On The Run

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On the run. Welcome to The Texas Take. I'm Jeremy Wallace of the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express News. And once again, Texas politics is spilling over the Red River across our fine nation. From California to Illinois. to Maine. Everyone is talking about what is going on in Texas politics. I should know. As y'all know, I was trying to go to the wilds of Maine last week to recharge when I was pressed into action as the Texas Senate Democrats

showed up in New England of all places. Meanwhile, the Texas Democrats in the House were off to Chicago. all in an effort to stop Donald Trump's push to redraw the congressional districts in Texas. I was literally getting a bowl of chowder at the Happy Clam in St. George, Maine, when people started asking me about the latest developments in Texas.

There was no escaping it, y'all. But it's not just the redistricting drama that the nation has the nation talking about Texas. We'll get into how another Bush family member is now running for governor in Maine. I'll talk about why Donald Trump was praising one of Petit's favorite sons. And check out why Republicans in Washington, D.C. are worried about the U.S. Senate race in Texas. As if that's not enough, I have Senator John Cornyn

coming on the show to talk about being an underdog in his reelection campaign. And we'll get into if he's become so MAGA over the last few months. that maybe he's not recognizable to the people who have been voting for him since really 1984. Plus, I have former Democratic Congressman Colin Allred coming on to admit some big mistakes he made in the 2024 campaign season and why he thinks this time around he'll be a better candidate as he tries to run for the United States Senate again.

But first, there is no way to start this show without the song that's been rattling around in my head ever since the Texas Democrats and the House and the Senate fled the state to prevent Republicans in the legislature from passing anything into law. to run. Who knew that Sir Paul was crafting the theme song of the Texas Democrats 52 years ago? That, of course, is Paul McCartney and Wings with their song Band on the Run.

As we record today, many of the House Democrats from Texas are still on the run, hanging out in Chicago, vowing not to return until the current special session of the Texas legislature comes to a close. calls for their arrest and Senator John Cornyn calling on the FBI to track them down to drag them back to Texas. You know, our members are holding strong and we're committed more so now than ever.

to see this through and to make sure that we do what we need to do for the people of Texas and the people of the United States of America. But Governor Greg Abbott isn't blinking. He told Jake Tapper on CNN that the minute the current special session ends, he's just going to call another one. This process is going to continue.

I'm going to call special session after special session after special session. They could remain in hiding for literally years. Thankfully, it wasn't just Democrats on the run. While the Austin American statesman John Moritz was holding down the fort here in Austin, the Houston Chronicle's Taylor Goldenstein was up in Chicago with those Democrats there.

Meanwhile, I, of course, was up in New England keeping an eye on the Senate Democrats, who were in Boston. Both John and Taylor joined me now. First, John... Catch us up with where we are right now. We know that the House Speaker earlier in the week had said that he wanted to end the session on Friday, do the signee die. Is that still the plan, or is there any changes that we know of going into this weekend?

That is the plan. Of course, we're going to keep our eyes and ears open all weekend for, you know, in the event that the Democrats out of state come back or maybe the some of the Democrats that we believe are still in Texas come back to so we could be. called into a weekend session you know kind of a strike while the iron is hot thing if that's what the speaker decides is doable and that's what's going to happen or that's what's that is what's likely going to happen should any democrats

enough Democrats return. Well, and Taylor, we've talked about this before. Once these Democrats get back, if they get back... tonight or tomorrow, they could immediately pass all this stuff out in a minute, right? It wouldn't take them any time to get the redistricting map passed, right? Right. I think there's a strong incentive for Republicans to push things as quickly as possible and suspend whatever roles they need to to get it done in time for the end of session.

