfired-on-them-in-gerrymandering-ruling/...Prop 50 doesn't have the same legal frailty as the Texas map, as their voters were asked to vote for it to oppose Trump's power grab, which is 100% political: https://prospect.org/2025/11/20/texas-said-wrong-magic-words-rigging-their-maps/...Judge Jeff Brown's call comes from a guy with deep ties to Trump, Abbott, Rick Perry and more: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/redistrict-gerrymander-texas-judge-jeff-brown-21195989.php...Brown is no liberal - his rulings on same sex marriage and reproductive rights are offensive to progressives - but in this case, he couldn't ignore the flimsy case of the GOP: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/19/texas-redistricting-ruling-judge-jeffrey-brown-republican-attacks/...Meanwhile dissenting Judge Jerry Smith is attacking Brown and the map's opponents as lackeys of George Soros and Gavin Newsom in a highly partisan and unprofessional opinion: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/19/texas-redistricting-case-dissent-00660625?ICID=ref_fark&utm_content=link&utm_medium=website&utm_source=fark...Read Smith's rant here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txwd.1150387/gov.uscourts.txwd.1150387.1439.0.pdf We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Listen up - because your healthcare costs are about to increase! ACA tax credits are set to expire by the end of 2025, and millions are at risk of becoming uninsured. Learn about how our system leaves so many behind on how we got here, from Dr. Ricardo Nuila, author of “The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine.” He shared with the PT team about the Texas healthcare system, Medicaid, and more on living in the state with the highest uninsured rate in the country. Dr. Nuila works as an internal medicine doctor and hospitalist in his hometown of Houston, is an associate professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and has written for Texas Monthly, VQR, The New York Times Sunday Review, The Atlantic.com, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Learn more about Dr. Ricardo Nuila at https://www.ricardonuila.com.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:A three-judge panel in El Paso has put the brakes on the Trump-ordered mid-decade redistricting of Texas' congressional map: https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-texas-map-blocked-lawsuit-trump-ab4dc519717c6661c63e116c9f26d899The state, as expected, has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, who now have the next move: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/what-comes-next-for-texas-blocked-gop-gerrymander/The plans of dozens of incumbents and candidates are thrown into a degree of chaos: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/texas-congressional-redistricting-map-ruling-2026-effect/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
A major story as that panel of three judges - two of whom are Republican appointees - have decided that the GOP-led and Donald Trump-ordered mid-decade redistricting of Texas, designed to help Trump artificially maintain his control over the U.S. House of Representatives, is unlawful. There's lots to come here - Progress Texas board member and Fort Worth attorney Jason Smith joins us to discuss.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:As Trump changes his tune on the Epstein files, Texas Republicans are suddenly also no longer opposed - showing their spineless complicity with the Dear Leader: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/jeffrey-epstein-files-texas-congress-21192934.php...Trump could just order the release of the files - but language in the discharge petition may protect him from their complete release: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/us/politics/trump-epstein-files-congress.htmlTexas' junior Senator Ted Cruz may be using his recent feud with Tucker Carlson and related hard-right loons to make himself look relatively normal ahead of a 2028 presidential run: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/11/17/trump-reacts-ted-cruz-2028-presidential-run/87325162007/83% of Texans who use the Affordable Care Act for their health insurance coverage are about to see their premiums double, at least: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/30/texas-aca-obamacare-health-insurance-open-enrollment/The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. are preparing a legal and public relations challenge to the THC ban that was attached to the bill that ended the federal government shutdown: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/texas-veterans-thc-hemp-ban-21189415.phpThe head of FEMA, after a disastrous response to the July 4 floods in Texas, is headed for the door: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/fema-david-richardson-resigned-texas-21192820.phpA Texas judge has rejected Ken Paxton's requests to ban the company that makes Tylenol from testifying that the product is safe for pregnant women, and a request to stop them from paying dividends to their shareholders: https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/11/judge-smacks-down-texas-ags-request-to-immediately-block-tylenol-ads/The embattled former CEO of Alamo Trust is suing Lt. Governor Ken Paxton and Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, who