Good morning,

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's campaign is telling Texans that if his GOP challenger, Ken Paxton, wins the Republican primary, the seat will flip to the Democrats. In today's One Click Survey, we want to know if you think any Democrat has a statewide shot next year.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, August 25, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Filibuster Fizzle: Texas Senate Greenlights GOP Congressional Map

• A Republican plan to redraw Texas congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections is on its way to the governor’s desk after passing the Senate early Saturday morning. As Erin Anderson reports, this action paves the way for a shake-up in the state’s delegation to the U.S. House.
      
• Senators passed the congressional redistricting plan on a party-line, 18-11 vote, following hours of debate and a threatened filibuster that fizzled. The new map, drawn to improve Republican political performance, adds five new GOP-opportunity seats.
      
• The map, which is now heading to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature, flips five congressional districts from Democrat- to Republican-leaning: CD9 in Houston, CD28 in the Rio Grande Valley, CD32 in Dallas, CD34 in coastal South Texas, and CD35 in San Antonio.
     
• Throughout the debate, Democrats pressed State Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) on specific redistricting legalities and made clear they intend to challenge the map in court. For his part, King repeatedly emphasized that the map was drawn based on partisan political performance, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled permissible.
       
• The Democrats' attacks devolved into accusations of racism. That charge was met head-on by State Sen. Adam Hinojosa (R-Corpus Christi), who in a six-minute speech walked through the policy positions held by Democrats that are in contradiction to the values of Texas voters. 
      
• "This is not a racial shift. This is a values shift, and no amount of shouting racism is going to change that." – Adam Hinojosa

Rules Announced For Texas' First Statewide School Choice Program

• On Friday, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced the publication of proposed rules to implement the state’s new Education Savings Account school choice program. Brandon Waltens has the details.
      
• The program, passed by the legislature earlier this year, allows parents to access a portion of state education funds for private schooling and other approved educational expenses. The comptroller’s office will oversee the $1 billion program, with day-to-day management handled by one or more state-approved financial entities.
     
• Children are eligible to participate in an ESA if they could otherwise attend a Texas public school but are not currently enrolled. Priority is given to students with disabilities and those from lower-income households, while families above 500 percent of the federal poverty level may participate, but no more than 20 percent of program funds can go to that group.
      

• Each account will receive about 85 percent of the average per-student allotment used in public schools, while students with disabilities are eligible for additional funding tied to their individualized education plans. Homeschooled students are limited to $2,000 a year.
     

• The program is slated to go into effect for the 2026-27 school year.

Court of Criminal Appeals Reins in Texas Ethics Commission

• Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals decided last week that the Texas Ethics Commission is a part of the legislative branch and does not have the sole authority to prosecute election crimes. As Travis Morgan reports, this is a reversal from an earlier ruling on the matter—and reins in the power of a rogue agency.
       
• The TEC was established in 1991 by a voter-approved amendment that added a provision to Article III of the Texas Constitution, which outlines the structure and powers of the state’s legislative branch. It has only two constitutionally defined functions: recommend legislative salary increases to voters, which it has never done, and set the legislative per diem reimbursement rate, which it does regularly. The rest of its powers were either assigned statutorily or by agency fiat.
     
• "They are composed of appointees from the political caucuses of the House and Senate and do not answer to voters," said Tony McDonald, an attorney specializing in election law. "They are very clearly a legislative agency, assigned to accomplish a legislative task."
      
• Yet the TEC has increasingly behaved like an executive agency, taking on the trappings of a prosecutor. Much of the time, McDonald notes, those actions take place in secret meetings hidden from public view and accountability.

Are Tax-Funded Stadiums Providing the Benefits They Promised? 

South Texas Judge Suspended After Indictment for Cattle Theft

• No, it's not 1849 ...
   
• Kenedy County Justice of the Peace Jerry Miller has been suspended without pay following an indictment by a grand jury for cattle theft. The grand jury indictment asserts that Miller unlawfully appropriated cattle belonging to another person in 2022.
     
• Cattle theft—often called cattle rustling—has been intertwined with Texas history since the earliest days of settlement. Vigilante justice was common, often taking the form of lynchings.
       
• As open ranges transitioned to fenced ranches, cattle rustlers faced resistance from the Texas Rangers and brand inspectors of various cattlemen’s associations. The criminal trade did not disappear, however, as rustlers took advantage of new technologies. By the 1930s, trucks were used to steal cattle, and in the late 20th century, helicopters aided in herding cattle away from their owners.

University of Houston Regents Latest To Bring Faculty Senate Into Compliance With New Law

• To comply with a new state law, University of Houston System regents reconstituted their faculty senates as advisory-only “faculty councils.” As Robert Montoya reports, the University of Houston System changed policy bylaws, not rules, and adopted language against “advancing ideological or political agendas.”
   
• Incoming faculty senate president Dan Price said his fellow staff members feel “under attack.”
      
• Following revelations that leftist indoctrination had been brought into colleges and universities through faculty senates, state lawmakers decided to end the informal "shared governance" system that undermined the accountability structures embodied in Texas' Constitution.

Hays School Officials Approve Tax Rate Election

• Voters in the Hayes Consolidated Independent School District are being asked to approve a property tax hike during the 2025 General Election. Addie Hovland has the story.
      
• District officials say the tax hike is needed to offset deficits resulting from operational and maintenance costs.
     
• Andrew McVeigh, who heads Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, said the tax hike is irresponsible management. According to McVeigh, voters should insist on more accountability from the district, lower taxes, and fiscal discipline.

Today In History

On Aug. 25, 1849, 16-year-old Thomas Short confessed to his role in his family's cattle theft operation. The confession was printed in the Texas State Gazette. 

Quote-Unquote

"A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency or simply to swell its numbers."

– Ronald Reagan​

One Click Survey

Late last week, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's campaign posted to social media the results of a "push poll" conducted by one of the Democrats seeking their party's nomination for the U.S. Senate. The Democrat poll purported to show that Cornyn's GOP challenger, Ken Paxton, would lose in a hypothetical matchup against Democrat Colin Allred (who paid for the poll).

Do you think a Democrat will win statewide office in Texas in 2026?

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!

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