Good morning,

Yesterday, we asked readers if they were inclined to re-elect their incumbent member of the Texas House. You'll find the results of that survey in today's edition.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, June 17, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Gov. Abbott Hints at Potential Special Session

• Gov. Greg Abbott has opened the door for a special session of the Texas Legislature, signaling that unfinished Republican priorities—particularly a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying—could soon bring lawmakers back to Austin. Brandon Waltens reports on comments the governor made at the Harris County GOP’s annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner.
     
• Banning taxpayer-funded lobbying has long been a priority of the GOP. Acknowledging that lawmakers had failed to deliver a ban, Abbott told the audience: “All I can say is we may not be done yet.”
      
• According to estimates, taxpayers are expected to pay $94.5 million in 2025 to fund lobbyists hired by cities, counties, and special districts to influence state legislation. Critics argue the practice allows local governments to use taxpayer money to advocate against the interests of the very people who pay the bills.
      
• The Texas Senate passed a partial ban on the practice this spring, but House State Affairs Committee Chairman Ken King (R-Canadian) refused to allow a hearing on the issue.
      
• Constitutionally, only the governor can call a special session—and only the governor can define the agenda.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Abbott Signs Billions in Homeowner, Business Property Tax Relief

At a bill signing in Denton on Monday, the governor signed into law the multi-billion-dollar legislation.

Texas GOP Moves Forward With Closed Primaries in 2026

• The Republican Party of Texas is pressing ahead with its effort to prevent Democrats from voting in GOP primaries, advancing a rule change intended to limit participation to registered Republicans only.
     
• At its quarterly meeting over the weekend, the State Republican Executive Committee approved an amendment to Rule 46. Party leaders said it will “clarify, strengthen, and solidify” the GOP’s commitment to allowing only Republicans to choose Republican nominees. The new rule would require voters to register with the secretary of state as Republicans before voting in the primary.
      
• It is generally accepted that this change might lead to litigation. That could be Democrats seeking to maintain their access to the GOP primary ... or the Republican Party suing the state to enforce its right to control the nominating process.
     
• Speaking on the Chris Salcedo Show, Texas GOP Chairman Abraham George pointed to long-standing concerns that Democrats vote in Republican primaries. "We have an open primary, so when we have primaries to nominate our candidate for the General Election, the Democrats can come over and choose the weakest Republican. And that’s what’s been happening."

IN OTHER PARTY NEWS

• Duhon, who describes himself as a “pansexual” (while preferring "they/them" pronouns), helped found the Socialist Caucus of the Texas Young Democrats. His election comes at a time when the Democratic National Committee has launched a $20 million effort to win back male voters.

Democrat Officials in Houston Share Pictures With Violent Protest Sign

• Multiple Democrat elected officials were photographed in the immediate vicinity of a protest sign that read “8647 IS HE DEAD YET?” during Saturday’s “No Kings” protests in Houston. Joseph Trimmer has more details.
     
• It has been widely understood that 86 is slang for getting rid of someone, while 47 refers to Donald Trump, the 47th president of the United States.
      
• Houston City Councilmember Mario Castillo posted a picture of himself standing with the sign directly in front of him. He has deleted the post since Texas Scorecard initially reported the incident. 
     

• While the protest remained physically nonviolent throughout the day, the rhetoric at the event was not peaceful. 

Illegal Alien Receives Death Penalty for Murder of Harris County Deputy

• An illegal alien with a violent record in two countries will face the death penalty for gunning down a Harris County deputy. Michael Wilson has the story.
      
• Oscar Rosales, a Salvadoran national living in Texas illegally, was found guilty last week of the 2022 murder of Charles Galloway. While Rosales never disputed the facts of the case, he claimed he shot Galloway because he thought the deputy was a cartel-affiliated strip club bouncer from a location he had visited earlier that night.

Texas A&M Class Uses Radical Gender and Sexuality Materials

• Adam Cahn reports that a current summer course at Texas A&M includes disturbing materials dealing with gender and sexuality.
     
• Anthropology 201 features lessons on gender identity using the controversial “genderbread person,” recommendations to use the honorific “Mx.” when addressing intersex individuals, and readings that reference adolescence as a “golden age of romantic and sexual freedom.”
      
• The course presents gender as a spectrum influenced by genetics, hormones, and environment, and argues that social inequalities and patriarchy are linked to historical capitalism. It also emphasizes the social construction of gender and race.