pressured her to resign over what they saw as her "woke" supervision of the Alamo: https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/alamo-ceo-lawsuit-resignation-21193101.phpAfter weeks and weeks, the University of Texas at Austin remains silent on whether or not they will accept Donald Trump's "compact", which would turn burnt orange into the new MAGA red: https://www.kxan.com/news/whats-actually-happening-ut-austin-students-feel-left-in-the-dark-university-remains-silent-on-trump-compact-deal/The Houston Black American Democrats are hosting both Colin Allred and James Talarico tonight (Tuesday 11/18) at 6pm for a Texas Senate Race Spotlight at 6pm: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jbHXb62bZRXupMUo6We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Donald Trump's call for Republicans to stop resisting the full release of the Epstein files comes just after Ted Cruz, John Cornyn and Chip Roy all voted to keep them secret: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/u-s-senators-ted-cruz-and-john-cornyn-of-texas-voted-against-releasing-epstein-files/Houston Mayor John Whitmire is struggling to control the narrative as criticism mounts that the Houston Police Department has been cooperating with ICE: https://cw39.com/news/local/mayor-whitmire-continues-to-defend-hpds-policy-with-ice/...No help for Whitmire that former Harris County DA and Democratic turncoat Kim Ogg has applauded Whitmire for working with ICE: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/ogg-whitmire-ice-collaboration-21164719.php...Lots of voting ahead, and a fair amount of confusion as well, for voters in Houston's CD-18: https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2025/11/14/18th-congressional-district-houston-runoff-election/Charlotte Jones, chief brand officer for the Dallas Cowboys and daughter of owner Jerry Jones, eluded a leading question by a right wing podcaster on Bad Bunny's booking at the Super Bowl, calling it "amazing" and a celebration of America's "mixed culture": https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/maga-podcaster-katie-millers-bad-bunny-trap-question-backfires-40616710/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
It's very difficult to keep a secret in Texas politics, so a great many of the hundreds of folks who crowded into San Antonio's Backyard On Broadway this afternoon probably already knew what former mayor Ron Nirenberg was gonna say. But that didn't stop a pretty awesome announcement party from happening! We'll save the secret for the podcast, even though you've probably already had it spoiled.Learn more about Ron Nirenberg and his new campaign at https://voteron.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
The team had a great time with our friends from the Asian Texans For Justice Action Fund at the Clay Pit in downtown Austin! Houston State Rep. Gene Wu and Houston City Councilwoman (and Harris County Judge candidate) Letitia Plummer joined us for a fun and inspiring conversation centered on our AAPI community in Texas, but applicable to ALL of us who strive for progressive change.Learn more about the Asian Texans For Justice Action Fund at https://www.atjactionfund.org/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Another wild week ends with the tantalizing release of thousands of Jeffrey Epstein's emails - for us, a reminder that the GOP is still sitting on the real goods, and are doing everything they can to keep that lid on good and tight. We're joined by Austin immigration attorney and Texas House District 50 candidate Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch to discuss that, and to give us her highly expert take on the current state of the ever-evolving dilemma that immigrant and Latino families are doing their best to endure in our state.Learn more about Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch and her run for the State House at https://www.klgfortexas.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Several Texas ties surface amidst the trove of Jeffrey Epstein's emails dropped yesterday, including Elon Musk: https://apnews.com/article/epstein-documents-trump-andrew-emails-7bdf92fd2d742f88789b2b5d67bf9f48...And disgraced Baylor president and Monica Lewinsky scandal attorney Ken Starr: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/ken-starr-jeffrey-epstein-emails-21171020.php...The CD-18 election could be key to the release of the rest of the Epstein files, should any of the four Republicans who have sided with the Democrats be pressured away: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/vacant-houston-congressional-seat-play-key-role-21169101.phpThe Trump DOJ has sued California over Prop 50, while issuing no complaint about Texas or any other state that has redrawn their maps for Republican advantage: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwlze7ex2oTribfest sessions reveal deep regret among Texas House Dems for supporting Speaker Dustin Burrows during the 2025 session: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/13/texas-tribune-festival-house-speaker-dustin-burrows/Progress Texas is co-hosting a podcast taping event on Friday night at Austin's Clay Pit, walking distance from the Texas Tribune Festival! Learn more and RSVP: https://asiantexansforjustice.