Here’s a quick recap of what happened over the last week:
Special Session Announced
On Wednesday, Gov. Abbott officially called the first special session of the summer to begin Monday, July 21st. With the issuance of the proclamation, members will begin filing legislation related to the special session items. Members can file any legislation they would like, but only items on the call of the special session can be considered by the legislature. Special sessions can last no more than 30 days.
There are 18 items on the initial list for consideration, and Abbott can add additional items at any time. There are several items related to the floods in Kerrville and the Hill Country including the establishment of warning systems and relief funding. Other items include hemp regulation, congressional redistricting, abortion, human trafficking, property tax relief, elimination of the STAAR test, and the banning of taxpayer funded lobbying.
The press release announcing the special session along with all items to be considered can be found here: https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-special-session-agenda-
Legislative Response to Kerrville Floods
According to numbers released at a press conference in Kerrville yesterday, the death toll from the devastating floods over the July 4th holiday is now at 120. Another 173 remain missing. In Kerr County alone, the death toll is 96 – 36 of which are children – and 163 are missing. Questions continue to mount over whether local and state officials could have done more to warn residents about the oncoming floods. Kerr County officials along with state leaders have attempted to field questions regarding everything from response plans and preparations to the lack of proper warning systems to actions items in response to the weather alerts. Gov. Abbott deflected several questions regarding the blame and root cause for the devastating loss of life, even using a football analogy that has received a great deal of attention and criticism.
The questions will continue until the grieving families and all others affected by this tragedy try to move forward with their recovery. In the immediate aftermath, the legislature will try and address some of the issues in the aforementioned special session to begin in 10 days. Lawmakers will be asked to consider legislation to establish flood warning systems, improvements in emergency communications, and relief for the impacted areas.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced yesterday the creation of the Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Funding. This will be a joint legislative committee that will hold hearings and present legislation to the full House and Senate for approval regarding the topics named in the call of the special session. According to a joint statement issued by both presiding officers, the joint committee will “ensure both chambers are moving in lock step from day one of the special session.” The first hearing of the committee will be held on July 23rd in Austin, with a second hearing to take place in Kerrville the following week.
Accuweather Estimates Damages
Weather forecasting service Accuweather estimates the damage caused by the July 4th flooding in the Texas Hill Country will cost between $18 billion and $22 billion. The estimate takes into account the damages caused to homes, businesses, campgrounds, recreation facilities, disruptions to commerce, financial losses from power outages, and damage to infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The service calculated that nearly 12 inches of rain fell in the Kerrville area between Thursday and Monday.
As everyone went to be on the night of July 3rd, the Guadalupe River was at 7.6 feet of depth. According to the National Weather Service, by 1AM, about half an inch of rain had fallen, with no effect on the river. Between 2AM and 3AM, another 2.5 inches of rain fell throughout the region, and the river rose 9 feet. Between 3AM and 4AM, with rain continuing to fall, the river rose another 11 feet. By 5:30 AM, after nearly 8 inches of rain, the river had risen to a depth of 37.52 feet and was flowing with the same force of a Navy aircraft carrier.
This is now the second deadliest natural disaster in recent Texas history according to NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The figure of 120 dead is just ahead of the 118 dead from Hurricane Rita that came ashore near Sabine Pass in September of 2005. The series of ice storms, snowfall, and record-breaking freezing temperatures in the winter of 2021 still marks the deadliest natural disaster in the state’s history with a toll of 246 lives lost.
Colin Allred to Run for US Senate – Again
Former Democratic Congressman Colin Allred – who lost to Ted Cruz in last year’s US Senate race by nearly 9 points – announced he will run for the Senate again in 2026. Allred served three terms in the US House, representing areas in and around Dallas. He raised over $100 million for his race against Cruz, but was never considered a real threat to unseat Cruz, despite efforts by the national Democratic party to unseat a seemingly unpopular incumbent. Allred was intensely criticized during the campaign last year for his lack of “hands-on” politicking, choosing instead to run through expensive and wide-ranging media buys.
Democrats again see some hope in finally winning a statewide race. Incumbent Republican John Cornyn has consistently trailed challenger Ken Paxton by a wide margin. Recent polls show Paxton leading by as much as 20 points over the four-term incumbent among Republican primary voters. If Paxton were to be successful in the primary, Democrats see him as vulnerable in the general election due to his recent legal troubles including the 2023 impeachment by the Texas House for alleged corruption violations.
