Good morning, 

Yesterday, we asked readers what they thought Gov. Greg Abbott should do regarding the headline-grabbing runoff between Dade Phelan and David Covey. Today, we have the answers...

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Another Speaker Hopeful Connected to Bonnen-Phelan Bank

• Another potential candidate for Speaker of the House, Dustin Burrows, has ties to a bank connected to current House Speaker Dade Phelan and disgraced former Speaker Dennis Bonnen. Brandon Waltens has the details.

       
• It is widely recognized that, whatever happens in the House District 21 runoff, Phelan won't be the speaker in 2025. Now, the Bonnen-Phelan network is scrambling to put one of their minions in the House's top job.
        
• Last week, Texas Scorecard reported on the employment of one potential candidate—Cody Harris (R-Palestine)—by the Bonnen-Phelan Third Coast Bank. In late 2019, Third Coast Bank acquired Heritage Bank, where Dennis Bonnen had served as president, chairman, and chief executive officer. Bonnen currently sits on Third Coast’s Board of Directors. Third Coast Bank is flush with Phelan family members, including the speaker himself.
         
• Also owning shares in the Bonnen-Phelan bank is State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock). Inside the legislature, Burrows has had a close relationship with both Bonnen and Phelan.
      
• According to sources in the Legislature, Burrows is among those currently attempting to rally support among members either for himself or for one of his Bonnen-Phelan allies to hold sway over the House.

El Paso Judge Blocks Paxton from Obtaining Illegal Alien Shelter's Records

• A state judge in El Paso ruled that a non-governmental organization accused of harboring illegal aliens does not have to immediately turn over internal documents to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Emily Medeiros updates the ongoing story.
      
• District Judge Francisco Dominguez, a Democrat, is protecting Annunciation House—a Catholic nonprofit operating several illegal alien shelters within El Paso—from having to turn over internal documents asked for by Paxton’s office last month. 
       

• Paxton’s legal battle with the Annunciation House began February 7, when his office demanded that the illegal alien shelter turn over various records. The attorney general has said Annunciation House has been stoking the crisis at the United States’ southern border by facilitating unlawful entry into the U.S., harboring illegal aliens, human smuggling, and operating as a stash house.

5th Circuit Upholds Constitutionality of Texas Law Protecting Children

• A federal court has upheld a Texas law passed last year to protect children from adult content that requires pornography websites to verify users’ ages. Erin Anderson reports the largest online platform for sharing pornographic videos is still violating the law despite a $1.6 million civil lawsuit filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
      

• The new law requires commercial porn websites to use “reasonable” methods to verify that users in Texas are at least 18 years of age before being able to access X-rated content. Violators face fines of $10,000 per day.
         

• Attorney Rob Farquharson, working on behalf of State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R–Fort Worth) and State Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood), called the ruling “a massive win for Texas kids and Texas families.”
      

• A website run by porn conglomerate Aylo Global Entertainment has so far refused to comply with the Texas law. (I am intentionally not naming the website here.)
       

• Seven other states have passed age-verification laws: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. Rather than implement age verification, Aylo Global has blocked access to all users in those states. The site reportedly remains accessible in Texas.

Watchdog Group Calls Out Republican Lobbyists for ‘Redwashing’ Blackrock

• As far-left corporate policies such as DEI and ESG fall under increased public scrutiny, a new fight has opened on the abortion front. Now, this fight has come to Texas.

        
• The American Accountability Foundation, a non-partisan watchdog group, sent an e-mail to state lawmakers this week questioning why any Republican lobbyist would represent a "woke" firm such as BlackRock that is actively promoting abortion. At issue is BlackRock's endorsement of an "aggressive pro-abortion resolution" by Pfizer.
          
• AAF had previously warned lawmakers about working with lobbyists who support anti-oil and gas policies.

Demotions Issued as Houston Police Scandal Continues

• Two senior officers have been demoted in response to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner’s revelation that more than 260,000 incident reports were closed using a banned code. Meanwhile, Mayor John Whitmire has announced a new commission to review the cases. Charles Blain reports that 100 officers have been dispatched across the city to contact victims in an effort to re-open investigations.

        
• Assistant Chiefs Ernest Garcia and Kevin Deese have been demoted as a result of the case suspensions. Garcia was the head of Organizational Development Command, while Deese oversaw the Criminal Investigations Command.
       
• At issue are cases that were suspended using a code implemented in 2016, indicating there was not enough personnel to investigate the reported incident. Both the mayor and police chief now say the code should never have been created in the first place.
       
• Reportedly, even though the chief announced a change to the policy and ordered that the code stop being used on February 22, the department still used it 44 more times for three days.

Congressional Runoffs

• Amelia McKenzie profiles the two congressional seats in Texas that are headed for Republican runoff elections on May 28.
   
• In U.S. House District 23, incumbent U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales is facing Brandon Herrera. Gonzales has been censured by the Republican Party of Texas but recently received the endorsement of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. In the five-way race, Gonzales received 45.08 percent of the vote while Herrera made second-place with 24.66 percent.
       