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=/portal/events/28253We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Our conversation yesterday with Beto O'Rourke: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-242-beto-orourke-and-power-peopleDonald Trump has signed legislation ending the federal government shutdown - including language that more or less kills the consumable hemp industry in one year: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/hemp-thc-ban-21169676.php...Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar was the only Texas Democrat in the U.S. House to vote for it: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/12/house-funding-deal-government-shutdown-texas-delegation-congress/Governor Greg Abbott, in his reelection announcement, says he wants to slash property taxes - what that really means is slashing funding for public schools: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-abbott-public-schools-private-21168431.phpAnother election year, another rumor that Matthew McConaughey might run - but it's not looking likely this year: https://parade.com/news/mysterious-matthew-mcconaughey-for-governor-stage-in-texas-sends-fans-into-frenzy...The collision of celebrity and politics isn't new, but it does take new forms in the modern digital age: https://www.newsbreak.com/ceo-today-317560537/4344086391748-matthew-mcconaughey-s-texas-governor-ambitionsTarrant County GOP Chair Bo French has finally stepped down - not because his fellow Republicans are calling for him to quit, but to run for the Texas Railroad Commission: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/bo-french-railroad-commission-21169058.php...We think that's great news for Democratic Railroad Commission candidate and Houston State Rep. Jon Rosenthal: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-237-railroad-commission-candidate-and-houston-state-rep-jon-rosenthalMike Collier announces a run for Lieutenant Governor - his third try, but his first as an independent: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/mike-collier-ditches-both-parties-new-bid-to-become-texas-lt-governor/287-545d1694-78d1-41c8-a1e4-72cc332e4e1eLubbock city officials are preparing to rip out several crosswalks painted to commemorate Buddy Holly - no surprise considering that town's purely commercial regard for their most famous son: https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/2025/11/12/lubbock-removing-buddy-holly-glasses-other-road-art-for-state-feds/87219016007/Progress Texas is co-hosting a podcast taping event on Friday night at Austin's Clay Pit, walking distance from the Texas Tribune Festival! Learn more and RSVP: https://asiantexansforjustice.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=/portal/events/28253We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
You'd be hard pressed to name an individual Texan who has provided more inspiration, guts and drive to the progressive side of Texas politics over the last two decades than El Paso's Beto O'Rourke, whose grassroots voter activation operation Powered By People has just emerged victorious from a legal scrape with Ken Paxton, stronger than ever as the crucial midterm election year approaches. We talked about the recent highs and lows of the Democrats, and what they mean for the future when coupled with the determination we're ALL bringing to the table in 2026.Learn more about Powered By People and see their upcoming schedule of events at https://poweredxpeople.org/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:After a protracted battle in Texas over this year, in the language of the bill returning the federal government to operation lurks language that will ban consumable hemp products across the nation: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/thc-ban-congress-21162625.php...The hemp ban further establishes the federal government shutdown as a win for Democrats, as Trump's GOP continues to ignore the wishes and well-being of Americans: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/us/politics/democrats-shutdown.html...Republicans have just held SNAP recipients hostage to make sure ACA premiums spike dramatically at the end of the year - people in their 50's are especially vulnerable to massive cost hikes: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/12/texas-aca-health-insurance-obamacare-older-texans/Jolt Initiative has countersued Ken Paxton, who is attempting to dissolve their nonprofit charter, charging that his facts are anything but factual: https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2025/11/11/jolt-initiative-sues-attorney-general-ken-paxton-voter-registration-drive/Progress Texas is co-hosting a podcast taping event on Friday night at Austin's Clay Pit, walking distance from the Texas Tribune Festival! Learn more and RSVP: https://asiantexansforjustice.