Border/Immigration News
The conservative leaning federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked the state of Texas from enforcing a law that would allow local and state police to arrest individuals on trespassing charges they suspect of being in the country illegally. The legislature enacted Senate Bill 4 in 2023 that has been the subject of legal battles to test the limits of state enforcement of federal immigration laws. The Biden administration along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Texas Civil Rights Project sued to stop the law immediately upon its passage. The law makes it a crime to cross into Texas from Mexico between ports of entry and allows police and other state and local law enforcement officials to charge any person they believe to have crossed illegally with a Class B misdemeanor. The 5th Circuit ruled the law conflicts with federal law and the state cannot proceed with enforcement of the law until lower courts have made a ruling on the merits of the law.
The Texas border will also be undergoing a significant transformation after the passage of the recent “big, beautiful bill” passed by Congress. The bill appropriated an additional $150 billion for border security, which triples the budget for ICE and allows for the creation of massive new space for detention areas. The bill offers $46 billion to continue construction of the border wall. Texas has 1,254 miles of the 1,900-mile-long border between the US and Mexico. With the new appropriation, the Trump administration plans to build or refurbish 730 miles of wall.
The bill also includes $45 billion for new detention centers, with the plan to increase the number of beds from 41,000 to 125,000. Of the $45 billion for detention centers, the states are allotted $13.5 billion directly for the construction of detention centers. The state of Texas has not built any detention centers but has donated land in south Texas that is being used as a central staging ground for deportations.
The bill also offers $10 billion to states that have used state dollars for border security and enforcement. The state of Texas has spent $11 billion in state funds since 2021 on border security measures and is eligible to apply for reimbursement under this legislation.
Universities Must Identify Undocumented Students
In a letter sent by the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the state of Texas is directing all public colleges and universities to identify which students are in the country illegally so they can start paying out of state tuition. This is in response to a recent court ruling that blocked a 2001 state law known as the Dream Act that allowed undocumented students living in Texas to pay in-state tuition. The US Department of Justice recently sued the state of Texas, and the state agreed with the DOJ and asked that the law be declared unconstitutional. There are no statistics related to the number of undocumented students attending public universities in Texas, so the financial benefit to the state is unknown. Furthermore, no guidance was given to the institutions as to how to obtain the information.
Paxton Drops Appeal of Whistleblower Lawsuit
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is dropping his appeal of a $6.7 million judgement awarded to whistleblowers in the AG’s office that were fired for reporting Paxton to the FBI for alleged corruption. In 2023, the Texas House impeached Paxton for the alleged corruption activities, including abuse of office and bribery. The Senate ultimately acquitted Paxton of the charges. The lawsuit by the whistleblowers was filed in 2022, claiming unlawful termination and was basically put on hold during the impeachment proceedings. After Paxton was acquitted, he declined to contest the allegations brought forward, basically conceding the outcome of the lawsuit. But once the judgement was awarded, Paxton appealed. Now however, Paxton has withdrawn his appeal with no explanation.
This now places the burden to pay for the judgement on the Texas taxpayers. There was no appropriation made for any judgement in the budget passed during the recently concluded regular session. However, with the legislature returning in just a few days for the first special session, consideration of funding for the judgement could be added to the call of the session. The amount of the judgement compounds every year it is not paid.
Paxton is serving his third term as state Attorney General and is currently challenging US Senator John Cornyn for the Republican nomination for US Senate in 2026.
Website Age Verification Law Upheld
The US Supreme Court has upheld a Texas law requiring age verification for access to websites with adult content. The Court ruled that House Bill 1181 – passed in 2023 – does not violate the First Amendment as it relates to freedom of speech. The law requires commercial sites that contain adult materials to use “reasonable” measures to verify users are at least 18 years of age before being allowed to access the content offered on the site. A coalition of companies that operate adult-related websites sued to block the law, saying the law was a violation of free speech due to it placing an undue burden on the users to prove their age. Companies that do not adhere to the new verification standards will now subject themselves to fines of up to $10,000 a day and a $250,000 fine if it can be proven that a minor child was allowed to access the site’s content with no verification. In response, many adult websites have now completely shut down access to their sites in Texas, opting against the verification process.
Texas Senate Turnover
The Texas Senate – much like the US Senate – is a significantly smaller legislative body than the Texas House, and prides itself on following a more traditional way of conducting business, emphasizing decorum and collegiality above rancor and heated debate. It is also much more difficult to unseat an incumbent member of the Texas Senate due to their four-year terms – instead of two-year House terms – and ability to raise large amounts of campaign funds. So generally, there is generally very little turnover year to year in the Senate.
However, the 2026 election cycle is already bringing the possibility of a significant shakeup for the 2027 session. The first member to announce he would be not back was Senator Mayes Middleton on Galveston, who will be seeking the Republican nomination for state Attorney General in 2026. He will be joined in the primary battle by his Senate colleague, Joan Huffman of Houston. Huffman serves as chair of the Senate Finance Committee. State Rep. Dennis Paul of Clear Lake immediately announced his intention to run in 2026 in the safely Republican district, and also can tout the endorsement of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate. Huffman is not up for reelection in 2026, so if her AG campaign is unsuccessful, she will return to the Senate.
