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Good morning,

Democrats haven't won a statewide election in Texas since 1994. That trend continued despite the legacy media's hopes for a blue wave.

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

But First...

• Brandon Waltens and I will discuss Texas' down-ballot races at noon today. You can catch the conversation live on 𝕏, Facebook, and YouTube.

Donald Trump Carries Texas' 40 Electoral Votes

• Thanks to a growing population, Texas now has 40 electoral votes—two more than in 2020. 
     
• “Texans rejected Kamala Harris’ radical leftist agenda and voted to restore freedom, prosperity, and opportunity for all Americans.” – Gov. Greg Abbott

Ted Cruz Returns to U.S. Senate

• Republican Ted Cruz handily defeated Democrat Colin Allred to secure a third term in the U.S. Senate. Emily Medeiros has the details.
      
• Allred had to give up his Dallas-based seat in the U.S. House to unsuccessfully challenge Cruz.

Republicans Sweep Statewide Judicial Elections

• Luca Cacciatore reports Republicans dominated the Texas judicial elections. Incumbent Supreme Court Justices Jimmy Blacklock, John Devine, and Janice Bland all won re-election. The same goes for Republicans running for the state's highest criminal court: Gina Parker, David Schenck, and Lee Finley.

Texas Senate Seat Goes Republican

• Republican Adam Hinojosa has defeated Democrat incumbent Morgan LaMantia for the Senate District 27 seat. As Sydnie Henry reports, this race was a rematch of the 2022 election.
        
• Senate District 27 encompasses much of the South Texas coastline, including Bee, San Patricio, Kleberg, Kenedy, Willacy, Cameron, and portions of Nueces and Hidalgo counties.
       
• “Our campaign has changed the balance of power in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.” – Adam Hinojosa

Two South Texas House Seats Flipped to GOP

• Republicans Don McLaughlin and Denise Villalobos have flipped two Texas House seats, reports Will Biagini.
      
• McLaughlin has become the first Republican in more than two decades to win House District 80, which was vacated by Democrat Tracy King.
       
• Meanwhile, Republican Denise Villalobos also won the open seat in House District 34, a Corpus Christi-area district vacated by Democrat Abel Herrero.

Houston Voters Reject $4.4 Billion Debt

• Houston ISD’s $4.4 billion bond, the largest school debt proposal in state history, was soundly rejected by voters, writes Charles Blain. Both the Harris County Republican Party and the Harris County Democratic Party came out in against the HISD proposal.

Paths for Growth of Nuclear Power in Texas

• A new set of studies from the Texas Public Policy Foundation suggests that expanding nuclear power in Texas could sustain the state's growing population and economy. Addie Hovland has the details.
        
• Texas currently has four nuclear reactors. Two are located at the Comanche Peak Nuclear Facility southwest of Fort Worth, and the other two are located at the South Texas Project between Bay City and Matagorda.
       
• With subsidies for unreliable wind and solar energy taking up financial resources, nuclear energy has faced an economic hurdle. It is more expensive to set up, but far more reliable.
       
• TPPF recommends the state co-locate small nuclear energy plants alongside industrial facilities.

New Study Finds Sports Betting Increases Strain on Vulnerable Households

• A new economic analysis of sports gambling finds that it has a destructive impact on households and long-term financial well-being, a trend that increases when the practice is legalized.
        
• Daniel Greer reports on the findings of “Gambling Away Stability.” The study was produced by researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Kansas, and Brigham Young University.
       
• Also found in other studies, online sports betting firms prey on the vast majority of bettors’ biases and lack of skill while specifically excluding skilled bettors from placing wages.
      
• The study finds evidence that states can expect potential revenues from sports betting to be offset by “lost tax revenue on investment income and the public costs of managing overextended borrowers.” It also finds that legalized sports betting leads to a diversion of funds away from savings and investment accounts.
      
• State Rep.-elect Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) said the research findings should give lawmakers pause. He said Texas is already second in the nation in credit card debt—more than $111 billion—and that legalizing sports betting would “only dig the hole deeper.”
        
• “Republicans need to decide now whether they want to co-sign one of the largest wealth transfers in history from our most needy citizens to a few winners while leaving only negative economic effects in their wake.” — Mitch Little

Quote-Unquote

"Important principles may, and must, be inflexible."

– Abraham Lincoln

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