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=/portal/events/28253We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Reports of preferential and luxurious treatment enjoyed by Ghislane Maxwell in a Texas federal camp in Bryan have led to amplified calls for the Epstein files to be released: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-texas-prison-trump-21154534.php...With the reopening of the federal government and the long-delayed seating of Arizona's Adelita Grijalva is expected to force a floor vote on releasing those files: https://www.alternet.org/trump-epstein-2674281918/Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett sounds the alarm that Dominion Voting Machines, now known as Liberty Vote, has been acquired by a Trump affiliate and should be viewed with suspicion in regard to the 2026 election: https://www.tampafp.com/texas-rep-jasmine-crockett-raises-alarm-is-dominion-sale-a-2026-rigging-plot/Ken Paxton continues pressing his war on Jolt Initiative, filing a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the nonprofit under accusations that they have illegally registered undocumented people to vote in Texas: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-ag-sues-group-over-claims-of-illegally-registering-voters/As official candidate filings begin, there's still no official map designating the boundaries of the districts for which they're registering - and that delay could in turn, delay the March primary: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/state/article/redistricting-candidate-primaries-21151780.php...Meanwhile Governor Abbott has still not set a date for the CD-18 runoff, though state election code would appear to compel it to be set for January 24: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/elections/2025/11/10/535675/runoff-election-for-houstons-18th-congressional-district-on-track-for-late-january/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Progressives across the country and across Texas are outraged that eight centrist Senators have caved to the Republicans, ending the federal government shutdown at 40 days: https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-congress-trump-641e7e2324f261da72395b604d9540e8However - in the long run, it appears that the Democrats are the overall winners over the shutdown, with many more battles to come as a crucial election year begins: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-quick-take-on-team-caves-big-winWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
California Governor Gavin Newsom was supported by a who's-who of Texas Democratic leaders and elected officials on Saturday as he rolled into Houston for a rally in celebration of his state's passage of Prop 50, which will allow California Dems to nullify (at least!) the gains that Donald Trump has demanded of Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans in their mid-decade gerrymander of our congressional map. In order of appearance, the speakers included Austin State Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa (1:39), Harris County Democratic Party Chair Mike Doyle (3:30), Houston State Rep. and Minority Leader Gene Wu (6:32), Houston Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (13:17), Houston Congressman Al Green (14:14), Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (17:47), and California Governor Gavin Newsom (25:25).Full video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPiw2082mWoThanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Progressives and Democrats across the country are basking in the glow of a highly encouraging blue wave in this week's election - but the stakes couldn't be higher, nor the challenge greater for 2026. Fort Worth attorney and Progress Texas board member Jason Smith joins us to talk about a rare uplifting week for Texas progressives - and most importantly, the challenge that lies ahead.Learn more about Jason Smith at https://letsgotocourt.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:A Rhode Island judge has ordered the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP by the end of the day today, but Texas HHS says it will take as long as three days for Lone Star Cards to be funded: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/31/snap-benefits-texas-court-rulings/Even before figuring in the Trump SNAP clawback, the Latino vote has swung hard against the GOP in this week's elections - boding badly for the new Republican redistricting map: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/07/latinos-swing-left-texas-gerrymandering/...Trump's favorability rating among Texas Hispanics lags far behind his overall rating, at only 30%: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-latinos-still-support-trump-data-shows-21091083.phpCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom - seen as a likely Democratic candidate for President in 2028 - will rally in Houston tomorrow to celebrate the Texas quorum breakers: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5594463-newsom-texas-rally-redistricting/Both D/FW International Airport and Love Field are on the list of 40 high-volume airports having their flight schedules slashed this weekend due to air traffic controllers going unpaid during the federal government shutdown: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/dallas-airports-to-see-flight-cancellations-this-week-40614333/...Meanwhile North Texas grocery shoppers - even those who haven't had their SNAP benefits cut - are paying some of the highest prices statewide at the store: https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/how-bad-is-your-grocery-bill-data-suggests-dfw-pays-among-the-highest-prices-in-texas/3942026/Amidst stacking losses and bad omens for the future, Texas Republicans are sticking to their playbook and celebrating a court ruling that will allow them to ban drag shows: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/11/06/texas-can-enforce-drag-ban-law-court-rules/An announcement of an announcement next weekend from former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, on his future plans: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQvDxkzFPBG/?igsh=MTUzY29jYW1jc3JiOQ%3D%3D...Check out our visit with Mayor Ron from last May: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/special-live-pod-san-antonio-party-progress-mayor-ron-nirenberg-and-mayoral-candidate-ginaWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Under the first phase of Trump 2.0, the First Amendment has been put through the wringer - and that's no more true anywhere than Texas college campuses. Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson captured a recent live talk with civil rights lawyer J.T. Morris, Supervising Senior Attorney for FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, during which he details the current state of this fundamental American right, where it's headed, and what we can do to save it.Learn more about J.T. Morris and FIRE at https://www.thefire.org/about-us/our-team/jt-morris.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Almost a week into the month, November SNAP funding remains unpaid, leaving millions of Texans, including 1.7 million kids, in a state of food insecurity - for the first time since LBJ: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/05/texas-snap-food-stamp-families-hunger/...Even when November's payment arrives, Donald Trump's USDA says it will be half the usual amount: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/snap-benefit-release-november-21140402.phpWhile the record-long federal shutdown continues, the Texas comptroller's office has shut down a decades-long program to support historically underutilized, primarily minority-owned small businesses: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas-freeze-program-supporting-minority-owned-businesses/285-7a6f3dd5-41a8-423a-aead-cbbb4a28fe17Democrat Taylor Rehmet's close call with an outright victory in Tuesday's election in Tarrant County is seen as a positive harbinger for progressives moving into the midterm election season: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/05/texas-senate-special-election-democrats-tarrant-county/...Three progressive wins on the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board are also seen as a loss of MAGA influence: https://www.houstonpress.com/news/progressives-pick-up-all-3-cy-fair-isd-trustee-seats/...Governor Abbott has apparently been sent into a panic by the Zohran Mamdani win in NYC - while he's still not set a date for the Texas runoff election: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-zohran-mamdani-21141018.php...The massive win for Prop 50 in California will negate - if not surpass - any gains for Donald Trump that may come from our mid-decade redistricting: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/california-redistricting-will-erase-gop-gains-from-texas-redrawing-its-political-maps/Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass, who bankrolled Governor Abbott's final push for private school vouchers, has sunk $100 million into the new MAGA private college University of Austin: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/05/university-austin-jeff-yass-donation-free-tuition/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We're the first to talk to Colonel Terry Virts, who had previously announced a run for the U.S. Senate, about his pivot into the race for the U.S. House in the newly-drawn (we think) Congressional District 9 - part of the racist Trump-ordered plan to carve new safe Republican seats out of marginalized communities, and seemingly drawn for the personal advantage of Deer Park Rep. Briscoe Cain. We think it's a great move and salute Colonel Virts for taking on this challenge.Learn more about Terry Virts and his newly re-launched campaign at https://www.terryvirts.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Huge Democratic gains on Election Night in NYC, California, Virginia, and New Jersey - a harbinger of what's to come in next year's midterms? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/us/politics/democratic-party-mamdani.html...All 17 Texas constitutional amendments on the ballot passed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/04/texas-constitution-amendments-propositions/...In Houston, the CD-18 race unsurprisingly results in a runoff between Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council Member Amanda Edwards: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/district-18-runoff-21129180.php...In Tarrant County, Democratic State Senate candidate Taylor Rehmet came within three points of winning outright - he goes to a runoff against MAGA crusader Leigh Wamsganss: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article312730646.html...In Austin Prop Q, a 20% hike on local property taxes, failed resoundingly: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/elections/local/article/austin-proposition-q-fails-2025-election-result-21135217.php...In San Antonio Prop B, an earmarking of over $300 million for a new San Antonio Spurs arena, narrowly passed: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/spurs-arena-san-antonio-proposition-b-21135933.phpWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Less