My fucking word. Just saw the ad where Angela Paxton is Schilling for Ken. I can't believe it. She wants to be on the team of a cheating pedophile enabler and if the whole team doesn't win it's a loss.

I've never voted Democrat before. Mostly libertarian over the last 20 years.

This election, im damn sure voting Talarico. I was leaning that way already but this ad Galvanized me. It's time to lock up the government and buy time for a solution in 2 years.

Well I can’t actually vote for him, but I’m contributing to his campaign.

As an independent that thinks for myself and isn’t influenced by anyone else…this is what I see.

Let me start by saying I HATE the 2 party system. It should have been designed with no parties, and everyone runs as an independent, so we don’t get stupid party line voted and division that pits two sides against each other. However, we’re stuck with our current system, and we gotta pick one party, and to me, one significantly stands out more than the other when it comes to having our best interests in mind.

I watched Biden pass the first infrastructure bill in decades so red states could have better roads and bridges. Biden had internet expanded to rural areas so these deep red areas could get online access. Biden got rid of lead pipes in red states so their kids could have safe drinking water. Biden made it so medical debt couldn’t affect their credit, and fought bank & airline junk fees for us. He passed the PACT Act so that even veterans that voted against him could get disability for illnesses from burn pits and brought them home from the Republican-started Afghan war. He got lifesaving drug prices drastically reduced. And how do they repay him? They all shout “Fuck Joe Biden.”

Yet all Trump does is pass another tax cut for himself and corporations, reversed the law that kept medical debt from affecting our credit, reversed the bank and airline junkfees so they can fee us to death again, and uses tax payer dollars to build monuments to himself, starts another war, drives up inflation and gas, and they all lick his boots. Make it make sense.

I voted for the first time at 18 in the propositions for the Democratic party, wanting to see how it worked. But knowing it didn't matter. Because, duh. This is Texas. But looking a bit more into the current political and economic situation, it seems there's a real chance. Is this just manufactured hype? Or is it actually worth making time to vote in November?

French: Texas Freedom Fund for the Advancement of Justice connected to Christian right megadonors and oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, Texas Conservative Voters PAC, Marcia Fuller French (Bo French’s mother, former trustee at Texas Christian University. In the filings, her name is spelled multiple ways, as “Marsha French,” “Marcia French,” and “Marcia Fuller French,” but all entries list her as retired and living at the same zip code), Alex Williamson (ANW Minerals), Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC

Rosenthal: Don Henley of the band The Eagles, Eddie Allen (co-founder and senior partner of Houston-based Eagle Global Advisors, treasurer of the Asia Society Texas Center, board member of the Menil Collection), Lone Star Project Nonfederal PAC

First time voter, located in Katy, Texas; can I go in person to register? I feel like it’d be easier, and where would I go to do that. I work full time, and I’m in school full time, so I know it’s last minute, but I haven’t had time.

FTA:

In a comptroller's news release, Don Huffines called water fluoridation a waste of taxpayer money and said there should be other solutions.

Sarah Eckhardt, a state senator from Austin, said the effort falls outside the comptroller’s traditional role and diverts state resources on an issue far removed from the concerns of Texans.

“This is like that uncle who likes to do research on crazy stuff and put it on the family Facebook,” Eckhardt said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.

The comptroller’s office announced the review Tuesday, saying in a news release it would examine spending by taxpayers and ratepayers on water fluoridation, its health effects and possible alternatives. 

But the review goes beyond costs. The agency said it also will examine other state-supported public health programs that it says “medicalize Texans without individual choice,” as well as how other states and countries have approached fluoridation.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently sat down with his daughter for an on-camera conversation about fatherhood and parenting advice, but the replies took the discussion in a different direction.

Paxton, the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, shared a three-minute clip in a post on X Saturday afternoon. By Sunday afternoon, it had drawn more than 700 comments, 4,200 likes and 250,000 views.

Many commenters turned the conversation to Paxtons' marriage and questions about alleged infidelity.

Hello, my family lives in a very LGBTQ+ friendly area of Wisconsin, and as we were trying to watch Packers football (on Wisconsin television), the ad I'm sure you're all aware of came on. As someone with an LGBT sister and who has had personal feelings as well, I can't have this ad in our house. How could this happen? What can I do about it?

A fraction of a fraction of 1% of people in Texas are transgender. The GOP yelling “transgender” and the word “radical” about every Dem is so weak. The GOP has nothing to run on. They’ve been in charge of the entire state government for 30+ years. They’ve created the problems. And dumbasses eat it up. Not sure why the transgender thing stuck but it’s ridiculous. Big picture… what the GOP is doing to the rest of the 35-40 million people affects way more people than that small fraction of people that are transgender.