Then Senator Kelly Hancock – Republican from the Fort Worth area – abruptly resigned after the regular session to accept the appointment as interim state Comptroller, setting up the need for a special election this November to select his replacement. Republican activist Leigh Wambsganns has announced her intention to run for the seat and has also gained the endorsement of the Lt. Governor.
Then we had two retirement announcements. Senator Robert Nichols of Jacksonville in northeast Texas – the longest serving Republican member of the Senate – announced he would not seek reelection in 2026. Nichols has served for 10 years as the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. State Rep. Trent Ashby of Lufkin and State Republican Executive Committee member Rhonda Ward of Nacogdoches have announced their intention to run in this very safe Republican district.
Senator Brian Birdwell, Republican from Granbury also announced he will not seek reelection in 2026 after serving more than 15 years in the Senate. Birdwell serves as chair of the Border Security Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. State Rep. David Cook of Mansfield – the House Republican Caucus choice for Texas House Speaker in 2025, has announced he will run for the seat.
So, we know we will have at least four, and possibly five new members in the 31-member Senate, with at least four new committee chairmen. A significant shift in power for the traditional-laden Senate.
Political Notes
Mentioned above, party activist Leigh Wambsganns of Southlake is running in the special election to succeed former Senator Kelly Hancock. She has the endorsement of the Lt. Governor. But that didn’t stop Keller Mayor Armin Mizani from entering the race as well. Mizani announced this week he will also seek the Senate District 9 seat. Mizani has served as mayor since 2020 and calls himself a “principled and unapologetic conservative fighter.”
Staying in the Fort Worth area, incumbent Republican state Rep. Nate Schatzline has drawn a challenger. Northwest ISD trustee Steve Sprowls entered the race for House District 93, vowing to expose Schatzline as a hard-line conservative who concentrates only on social issues and has become ineffective for the district. Schatzline initially announced to run in the special election to replace Hancock but dropped out when Lt. Governor Patrick recruited and endorsed Wambsganns.
Incumbent Republican state Rep. Jared Patterson of Frisco has also drawn a challenger. Reality TV star and former Marine Cody Nickson will challenge Nickson in the Republican primary. Nickson competed in Big Brother and The Amazing Race. Nickson says he will run on a platform of eliminating property taxes and limiting powers of HOA’s. Patterson has been the target of the more conservative wing of the party mainly because of his continued support of Speaker candidates not backed by the Republican Caucus.
Angelina County (Lufkin) Commissioner Rocky Thigpen has entered the race for House District 9 in east Texas. Incumbent Rep. Trent Ashby is running for Senate District 3 after the retirement announcement of Senator Robert Nichols. Thigpen joins party activist Paulette Carson in the Republican primary. Carson challenged Ashby in 2024, losing by an 82%-18% margin.
The 2026 race for Harris County Judge is getting more and more crowded. Houston City Councilwoman Leticia Plummer announced this week she will seek the Democratic nomination for the seat in 2026. She must resign her seat on the Houston City Council to enter the race. Plummer was clear in her announcement that this is not a challenge to incumbent Lina Hidalgo. Rather, she believes through conversations with Hidalgo that she will not seek reelection in 2026. This follows an announcement by Erica Lee Carter – the daughter of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee – that she would also seek the Democratic nomination on the presumption that Hidalgo will not be in the race.
For her part, Hildalgo said she has not made a decision on her plans for the 2026 election and was “surprised and disappointed” by Plummer’s declaration that Hildalgo was not seeking reelection. Hidalgo is currently in her 2nd term as Harris County Judge and has said she will have an announcement on her decision regarding reelection in the coming weeks.
And finally, state Senator Angela Paxton (R, McKinney) has filed for divorce from Attorney General Ken Paxton. In a post on X, Senator Paxton said “in light of recent discoveries, the marriage no longer honors God or is loving to myself…”. As discussed earlier, AG Paxton has been the subject or serious allegations including adultery, abuse of office, bribery, corruption, and financial malfeasance; all of which were reasons for his impeachment trial in 2023. The couple has been married since 1986, have four children and five grandchildren. The divorce petition was filed in Collin County.
What’s Next??
Now that the special session has been officially announced and the initial list of items in the call is out, members will start filing bills for consideration in the special session.
Even though the regulation of hemp is on the list of items to be considered, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick shows no signs of budging on his pledge to never pass a hemp regulation bill in the Senate. The first special session will likely prioritize measures related to emergency notifications and storm recovery in the aftermath of the tragedy in Kerrville and congressional redistricting.
The upcoming special session is the first of what is likely to be several special sessions that will last well into the fall.