• Meanwhile, the open U.S. House District 12 runoff will feature businessman John O'Shea and State Rep. Craig Goldman. Considered a loyalist to Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, Goldman raised more than $1.5 million in the race compared to O'Shea's $200,000.  Goldman enters the runoff having received 44.35 percent of the vote in the five-way race, followed by O’Shea’s 26.39 percent.

Now The Real Work Begins...

• While conservative voters made significant gains in the March primaries (and more are expected in the May runoff), voting is merely a waypoint on the journey toward effective citizenship.
     
• This is why Texas Scorecard exists. We want citizens to see what’s happening at all levels of government and have practical examples of what they can do. Voting matters, but daily vigilance and action matters even more.
      
• Your contribution ensures Texans have a resource to keep them informed and effectively engaged now, through the runoffs, and beyond.

Quote-Unquote

"It is a matter of great satisfaction to me to hope that my children will be in circumstances to receive a good education. Mine was defective and I feel the inconvenience, if not the misfortune of not receiving a classical education. Knowledge is the food of genius, and my son, let no opportunity escape you to treasure up knowledge."

– Sam Houston​

Y'All Answered

For the first time in more than 50 years, a sitting speaker of the Texas House has been forced into a party primary runoff. House Speaker Dade Phelan placed second in the three-person primary. He now faces David Covey on May 28. Mr. Covey had previously been endorsed by Donald Trump, Ken Paxton, Sid Miller, and nearly every conservative grassroots group in the state.

While Gov. Greg Abbott was silent in the first round, we asked readers what they thought he should he should do—if anything—during the runoff. Nearly 80 percent of readers want the governor to endorse Covey, while 3.3 percent think he should endorse Phelan... and 16.8 percent think Mr. Abbott should stay out.

Here's a sampling of the responses...

• “Dade Phelan worked against the agenda of Republicans and Abbott.  Why wouldn't he endorse Covey?” — Lisa Buck
      

• “This race is too important to Texas for him to stay silent too long.” — Thomas Camardo
      

• “Mr. Abbott, stay in your lane and out of my business.” – Dale Zuck
      

• “Abbott has endorsed Trump. Trump has endorsed Covey. Abbott should endorse Covey.” — Gene Deutscher
      

• “Governor Abbott should endorse David Covey because Phelan has proven himself to be a true Democrat disguised as a RINO. Those that back Phelan are RINOs as well.” — Sam Bridges 
      

• “It’s very telling that Greg Abbott hasn’t endorsed someone besides Phelan in this race!” – Gene Glass
      

• “We need to do anything and everything we can to get rid of Dade Phelan.  He's an embarrassment to Texas, from being intoxicated on the House floor to being disrespectful to the Representatives and his arrogance towards the Lt. Governor and the Senate. He is a toxic member of the Legislature and needs to go.” — Susan Valliant
      

• “I am asking Gov. Abbott to endorse David Covey to replace Despicable Dade in the upcoming runoff election. We absolutely have to rid the Texas House of every single member of the ‘Texas Dirty Dozen’!” — Bill Hall
      

• “I don’t like Dade Phelan’s choices. But I want the people of Texas to have an honest election with no pressure from anyone for or against him.” – Karen Boone
      

• “I do not follow Abbott's endorsements because he often supports people that my research reveals are not the best candidates. I definitely support David Covey, and Abbott's endorsement or lack of endorsement would not change that.” – Cynthia Wills
      

• “If Gov. Abbott doesn't endorse David Covey, he's pretty much telling us he just doesn't really care about Phelan's shenanigans.” – Lloyd Smith
      

• “Phelan has got to go and Abbott should help by endorsing Covey.” – Charles Koenig
      

• “I’m a bit conflicted on this issue. On the one hand, I believe Gov Abbott should keep his powder dry … but, on the other hand, I believe anything and everything should be done to make certain ‘Failing Phelan’ leaves (and remains out of) the public sector.” – J. Rhone
      

• “While Abbott is a RINO…I think the more the merrier!” — Dana Krasinski
      

• “I think Abbott should stay out of the race. He had an opportunity to back Covey but didn't.  True to form, I'm sure Abbott will jump on the bandwagon so he can appear to make a stand.” — Reid Davidson
       

• “While I would love to see Governor Abbott make a statement in opposition to Dade Phelan by endorsing Covey, I also question how an Abbott endorsement might be received by Covey’s conservative base. A Trump rally in Texas with David Covey would carry far more weight.” — Shilo Platts
       

• “Governor Abbott should endorse David Covey as it has been proven that Dade Phelan is a cancer to the conservative movement!” – Greg Burr
       

• “I think even if I am not a fan of Abbot, because of his habit of waiting until almost too late to stand up for our conservative ideas, I think he should endorse Covey.” — Margie Barlow
      

• “Yes, endorse Covey. Phelan, the corrupt RINO, has to go. Period.” — Eric Knutson
      

• “If Abbott is a true conservative, which he gives me many examples to doubt, he will use all of his influence to get Phelan out of Texas politics.” — Steve Creviere
     

• “Gov. Abbott should stay out of this one. Enough endorsements. Let the people vote and decide.” – Chuck Webb

Directory of Your Current U.S. & Texas Lawmakers

This information is automatically inserted based on the mailing address you provide to us. If you'd like to update your contact information, please visit our subscriber portal.