Tag Archives: Ken Paxton

Texas DREAM Act appeal heard

Posted on June 7, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them all the best. A group of college students asked a Fifth Circuit panel Thursday to overturn an agreement that blocked a state law allowing students without permanent immigration status to receive in-state tuition at Texas public colleges … Continue reading →

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National Dems to help target Texas House seats

Posted on June 6, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Keep it up. National Democrats on Wednesday unveiled their most ambitious list of targets in the Texas House in years, adding a dozen districts, on top of three previously announced seats, to their battleground docket for the fall midterms. … Continue reading →

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As goes Hood County

Posted on June 3, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

So goes the battle to have some control over data centers. This is just the beginning of the data center revolution in Hood County, a rural community of 62,000 people about an hour southwest of Fort Worth. Developers have proposed eight … Continue reading →

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Paxton divorce trial canceled

Posted on June 3, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Bummer, at least for those of us who would have enjoyed a spectacle. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, have canceled their scheduled divorce trial just weeks before it was set to begin. According … Continue reading →

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Fighting back on multiple fronts

Posted on June 2, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I approve. The top Democrats on three U.S. House committees are going after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accusing him of ignoring consumer complaints about the Republican organization WinRed’s online fundraising tactics, while filing a lawsuit against the site’s Democratic … Continue reading →

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TPOR: Talarico 47, Paxton 44

Posted on June 1, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This is a slightly weird one. Texas Public Opinion Research (TPOR) today released a new poll of likely Texas general election voters, surveying their attitudes on the 2026 races for U.S. Senate, Governor, and Attorney General. The survey of 1,670 … Continue reading →

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The Fifth Circuit keeps on doing its thing

Posted on June 1, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Item one: Texas’ app age verification law allowed to go into effect for now. Texas’ law requiring app marketplace operators like Google and Apple to verify all users’ ages and seek parental permission before minors can download apps or make … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: For Talarico, obviously

Posted on June 1, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron wastes no time in making their Senate preference known. The contest is set. The storyline, straight out of Hollywood. It’s as if, as President Donald Trump likes to say, the candidates came from central casting. An avowed lout … Continue reading →

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Another case for Talarico’s chances

Posted on May 31, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From Nate Cohn in the NYT: After a decade of big talk from Democrats about Texas, it’s understandable that people could harbor some doubt about flipping the nation’s largest red state. Judging by presidential election results, Democrats barely made any … Continue reading →

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UnidosUS poll of Latino voters as we head to the midterms

Posted on May 30, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Lots here to think about. One in five Latino Texans who voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 would not support him again if given a redo, according to a new poll released Wednesday. In a survey of 500 registered … Continue reading →

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Talarico’s path to victory

Posted on May 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the pitch. In the end, James Talarico and Democrats got the matchup they had been salivating over for months. Within two hours of Ken Paxton’s GOP primary win on Tuesday, Talarico had hauled in $600,000 — the strongest two … Continue reading →

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Some early thoughts about the 2026 primary runoffs

Posted on May 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

A few of my thoughts and a few from other people… – There were 114,059 votes cast in the Democratic runoff in Harris County, with 552,678 in the Lite Guv race. (There’s no way I can see to get the … Continue reading →

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Primary runoff results: Statewide

Posted on May 27, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This was a total anti-climax. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated veteran U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP runoff Tuesday, toppling the four-term incumbent in a fierce duel that centered on who was more loyal to President Donald Trump. … Continue reading →

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Today is Runoff Day for the 2026 primaries

Posted on May 26, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I’m basically going to rerun my post from the start of early voting, because it’s the same information with the main difference being that there are more vote centers. Turnout during early voting was pretty good in context, with more … Continue reading →

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Final EV totals for the 2026 primary runoffs

Posted on May 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From the Chron: The state’s red-hot Republican primary battles have ignited higher-than-usual voter turnout. Going into Friday, the last day of in-person early voting ahead of Tuesday’s runoff elections, almost 800,000 people had voted in the Democratic and Republican primary … Continue reading →

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Paxton on a social media suing spree

Posted on May 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

He sued Discord on Friday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing online messaging platform Discord, accusing the tech company of exposing children to predators using the service and deceiving users about the safety of the platform. Paxton filed the … Continue reading →

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Some Republicans say they disapprove of Trump’s endorsement of Paxton

Posted on May 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Time to put on our Susan Collins Is Very Concerned faces. President Donald Trump’s last-minute endorsement of Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate primary set off panic among Republicans who worry that keeping the seat will now be a more expensive and potentially … Continue reading →

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More data center pushback

Posted on May 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck. A rural Texas county on Tuesday approved a one-year pause on the construction of new data centers in unincorporated areas, citing public safety and public health concerns. The 3-2 vote by county commissioners in Hill County, roughly 55 … Continue reading →

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Where have the public school students gone?