Well, we'll definitely be covering this throughout the weekend at the Houston Chronicle, Austin American Statesman, and San Antonio Express News. Obviously, keep an eye on all of that as we're moving along. But Taylor, let's get back into, like, you were up in Chicago with these Democrats.

there and what were they doing you know where are they and give us a sense of what you saw while you were up there yeah so i mean it's it's basically what you're still seeing now, daily press conferences with different kind of coalitions. When I was there, it was a lot of joining up with the Illinois governor and the Illinois congressional.

delegation, the Democrats, and kind of getting together in solidarity on the message. And the mood there is pretty serious. They're viewing this as a fight for democracy. And they've been pretty resolute in each of these press conferences about their... intention to stay there until they see some kind of, you know, either pushback from another state like Illinois, which Governor Pritzker and the California Governor Gavin Newsom has expressed interest in. And that's the kind of thing.

It seems like they're looking for to kind of give them what they need to feel okay about returning to Texas. It's interesting, as they've been going around the nation, they're not just hiding out, they're also trying to get other states involved in this, like you were saying. When I was in Massachusetts, they were up with Governor Maura Healy trying to get her involved in it, too, and make this more of a...

a New England issue too. And then, John, we were watching that same press conference yesterday where those Democrats in Chicago were meeting with Indiana. You know, Democrats trying to get them involved, too. They're just trying to get this like a nationwide attention on this issue. That's really the best that they can do in this fight right now. Right. Yeah, correct. As the first special session.

is winding down and the prospect of a second special session coming up. The expectation is we will see the Democrats back sometime during this special session. So what right now is what the Democrats are kind of...

How do we spin what we did for these past few weeks as a win? And one of them is we nationalize the issue. Secondarily, or perhaps that might even primarily, we've got California involved where they're going to... district um their democratic seats to their advantage and and and that way there it doesn't look like okay we stayed gone and we caved they want to come back with something uh symbolic

and perhaps even real to show for the efforts and to keep their base motivated, keep their donors writing checks and all that other thing. Well, it's interesting. Like I mentioned, you know, I had those Senate Democrats hanging out in Massachusetts, but it felt pretty symbolic. and less useful into the program, essentially, because obviously there were two senators who did not join them on that quorum break.

That means there was no quorum break. The Senate had enough votes to pass everything out. And we saw that this week, you know, they had no problem passing any of the legislation, including the redistricting maps out of the Senate. First, who are the two senators who stayed behind? Who are the two senators who aren't joining the other Democrats on these trips? John, who do we know right now?

The two who did not leave the chamber when the redistricting bill came up were Laredo's Judith Saffarini and the Coastal Bend and Mission's Juan Hinojosa. Ironically, both of those, they are two of the only three senators left who broke quorum in 2003. And sort of what we hear a little bit is they knew how that ended.

in 2003, which is poorly for them. The redistricting bill then passed. And they kind of know how this one's going to end for them. And again, it's going to be poorly. Well, and Taylor, let me ask you what that was. How does this like...

play for them it's like do they take heat you think from democrats for not joining or do people give them a kind of a you know a break given that like look it's going to be hard to stop these maps no matter what if they go through nobody's going to remember this quorum break right

Yeah, I mean, I think to give the issue context and to be clear, the senators aren't saying this, talking about this, but there is the obvious backdrop of the areas that they're from having become much more competitive. So they're kind of thinking of their audience in that context. And I'm sure this is just me talking, but I'm sure that's a thought they've had. But in terms of what they've responded, it has been exactly that.

statement, something along the lines of, you know, we saw how this worked out in 2003. And to add to what John said, they also mentioned that they feel like their best bet is the courts. And so the quicker they can get to the courts, the better.

As I alluded to earlier, Senator John Cornyn was getting super aggressive through all of this. First, he called on the FBI to get involved to track down the Democrats who fled the state. Then this week, he called for the FBI to investigate Democrats for potential corruption for taking funding from PACs like Beto O'Rourke's Powered by People to covering living expenses while they're on the run.

