Good morning,

Yesterday, we asked readers if Attorney General Ken Paxton should take action against online sports gambling and "predictive market" companies that are operating illegally in Texas. You'll find the survey result below.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, October 21, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton Leads Multi-State Coalition For Rule Requiring Proof of Citizenship on Voter Registrations

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined with 13 other states in support of a rulemaking petition that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Sydnie Henry has the details.
       
• Paxton filed the brief on behalf of the multistate group with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission as part of an effort to amend federal voter registration regulations. The proposed change would tighten election integrity rules under the National Voter Registration Act by mandating documentary proof of U.S. citizenship on federal voter registration forms.
       
• The multi-state coalition argues that the current voter registration process fails to adequately safeguard voter rolls from ineligible registrations. Paxton said that enforcing documentary proof of citizenship would bolster public confidence in the electoral process.

Harris County Officials Send $1.3 Million to Groups Defending Illegal Aliens

• Democrats on the Harris County Commissioners Court voted to approve spending more than $1 million of the taxpayers' money for nonprofit organizations that provide deportation defense services for illegal aliens. As Michael Wilson reports, the Immigrant Legal Services Program was launched in 2020 under Democrat County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
     
• Only Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican, dissented from the funding push.

OTHER HOUSTON-AREA NEWS

• The move is part of an effort by the Trump administration and Gov. Greg Abbott to depoliticize roadways and make them safer for pedestrians and motorists.
      
• Mayor John Whitmire told city council members last week that future LGBT displays may have to be placed on private property to avoid risking city funds. 

Austin Advances Water Project Despite Community Pleas

• Disregarding local opposition, the City of Austin is conducting a three-year study of an aquifer storage recovery project in Bastrop County on the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. As Paige Feild reports, the people of Bastrop worry that the project could put their drinking water supply at risk of contamination.
         
• Aquifer storage recovery works by injecting extra water directly into the aquifer when there is an abundance of resources and removing it later without worrying about evaporation. The injection bypasses natural filtering through the permeable layers of land. If the water is inadequately treated or if there are any mistakes during treatment processes, opponents argue the entire aquifer could be contaminated.
       
• To mitigate concerns, the City of Austin is allowing Bastrop “stakeholders” a say in the project. However, neither the selection process nor the identities of these individuals has been publicly disclosed.

AAUP’s Man at Texas A&M

• A national academic association that promotes radical ideologies and activism has stashed assets across Texas universities, including at Texas A&M. Adam Cahn investigates what the self-described union is doing in Aggieland.
      
• The American Association of University Professors’ president for Texas A&M-College Station is Leonard Bright, a professor of public service and administration at A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service. He has frequently advocated for DEI policies and against higher education governance reforms passed by Texas lawmakers.
     
• Earlier this year, Bright wrote a letter on behalf of AAUP opposing the TAMU Board of Regents’ elimination of low-performing programs, such as a “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies minor” and a “cultural competency” certificate.

Teacher’s Aide Admits to Child Sex Abuse Charges

• A now-former teacher’s aide who worked with special needs students at Levelland Independent School District faces 60 years in federal prison after he admitted to producing child sexual abuse material, referred to in law as child pornography. Erin Anderson has the full story.
     
• Camilo Reyes Castillo, 46, was arrested in June for recording videos of himself sexually abusing two boys, ages 9 and 12 years old, while they were staying at his house in Levelland. Castillo, a certified educational aide, shared details of the abuse with other adults online.

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Quote-Unquote

"In gambling the many must lose in order that the few may win."

– George Bernard Shaw

Y'All Answered

While gambling is generally illegal in Texas, some online sports gambling and "predictive market" companies are publicly flaunting their operations in Texas. They are targeting men in their late teens and early twenties with an emphasis on sports betting, despite state laws to the contrary. 

Yesterday, we asked readers if they thought Attorney General Ken Paxton should crack down on these illegal online gambling outlets targeting Texans. Just over 96 percent want Paxton to take action, while 3.9 percent are okay with letting them operate.

Here's a sampling of the responses we received from folks after they clicked an answer.

• “Gambling is like drugs. Getting young people hooked will destroy their lives and their families.” – Charles Fox
     

• “Online gambling should be legalized.  It’s my business what I do with my money. Period.” – Debra Ledet
     

• “What part of ‘it is against the law’ do these people not understand?” – Bruce Delater
     

• “Don't like a law, work to get it changed. Another case of defying a law with no consequences.” – Mary Casper
     

• “Anyone who argues these "predictive markets" are not gambling is either a fool or on the take…” – Spencer Siino
      

• “It’s illegal, and they should be allowed to operate anyway? Really?” – Andra Haney
     

• “Why are out of state lotteries such Mega Millions legal but online gambling is illegal? The Texas Lottery and scratch-off tickets are sold everywhere? Is that also not gambling?” – Jude Wilson
     

• “Yes, of course he should. As Democrats famously say, ‘No one is above the law.’” – Gail Hanna
      

• “By all means, prosecute every company and individual who violate gambling laws. While we're at it, abolish the lottery too.” – Jerrod Harrison

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