than 8% of Texans have voted so far in the 2025 constitutional amendment election, but we stand a chance of matching the 20-year high in 2023 of 14.5%: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/election-day-updates-21125022.php...In Houston, turnout is relatively low in spite of a major election in CD-18: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/election-day-updates-21125022.php...Turnout also lags in Fort Worth, where a major Texas Senate special election is on the ballot: https://fortworthreport.org/2025/11/04/tarrant-voters-weigh-2-republicans-1-democrat-for-texas-senate-election/...Governor Abbott, likely in a dumb joke, is threatening a "100% tariff" against any New York City resident who tries to move to Texas if Zohran Mamdani wins that city's mayoral race today: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/abbott-mamdani-tariff-joke-21136333.phpDick Cheney has died at 84 - and his reputation as the right wing Darth Vader of his time is well-deserved: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-us-vp-dick-cheney-dead-84-punchbowl-news-says-2025-11-04/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guideThanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Today marks one year to November 3, 2026 - the mid-term election. Mark YOUR commitment to the upcoming year by voting tomorrow: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/22/texas-statewide-propositions-november-ballot-election/...In particular, be sure to vote NO on Proposition 12, which would give Governor Abbott too much influence over judicial conduct decisions: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/03/texas-prop-12-judicial-conduct-greg-abbott/The Trump administration has been ordered to tap into available reserves and make full SNAP assistance payments by today: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-must-pay-food-aid-benefits-within-days-judge-says-2025-11-02/...Even the uncertainty over SNAP has led to a Halloween weekend run on local food banks: https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-food-lines-snap-6b55e2c21c0198f3309f3a45a55f33b6Over a quarter of ICE arrests under Trump have been made in Texas, and under half of those have involved undocumented people with criminal charges or histories: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/03/texas-trump-immigration-crackdown-ice-arrests-deportation/UT Austin, now two weeks beyond a set deadline to respond, has still not said whether or not they'll sign that "compact" with Donald Trump: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/students-organize-as-ut-continues-to-drag-its-feet-on-trumps-compact/In response to Governor Abbott's campaign to tear out rainbow crosswalks, Houston artists and residents have started painting rainbows all over the place: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/houston-texas-rainbow-crosswalk-murals-21122857.phpWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guideThanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
East Texas farmer and firefighter Bobby Cole has the distinction of being the first to announce a run challenging Governor Greg Abbott, and while that field has gotten more crowded since, he's also distinctive in his grassroots origins - Cole has never held office before, and that's what a lot of his followers like most about him. Progress Texas' Reagan Stone talked to Cole before an audience hosted by the Davis County Democratic Party at the Davis Mountains Resort.Learn more about Bobby Cole and his campaign for governor at https://www.coleforgovernor.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Our group gripe this week has an obvious target, as Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, Mike Johnson and the rest of MAGA callously threaten millions of Americans using SNAP food assistance benefits with starvation as a political play. As usual, the cruelty is the point - especially horrifying to be happening in 2025 America.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Texas State Senator Sarah Eckhardt has served Austin in the legislature since 2020 after years of local leadership in Travis County, and has recently announced a run for the U.S. House in the newly-redrawn Congressional District 10. The district is drawn for a significant Republican advantage, but potentially in Eckhardt's favor, the incumbent Republican Congressman Michael McCaul has declined to run for re-election - making this an interesting race indeed.Learn more about Sarah Eckhardt and her run for Congress at https://www.saraheckhardt.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Among those trick-or-treaters you'll see out and about tonight are hundreds of thousands of Texas kids whose parents worry they'll not be able to feed them tomorrow, as Republicans including Governor Greg Abbott refuse to keep SNAP funding flowing: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-democrats-call-on-abbott-to-act-on-snap-funding-during-shutdown/Democrats are holding out in an attempt to preserve healthcare subsidies that Trump's GOP would allow to expire at the end of the year - but the damage to Texans' insurance premium rates may already be done: https://www.fox4news.com/video/1733159County-level election officials across Texas have begun the task of investigating the over 2,700 "potential non-citizens" announced by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/31/texas-county-election-officials-investigate-potential-noncitizens/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guideThanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
