Here’s a quick recap of what happened over the last week:
Hunt Enters US Senate Race
Houston area Congressman Wesley Hunt entered the race for the Republican nomination for US Senate this week, joining incumbent John Cornyn and current Texas AG Ken Paxton. Hunt is in his second term representing parts of western and central Harris County and says he’s running because he does not believe Cornyn has the support among the party faithful to defeat Paxton, who brings troubling legal and personal issues into the race.
Hunt has been weighing the race for the past several months and has already spent $6.5 million on advertising in Texas to try and raise his profile outside of his suburban Houston district. Hunt is a graduate of the US Military Academy and an Army veteran. He was the first Republican to endorse Trump after his announcement to run for the Presidency in 2022 and campaigned as a surrogate extensively during the 2024 Presidential campaign.
US Senate leadership and their related PAC’s have spent over $21 million in advertising over the last few months to try and boost Cornyn’s conservative credentials and attack Paxton for his alleged marital infidelity and continued legal issues. US Senate Majority Leader John Thune has also tried to dissuade Hunt from entering the race, fearing Hunt’s candidacy would almost certainly lead to a runoff after the primary voting in March. Thune authored a memo to donors last month that declared “there never was and never will be a tenable pathway for Hunt” and that any resources sent to Hunt would be harming the party’s quest to maintain control in the Senate.
Thune and his accompanying PAC’s have tried to sell the narrative that if Paxton were to become the nominee, then not only would the Democrats have a realistic shot at winning the Senate seat, but a Paxton candidacy would also be so harmful to down ballot races that control of the US House would be in jeopardy as well.
The $21 million spent on behalf of Cornyn was from PAC’s not directly associated with the Cornyn campaign. That money was from PAC’s associated with US Senate leadership that are designed specifically to protect incumbent Republican members of the US Senate. This week, Cornyn’s campaign announced they have raised $3.3 million over the last three months and now has $10 million cash on hand. Hunt and Paxton have not reported fundraising numbers for the third quarter.
Hunt responds by calling leadership out for supporting a candidate that cannot get reelected in Texas, and they should be applying their resources in other states that have viable and electable candidates.
Paxton has been dogged by legal and personal troubles since his election to the office of Texas Attorney General in 2014. In 2015, he was indicted on state fraud charges for not registering as a securities agent for a start-up he was representing and for which he was recruiting investors. Charges were recently dropped in exchange for Paxton paying a fine and agreeing to perform public service. Paxton also survived impeachment by the Texas House in 2023 on charges of bribery and abuse of office. He was acquitted by the Senate. Then most recently, he and his wife Angela – a member of the Texas Senate – filed for divorce. Reports later revealed an ongoing extra marital affair between Paxton and a Dallas socialite as a contributing factor to the dissolution of the marriage.
Regardless of all the issues above, there are now three major, well-funded candidates vying to be the Republican nominee for US Senate in 2026. This makes it highly likely that there will be a runoff – if no candidate receives at least 50% of the vote in the March 3rd primary, then the race heads to a runoff between the top two vote getters. And if history serves as a guide, the runoff election generally sees the more conservative and hardline voters participate, which is a positive for Paxton.
The eventual nominee will face the winner of the Democrat primary. The two major candidates are former Congressman Colin Allred and state Rep. James Talarico.
Texas National Guard in Illinois
Texas National Guard soldiers arrived in Illinois on Tuesday against fierce opposition from that state’s leadership who have called the President’s actions illegal. Under federal law, the President has the authority to deploy the National Guard in the case of an invasion, a rebellion, or if the federal government cannot execute the law under normal circumstances with regular forces. President Trump has called for the deployment of the National Guard in Illinois to safeguard US Customs and Enforcement agents who are attempting to find and deport undocumented immigrants. In an effort to support President Trump’s efforts, Gov. Abbott has authorized the use of National Guard troops from Texas to assist in the efforts. According to numerous reports, there are roughly 200 Texas National Guard troops in Illinois.
Ten Democratic members of Congress from Texas sent a letter to Abbott to relay their disapproval and disdain for deploying Texas troops to another state. In their letter, they stated, “If any other state deployed their National Guard to Texas without our consent, we would call that an invasion of Texas.” A federal judge has barred temporarily the use of any state guard personnel in Oregon, with that order set to expire on October 19th.
The state of Illinois has also sued to stop the deployment there, and a hearing took place yesterday on the issue. The federal judge in Illinois sided with the state of Illinois ruling that the deployment violated the limits of the military’s ability to enforce domestic laws and has also temporarily blocked the deployment of the troops in Illinois. That injunction is set to expire October 23rd.
