Good morning,

Yesterday, we asked readers what they thought Gov. Abbott should do in the GOP primary race involving House Speaker Dade Phelan and two challengers. You'll find the results below.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, February 13, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

UPFRONT: The city's name mentioned in yesterday's "History" section had a typo, resulting in a misspelling. The Texas city that first set the coldest low temperature on record (-23) is Tulia. I apologize for the error!

Seen More States to Send National Guard to Texas Border

• Seven more states led by Republican governors are preparing to deploy national guardsmen and other personnel to the Texas-Mexico border. Luca Cacciatore has the details.

        
• As previously reported, Florida, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma, and North Dakota either had personnel in Texas at the border or were working to send some. Now, officials from Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Utah, and Tennessee are pledging to send troops to Texas.
         
• Starting in March, Louisiana will have three sets of 50 troops rotating to Texas every 30 days. Meanwhile, the first wave of Tennessee guardsmen is expected to deploy to the border within the next two months. 

Lakewood Church Shooter Identified as Transgender

• New details have emerged about the perpetrator in Sunday's shooting at Lakewood Church in Houston that resulted in two victims being injured. Brandon Waltens reports that the shooter, Genesse Moreno, was killed by off-duty officers during the incident.
       
• Police revealed on Monday that she used a rifle with a “Palestine” sticker on it. There was confusion on Sunday and Monday about whether Moreno was a man posing as a woman or a woman posing as a man.
        
• According to police, she was indeed a woman who had used male aliases in previous interactions with law enforcement. Other reports indicate she identified as transgender, using the name “Jeffrey Escalante.”

      

• One of the two victims is a 7-year-old boy believed to be Moreno's son.
       

• The woman had previous arrests for assault, forgery, marijuana possession, theft, and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

HD19: Troxclair and Biedermann Square Off

• Freshman lawmaker Ellen Troxclair is trying to hold onto her office in what is gearing up to be a competitive Republican primary battle against former State Rep. Kyle Biedermann.
   
• Biedermann had served in the Texas House from 2017 until stepping down in 2023. During his tenure, Biedermann earned a series of accolades from conservative grassroots organizations.
   
• Troxclair previously served on the Austin City Council and has emerged as an advocate for embattled House Speaker Dade Phelan. After supporting the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton, Troxclair has received more than $92,000 from Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a lobby group that aids establishment Democrats and Republicans.

Man Sentenced for Fentanyl-Related Death of Texas Teen

• A man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after selling a Leander teen a pill containing fentanyl, leading to his death. Emily Medeiros has the story.
      
• Court documents show Juan Ignacio Soria Gamez sold fentanyl-laced Percocet to 19-year-old Tucker Roe in 2021, who died from it.
      
• Roe's mother founded "Texas Against Fentanyl," which lobbied for legislation that was signed into law last summer. The measure requires public schools to educate students about the deadly effects of fentanyl. 

Quote-Unquote

"Socialists cry 'power to the people,' and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean: power over people, power to the State."

– Margaret Thatcher​

Y'All Answered

While Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed challengers to key lieutenants of House Speaker Dade Phelan, he has not endorsed either of the candidates taking on Phelan himself in the Texas GOP primary.

Yesterday's One Click Survey asked readers what they thought Gov. Abbott should do in the race. Less than 1 percent said they thought the governor should endorse Mr. Phelan, while 11.5 percent hope he stays out and 87.8 percent want him to endorse one of the incumbent's challengers.

Here is a sampling of the replies we received.

• "Abbott should endorse Phelan's opponent for his own credibility." – Roger Taylor
            

• "While doorknocking for grassroots champion Mike Olcott for State Rep., voters said they thought they liked him until they found out Abbott had endorsed him.  Now they worry he's already sold out.  Let's keep Abbott out of the Phelan race.  He sends a confusing message." – Julie McCarty
      
• "Whose side is Abbott on? He's two years too late on the border.  He's supporting Ellen Troxclair, who voted to impeach Paxton. Now he's not endorsing Phelan's challengers?" – Doreen Cardenas
       
• "Greg Abbott has endorsed Morgan Meyer, one of the most liberal Republicans and Phelan's close personal friend and ally, who led the charge against Paxton. Abbott might as well endorse Phelan." – Spencer Siino
       
• "I think there should be a rule that politicians and especially the governor should not be allowed to endorse anybody." – Aaron Miller
       
• "No, but give them both an equal amount of money, AnyOneButPhelan." – Mary Casper
        
• "Well, Abbott is presented with a conundrum. Abbott is a RINO, and Phelan is a RINO. Many of the same corrupt PACs support both of them. So, for Abbott to issue an endorsement to one of Phelan's primary challengers would be to shoot himself in his own foot. The fact that Abbott has NOT endorsed one of Phelan’s challengers should be very 'telling'!" – Dana Krasinski
      
• "If you don’t expose and fire traitors, then you are not a worthy leader." – Tom Gavin
      
• "Of course, he should endorse against Phelan. Phelan's fake Republican career must end.  The fact that Abbott has not yet endorsed Covery is telling….but of what?" – Robert Bruce
      
• "The Governor should do whatever it takes to rid Texas of Dade Phelan and his ilk.  That RINO has wasted enough time and taxpayer dollars! The House accomplishes nothing with him leading." – Nina Kruzan
      
• "No. Besides, is Abbott's endorsement really a benefit to a candidate running on a conservative platform?" – Jason Kerr
      
• "Gov. Abbott should go all the way and campaign for Phelan's opponent. That's the right move at the right time already." – Rachel Salajean
      
• "Maybe Republicans need to look in the mirror and quit putting people like Phelan as Speaker.  They have no one to blame but themselves." – Mathew Howard
      
• "If the Governor is going to endorse other incumbent challengers, he might as well endorse one for Phelan too. Now, that being said, I despise the whole endorsement game because it makes elections look even more like a popularity contest than they already do." – Cindy Armstrong
      
• "Abbott should also be more careful to NOT endorse RINOs who voted for Phelan as Speaker." – Charles Fink
      
• "This has been a pattern of indecisiveness that has plagued his entire tenure.  Wait, wait, wait, delay, delay, delay until the situation gets decidedly more complex and very noticeable to the citizens, forcing him to finally decide to act and hopefully before Desantis has a chance to weigh in." – Patrick Bell
      
• "I'm really not sure of Abbott's endorsements anyway." – Joe Bain
      
• "Abbott should have ALREADY endorsed Phelan's challenger.  By not doing so, Texans know where Abbott's allegiance lies." – Katherine Kelton
      
• "Gov. Abbott appears to be a watered-down conservative. What are his true intentions? Why doesn't he get the Texas house in order? Democrats should not be in charge when Republicans are the majority. We have waited far too long for him to be the strong leader Texas needs." – Robin McCarty
       
• "You are assuming Abbott is not as much a RINO as the candidates he is endorsing. Our own RINO Rep did not vote for a single Priority, yet Abbott has endorsed him because of one vote in the last Special Session. I am wondering if candidates actually want his endorsement!" – Steve Sullivan

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