Good morning!

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Analysis: Phelan Is Out Of Touch On Election Security

• New polling from the Rasmussen firm finds that 55 percent of all Americans believe cheating affected the 2020 presidential campaign. This stands in stark contrast to the comments of Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont at a liberal fundraiser in Austin last month.
      

• Speaking at a fundraiser for a left-wing news publication, Phelan emphatically dismissed concerns about election cheating in the 2020 presidential race.
    

• “There is no evidence that election was stolen,” said Phelan.
      

• The Rasmussen polling is significant in that there has been almost two years of nonstop demonization of those who believe cheating played a deciding factor in the 2020 election. Even still, 55 percent of Americans refuse to bend their knee to the establishment narrative pushed by Democrats and liberal Republicans like Phelan.
       
• For Republicans trying to court – and Democrats trying to retain – black and Hispanic voters, the polling numbers are revealing. Of Hispanic voters, 62 percent believe cheating affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, while 55 percent of black voters hold that view, compared to 52 percent of white voters.
      
• Heading into the 2023 legislative session, with the majority of Americans having deep concerns about election integrity, Texas’ Republican lawmakers could find themselves nonetheless supporting a House Speaker who has no interest in addressing those issues.
      
• How does your state representative feel about election security? What about re-upping Dade Phelan’s term as speaker? Have you asked?

Law Enforcement on Texas’ Open Border

• Two Texas sheriffs discussed with Chris Salcedo on his podcast – The Salcedo Storm – the biggest issues with the border under the Biden administration. Soli Rice has the details.

      
• Sheriff Roy Boyd of Goliad County and Sheriff Brad Coe of Kinney County said law enforcement has had their hands tied even as hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens flood across the southern border.
       

• Sheriff Boyd explained: “If you close the border and enforce the laws and prevent people from coming here illegally, they wouldn’t be shipping them over to Mexico to come here in the first place. So, it’s a fairly simple solution.”

       
• You can listen to Salcedo’s interview with Boyd and Coe at Texas Scorecard or on your favorite podcasting app.

VP Harris Ignores Border On Fundraising Swing

• While the humanitarian crisis at the southern border worsens, Vice President Kamala Harris will attend a Democrat fundraising event in Texas this weekend. Yet, as Katy Drollinger reports, missing from the travel agenda are any plans to visit with Texans directly affected by the consequences of the Biden administration’s border policies.
        

• Notably, Harris will deliver the keynote address for the Texas Democratic Party’s annual Johnson-Jordan Reception in Austin on Saturday.
       
• Ironically, the late Barbara Jordan – a namesake of the dinner – was an ardent opponent of illegal immigration… and even wanted to reduce legal immigration.
      
• “Our patience is growing thin toward those attempting to overwhelm the will of the American people by acts that ignore, manipulate, or circumvent our immigration laws. … Unless this country does a better job in curbing illegal immigration, we risk irreparably undermining our commitment to legal immigration.” – Barbara Jordan, 1994

Rodriguez: Open Borders Promote Forced Child Labor

• In a new commentary, Sheena Rodriguez explains how the reckless border policies of the Biden administration “promote the exploitation of children.”
       
• She recounts the story of a 13-year-old Romanian boy, who entered the country with his older brother in Arizona’s similarly porous border before coming to El Paso. The boy now – illegally – sells flowers on the street to raise money.
   
• “With law enforcement agencies across Texas currently overwhelmed, it is likely that cases of child exploitation occurring in border metropolitan areas like El Paso will continue to go easily unnoticed. This type of forced child labor is reminiscent of horrific scandals found in Mexico City and is now happening in Texas border cities due to failing federal policies.” – Sheena Rodriguez

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.