The Texas National Guard is comprised of over 20,000 soldiers and is overseen by the Texas Military Department. Guard members have been typically deployed in response to natural disasters to help with search and rescue missions, and to deliver basic necessities in communities affected by storms. The Governor has the sole responsibility of deploying the Guard, and the President can take control of the Guard as he sees fit. In this case, the Texas troops have been nationalized and are under the control of President Trump.
Texas Stock Exchange
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has granted federal approval to the Texas Stock Exchange. This clears the path for the first, new fully integrated stock exchange in decades allowing TXSE to compete with the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. The seed for the new TXSE was planted in 2024 when the large investment firms BlackRock and Citadel invested $120 million in the new exchange. Numerous Fortune 500 companies have relocated to Texas in recent years due to the state’s more favorable taxation and regulatory climate.
Building on the favorable environment, TXSE will offer an alternative to the regulatory complexities associated with listing on NYSE and NASDAQ, with investors initially voicing cautious optimism for a genuine shake-up in the structure of the exchange market. TXSE will begin listing stocks next fall and hopes the state’s favorable environment will allow it to thrive and survive as a competitor to the NYSE. The NYSE has in recent years turned back and swallowed up all competitors, including the American Stock Exchange. The NYSE has also taken over other would-be competitors in Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago that made similar attempts to establish competing markets for the selling of private securities.
TXSE feels the continued growth in the state, and numerous relocations of companies and their employees will ensure the continued success of the new exchange. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase continue to grow their presence in the Dallas area, and Charles Schwab recently moved its headquarters from California to Dallas. New York has seen just a 16% growth in employment and investment in the past 20 years, while Texas has experienced a 111% expansion rate during that period. The state’s lower cost of living compared to New York and our state’s lack of a personal income tax are also attractive features for investors.
While New York will remain the center of the financial and investments world for the time being, TXSE hopes the changing landscape will shift the center of that universe to Texas in the coming years.
Republican Party to Consider Censures
The State Republican Executive Committee will meet tomorrow in the Capitol to consider censuring several Republican state Representatives that committee members have deemed too liberal for the party, and to ban them from the 2026 primary election ballot. Even with the vast number of conservative policies passed during the 2025 regular and special sessions, party faithful have identified 10 members they consider insufficiently conservative to represent the party moving forward. The election of state Rep. Dustin Burrows as Speaker of the Texas House and the subsequent passage of the rules under which the House operated this session are the two main issues that have SREC members seeking the censures.
Republican Burrows was elected by a coalition of moderate Republican House members that joined with most House Democrats to defeat Rep. David Cook, who had been selected as the choice for Speaker by the House Republican Caucus. Regarding the rules, even though the new rules for the session banned Democrats from holding chairmanships of standing committees, the SREC members felt the rules did not go far enough in stripping Democrats of all power and influence over legislation that was considered by the chamber. House members that supported Burrows and the rules package are the ones subject to censure.
The 10 Republican House members are Burrows, Cody Harris of Palestine, Angie Chen Button of Garland, Gary VanDeaver of New Boston, Angelina Orr of Itasca, Jared Patterson of Frisco, Jeff Leach of Allen, and Morgan Meyer of Dallas. Two other members — Stan Lambert of Abilene and former House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont — are retiring and will not be considered since they will obviously not be on the ballot next year.
This has caused major uproar and infighting among Republicans, with the activists in the party saying the censures are necessary to weed out the more moderate members who are in positions of leadership and are responsible for the delay or defeat of priority issues. Other party officials have said the censures and subsequent attempts to ban members from the ballot represents an overreach, and the party should not be allowed to dictate the choices of each House district.
The legality of the SREC being allowed to dictate names on a ballot has come into question as well. The idea of censure for purposes of banning an officeholder from the primary ballot started back in 2018 when the SREC voted to censure then Texas House Speaker Joe Straus and state Rep. Byron Cook for their opposition to issues such as vouchers and transgender bathroom use. Both members did not seek reelection in 2020, and the censure issue became moot at that time.
Speaker Burrows and all the members under consideration for censure sent a letter this week in advance of the Saturday meeting to Republican state chair Abraham George. In addition to calling on the party to promote voter empowerment and party harmony instead of the disfranchisement of its own members, the letter claims the party rule allowing for the censure of members violates the state constitution. The group claims both the state and US Constitution protect free speech relative to political association and ballot access. Furthermore, they cite instances where the US Supreme Court has affirmed that “political parties may not impose barriers to ballot access that overrides the will of the voters.”