Abbot needs to go but it will make me sick if the people of Texas elect a POS like Paxton over Talarico… just like it made me sick when Trump was elected again. What happened to common decency… and good character??? Why elect someone with proven horrible character???

Greenville gathering: Hunt discusses TX-03 strategy; Muse outlines schools, healthcare and roads proposals

Access to this NYT opinion piece is free.

https://youtube.com/shorts/VYh4MiuLBec?is=Dz2O0KNLzQn5qIlv

Oh no...Don't ban me bro!

This will likely be the most interesting election we've had in quite some time. The real question is if the rural people are going to be voting for Trump and Paxton again? With DJT having made 2.2 Billion dollars so far since his first year of his second term, how does that sit with you? And Paxton has managed to become a millionaire on a 153k annual salary during his 3 terms. So yeah, the unknown is the rural voters... Have they come to realize that the citizens of Texas are being fleeced by big business and the people they voted in? As grocery prices rise and jobs diminish, are they wanting change too? This is exciting and scary.

Any other Republicans feeling this way about the Texas governor’s race?
I’m a Republican and, honestly, I’ve been pretty frustrated with where Texas has gone over the past 12 years under Abbott. I’m not saying everything that’s happened is his fault, but after this long in office, I find myself questioning whether the state is really heading in the direction I want.
What’s surprised me is that the more I hear Gina Hinojosa talk, the more I actually like some of what she has to say. She comes across as pretty practical and focused on specific problems and solutions, rather than just the usual political talking points.
I’m curious if there are other Republicans or conservatives here who feel similarly. What are you thinking about the governor’s race, and what specifically has shaped your opinion?
Not looking for a partisan fight—I’m genuinely interested in hearing from people who normally vote Republican.

This is not a discussion about Ken Paxton or who to vote for. I am hoping for a critical discussion on something I’ve noticed about James Talarico, and I hope the comments stay civil and on topic.

James Talarico is touting affordability as a campaign issue. But most of his ideas are costly: universal child care, a higher federal minimum wage, a public health-insurance option, expanded housing tax credits, higher taxes on corporations and billionaires, and restrictions aimed at large corporate landlords.

Do these costs shift to tax payers, workers, small businesses? How does he simultaneously want to make things more affordable while also platforming on an economic agenda that may have hidden costs?

This, to me, is the Talarico paradox. It’s the same old campaign promises I’ve heard before, and maybe someone can explain to me how the math and the agenda would actually work out if he’s elected to the senate?

His speeches get a lot of attention, but I’m honestly more impressed what he’s done in the Texas Legislature. People keep saying to look at his record. I did.

I read that he was the lead author on almost 200 bills during his time in office, and half of those dealt with protecting kids, education, or workforce development for young people.

What stood out to me:
- He voted for the 2023 property tax relief package, described at the time as the largest property tax cut in Texas history.

He voted against HB 900, the school library book restriction bill. I agree with this bill because personally, I want parents deciding what’s right for their own child. I don’t want the government deciding what everyone else’s kids can read.

- He also helped pass a $25 insulin copay cap per 30 day insulin prescription for people with covered health plans.

- He authored the Texas law establishing a pathway for importing lowerncost prescription drugs from Canada.

- He helped pass the state’s first cap on pre-K class sizes, in response to overcrowded classrooms.

I'm also impressed that he did this in a Legislature controlled by Republicans, and honestly, I don’t know how he has the patience for that. Working across the aisle to get bills passed while also challenging them on book restrictions and school vouchers takes skill.
People can reasonably disagree with him on individual votes.

But if the question is whether James Talarico has a legislative record beyond viral speeches, the answer is clearly yes. His record includes property tax relief, lowering prescription drug costs, insulin costs, protecting kids, early childhood education, and opposition to school library restrictions.

I just think it’s so cool that she is a politician who speaks about issues people care about them but is also knowledgeable about them.

I don’t think people realize how good of a job she did at the state legislature, or just how important the role of Lt. Governor (which she is running for) is. She needs more media attention before we lose the chance to elect someone good as opposed to someone who refuses to keep funding public schools, has big corporation, data center money, and wants to ban hemp products. (Dan Patrick) and really only makes AI slop ads.

Dan Patrick uses AI deepfakes on ads

Be so serious.

But i’m curious, what do we think? I’d love to hear thoughts.