So I want to bring him on the show and explain what he's doing. Well, ultimately, we want the runaway legislators to come back to work. I mean, that is the ultimate goal. But we want to point out the jeopardy they are potentially in for receiving all this essentially gratuities and fundraising from. PACs and other entities, including George Soros, Beto O'Rourke. that could raise a multitude of issues for them in terms of gifts that are impermissible under state law, potentially even for bribery.

charges i asked uh kash patel to look at this uh the fbi director and of course he agreed to do it um and i'm not I think the investigation is important. I'm just talking about what could potentially be an issue for them. All of this is designed to... put pressure on them to come back home and do their job. As you can imagine, Democrats don't like this at all. They don't like this side of John Corrin they're seeing. Here's U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

talking on MSNBC's Morning Joe about his disappointment with John Cornyn. Well, Senator Cornyn's suggestion to try and weaponize the FBI is pitiful. It's sad because the senator has pretended himself... for decades as someone of integrity and now that he's in the race of his life and is on his way to losing the texas republican primary for his own reelection uh... he is targeting elected officials who he believes are his adversaries solely for political gain.

And I also talked to former U.S. Rep Colin Allred this week about it all, because when he was in Congress, he said he used to find coordinate as approachable and a guy who was willing to stand up to his own party at times. you know, annoyed and disgusted by people who won't even stand up to their own party when they know it's not good for our state. And I kind of thought at one point,

You know, when I used to work with Senator Corden on some things that he was he was kind of willing to do that at times, but he's gone the exact opposite direction. And now he just seems to me like a spineless kind of bootlicker. Have you changed your approach? in order to fit into this MAGA Republican universe in a way that doesn't quite feel like you over the last 20 years? Well, I haven't changed a bit. I've always been a law and order guy.

Judge for 13 years, attorney general for four, and obviously work on the Judiciary Committee with Ted Cruz and very much engage in law enforcement-related issues. But I would say to the Colin Allreds and the Hakeem Jeffries, they're the ones that started this fight by fleeing the state. and denying a quorum to the speaker so that they could do the work that Governor Abbott set out for them to do, including deal with some of the...

problems associated with the flooding in Kerrville in central Texas that took many innocent lives. All of that has been shut down, not just the redistricting, because they decided to cut and run. which is pretty un-Texan to do. I mean, if you've got a difference of opinion, you need to stand and fight. And I've always been for robust political debate. And then we count the votes and see who wins. But this is who I am. If you get reelected, then are you going to be—

less likely to work with Democrats going forward? Are you done working with Chris Murphy on legislation? Are you done working with these guys? Or are you going to be more Ted Cruz, I guess, in your approach? I'm always looking. for opportunities to work with anybody who will do things that are helpful to my constituents, the 31 million people of Texas, and the country generally. And so those are the areas where I'm always available.

to work with them. But on something like this, which is obviously very political, very partisan, there is nothing more political. than redistricting, because it's a matter of who's got the votes to draw the districts that enhance the representation of Republicans in the state to reflect the changes in our population and our politics.

And that's not something you're going to be able to work with Democrats on. So you're 100% fine with doing this redistricting right now, no matter how these maps go together. Yeah, I think, you know, the first cut, of course, will be with the legislature. And once Governor Abbott signs it into law, then there'll be lawsuits, which there always are.

But I go way back on this topic. I was the chairman of the Legislative Redistricting Board in 2000. This is a very contentious issue, even among Republicans. Because I can guarantee all the incumbent congressmen are not entirely excited about having their districts change and having to run in a new congressional district. But they understand that. It's more important to have Republicans represented in congressional districts that reflect the way Texas voters vote.

It seems like all 25 Republicans in Congress right now will have a piece of Austin by the time this map is done. I've looked at some of these drawings. Like you said, some of the Republicans are a little nervous. You're stretching the district from San Angelo to Pflugerville. Yeah, it's amazing. I think somebody was pointing out to me, I think it's in Illinois.

which is another bit of hypocrisy about the way that Democrats have drawn districts in blue states with and to minimize Republican voting strength. But I think it's in. in illinois that one of the congressional districts is 125 miles long of course that's no big deal in texas if you're talking about west texas and it's sparsely populated but

This is always controversial, and it's not just controversial between Republicans and Democrats. It's controversial among the incumbents, members of Congress. Are you still a guy who's going to be willing to stand up to Republicans going forward? Because you have that reputation as somebody who, like, you'll tell Republicans when you think something's, you know, the right way to go. It's like you'll stand up to that.