Now, due to questions of legality, the SREC is not through their censure directing the local party to ban a particular member from the ballot, rather their censure will be forwarded to the member’s home county for “consideration” of banning the member from the primary ballot. If the SREC does censure all or some of the 10 members on Saturday, then it will be up to the local parties to follow through on the possibility of banning that member from the ballot for the primary.
Closed Primary Lawsuit
And speaking of the RPT, last month the party filed a lawsuit challenging current state law that allows any registered voter to vote in the primary election regardless of party affiliation. Yesterday, AG Ken Paxton – choosing not to defend the state — filed a motion siding with the Republican Party asking the federal judge overseeing the case to strike down the part of the election code that allows for open primaries. If successful, this would have the effect of “closing” Texas primary elections, meaning voters would have to register for a particular political party and vote only in that party’s primary.
The RPT argues in its lawsuit that the state law allowing voters to participate in either the Republican or Democratic primaries is a violation of the First Amendment and gives non-party members too much influence to elect more moderate candidates.
Several proposals were introduced during the regular session to close the primary elections, but none of the bills were ever heard in committee, indicating there is very little support among the elected legislators to change the primary elections system in the state.
Paxton’s office notified the Secretary of State’s office less than one hour before filing the motion yesterday. After the filing, Secretary of State Jane Nelson issued a statement that she intends to oppose the motion by Paxton and defend the current state law in court.
Political Notes
Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa of Austin has planned a “special announcement” for next Wednesday in Brownsville. The anticipation is that Hinojosa will announce that she will be running for Governor in 2026. Having grown up in Brownsville, Hinojosa has chosen her hometown for the announcement. She is the daughter of former state Democratic chair Gilberto Hinojosa.
Republican state Rep. Drew Darby of San Angelo announced this week he will seek reelection in 2026. Darby comes off a heated and ugly primary battle in 2024 that saw his opponent endorsed by Gov. Abbott due to Darby’s opposition to private school vouchers. In the 2025 session, Darby supported the voucher legislation and can now tout the 2026 reelection endorsement from not only Gov. Abbott, but President Trump as well. Darby has drawn one Republican primary opponent so far – Navy veteran Cole Galloway. Darby was first elected in 2006 and currently serves as the chair of the House Energy Resources Committee.
Freshman Republican state Rep. Marc LaHood is being challenged by San Antonio realtor David McArthur in next year’s primary. LaHood’s position on priority legislation backed by Texans for Lawsuit Reform – a proposal to limit the damages sought by accident victims by creating specific guidelines on what evidence juries can consider – has the race at the top of the list of hotly contested races for the March primary election.
LaHood is ready for the fight. He released polling this week that shows him in good shape against the prominent and well-funded McArthur. Among the highlights, the poll showed LaHood with a 90% name recognition in the district, as well as a 68% favorable rating. The district is based in the Alamo Heights area of San Antonio.
Former chair of the Federal Elections Commission Trey Trainor announced this week he is seeking the Republican nomination for Congressional District 21, looking to succeed incumbent Congressman Chip Roy, who is running for Texas Attorney General. Trainor worked in the capitol on the staff of Republican House members, as and also as general counsel in the Secretary of State’s office when Rick Perry was Governor. He joins a crowded field seeking the nomination including former baseball player Mark Texeira. The district is solidly Republican, running from western Hays County near Austin out into the Texas Hill Country.
In the continuing trend of hiring officials with ties to the legislature, Texas A&M University has named former state Senator Tommy Williams as interim President. Williams replaces Mark Welsh, who resigned last week over a controversy surrounding a student that confronted a professor that included a discussion of gender identity in a literature course. Welsh initially refused to fire the professor, and the subsequent fervor led to his resignation. Williams is a 1978 graduate of Texas A&M and served in the Senate for nearly 10 years before retiring in 2013 to become the head of Governmental Relations for the Texas A&M University System. During his tenure in the Senate, he served as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. The hiring of Williams continues the recent trend of universities turning to political figures to assume leadership positions. This in response to legislation passed recently to require universities to overhaul their management by prohibiting the use of diversity programs in hiring and admissions and placing more control over the administration of individual campuses in the hands of regents as opposed to university personnel.
What’s Next??
The watch continues for the potential a third special session, but as time goes on, the likelihood of a fall special session wanes.
We will also continue to watch the retirements, filings, and other movements regarding the 2026 races for legislative, congressional, and statewide offices.