Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, February 27, 2020
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• According to campaign finance records, State Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van) used his donors money to pay his Netflix bill, among other lifestyle enhancements. Brandon Waltens has the details. Once a conservative hero who has since devolved into an apologist for the crony establishment, Flynn has two conservative challengers in the March 3 GOP primary.
       
• The Texas Monitor has labeled Flynn as one of the biggest spenders in the Texas House, shelling out six-figure amounts from his campaign fund to travel to conferences all over the world, as well as spending nearly $200,000 on Austin living expenses and $30,000 on furniture. And be sure to check how much he spent on cookies.
      
• Existential Question: If Dan Flynn loses his re-election bid, who will pick up his Netflix tab?
      
• The Republican Party of Harris County says election officials there are attempting to silence reporting on voting system problems. Erin Anderson has the details.
      
• After the council’s controversial homeless decision sparked months of public chaos, Jacob Asmussen reports Austinites are now campaigning to restore safety to their community and sanity to their local government.
       
• Now we know why Tarrant County’s district judges hid cowardly behind closed doors. All but three judges voted to overturn Tarrant County voters’ pick for who should handle the majority of cases involving Child Protective Services. In reviewing a transcript of the controversial meeting, Robert Montoya reports only Judge James Munford of the 322nd District Court and Judge Chris Wolfe of the 213th District Court both voted alongside Judge Alex Kim against the proposal removing all CPS cases from Kim’s court.
      
• The closed-door meeting was called after Kim ruled for a mother trying to protect her daughter’s life from a local hospital that wanted to end it. Sources have alleged this move happened in response to making CPS follow state law.
       
• Texas Scorecard is continuing to analyze the transcript and has sent an open records request under Judicial Rule 12 as part of an ongoing investigation.
   
• Texas Right to Life is the state’s oldest and most effective pro-life organization. Shockingly, though, they are under assault from a liberal Catholic bishop, Michael Olson, who attacks pro-lifers but allowed “a pro-abortion Democrat to speak in his diocese.” Check out the interview TxRtL’s president Jim Graham gave to ChurchMilitant.com.

• In a continuing series of one-on-one interviews with the candidates running for Texas’ 11th Congressional District, Matt Springer interviewed Brandon Batch about his campaign for Congress.
      
• Thomas Warren reports that retiring U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-Helotes) is the latest lawmaker to wade into the race to replace U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) in Congressional District 13, lining up with other establishment Republicans behind lobbyist-turned-candidate Josh Winegarner.