Are you still going to be that guy if you get reelected? Well, I always try to tell people what I think and the truth. And I've always believed that that's the only way I can really. I can really operate and have a clean conscience and be able to sleep at night. But, you know, you pick your battles and you don't pick every battle. But no, I'm the same old guy that the voters have elected 19 different times in various contested elections.

There's a whole lot more to that interview. I think I'll publish that as a separate episode in the coming days so you can hear the full discussion. We also talked about his re-election chances in more detail. We got into how the big, beautiful bill included... $13.5 billion for Texas to cover border expenses during the Biden administration. And we talked about his fight to get the space shuttle, at least one of them, moved to Houston. But as I noted in that interview,

Colin Allred is also very critical of where Cornyn has gone politically. That isn't shocking given Allred is trying to run for the US Senate and take that seat. But Allred isn't getting the warmest of reception from Democrats, at least not from all Democrats, who say his 2024 campaign was both dull and uninspiring. Even now, an obvious question has developed.

during the last couple of weeks. While Beto O'Rourke, Joaquin Castro, Jasmine Crockett, and James Tallarico and others have been traveling the state and the nation to fight the redistricting, Allred hasn't been joining them for those rallies. He's been invited, but he's decided not to go. And he's been a little less noticeable in the fight than those other faces have been. I asked him to come on the show to explain it all to y'all.

Are you intentionally trying to stay away from the other Democrats on this issue or take a lower profile on this? Or is this your fight, too? No, this is my fight. And I've been testified, of course, in Austin. We've had several events. specifically focused on this, including just last week in a black church in Fort Worth, you know, with several of really all the black elected officials in Tarrant County talking about how they were trying to take away.

you know, the congressional district that my friend Mark Vesey represents that includes this historically black. communities in Fort Worth. That church was packed with folks who were fired up and were angry who did an event in Missouri City in Fort Bend County, also talking about what they're trying to do in terms of this gerrymandering. And so, you know, I've been enjoying doing our events.

having our conversations about it, but also been, of course, talking about it a lot publicly and, of course, supporting the folks who have broken quorum, particularly the Texas Black Legislative Caucus in their efforts. And so I think this is something that's very personal for me. You know, I spent my entire career fighting for democracy, fighting for the right to vote. And, you know, I think that this has really touched a nerve.

And I think the reason it has is when I first started doing voting rights over a decade ago, it was a lot more subtle back then, what they were trying to do. And there was often a lot of kind of a... you know, almost a patina of like legitimacy around some of these laws. And it was, you know, sometimes it can be hard to argue with them, you know, to be honest with you, even though you knew that the impact would be discriminatory.

In this case, it's been so blatant and they've been so out front that they're just trying to do, you know, this kind of direct, you know, grab because you can't stop them. And it's also touching on some historic accomplishments that communities of color in Texas have made over the course of decades that lives were lost trying to achieve, that blood was spilled trying to achieve. When you start messing with Barbara...

Jordan's district, Mickey Leland's district, Sheila Jackson Lee's district, Sylvester Turner's district. These are areas that folks literally spent their... their lives trying to create this opportunity to have this representation and you're taking it away, you know, just so you want to, you know, try and avoid the consequences of a midterm election. I mean, I think that's really touched a nerve and that's what I've seen at our events.

Well, it seems like the argument over redistricting has shifted quite a bit over the years, like we're talking about. The way... legislatures approach this, they now are under the impression they can be as partisan as they want to be, as long as they're not racial in what they do, right? You know, to a degree. And that's the component that I think confuses a lot of people out there.

