Good morning, 

There has been a growing trend of drag shows targeting children. In today’s One Click Survey, I want to know if you think parents should be allowed to take their kids to sexually explicit events, or if it is child abuse.

But first, here is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Coming Up: This Thursday, we will premiere the newest episode of the Conversations series. This month’s subject was once known as the “Ratmaster” and earned the distinction of being the most conservative member of the Texas Legislature. Who? Find out Thursday… 

Texas Voters: No Democrats In Charge

• A new poll of Texas Republican primary voters shows a majority would be less likely to support Republican legislators who vote to allow Democrats to be put in leadership positions in the state Legislature. Brandon Waltens has the details.
       
• The poll shows 70 percent of primary voters believe the Republican speaker of the Texas House should not appoint Democrats to chair committees. Meanwhile, 66 percent of voters would be less likely to support for re-election a Republican incumbent who voted to allow Democrats to be placed in leadership positions.

DeSantis Tops Trump

• The same poll also asked Texas’ GOP voters who they would vote for if the 2024 presidential primary were held today: 43 percent picked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, making it the first time he has led the poll, while 32 percent said they would support President Donald Trump; other options received single-digit support.

Tinderholt: ‘We Are Taking This Vote to the Floor’

• In a new commentary, State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) explains that he refuses to let lawmakers hide the vote for the Texas House Speakership from public view.
       
• While Tinderholt authored the GOP caucus rule for the speaker to be selected in the caucus, he explains that disgraced former House Speaker Dennis Bonnen – and current Speaker Dade Phelan – flagrantly broke the rule by courting Democrats before seeking Republican support.
     
• “I believe that in order to advance Republican priorities in the Texas House, we need a Republican speaker—not one who openly courts Democrats and then uses their support to bully conservative Republican lawmakers into supporting him,” explains Tinderholt. “When I supported the effort to take the speaker vote into the caucus, my intention was to empower my fellow Republicans to defeat the Democrats and elect a Republican speaker. Under Dennis Bonnen and Dade Phelan, it became a tool they used to prevent transparent votes on their bid for leadership.”

The Texas GOP’s 16 Freshmen

• With Republicans maintaining their Texas House majority – and growing it to 86-64 over the Democrats – the GOP caucus will include 16 freshmen.
       
• Sydnie Henry outlines their campaign messages and what those could mean for the outcomes of the legislative session.

Rep. Harrison Demands Vaccine Freedom

• “Biden’s COVID mandates are not about public health, but about federal government control of our lives. They must end, and it’s why I filed the Texas COVID Vaccine Freedom Act,” said State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Waxahachie) on filing House Bill 81 on Monday. Soli Rice has the details.
       
• Joining Harrison in the filing of the Texas COVID Vaccine Freedom Act in the Senate is Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville), who will be moving from the House to the Texas Senate in January. Middleton also filed a companion bill, Senate Bill 177, on Monday.

Abbott Calls for Investigation of Harris County Elections

• “I’m calling on the Secretary of State, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Texas Rangers to initiate investigations into allegations of improprieties in the way that the 2022 elections were conducted in Harris County,” said Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday. “Voters in Harris County deserve to know what happened. Integrity in the election process is essential. To achieve that standard, a thorough investigation is warranted.”
       
• Harris County elections have been plagued by issues for years. Issues in 2020 led to the resignation of former Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria. The current administrator, Clifford Tatum, was awarded the position in July of this year.

School District Refuses To Disclose Money Spent On Bond Election

• Attorneys for Plano Independent School District are refusing to disclose how much taxpayer money the district spent advertising a tax increase and billion-dollar bond package on the November ballot, a lack of transparency that further undermines trust in the district’s officials. Erin Anderson has the story.
     
• On Oct. 27, Texas Scorecard requested documents from Plano ISD showing the district’s expenditures of public (taxpayer) funds used to market five ballot propositions that would increase local residents’ property tax burdens. Plano ISD’s outside attorneys (whose fees are paid with local tax dollars) sent a letter to the Texas attorney general’s office seeking permission to withhold the district’s bond-campaign receipts from the public.
     
• When government won’t tell you how much of your money they spent on something, it’s because they know they shouldn’t have spent the money…

ONE CLICK SURVEY

A national outcry has emerged over sexually explicit drag shows – where crossdressing men dance provocatively – targeting children. In Texas, a new organization has been formed to fight the sexualization of children.

Should parents be allowed to take their kids to sexually explicit drag shows?

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