Posted on May 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This is worrisome. Roughly 76,000 fewer students enrolled in Texas public schools this academic year — the first non-pandemic decline in nearly four decades — with Hispanic students accounting for the overwhelming majority of the loss, according to a report released … Continue reading →

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One crook endorses another

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Took his time doing it, too. President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Ken Paxton in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate in Texas, ending over a year of furious lobbying and giving the attorney general a significant boost in his … Continue reading →

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TSU poll: Talarico tied with Paxton, one point behind Cornyn

Posted on May 19, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Time for another poll. A new Texas Southern University survey suggests the race for U.S. Senate in Texas could be far tighter than many voters may expect heading into the November election. Early voting for the Texas primary runoff elections … Continue reading →

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Republican panic update

Posted on May 9, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, my. Texas Republicans are once again sounding alarm bells about the state’s U.S. Senate seat, saying that if Republicans nominate state Attorney General Ken Paxton in the May 26 primary runoff, it will create a drag on the entire Texas GOP ticket. … Continue reading →

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When not to bet on yourself

Posted on May 7, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Dude… Texas GOP congressional candidate Zeke Enriquez bet on the outcome of his own election on Kalshi, the prediction market said in a press release Wednesday, marking the latest sign of the industry’s newfound prevalence in the state’s politics. Enriquez, who … Continue reading →

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New UH/Hobby poll has Paxton beating Cornyn in the Senate runoff

Posted on May 6, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

As long as they keep beating each other up, it’s all good. Attorney General Ken Paxton leads Sen. John Cornyn by three percentage points in a new poll of Texas’ U.S. Senate Republican runoff, suggesting the May 26 contest will … Continue reading →

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Texas Politics Project poll: Talarico leads again

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

It’s becoming a trend. Democrat James Talarico leads both Republicans vying to face him in the November U.S. Senate contest, according to a new poll released Wednesday. Talarico led U.S. Sen. John Cornyn 40% to 33% in a potential matchup, and held … Continue reading →

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TPOR poll: Talarico leading both Cornyn and Paxton

Posted on April 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This will never get old. Democratic state Rep. James Talarico is leading both of his prospective Republican opponents in a new poll of Texas’ U.S. Senate race — though the result is within the margin of error in either scenario, … Continue reading →

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Texas Medical Board sanctions doctors in Ngumezi and Crane cases

Posted on April 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not enough, and it’s also not anywhere close to addressing the real problem. The Texas Medical Board has disciplined three doctors ProPublica previously investigated whose patients died after receiving delayed or inappropriate pregnancy care under the state’s strict abortion … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS approves Texas redistricting map

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, obviously. Texas’ newly redrawn congressional map is officially cleared for use, after the U.S. Supreme Court formally overturned a lower court’s ruling Monday. In November, the high court allowed the map to be used temporarily. Monday’s ruling maintains … Continue reading →

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A brief history of shield laws

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a long and detailed story about abortion shield laws and the significant effect they’ve had on abortion access post-Dobbs. You should read the whole thing but I wanted to focus on this bit from Texas that I had not … Continue reading →

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Some insight into Ken Paxton’s finances

Posted on April 27, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating. In 2019, hostile attorneys questioned Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about his conduct as a lawyer: Had he turned over a former client’s communications to an attorney suing that client? Paxton acknowledged that he had, one of the nuggets … Continue reading →

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Some poll news and other tidbits

Posted on April 26, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From Somos Votantes: Today, Somos Votantes released new polling data showing Latino voters in key states and districts are rejecting President Trump and Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms, driven by mounting economic pain, widespread disapproval of Republican’s tariff and healthcare policies, and … Continue reading →

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Council amends ICE ordinance

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

What a waste of time. Houston City Council amended its recently approved policy limiting police officers’ interactions with federal immigration agents after Gov. Greg Abbott’s office threatened $114 million in city grants, despite some council members saying the changes will dilute … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit allows Ten Commandments law to be enforced

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

They do what they always do. Texas can enforce a state law requiring public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. A 9-8 majority of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of … Continue reading →

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A brief look at the runoffs

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

The Lite Guv runoff is the highest profile statewide race on the ballot in May for Democrats. After busting through turnout expectations for the party primaries, can Texas Democrats keep up that momentum for May’s runoff elections? Beyond that, will voters turn … Continue reading →

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