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Good morning,

There's a lot in life that should make us angry; how we use that anger is what matters. More on that thought below.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, August 22, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Texas Democrat Slams Megadonors While Cashing Check From Casino Billionaire State Rep. James Talarico, an Austin Democrat known for railing against billionaire influence in politics, is facing accusations of hypocrisy after Politico revealed he accepted $59,000 from a PAC backed by megadonor Miriam Adelson. As Brandon Waltens reports [[link removed]], that was the largest contribution Talarico received last year.

In an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience last month, Talarico declared that billionaires “increasingly run this whole government.”

Adelson is the owner of Las Vegas Sands and the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Despite its name, Sands does not operate any casinos in the United States; most of the business is in China.

In 2023, Talarico voted for a Sands-backed constitutional amendment that would have allowed Texans to vote on government-monopoly casino legalization.

RELATED HOUSE NEWS President Donald Trump gave his "complete and total endorsement" to Speaker Dustin Burrows [[link removed]] on Thursday, praising the Lubbock lawmaker as a "True Warrior for Republicans." Trump credited Burrows’ handling of redistricting with delivering a major win for Republicans.

This is not the president's first foray into Texas legislative politics. He was a staunch opponent of former Speaker Dade Phelan and earlier this year endorsed all Republican incumbents who backed school choice. Former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) announced Thursday that he will not run for re-election [[link removed]], bringing an end to a tumultuous, decade-long career in the lower chamber. His tenure was marked by deep division within the Republican caucus, particularly after he oversaw the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2023. The fallout carried into the 2024 election cycle. President Donald Trump labeled any Republican supporting Phelan “a fool.” Senate Committee Advances House Redistricting Map Just a day after the Texas House passed congressional redistricting maps giving the GOP the advantage in five additional districts, a Senate committee approved the plan and sent it to the full chamber yesterday. Erin Anderson has the story [[link removed]].

"It’s actually incredibly easy to draw a map when you don’t take race into consideration … and when you’re just trying to meet ‘one person, one vote’ and look at Republican and Democrat voting patterns." – State Sen. Phil King [[link removed]] (R-Weatherford) Chip Roy Joins Race for Texas Attorney General The field of candidates seeking the GOP nomination for attorney general has expanded [[link removed]], with U.S. Rep. Chip Roy entering the race. Roy currently serves as policy director of the House Freedom Caucus.

A former assistant U.S. attorney and first assistant attorney general of Texas, Roy is emphasizing his legal experience and record in Congress. Once working under Paxton in the attorney general’s office, Roy was among those who called on him to resign before his impeachment by the Texas House. Paxton was later acquitted in the Texas Senate.

Roy joins former DOJ official Aaron Reitz and State Sens. Joan Huffman and Mayes Middleton in the race to replace Paxton, who is himself seeking to unseat John Cornyn from the U.S. Senate. UT Regents Create ‘Interim Policy’ on Faculty Advisory Boards Adam Cahn reports [[link removed]] that the University of Texas System regents announced an interim policy for faculty advisory bodies that will grant individual campus presidents the option to seek faculty input. The regents, meanwhile, will be developing a long-term, systemwide approach.

The board’s action came in response to state lawmakers’ overhaul of higher education governance passed during the regular legislative session. The law eliminates faculty senates' authority or shared power in an arrangement known as “shared governance.” These bodies are now rendered as advisory-only in state law.

In state universities, “shared governance” has developed into a system in which boards of regents delegate authority to institution presidents, who subsequently share that power with the faculty. Unlike the regents and university presidents, the faculty senates have no accountability to voters and taxpayers. Lottery Winner Receives Jackpot After Lawsuit After a months-long legal battle, Kristen Moriarty will finally receive her multi-million-dollar jackpot. Travis Morgan reports [[link removed]] that the payout had reportedly been withheld because her winning ticket was purchased through Jackpocket, a third-party reseller and subsidiary of DraftKings.

As previously reported, Moriarty filed a lawsuit against the Texas Lottery Commission for not paying out her $83.5 million jackpot three months after she reportedly filed a winner’s claim with the commission.

Upon winning the lottery, one must choose between receiving a diminished “lump sum payment” or “annuity payments” of the total jackpot. In this case, Moriarty is receiving the cash value (lump sum) payment of $45.9 million, which amounts to roughly 55 percent of the total jackpot.

The resolution of this case ties up another loose end created by the TLC’s extra-legislative expansion of the lottery, allowing online play. Moriarty, who was by all accounts an innocent player, faced months of delay and was forced to pursue litigation because the Texas lottery undermined itself. This Sunday on REAL TEXANS Kelly Hancock [[link removed]]

In Sunday's edition of REAL TEXANS, I visit with Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock as he settles into the job while seeking the GOP nomination. We talk about how his faith and experience shapes his approach to policy.

New interviews with REAL TEXANS [[link removed]] every Sunday!

NOTE: All of the announced candidates seeking the GOP nomination for comptroller have been invited to schedule an interview.

Friday Reflection

It's Okay To Be Angry [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

In the modern Christian cult of niceness, it is presumed that we must never be angry. We are to be accepting and accommodating of flagrant sin. We are to be placid in the face of injustice. We are told to be docile servants of the ruling elite.

Frankly, it’s enough to make me want to blow my lid.

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul told the church, “Be angry and do not sin.” This was followed by his well-known injunction against letting the sun set on your anger.

When Jesus saw that the ruling elite didn’t want to see a man healed, the Gospel of Mark describes the Lord of the Universe as looking “at them with anger.” Of course, nothing quite compares with Jesus being angry over the treatment of the temple and taking the time to fashion a whip.

You cannot read Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy … well, most of the Old Testament … without finding variations around the phrases “anger of the LORD” and “wrath of the LORD” or references to the “burning anger” of the Almighty.

Let’s go back to Paul. He urged the people at Ephesus to address their anger quickly to “give no opportunity to the devil.” So the problem is not anger itself, but rather the actions we might take when angry.

Those are radically different things.

In that one case, Jesus healed the man and grieved for those whose hearts had so little compassion. In the second, He used that freshly made whip to drive out moneychangers and turn over tables. His anger was, in both cases, focused on righteous action.

What we do with our anger matters. Do we puff ourselves up, or serve others? Does that anger expose a self-destructive narcissism, or will it be used to build up others in a righteous cause?

Injustice and sin should make our blood boil, which in turn should stoke the flames of meaningful engagement. When our hearts are angered by the events of the day, we should put our brains to work in finding a solution.

Quote-Unquote

"The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought."

– Samuel Adams

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