State GOP Chair Allen West calls on Donald Trump to visit Texas before Election Day
Allen West at The Texas Tribune Festival in 2016 Credit: Erich Schlagel for The Texas TribuneTexas GOP Chair Allen West would like to see President Donald Trump visit the state again before Election Day to help rally support for down-ballot candidates, the Republican leader said during a Texas Tribune Festival interview that aired Tuesday. โIโve got the message up to him,โ West, a former Florida congressman, told the Tribuneโs Patrick Svitek. โWeโre seeing the Democrats really focus up here in North Texas, between Dallas County, Collin, Denton and Tarrant County for those state House seats,โ West said, also referencing two contested congressional races in Texasโ 24th District and Texasโ 32nd District. West, who won the race for party chair in July, has at times openly disagreed with how Republican Gov. โWe cannot live in a state where an executive believes that they can change established law by themselves.
Gov. Greg Abbott used pandemic as cover to ban abortions in Texas, former Planned Parenthood head says
Greg Abbott used the pandemic as a guise to limit access to abortion. Greg Abbott of using the coronavirus pandemic as a guise to end abortion access in Texas. During the month-long period when Texas was shut down, top state officials and the courts effectively banned nearly all abortions. Circuit Court of Appeals largely sided with state officials throughout the legal back and forth. In the initial weeks of the pandemic, a number of states including Texas tried to ban abortions as part of emergency orders.
Dallas Police Chief Rene Hall resigns following criticisms of protest response
Dallas Police Chief U. Rene Hall at The Texas Tribune Festival in 2017. Credit: Qiling Wang for The Texas TribuneDallas Police Chief U. Rene Hall will leave her position on Nov. 10, according to a statement from Dallas City Manager T.C. Hall was heavily criticized by six City Council members after anti-police brutality protests in Dallas in the wake of George Floyds killing. A federal judge later temporarily banned the City of Dallas from using tear-gas and other non-lethal weapons against peaceful crowds. Prior to working in Dallas, she was the deputy chief of the Detroit Police Department.
TribCast: Hurricane Laura, coronavirus on campus and the RNC
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 28, 2018. Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune(Audio unavailable. Click here to listen on texastribune.org.) In this week's TribCast, Matthew speaks with Ross, Alex and Patrick about the incoming hurricane, the first week of college classes and the Republican National Convention.
Sarah Eckhardt wins special election for Texas Senate seat after Rep. Eddie Rodriguez forgoes a runoff
Former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt at The Texas Tribune Festival in 2018 Thomas Meredith for The Texas TribuneFormer Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt is set to succeed former state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, in the Texas Senate after state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez said Monday he is dropping out of the race. Eckhardt and Rodriguez, both Democrats, were poised to face off in a special election runoff for the seat. "For that reason," he wrote, "I have decided to forego the runoff for Senate and focus my efforts on winning a Democratic majority and promoting an aggressive, progressive agenda in the Texas House." Eckhardt and Rodriguez finished first and second, respectively, in the six-way race on July 14. Greg Abbott had not yet set a date for the runoff.
Sarah Eckhardt may avoid a runoff in Texas Senate District 14 special election, but its too close to call
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt speaks at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 29, 2018. Thomas Meredith for The Texas TribuneFormer Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt was leading the way Tuesday night in the special election to replace former state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, though it remained unclear whether she would be able to avoid a runoff. Eckhardt, who needs 50% of the vote to win the election outright, was hovering around that figure Tuesday night. Rodriguez touted his 18 years in the Texas House, arguing that his relationships there will serve him well in the Senate. His district includes all of Bastrop County, most of Austin and northern Travis County.
Ted Cruz said his Nike boycott was exerting free speech, but people boycotting Goya Foods are silencing speech
Chris Hayes interviews U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. On Thursday, Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue praised president Donald Trump in a ceremony at The White House. Free speech works both ways. And now the Left is trying to cancel Hispanic culture and silence free speech, Cruz tweeted on Friday. I respect Free Speech & Im exerting mine: until @Nike ends its contempt for those values, I WILL NO LONGER PURCHASE NIKE PRODUCTS.
U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia moves to self-quarantine after exposure to coronavirus
U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, at The Texas Tribune Festival in 2018. Stephen Spillman for The Texas TribuneWASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Sylvia R. Garcia, a Houston Democrat, announced Friday that she was exposed to the coronavirus and will be self-quarantining. Noting that she lived near an international airport and could make a direct flight to Washington, Garcia voted on behalf of her fellow freshman, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, announced in early March he was potentially exposed, but under the direction of the U.S. House physician, he returned to Congress. And after running a fever, U.S. Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher self-quarantined but ultimately tested negative for the coronavirus.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz calls George Floyd case "clearly police brutality"
WASHINGTON Chris Hayes interviews U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. Bob Daemmrich for The Texas TribuneU.S. Sen. Ted Cruz this weekend said the death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis black man, is "clearly police brutality." "It's horrific, and it starts with a horrific act of police brutality," the state's junior GOP senator said on Fox News on Sunday evening. And there is an immediate demonization and attack of the police officers, and I think that's wrong, and I think it's premature." "It was clearly police brutality and it was not conduct we expect of any officer.