Quote-Unquote

"Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study, and the passionate possession of all Texans."

– John Steinbeck​

Y'All Answered

With the dust settling and results of the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature coming into view, voters will have to decide how much credit or blame to assign to their individual lawmakers for what was—and was not—accomplished. Yesterday, we asked readers if they currently plan to re-elect their incumbent members of the Texas House.

Just under 32 percent of readers said they were planning to re-elect their incumbent, compared to 68.2 percent who said they were not.

Here is a sampling of the flood of responses I received.

• “I plan to campaign to reelect my representative, Matt Morgan, because he is one of the few good guys fighting for conservative values.” – Margaret Daniel
      

• “In Dallas County, we are doing our best to censure and remove Morgan Meyer and Angie Button from the Republican Primary because they have not followed the ‘agreed upon’ Republican Rules.” – Bob Burns
      

• “Why continue supporting someone who doesn’t represent me? Height of stupidity!” – Hamilia Hobson
      

• “The House needs a COMPLETE overhaul.” – Andra Haney
      

• “Yes, my freshman representative made headway through and in spite of the swamp’s insistent stagnation. If Helen Kirwin runs again, I will support her efforts.” – Walt Hall
      

• “My highest priority for the March Primary is undoing the damage I did in 2012 campaigning for Giovanni Capriglione. I'm sorry, Texas.” – Julie McCarty
      

• “I quit voting for TransRepublicans three years ago.” – Debbie Wolgemuth 
      

• “My representative, Stan Lambert, did not vote for the caucus selected candidate, he voted for the extended holiday weekends, he voted to shut down the rules discussion, he participated in the quorum debacle and not giving a reason, and he called the Republican priorities a "wishlist" at townhall meeting earlier this year in Abilene.” – Marta Hollowell
      

• “My representative, Jared Patterson, has duped a lot of people. But you can only lie and mislead so much.  I have been praying for someone to challenge him for a long time.” – Melissa Cayette
      

• “I rarely vote for incumbents. Most of them lie to get into office. Even if they're good people to start with, they get corrupted once in office.” – Steve Price
      

• “Rep. Keresa Richardson, my state rep, voted correctly on legislation, but was greatly outnumbered by the many Democrats dressed up as Republicans in our Texas House! Being a true conservative as she is, she and others like her are on a tough road in that place!” – Ann Sampson
      

• “My incumbent ‘representative’ is a first-term RINO for whom I did not vote. He has shown himself to be a de facto democrat. I most certainly will not vote to re-elect him. The Republican primaries must be closed!” – Cheryl Alexander
       

• “Hillary Hickland completed her inaugural term, having successfully defeated RINO Hugh Shine in the Republican primary. Hillary is a Christian Conservative. I continue to support her.” – Gene Deutscher
      

• “My rep in the House is Keith Bell. He's a RINO, like most Republicans in Austin, and is very much a part of the problem.” – Jan Shedd
      

• “No way. Cody Harris lied to my face, telling me Dade Phelan was a 'good conservative' and he supported Dustin Burrows. He is the definition of a RINO.” – Robert Hooton
      

• “Brent Money has definitely earned re-election!” – Andrea Ingram
      

• “I’m honored to share that Andy Hopper is one of the best conservative leaders we have in the legislature, and he is our representative in HD64. I will gladly vote for him again and again!” – Deb Spencer 
      

• “Not sure on this one yet! Depends on who is running.  I will vote Republican always.” – Vandolyn Roszell
      

• “Tentatively yes, if final vote analysis lets me overlook his early votes for the rules and long weekends.” – Richard Steenson
      

• “Cole Hefner should be running on the Democratic ticket.” – Linda Edmondson
      

• “My rep was not part of the dirty 36 – but did little to distinguish herself from the democrats except for a few votes. It is not enough to simply vote correctly when a significant part of your party has flipped to the other side. A street fighter is needed.” – Michael Kruger
      

• “We will not be voting for Ken King! He does not work for the people of his district unless they are of the liberal persuasion!” – Debbie Hills
     

• “Rep. Alan Schoolcraft did what he was elected to do. He represented the will and desires of the voters of HD 44.” – Mike Deffendall
      

• “While we didn't get every conservative bill that we hoped for, the wins were amazing. As is the process, we will continue to work next legislative session.” – Brenda Howard
       

• “I have never voted for Charlie Geren and look forward to the day he is defeated or, for whatever reason, is no longer running for the position.” – Ken Hodges

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