It's like, can you do straight up partisan gerrymandering without eventually digging into... the racial components of why these districts were created, including, you know, the areas that you represent and like what the sledgehammer they're taking to Dallas and trying to, you know, to basically go after the district that Eddie Bernice Johnson. once represented to go after that district in the way they're doing, you know, has to kind of hit a nerve. So, so again, the question is like,

Can you do redistricting that's partisan without ultimately becoming racial in its component and triggering what we thought the Civil Rights Act was supposed to prevent? Well, I want to be clear. Number one, I think this is a racial gerrymander, not a partisan gerrymander. And I say that as an expert, the districts that they're targeting are all majority minority. They are removing and reducing the voting power for minority communities in Texas.

How do we know that? Well, I've represented a majority minority district in Texas 32 here in North Texas that is completely gone under this new redraw. And so you're taking. that representation in our North Texas area, you know, from three districts where communities of color could elect a representative of their choice down to two. That is not partisan. That's racial, in my opinion.

But I also think this is the problem with this distinction that the Supreme Court has allowed to exist, which is to say, oh, it's okay if you do any level of gerrymandering as long as you're just doing it to help your party. Are you joking? I mean, do you not have any understanding of our country's issues?

And, you know, of voting patterns of certain communities. I mean, it's almost intended to be, I think, something where it's like you're misleading people. And I think the Supreme Court has allowed that to exist. What we should do and what I did when I was in Congress was we passed a bill at that time called the For the People Act. It later became the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act that banned.

partisan gerrymandering and that required states to create independent nonpartisan commissions to draw their districts, their congressional districts. This is within the power of the Congress when it comes to congressional districts.

And so we can pass this law. We passed it out of the House of Representatives. And I was part of the effort to call on our Senate colleagues to reform the filibuster to pass it because we had a majority of senators who wanted to pass it. We just didn't have the 60 vote threshold. to get past the filibuster. And as a lot of people might remember, they refused to do it. The bill died in the Senate. And here we are, right?

But I don't, I actually think that this is part of the problem with what this has been set up, is that your question is the right one. Is it possible? I mean, maybe in a world where that doesn't have the history that we have, that doesn't have the voting pattern.

that we have that doesn't have the history of discrimination, quite honestly, that we have. But in this case, this to me is not a partisan gerrymander. It's a racial gerrymander. I do think that it'll be challenged in court if it passes. And I think there's a decent chance that even with this... pretty hostile judiciary that we have, that it'll be struck down.

But I also wanted to get him to talk about the failings of his last campaign. As y'all heard me say a lot on this podcast over the last year, he was very slow getting out of the box and was very cautious on that campaign. I asked him...

why he's running again, and what will be different this time. What made you decide that you wanted to run again for the U.S. Senate, but this time, you know, for this seat? To be honest with you, I was just really angry about some of the promises that were made in the last election. especially to working people, that I think were completely just misleading and lies. I grew up raised by a single mother who was a public school teacher, counting every dollar.

And I can understand working families thinking, you know, maybe somebody's going to be on my side. Maybe they're going to help us deal with inflation. Maybe they're going to help us deal with the fact that we're having a hard time getting by. And I hear them talking about it. Maybe that's what they'll do.

But then it was just all a bill of goods. I mean, these last few months, all they've done is stick it to working people to raise their costs. And I want to be very specific about this because sometimes it can sound like a generality. But if you're a family like mine growing up, if you raise somebody's electric bill by $800 a year, that's a big deal. And that's the average cost increase that we're going to experience because of this big, beautiful bill.

the provisions they took out for solar and wind that we were benefiting from so much. That's a big deal. When you kick 1.7 million people off their health care here in Texas, that's a huge deal for us. We already have the highest uninsured rate in the country. That's going to make it more expensive.

for folks' property taxes, whether it's in Harris County or Dallas County. If you have this level of uncompensated care, that's what it gets kicked into property taxes. It's also going to close rural hospitals, right? Inflation is also being driven right now by a reckless tariff policy that's going to make this one of the most expensive Christmases in recent memory for many working families.

