This Week in Texas Politics: Election Day 2024 is less than a month away

AUSTIN, Texas – The race for the White House is certainly the big political story right now, but there were other hot topics in Texas Politics this week.

FOX 7 Austin’s chief political reporter Rudy Koski and his panel of experts discuss what happened on “This Week in Texas Politics.”

RUDY KOSKI: Let’s grab the headlines from our panel, starting with Phillip Jankowski from The Dallas Morning News. Phillip, what’s your headline?

PHILLIP JANKOWSKI: 4 weeks. Only four more weeks.

RUDY KOSKI: Brian Smith from St Edward’s University. What’s your headline for this week?

BRIAN SMITH: It feels like summer, but Election Day is less than a month away.

RUDY KOSKI: Annie Spilman with Main Street Relations? What’s your headline for this week?

ANNIE SPILMAN: Texas adds business courts as caseloads increase nationwide.

RUDY KOSKI: And Brad Johnson of the Texas News. What’s your headline for this week?

BRAD JOHNSON: Campaigns clarify key problems at the home stretch.

RUDY KOSKI: State lawmakers did damage control during a hearing on the Texas Energy Fund this week. It involved what looked like a team from two energy companies that had drawn up a shortlist for a special loan program to build power plants. The problem, however, was that the application was not properly reviewed by a government-hired contractor called Deloitte. After heated arguments during the hearing, the contractor agreed to a $7 million penalty. So, Phillip, that damages trust in the fund. And, you know, could there be a ripple effect downstream?

PHILLIP JANKOWSKI: If your vetting process is easily revealed to be inadequate in a Google search, the decision to choose Deloitte as your accounting firm again could have an impact.

RUDY KOSKI: We saw a bizarre display of further infighting within the Texas GOP. Audio recordings were reportedly released of members of the Dallas GOP committee saying they would be OK with a Democrat beating a local Republican. If this local Republican refused to sign a loyalty pledge, he would not support appointing Democrats to leadership positions in the state House of Representatives. Brad, what’s going on here?

BRAD JOHNSON: But it is a talking point for activists, and that could be the case if they advise voters not to support these two, particularly embattled Republicans in Dallas County, the only two left in the Texas House in Dallas County. However, this could have an impact on the vote for these members.

ANNIE SPILMAN: To me this is the epitome of hypocrisy. This is the true example of cutting off your nose despite your face.

PHILLIP JANKOWSKI: This could have real implications for important policy issues. I’m thinking about the school voucher plan.

RUDY KOSKI: Top Republicans like Chip Roy and Ken Paxton continue to push for voter roll reviews this week. A review has already been conducted due to fears of undocumented immigrants being added to the voter rolls, Brian. Is this just a last minute panic button?

BRIAN SMITH: Currently they are still trying to maximize your voice. You cannot register new voters. So they’re trying to turn off legacy voters. You can also add that the Biden-Harris administration is taking a soft approach to voter fraud to motivate the base. The downside, of course, is that it raises doubts about the legitimacy of the election.

PHILLIP JANKOWSKI: As Bill Shakespeare wrote: Sound and Fury. Yes Yes Yes. They can ask for anything.

RUDY KOSKI: I don’t remember reading this with pure anger, yada, yada.

PHILLIP JANKOWSKI: Yes, it’s somewhere in Macbeth, I think. But as you know, at this point it is too late to remove voters from the electoral rolls.

BRAD JOHNSON: You know, I think it’s important to note that there are ineligible voters who are registered. You know, Governor Abbott announced earlier this year, in early summer, that 6,500 people who were suspected noncitizens had been removed from the rolls.

RUDY KOSKI: To get people out to vote, North Texas Democrats brought the chairman of the DNC to a large rally Wednesday in the Metroplex. You know, Republicans are making a big push and focusing on the other end of the state in South Texas. However, some seats could fold like pancakes. So here’s the question, Annie: Which pancakes are you looking at?

ANNIE SPILMAN: Now you’re making me hungry. You know, I’m really looking at there’s a seat south of Corpus, a Corpus that’s been a Democratic seat for some time. This is certainly flippable. It is a woman who is competing against Sergio Munoz, who has a name there because of his father. And he has already served. The Uvalde seat, you know, is just outside here in San Antonio and has been held by a Democrat since the ’90s. But Abbott held that seat by six points in 2022. So this is certainly reversible.

BRAD JOHNSON: Another movie I’m watching that caught my eye and wasn’t expecting it was HD 74. This is on the border, one of the largest counties in the state. The incumbent is Eddie Morales.

PHILLIP JANKOWSKI: I would also like to point out the district in Collin County. Mihael Plesa, this is a Democratic seat. I believe she is the only Democrat representing Collin County.

RUDY KOSKI: You can watch our full discussion on the FOX 7 YouTube page, but let’s say our final word for this discussion, starting with Phillip. What is your only word?

RUDY KOSKI: Vote.

RUDY KOSKI: Annie, your word for the week.

ANNIE SPILMAN: In honor of the big game? Hook Em.

RUDY KOSKI: Brian, your word for the week.

BRIAN SMITH: End game.

RUDY KOSKI: Brad, your word.

BRAD JOHNSON: Looking ahead to next week, we will continue with the debate.

RUDY KOSKI: And so it’s another week in Texas politics.