'Tis the season for voting and elections, and we're moving into one doozy of an election season in 2026, with the midterm election and the future of our democracy on the line - the time is NOW for ALL of us to individually step up our game. Whether you're just getting started on your activism journey, or you've been in the trenches for awhile, this talk is all about a terrific digital tool you can use to bring your family, friends and neighbors into the fight. Ben Wilbanks is the Managing Director and Lead Trainer for Texas Blue Action, who have developed the nation's most robust relational organizing network via an app called Reach - your ticket to a fun and meaningful way to get your people into motion.Learn more about the Texas Blue Action Network at https://www.texasblueaction.com/texas-blue-action-network-2mt.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Trump's choice to withhold SNAP food assistance payments resembles a forced starvation - in an armed conflict, that's a war crime, and in peacetime to force political outcomes, that's close to terrorism: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/texas-house-democrats-form-committee...Gubernatorial candidate and State Rep. Gina Hinojosa is calling on Governor Greg Abbott to tap into Texas' Rainy Day Fund to keep Texas kids fed: https://x.com/GinaHinojosaTX/status/1983604948429332867Republicans hope the threat of widespread hunger will motivate Democrats to cave on ACA tax credits - if those expire, Texas will experience an outsized impact of premium increases: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/30/texas-aca-obamacare-health-insurance-open-enrollment/...As many as one million of the four million Texans using ACA would likely just drop health insurance altogether: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-health-insurance-aca-shutdown-21116950.phpNew UT/Texas Politics Project polling shows inflation and healthcare costs at the top of Texans' worries, while many point to bad elected leadership as the cause: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texans-discouraged-about-economy-skeptical-of-leaders-new-polling-says/In a bad omen for outcomes in El Paso, a panel of judges has upheld the mid-decade gerrymander of Tarrant County's county commissioner map: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/appeals-court-upholds-texas-countys-gop-gerrymander/We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guideThanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:The looming suspension of SNAP benefits, which will heavily impact Texas, can be traced to ongoing Republican efforts to keep the Epstein files under wraps: https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-hunger-games-begin...The disruption will be felt by all of us, in areas beyond groceries: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/28/texas-snap-benefits-cutoff-groceries-economy-government-shutdown/...There are many ways to both find and provide help as this intentional, self-inflicted crisis approaches: https://www.reddit.com/r/texas/comments/1oibwix/texas_snap_benefit_pause_heres_how_to_receive_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_buttonThe Texas Supreme Court has ruled that judges in the state can refuse to conduct marriages - including same-sex marriages - based on their personal religious views: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-supreme-court-same-sex-marriagesMultiple advocacy groups for families affected by autism have joined the chorus of voices condemning Ken Paxton's lawsuit against the makers of Tylenol, maintaining that any connection with autism has been repeatedly refuted: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-tylenol-lawsuit-21124150.phpWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guideThanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:It's official - federal SNAP food assistance benefits will end on Saturday, for the first time in the over six decades since it started under LBJ: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/28/texas-snap-food-stamps-federal-shutdown-explained/...So, NOW is the time to get ahead of that and make a donation to your local food bank: https://www.feedingtexas.org/Onetime arch-villain of the GOP Karl Rove fears that, if Texas Republican primary voters nominate Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate, that seat is likely to flip to the Dems: https://www.alternet.org/karl-rove-paxton-cornyn/...Paxton, meanwhile, is leaning into RFK Jr.