People saying, well, maybe they'll just have to have, you know, one doll instead of three. And it's like, no, you know, working families, the choice isn't between one and three. It's between one and none, you know, and just to be so kind of flippant about it and say, well, you know, the cost is just going to be.

passed on, you just have to deal with it. And so that really bothered me. And I also felt like, you know, a lot of pressure in the last campaign, particularly around the presidential election. around, you know, we changed the nominee. It was just a chaotic kind of election. And, you know, the fact that I thought that Donald Trump represented a clear and present danger, in my opinion.

particularly after I was there on January 6th, to just make sure that you didn't make any mistakes, that everything, that every box was checked. And to be honest with you, I feel a lot more relaxed now. And I feel a lot more like I want to just be myself, tell people how I feel, tell them what I think should be done. And if folks don't agree with it, that's okay. But this is what, to me, it was important to have a chance.

to in this campaign, you know, let it, let it, let it rip a little bit and let folks hear. Cause I'm just as angry as anybody else. I'm known for kind of my common demeanor, I think. In football, that was something that helped me keep my head when 80,000 people were screaming all around. I was the captain of the team saying, okay, let's keep our focus. Let's keep our focus. Let's make sure we get the job done. But now I'm angry.

And I feel like folks have been lied to. I feel like fundamental things that are more important than the politics of the moment.

are being put at risk like you know our constitution itself and some of the values that i think we share whether you're a democrat or republican that are being put at risk and i think we have to have somebody who will fight for us and the last thing i'll just say is that I've always seen myself as somebody who thought that you should look out for Texas first before you kind of do your...

your political thing. That got me in trouble sometimes when I was in Congress because, for example, if we were doing a bill and I thought it was going to hurt Texas energy jobs, I would say something and I would get protested at my home. you know, from the left, right? About, you know, why aren't you going along with this? And here I am, I'm a civil rights lawyer, but I know how many jobs are tied to.

energy in Texas and how if we're going to make energy policy, we have to do it in a way that's not going to hurt Texas jobs, right? And I'm so annoyed and disgusted by people who... won't even stand up to their own party when they know it's not good for our state. And I kind of thought at one point, you know, when I used to work with Senator Corden on some things, that he was kind of willing to do that at times.

You know, after the tragedy in Uvalde, he helped us pass a bill called the Safer Communities Act. I was working on it in the House and he was working on it in the Senate to try and do a little bit about gun violence in this country, right?

taking away anybody's guns, not taking away anybody's rights, but to try and make sure that if you had a mental illness that you would get treatment, that our schools could be protected, that we could set up red flag laws in states that needed it. And that passed because of John Cornyn. And ever since then, he has been retreating on every single thing when I think what he should have done is just stood on his accomplishments and said, hey, listen, I've had 20 years of service.

And I've done some things that are incredibly, you know, conservative. But I think that, you know, I also want to look out for our state first. And I would have respected that. But he's gone the exact opposite direction. And now he just seems to me like a spineless kind of bootlicker. That's before you get to Ken Paxton, who I think is the most corrupt official.

to represent us maybe in our history. And that's really saying something when you know Texas history like you and I do. Well, and as you were talking about, you know, you already addressed some of the shortcomings from that last campaign. Obviously, it did not go how you would have liked to.

in the end. And one of the criticisms that, you know, I've said on the show, you know, it's like you probably have heard it at some point along the way. It's like it felt like your campaign last time was slow in proceeding. It was a little bit too cautious at times, too restrained.

And I've joked at times that on October 25th, which was when that big rally happened in Houston, that's when I started kind of seeing your personality come through a little bit. The unfortunate part of it was October 25th. And the personality of who you were came out in that performance or in that speech at the arena that day. And I didn't know if it was the crowd that just kind of got you in the right mindset or if it felt like a campaign, but it just felt like it was slow moving.

And like you just you weren't in places like in Houston that I would have expected to see you in sooner to start developing those bonds. But so that's a long way to say. Are there lessons learned from all that? It sounds like you already addressed a little that that like you want to be more, you know, free and less, you know, you know, calculating and at least the way it looked from the outside.

