Good morning,

Ignorance might be an amoral form of bliss for some people, but the future of the republic rests on an informed and engaged citizenry. More on that thought below.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, October 10, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton Backs Texas GOP in Lawsuit To Close Primaries

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined the Republican Party of Texas in its legal effort to close the state’s GOP primary elections, filing a joint motion with the party to strike down what it calls an unconstitutional provision of the Texas Election Code. Brandon Waltens was the first to report the story.
      
• The legal motion, filed in court Thursday afternoon, supports the GOP's ongoing lawsuit against the State of Texas and Secretary of State Jane Nelson. The lawsuit argues that Texas’ open primary system—which allows Democrats and independents to vote in Republican primaries—violates Republicans' First Amendment right to free association. The move is extraordinary, as the attorney general is effectively siding against another arm of the state government.
      
• Paxton is urging the court to declare the relevant sections of the election code unconstitutional and allow the Texas GOP to limit participation to those who have affiliated with the party. In 2024, 73 percent of Republican primary voters supported a ballot proposition calling for closed primaries. 
      
• In states with closed primaries—such as Florida, New York, and Kentucky—voters must declare their party affiliation in advance, often as part of their voter registration, to participate in that party’s primary election.

OTHER A.G. NEWS

• The investigation into Discord began late last year alongside several other technology platforms, including Reddit, Instagram, and Character.AI. The focus has been on the extent to which these companies adequately protect minors from harmful or exploitative material.
      
• "Discord has chosen to allow extremist content, sexual exploitation, and addiction to flourish on its platform. It has a legal obligation to prevent minors from being exposed to these evils, but instead its actions have contributed to the growing wave of nihilistic violence all across our nation." – Ken Paxton

Redistricting Trial

Texas Lawmakers Defend Process, Intent

• Continuing yesterday in El Paso was the federal hearing over Texas' newly redrawn congressional boundaries that could give Republicans five extra seats in the U.S. House. Travis Morgan has been covering the trial in person at the federal courthouse.
       
• Among other witnesses, State Rep. Cody Vasut (R-Angleton) was brought forward to speak to legislators' intent in drawing the new map. As chair of the House Redistricting Committee, Vasut testified that a Department of Justice letter from earlier in the summer—which was cited in Gov. Greg Abbott’s initial justifications for redistricting—played no role in his or other Republicans’ decisions when voting on the map.
        
• Earlier in the day, State Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) was brought back to the stand to continue his testimony from earlier in the week. He noted that the Texas House took the lead on the initial work of the new boundaries. The senator said that he sees no compelling reason to consider racial data in redistricting.

Court of Criminal Appeals Delays Execution of Convicted Child Killer

• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has temporarily paused the execution of Robert Roberson, who was convicted more than 20 years ago of murdering his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. Roberson, now on death row, was scheduled to be executed next week.
    
• The CCA is asking the trial court to determine if Texas’ so-called “junk science law” could change the case. Roberson's defenders have claimed he was convicted on disproven medical grounds. 
     
• In the trial, jurors heard evidence that Nikki suffered extensive bruising to her head, face, and body, as well as internal injuries so severe that doctors testified her brain had shifted inside her skull. The medical examiner and six other physicians concluded she died from blunt-force trauma, not from any accidental fall or illness.
      

• The trial court is expected to review the data and send its recommendation back to the Court of Criminal Appeals. Only after the CCA rules again can the stay be lifted and a new execution date set.

UPDATE: Houston METRO Will Remove Rainbow Crosswalks

• Following Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to remove surface markings, signage, and symbols that do not directly support traffic safety—including LGBT-themed crosswalks—Houston METRO has announced plans to re-stripe the city’s rainbow crosswalks in a gay neighborhood. Michael Wilson has the details.
      
• Abbott has threatened to withhold or deny state and federal road funds for municipalities that refuse to comply.
      
• In response, Houston METRO issued an email confirming that it would remove the LGBT crosswalk markings. 

