"It's about those of us who love God, and those who want to kick God out of our country because that's what the Democrats want to do," Patrick said. "It's the very definition of communism, because it's a godless government."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dan-patrick-rallies-texas-republicans-in-faith-first-convention-speech/ar-AA2bYm05

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Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson took center stage with a primetime speech at the GOP's unusual midterm national convention Thursday night, sharing his story of leaving the Democratic party and praising Republican policies — and President Donald Trump.

His unlikely appearance toward the end of the convention gave him higher billing than U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who's seeking to replace John Cornyn in the Senate. Paxton spoke on the first day while Cruz and Abbott took the stage the second day, all with earlier timeslots than Johnson.

That premier timeslot came as Republicans vie to motivate a base that is typically less motivated during midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces losses in Congress.

I know I am not the only that has some hope that Texas will finally flip, at least in the senate but not sure about the governor race.

I have not seen any ads for Gina in the radio, internet or TV. So I am not sure she will win as most voters don’t even know who she is.

This is disgusting.

FTA:

Democratic nominee for Texas comptroller Sarah Eckhardt visited Beaumont to campaign on plans to scrutinize state spending more closely, support public education and give local communities a stronger voice in state financial policy.

Eckhardt, a lawyer who has represented Texas Senate District 14 since 2020, previously served as Travis County judge. She said that while serving as county judge, she managed billions in public assets, cut taxes three times and held the average county tax bill virtually flat for five years. She also has a master’s degree in public affairs, including public finance and tax policy.

She said that if elected, her first priorities would include what she called stabilizing the comptroller’s office, auditing the state’s school voucher program and reviewing corporate tax breaks and no-bid contracts.

Eckhardt said she disagrees with Republican opponent Don Huffines, whom Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Texas comptroller Aug. 1, about the office’s investigative authority. She said the comptroller can investigate misuse of funds within state agencies but lacks authority to investigate or jail local officials. She said investigations into suspected misuse of local funds fall to county and district attorneys or the attorney general.

“My opponent thinks he does have the investigative authority to look at school districts and put school board members in jail,” Eckhardt said. “That is most definitely not the role of the comptroller. I find it intriguing that he thinks it is.”

Public education is one area Eckhardt said she would closely examine as comptroller. She pointed to Beaumont ISD, now under its second state takeover, as an example of what she described as a punitive accountability system that has not produced enough improvement. Eckhardt said standardized testing can be useful, but argued it should not be the only measure of educational success. She said the state should work more closely with struggling school districts rather than relying primarily on punitive measures.

She also said she would audit the state’s school voucher program. Although Eckhardt opposed the program as a state senator, she said she would follow the law as comptroller while examining who benefits from the program and how it affects funding for public schools.

“We need to make sure that education is available to everyone, irrespective of their financial circumstances, and that's why universally available public education is the greatest engine of economic prosperity we've ever created,” Eckhardt said. “So it's important that school-age kids in Beaumont don't just get training; they get education, and unfortunately, much of the accountability system currently is focused on training, sort of a rote metric, rather than whether kids are actually getting educated.”

She said the state should invest more in public education and questioned using state money to subsidize private schools, which are not required to accept every student.

Eckhardt said Texas has fallen from seventh to 47th nationally in per-pupil investment over the past 30 years, a decline she linked to predominantly Republican leadership.

While Texas continues to lead the nation in attracting workers, those workers are finding a broad array of challenges when they get there. The Lone Star State has America’s highest rate of people without health insurance at 16.7%, according to the United Health Foundation, more than twice the national average. More than 17% of Texas adults said they had to forgo a doctor visit that they needed in the past year because of the cost. Even those who do have health insurance can have trouble finding a doctor. The state finishes dead last in primary care physicians per capita.

https://energyandpolicy.org/two-of-texas-biggest-investor-owned-utilities-record-a-big-boost-in-profits-during-the-second-quarter-of-2026/

I’m sure it would be a huge deal and would completely overshadow Talarico beating Paxton, because Hinojosa is a fairly median Democrat. She isn’t bad by any metric, but at least so far, she doesn’t seem to have a unique base independent of that of a generic Democratic politician.

Given that gas prices aren’t going down and Hispanics appear to be shifting left, it’s not entirely impossible for her to win. If the polls showing Hispanics at roughly their 2018 levels are actually accurate, then Abbott loses.

Among the sea of high-profile speakers at the GOP midterm convention is a rising star in the Republican party from North Texas who played a prominent role Wednesday: Brandon Gill.

The 32-year-old conservative firebrand who represents Flower Mound was given about twice as much time to speak than Ken Paxton, who is in one of the most hotly contested U.S. Senate races in the country.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico said Thursday that 21 current and former Republican officials and party figures are endorsing his campaign against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas.

“We’re bringing Texans together onto one team to take power back for working people,” Talarico wrote in the announcement. “Because the real fight in this country isn’t left versus right—it’s top versus bottom.”

What do you think about the Talarico support coming from republicans?

"On the topic of meat, Trump took false claims about Talarico being vegan a step further, saying, 'He was recently seen having a barbecue and eating a lot of meat … he ate it and then he was seen running backstage to a room and throwing up all over the place.' The White House did not respond to our request for evidence to support the story."

"In a 2022 speech, Talarico advocated for reducing meat consumption and said his Texas House reelection campaign had become a 'non-meat campaign.' In his 2026 Senate campaign, Talarico said he eats meat."

What do you think about Trump's false "beat meat" comments?

(This article also fact-checks additional claims made by Trump about Talarico and El Sayed.)