Yeah, no, I think that's right. And I, you know, really after the debate, I kind of felt like I found my voice. And, and I think that, you know, especially when you're young, and you've been in. you know, kind of through the ringer, like I had been in Congress, you know, I think sometimes that pressure can get to you. And I think that I spent about seven months being sort of...

my wife doesn't like when I say this, but like sort of the primary parent for her kids, like she's like, yeah, well, okay. So you did a little more buddy, you know, congratulations. Right. But, but you know, doing, doing more parenting, right. And reconnecting with some of my friends. and not being in dc and not you know having you know consultants in your ear and i just started to feel a lot more normal and i started to feel like myself and i started to feel like you know man like

This is a bunch of BS, man. They're lying to people and they're mistreating people. And I mean, and I'm almost been like dying for a real conservative. Like, I just want like a real conservative to come along and actually be like, hey, wait a second. We got some things we got to talk about here. You know, I've been I'm almost been like thinking that, you know, and in this campaign, you know, whatever happens.

I want to go to people, and I want to show them, not tell them. That's why we've been doing these kind of town halls, and we're doing one tonight in Denton. We're doing in San Antonio. We're coming to the Valley, back to Houston. And we've done, I think.

probably as many public events already as we did in the last campaign, maybe. I don't even know. I mean, that's probably not true. But, you know, it's been, we've done a lot already all over the, we've been to the Panhandle, been to Abilene and West Texas. And we're going to keep doing that. But I also, and I mean this, Jeremy, I don't think that we should confuse doing just rallies with reaching working people.

Because my mom could never have gone to a political rally, right? Because she was working two jobs. She would teach during the morning and then go to homework hotline at night, which is... You have to be really old to know what a homework hotline is, but it used to be that you could call a number and a teacher would help you with your homework, right? Before Google, before chat GPT, right?

And so she was working two jobs and then she'd watch me at night. So she couldn't go to a political rally. Right. And so that's why I'm going to be trying to do things where we go into communities and we make it so that I'm not asking them to come to me. I'm coming to them.

And I really feel strongly about this, that no matter what happens in this election, that I hope that folks can feel like that I not only hear them and see them, but I... grew up similar to what they're going through and that, you know, maybe together we could do something special and we can win an election, but also that you have somebody who cares about you, you know, and that's the one thing I've noticed in this early part of the campaign.

that there's the political people who are really fired up for different reasons. And many of them will have an opinion, sometimes not so good about me, right? But it's the normal, ordinary kind of working class people I talk to.

who will just give me a lot of hope and who make me feel like, okay, we're still a fundamentally decent place. We're still a place that believes these are not folks who are asking for everything from government. They don't want everything from government. They just want to. I think some shifts in priorities to give them a chance. And that I think is something that we can really do. And that's something we can do together and we can talk about it. And so I feel, you know, like I want to be.

And I feel like I am being more of myself in this campaign. And we'll let the chips fall where they may on that. It would be possible to end the show without a football reference since you did run the fields for Baylor University for all those years. I just recently discovered that Willie Nelson had also gone to Baylor at one point in his career. altogether, but are the Baylor Bears going to be any good this year? Have you checked in to make sure they're going to be all right?

I actually talked to Willie about that. And he was like, yeah, I went there for a little while. And I was like, yeah, you didn't graduate from there, did you? And he's like, no. And Willie's my mom's favorite. And also one of my favorites, of course. And he's a legend. But yes, back to Baylor. I think they're gonna be okay. And I think, you know, the Big 12 is very different.

than it was, of course. When I was there, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, you know, it was a murderer's row and it was all great teams. Now a lot of them have gone on to these ridiculous... divisions that they have and I think I'm not really a big fan of all these of the realignment stuff but I am a big fan of Baylor and I think we've got a they got a good team and I really like the coach and I'm going to be at some games and you know I'm a Baylor football legend

I guess technically that's what I got named. So I have to always look out for my guys. I'm glad that they're, you know, it's a place that for me, when I got there was a little bit of culture shock coming out of public school in Dallas, but I ended up loving it. And I still really have fond feelings for it.

