CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett are leading their respective primary campaigns for U.S. Senate, according to a poll released last week by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs, the Austin American- Statesman reported.
Early voting began Feb. 17 and runs through Feb. 27.
Among Republicans, Paxton led incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn 38% to 31%. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt polled at 17%, making it likely the race will go to a runoff in May if these margins hold.
Among Democrats, Crockett led with 47% while state Rep. James Talarico was favored by 39% of respondents.
The margin of error for both parties was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The primary election is March 3. Runoffs are May 26 and the midterm is Nov. 3.
AG race: Roy out in front
In the race to succeed Ken Paxton as Texas attorney general, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, with 33% in the latest poll, leads a crowded GOP field by 10 percentage points, with state Sen. Mayes Middleton in second at 23%.
The Texas Tribune reported state Sen. Joan Huffman polled at 13%, and Aaron Reitz, a former federal assistant attorney general, trailed at 6%.
However, 25% of those polled remain undecided in that race.
On the Democratic side, state Sen. Nathan Johnson led with 25% of the 550 people polled, followed by former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski at 22%. Attorney and former FBI agent Tony Box held 13%.
A majority of those polled said they didn’t know enough about any of the candidates to express a preference.
That poll was conducted by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs.
Fed sees job growth expansion in Texas
A new employment forecast by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas predicts the state will add jobs in 2026, after a flat 2025, The Dallas Morning News reported. The bank’s forecast indicates Texas employment will grow by 1.1%, or about 155,000 jobs.
That is about half of job growth the state has experienced in recent years.
“We’ve run our models. We’re going with the 1.1% growth, so that is a significant increase from zero, certainly,” said Pia Orrenius, a senior economist at the Dallas Fed.
The slower-than-normal employment growth is partly attributable to the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies and enforcement operations, according to some economists. In a report published by the Fed in October, the authors said the immigration policies were negatively affecting one in five Texas businesses.
“The stepped-up visibility and intensity of enforcement have produced a chilling effect,” the authors wrote. “As fear spreads in immigrant communities, foreign- born individuals are more likely to miss work or school and less likely to venture out to shops and restaurants.”
State, feds prepare fight for screwworm invasion
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Gov. Greg Abbott presided last week over the opening of new facility in Edinburg to produce sterile flies in order to combat a potential invasion of New World screwworms from Mexico that could threaten the nation’s leader in cattle production, The Texas Tribune reported.
Cases of the screwworm, which lays eggs in open wounds on cattle, have been detected in Mexico as close as 70 miles from the border.
“I don’t want to underplay it because it is a big threat to our country, but I believe we’re as prepared as we could possibly be, if that happens, to deal with it, to move toward eradication,” Rollins said.
Sterile flies were released last week in Northern Mexico and in Texas within 50 miles of the border as a precautionary measure.
Abbott has issued a disaster declaration to enable a newly formed response team to have adequate resources. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to open its own production facility in Edinburg by the end of 2027.
For now, the facility is using larvae produced in Panama and flown to Texas.
Abbott breaks with Trump over nationalizing elections
Gov. Greg Abbott has broken with President Donald Trump over the latter’s call to nationalize elections in some parts of the country, kut.org reported. He was asked about Trump’s suggestion at a recent campaign event.
“Listen, my understanding of the United States Constitution, and that is elections for state positions are to be conducted by states, and I don’t think we should deviate from that,” Abbott said.
Legal experts and some Trump allies highlight the Constitution grants states the primary authority over elections, making any effort to nationalize the process both legally complicated and logistically challenging.
High stakes for Abbott in comptroller’s race
As the Houston Chronicle reported, while Gov. Greg Abbott is widely expected to win his primary reelection bid, the governor has a lot on the line in the Texas comptroller’s race.
Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, appointed when Glenn Hegar left to become chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, faces a serious challenge from one of the governor’s biggest political foes, former state Sen. Don Huffines — a Republican who ran and lost to Abbott in 2022.
Also on the GOP primary ballot is Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick.
The winner of that race will oversee the state’s new voucher program.
“Succession in Texas politics is on the ballot,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston. “There’s a lot of jockeying for position for the future of the Republican Party in Texas.”
Huffines spent heavily in 2022 in his unsuccessful bid to oust Abbott, calling him a “weak leader” and a “coward.” Hancock has vowed to work closely with Abbott.
Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected].
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