Good morning!

Early voting for the Republican and Democrat primary runoffs is underway through Friday. This week’s One Click Survey asks about turnout.

And one A.G. candidate offered crickets in a side-by-side interview. All that, and more, in the Texas Minute for Tuesday, May 17, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Taxpayer-Funded Smut?

• While parents across Texas fight to remove explicit materials from their children’s classrooms, the Dallas and Austin school districts continue providing such books to students—and paying for them with taxpayer dollars. Katy Drollinger has the story.
      
• For example, schools across both districts have purchased multiple copies of “Gender Queer” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” which feature scenes of sexually explicit content.
     
• Whatever else the purchases are doing, they aren’t improving reading achievement. According to the state’s official school ratings, only 37 percent of students attending Dallas ISD read at grade level, while 47 percent of students at Austin ISD meet their grade level in reading.
      
• Students’ math skills are similarly low.
           
• Public schools are producing a highly woke – and highly illiterate – generation of Texans. That won’t go well for any of us.

Paxton v Bush: The Attorney General Runoff

• In the Republican primary runoff, voters are choosing between incumbent Ken Paxton and outgoing Land Commissioner George P. Bush. Texas Scorecard invited both to sit down and answer questions posed by readers.
      
• Ken Paxton showed up. Bush chose to ignore the request.
       
• When candidates refuse to answer voters’ questions, voters should be concerned.

In Their Own Words: Priorities

• With 34 candidates in the May runoff seeking the Republican nomination for seats in the Texas Legislature, we asked them for their top three priorities.
      
• Check out their answers. Sometimes just as revealing, of course, is when the candidates don’t answer at all…

Runoff Preview: Casteel and Isaac In House District 73

• Former New Braunfels Mayor Barron Casteel and nonprofit executive Carrie Isaac are in a pitched fight for the Republican nomination in House District 73. This newly redrawn open seat encompasses Comal County and part of Hays County. Sydnie Henry has the story.
      
• A lawyer, former New Braunfels mayor, and son of a previous lawmaker, Barron Casteel is active in local politics and returned to his family’s law practice, Casteel & Casteel, following his tenure as mayor. He has raised more than $346,000 and currently has less than $35,000 cash on hand. Casteel has been endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers, a teachers union that opposes much of the GOP agenda, as well as Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas REALTORS PAC.
         
• Carrie Isaac is a community activist who heads a veterans assistance group and served on multiple community boards for food assistance programs. Her husband, Jason Isaac, previously served in the Texas House. She has raised less than $250,000 and currently has less than $20,000 cash on hand. Isaac has the endorsements of Texas Right to Life, Texas Values Action, Texas Home School Coalition, Young Conservatives of Texas, Gun Owners of America, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West, among others.
      
• Check out the article to find out where they stand on hot-button issues.

ONE CLICK SURVEY

Think of your family members, friends, and neighbors. How many are voting in the May 24 Republican primary runoff election? 
   

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

Today In History

On May 17, 1839, the Texas Rangers killed the organizers of a plot supported by the Mexican government. Documents found later indicated the organizer was coordinating with Cherokees in an effort to help Mexico recapture Texas.