I have a lot more in that interview as well. I'll also post a separate on that as well so you can hear the full interview. It's about 30 minutes where you'll hear him talking about his role as a civil rights attorney and how he's looking at redistricting. and how he sees that all playing out both legally and politically. Definitely check that one out.

By the way, it's that U.S. Senate race developing in Texas that is making Washington D.C. Republicans so nervous these days. Don't take my word for it. Punchbowl News earlier this week had a story out about how the Senate Leadership Fund is very worried about this race. The Senate Leadership Fund is a key GOP super PAC whose job is to basically get...

incumbent senators re-elected to the United States Senate. Well, according to them, Cornyn is trailing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxson That's clearly bad news. in a meeting that it's going to cost $70 million for them and their donors to help save John Cornyn in this primary. But they warned that if Cornyn doesn't win the primary, it could cost up to $200 million to save the seat if Ken Paxton wins the primary and becomes the GOP nominee in that November.

They're expecting they're going to have to spend a lot more money to make sure Paxton can win that race. That's going to bear a lot of watching over these next couple of months. This is kind of do or die for Cornyn to prove to everybody that he can catch up with Ken Paxton. And so expect to hear a lot more of this over the coming weeks.

Finally, there are two other key points we have to hit before we close out the show. As I mentioned at the top of the show, that kid from Poteet George Strait is headed to Washington, D.C. for a black-tie reception to be a recipient of the Kennedy Honors, which pays tributes to artistic and cultural icons in our culture.

It's certainly well-deserved given that Straight has had an insane 60 number one hits on the country music charts. Put that in perspective. That's more than double what Willie Nelson or Dolly Parton have been able to have. And none of it happens, really, without San Marcos. I love talking about...

George Strait and his start in San Marcos. He was playing shows while attending Texas State University. And I talked to Randy Rogers a few years ago about George Strait. Rogers now owns Cheatham Street Warehouse. where so many musical icons kind of got their start. Here's Randy Rogers telling me about what Cheatham Street Warehouse meant for George Strait and his Ace in the Hole band. Finally, let's talk a little bit about the Bush family member.

who is jumping into politics. While I was in Maine, I got word that George W. Bush and Jeb Bush were also both there. They were holding a fundraiser for their cousin, Jonathan Bush, who is on the cusp of running for governor. of that state. Since George B. Bush left his job as Texas Land Commissioner, there are no current Bush family members in elected office these days.

But don't think just because Jonathan Bush is a Bush, he's a shoo-in, even in Maine. There are four other Republicans already in that race, and there are two others that could be jumping in. And in a midterm election cycle that could be tough for Republicans, Maine in its quirky independent politics could easily go with the Democrat. Democrat Janet Mills is the current governor, but she is term limited.

For sure, even if Bush ends up winning that primary, he is no certainty to win in the general election. There you have it. I nearly needed a double platinum edition of this show to fit all this into the program. A big thanks to Senator John Cornyn and... former Congressman Colin Allred for joining me on the program. Y'all see how this is becoming a thing, right? I've had Governor Greg Abbott.

Both U.S. senators on this program, members of Congress, members of the legislature, all getting on this show. So if you're in politics somewhere out there and I give you a call, make sure you answer. You might be next on The Texas Take. As always, thanks to all y'all out there who have made this the number one political podcast in the great state. Also, please...

check out the Texas Tech newsletter. I put that out every weekday. It's chock full of Texas news, and it's free. One of my favorite words. Just Google it to sign up or check out my pinned post on my X page. You can sign up there as well. Finally, if you like the show, Hit subscribe. Give me a like. Give me a good review. Let people know that you like the program. And of course, tell your friends. The more we get on the show, the better it is to keep this thing going. Well, in honor of the...

great George Strait, let's wrap up the show with one of my favorite, super underappreciated tunes from him. And it seems pretty thematic given the Democrats being on the run. I'm talking about Run by George Strait. Thanks again for listening to the show and I'll see y'all soon. In a straight line, you can't get here fast enough. Add a truck and fire it up. Lean on the gas and off the clutch. Leave Dallas in the dust. I need... you in a rush so baby