-style crazy and suing the makers of Tylenol, which the tinfoil hat set has decided causes autism: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/28/texas-tylenol-johnson-lawsuit-rfk-ken-paxton-autism/Meanwhile, in California, almost 4 million early votes have been cast on Prop 50 - that state's Democratic redistricting measure: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/proponents-nov-4-redistricting-ballot-003336125.html?guccounter=1Trump and MAGA types are now fighting with each other over blame for failing to stop California from wrecking their map-rigging scheme: https://www.axios.com/2025/10/28/gop-blame-game-california-redistrictingWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guideThanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: the Texas Railroad Commission has nothing to do with railroads. It's called that because the petroleum sector and their allies in the Texas Legislature would just as soon you didn't know that the Commission does regulate energy matters in Texas - matters of immense financial and environmental consequence, which under Republican control over the last 30 years, has basically meant a regulatory rubber stamp for that industry.Houston State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, an expert in the field himself, is looking to make a change at the Texas Railroad Commission, and he joined us for a talk to explain why and how he'd like to achieve that goal.Learn more about Rep. Rosenthal and his campaign at https://jonrosenthaltx.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Millions of Texans - more people than in any other state - depend on SNAP food assistance, and the Trump administration has chosen to use them as pawns in the ongoing federal shutdown drama: https://apnews.com/article/food-aid-government-shutdown-snap-trump-democrats-8a52a63b26a707ea676962226b090bb1...Almost two million children in Texas are in the crosshairs: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/millions-of-texas-families-could-lose-snap-benefits-if-shutdown-continues/...All of this comes as thousands of Texas federal workers have been furloughed or working without pay for almost four weeks: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/27/texas-federal-workers-government-shutdown-impacts/The University of Texas at Austin, the last institution of the nine offered a "compact" by Donald Trump that is still considering it, is said to be "in talks with the White House": https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2025/10/24/texas-compact-white-house...Faculty and students are up in arms against it: https://www.texasaft.org/membership/higher-ed/higher-education-news-texas-state-upholds-professors-termination-ut-austin-stays-silent-on-trump-compact/Austin State Senator Sarah Eckhardt is announcing today a run for the U.S. House in the newly-drawn and Michael McCaul-vacated CD-10: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/state/article/sarah-eckhardt-congress-campaign-21115760.phpWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guideThanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Our regular Friday venting session this week features Texas House candidate and longtime Austin labor leader Jeremy Hendricks as our guest for a discussion of all manner of Republican ugly - from homeless crackdowns, to university takeovers, to yanking of food services - and the potential for progressive pushback indicated by the massive No Kings turnout last Saturday - all things considered, there's plenty to push back against.Learn more about Jeremy and his run for the State House at https://www.hendricksfortexas.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/ - and don't forget to VOTE!
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:The Texas Education Agency has announced its takeover of Fort Worth ISD - behind Houston in 2023, the second-largest district they have overrun: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/23/texas-education-agency-fort-worth-isd-takeover/Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, despite an already-crowded Democratic ticket for Senate, is still considering a run: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/22/congress/jasmine-crockett-texas-senate-00618545Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson gets congratulations from Donald Trump for riling up Texas MAGA over "potential noncitizens" on our voter rolls - while she ignores actual problems with our state's voter roll maintenance software: https://www.statesman.com/opinion/editorials/article/opinion-texas-election-problem-isn-t-potential-21114375.phpCongrats to our friend and Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver, who is a third-time finalist for the MLS Impact Award: https://www.austinfc.com/news/stuver-named-finalist-for-mls-audi-goals-drive-progress-impact-award...Check out our recent live recording with Brad at Hopsquad Brewing in north Austin: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/all-star-activism-live-talk-brad-stuverA new potential explanation for the unexplainable stuff that comes from the Texas State Capitol building? The granite it's built from is radioactive: https://www.kut.org/health/2025-10-23/texas-state-capitol-dome-austin-radioactive-radon-gas-atxplainedWe're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guideThanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Folks who have followed Texas politics for awhile will remember Houston businessman Andrew White, who put on a spirited run for governor in 2018, but was edged out in the primary that year. White is back for a second run, and this time, as he says, he's running as an "independent Democrat" - holding that progressive litmus tests and box-checking may be part of what's been holding the party back on statewide wins for three decades now.Learn more about Andrew White and his campaign at https://andrewwhite.com/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
