Good morning,

We're entering the dash for the March 5 primary election. With the candidates set on the ballot, today's One Click Survey asks where you stand on the presidential contest.

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, January 3, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

After Doxxing by House Managers and Media, Paxton Family Targeted With ‘Swatting’

• The McKinney residence of Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton, was “swatted” this week. The Paxtons were not home at the time of the incident, but local police, fire, and EMS teams were dispatched in force on the false call.
           
• “Swatting” has been defined as making a fraudulent call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address. Such incidents can create life-threatening situations for both the intended victims and first responders.
        
• In a joint statement issued on Wednesday by A.G. Paxton and Sen. Paxton, the couple said they were made aware of the situation by a DPS trooper.
       
• The Paxtons noted that the incident comes weeks after managers in the Texas House and the Dallas Morning News released the residential addresses of the Paxtons despite a state law preventing such disclosures.
       
• “We understand some people may not agree with our strong conservative efforts to secure the border, prevent election fraud, and protect our constitutional liberties, but compromising the effectiveness and safety of law enforcement is completely unacceptable.” – Ken and Angela Paxton

Paxton Blasts Biden for ‘Aiding and Abetting' Cartels

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is blasting the Biden administration for “aiding and abetting” cartels, after reports revealed that the month of December saw a record-breaking number of illegal border crossings. Emily Medeiros has the details.
       
• According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources, December saw 302,000 illegal alien encounters at the Southwest border—the highest number of encounters in a single month.
       
• "[Cartels] don’t try to sneak people across. They take them directly to border patrol,” said Paxton. “It’s like a handoff. It’s a partnership. It’s not the way it was supposed to be, but that’s where the Biden administration has taken us.”

Federal Court Upholds Texas Election Security Law

• Texas can continue requiring original “wet” signatures on voter registration applications. As Erin Anderson explains, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that requiring applicants to physically sign voter registration forms fulfills a legitimate state interest in securing elections.
       
• A "wet" signature refers to the physical document that was actually marked by an individual and is distinct from an "electronic" signature or a copy of a marking.
          
• The law, which was passed in 2021, clarified that applicants who submit a voter registration form by fax must also mail a paper application to their county voter registrar that contains “the voter’s original signature.”
      
• Democrats had claimed the requirement was unconstitutional and violated voters' civil rights.

New State Laws Now In Effect

• Sydnie Henry reviews the broad section of laws that took effect this week.
       
• One new law limits, for taxing purposes, appraisal value increases for non-homesteaded properties valued at less than $5 million to 20 percent per year. There had not previously been a restriction on those appraisals.
          
• Meanwhile, a new law requires the chief appraiser of each county to create and maintain a database of protest hearings conducted by the appraisal review board.
        
• Texas universities are now forbidden from utilizing the leftwing "diversity, equity, and inclusion" agenda in hiring employees to “perform the duties” of a DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) office. They are also supposed to block any promotion of policies, training, or activities “designed or implemented in reference to race, color, or ethnicity.”

Whitmire Takes Helm in Houston

• Texas' largest city faces a series of challenges that the newly installed mayor, John Whitmire, will have to address. Charles Blain breaks down what will need to happen in Houston as 2024 begins.
   
• Even though Houston ended the year with a $470 million surplus on paper, the liabilities will quickly overwhelm the budget. There are hundreds of millions owed to the firefighters and more than $4 billion in delayed infrastructure work.
     
• Concerns about crime, driven in part by understaffing in the police department, made headlines throughout 2023 and must be addressed in the months ahead. 

Austin Mayor Says Contract with Police Union is Top Priority

• Following staffing shortages and rising crime, Mayor Kirk Watson now says he wants to come to an agreement with the Austin Police Association. 

       
• Watson plans to introduce a renewal of a temporary pay package for officers that the Austin City Council passed in 2023.
        
• Cleo Petricek of the citizen-led Save Austin Now initiative said fixing the city's relationship with the police department will require the entire council and not just the mayor.
       
• In the wake of the "Defund the Police" movement of 2020, funding for the APD was slashed by a third. Additionally, some 800 officers have left the force in the last six years.

Amarillo Citizens Begin Initiative to Prohibit Abortion Trafficking

• Amarillo residents have filed the necessary paperwork to begin an initiative process to implement a "Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance" in their city. Mark Lee Dickson explains what happens next.
        
• Nearly 70 cities and counties in seven states have passed ordinances outlawing abortion and declaring their jurisdictions “sanctuaries for the unborn.” Cities in Texas that have already done so range from Lubbock and Abilene to Athens and Plainview.
     
• Under state law, 5,761 verified signatures of qualified Amarillo voters will be required to get the initiative on the Amarillo ballot. 

Quote-Unquote

"Few men in our history have ever obtained the Presidency by planning to obtain it."

– James Garfield

ONE CLICK SURVEY

There are 62 days until the March 5, 2024, Republican primary election in Texas. There will be eight candidates vying for the presidential nomination. Which of them are you currently supporting?

(Candidates are listed alphabetically.)

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!