OTHER HOUSTON NEWS

Catholic School Coach Charged With Secretly Recording Students

• Erin Anderson reports that a San Antonio Catholic school coach has been arrested for secretly recording students and adults changing clothes in his campus office, as well as his sexual encounter with another adult. 
    
• Armando Arnulfo Flores worked at Holy Cross of San Antonio, a private Catholic middle and high school. Flores is accused of using a motion-activated camera hidden in a clock on his office desk to make the recordings. 
      
• Holy Cross' principal released a statement informing families that an unnamed employee had been fired following a “credible report” of misconduct on campus.
    
• State records show Flores holds a Texas teaching certificate, which is currently under review by the Texas Education Agency.

Jonestown-area LGBT Group To Host ‘All Ages’ Drag Event

• An LGBT organization in the Lake Travis area is hosting a drag show at a public park in Jonestown later this month. As Addie Hovland reports, the highly sexualized show is being marketed for children.
    
• The North Lake Travis Pride Festival is set to take place in the city's Jones Brothers Park on Oct. 26.
      
• "Texas children deserve protection from adult agendas that seek to confuse, indoctrinate, and corrupt," said Vanessa Sivadge, president of Protecting Texas Children. "Drag shows are not harmless entertainment — they expose young minds to radical gender ideologies that distort biological reality and undermine a child’s natural sense of identity."

This Sunday on REAL TEXANS

Friday Reflection

The Worst News

There is an unfortunate tendency to categorize news as either “good” or “bad.” In fact, when it comes to exploring the issues of governance and culture, news should simply be news. What makes it “good” or “bad” is what we do with it.

Make no mistake. Objectively bad things do happen. And so, reporting on them is “reporting on bad news.” Ignorance might be an amoral form of bliss, but is that truly better than being informed?

This came to mind not long ago when a fellow asked where he could find a website devoted to “good news.” Without trying to be cute or ironic, I gave him my business card and pointed to our web address. It was only then that I realized he was looking for “feel-good” stories about piano-playing cats and cookie-selling children.

Those are fine, but I don’t exactly see them as “good news.” Like a meal of Jell-O, such stories have form but lack meaningful substance.

Let us consider what constitutes good news. The story of a man being brutally tortured and publicly executed for crimes he did not commit isn’t the stuff of “good news” even if He later rose from the dead. Yet we call that the gospel. “Gospel,” of course, derives from the Old English word godspel, itself a translation of the Greek term “euangelion,” which means good news and from which we also get “evangelical.” The news of the torture, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus is, indeed, good news for a fallen world.

In a secular sense, “good” news, rightly understood, is information that enables citizens to effectively improve the systems of government and culture under which we all live and work. Conversely, “bad” news is anything that distracts citizens from doing so.

Sadly, we live in an era of “bad” news. One can stream non-stop mind-numbing content all day, every day. A recent study found that Americans, on average, consume eight hours of entertainment content per day. While I love a good murder mystery or sitcom as much as the next guy… Eight hours a day? That’s the worst possible news for our republic.

Though a case can be made that isn’t as bad as those who spend an equivalent number of hours being fed a constant stream of you-can’t-do-anything-about-it-anyway outrage content from the cable news networks. For news to be good, there must be something the citizenry can do.

Too many people have been conditioned to walk in the darkness. Politicians and their media sycophants want the people stuffed with intellectual junk food into an ignorant stupor.

Effective citizenship demands a steady diet of real news.

But if I must choose between our fellow citizens being currently misinformed or uninformed, I would honestly pick the latter. At least an uninformed neighbor doesn’t bring misinformation to a conversation!

We should be committed to shining a light. Real news should empower citizens to make a difference in their world, either through direct information or by providing a framework to ask questions and analyze responses. The future of the republic depends on an informed citizenry.

The best possible news is found when citizens are actively taking the reins of culture and government. Only when that happens does liberty expand and people prosper.

Quote-Unquote

"News is something somebody doesn’t want printed; all else is advertising."

– William Randolph Hearst

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