Lubbock, Texas

President Trump traveled to Corpus Christi and Lubbock, Texas, to boost Ken Paxton's Senate bid against Democrat James Talarico, part of a final midterm push through traditionally Republican states. Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide in 32 years, but Talarico has gained traction amid Paxton's legal troubles. Elon Musk has poured significant money into stopping Talarico, a point Democrats are using to highlight wealthy influence in politics, echoing a parallel fight in the governor's race between Greg Abbott and Gina Hinojosa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined the trip, fueling speculation about his 2028 ambitions, while Vance and Trump also focus on tight races in Michigan and Alaska.

Texas faces mounting pressure to fund long-term water infrastructure as the 2026 governor's race introduces competing fiscal priorities. State Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican who chairs the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, is urging officials to prioritize decades-long water planning, invoking the legacy of former Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, who helped establish Texas' 50-year statewide water planning process in 1997.

Perry warns that short-term political proposals could undermine funding for future water projects. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa has proposed using $17 billion from the state surplus for $1,500 household rebate checks, while Gov. Greg Abbott has backed measures requiring supermajority voter approval for local property tax increases and eliminating school property taxes in favor of state funding — both of which could limit local governments' ability to finance water bonds.

A Texas 2036 poll found 79% of Texans consider water investment extremely or very important. Perry previously secured $1 billion annually for 20 years in state water funding, though Texas' draft 2027 water plan outlines $174 billion in needed investments through 2050.

A Texas House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight hearing at the Capitol turned tense Wednesday as lawmakers scrutinized Travis County District Attorney José Garza over accusations his office is "soft on crime." Witnesses, including the Central Texas Public Safety Commission's president, cited repeated releases of violent offenders. State Rep. Mitch Little said the legislature should investigate and impeach Garza, and later moved toward subpoenaing him to testify. Garza did not appear, but his office submitted written testimony, delivered by assistant DA Stephanie Gharakhanian, defending case dismissals as following the law and citing recent murder convictions and falling crime rates. Lawmakers, including Richard Peña Raymond, pressed for more transparency on dismissed cases.

The hearing also surfaced a broader legal question: whether the Texas House has constitutional authority to impeach a local district attorney, an idea Gov. Greg Abbott has championed against what he calls "rouge DAs," separate from existing civil removal procedures requiring a jury trial.

The 2026 race for Texas Agriculture Commissioner features Republican Nate Sheets against Democrat Clayton Tucker, along with Libertarian candidate Kelly. Incumbent Sid Miller lost his primary bid to Sheets, a businessman and co-founder of Nature Nate's Honey who is backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and other prominent Texas Republicans. Sheets identifies with the MAHA movement and has focused his platform on clean food production, curbing tax breaks for data centers, rural economic development and stricter employment verification requirements.

Tucker, a rancher and Texas Farmers Union secretary with a background in trade justice advocacy, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Her platform emphasizes protecting family farms from data center expansion, lowering food costs, regulating chemicals like PFAS, and expanding hemp farming and agricultural co-ops. Libertarian candidate Kelly, an ecology consultant and lecturer, calls for cutting regulations, auditing the agriculture department and protecting property rights. The office oversees agribusiness regulation, rural economic development and disaster relief for the state's roughly 230,000 farms.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has released an affordability platform ahead of his reelection bid, centered on a pledge to cut property taxes by more than half. His plan would require two-thirds voter approval for tax increases, let voters roll back taxes, cap annual appraisal growth at 3%, and eventually eliminate school property taxes for homeowners by having the state fully fund public education instead. Abbott unveiled the plan during a campaign stop in Lubbock, framing affordability as the top issue for Texas voters as recent polling shows the governor's race narrowing against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa.

Abbott also touted efforts to lower health care, higher education, and insurance costs, along with new rules restricting data centers from drawing on local water supplies or the state power grid and from being built in neighborhoods or rural areas. The Texas Democratic Party criticized Abbott as hypocritical, noting his administration had previously offered data centers major tax incentives while now claiming credit for regulating them.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder says the party has erased its debt and built a $30 million coordinated campaign since he took over in March 2025, up from a $2 million effort under his predecessor. He credits a restructuring that moved staff out of Austin and into Dallas, Houston, Eagle Pass, and Amarillo, along with recruiting more than 1,000 precinct chairs, as key to preparing for competitive races ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2030 redistricting cycle.

Scudder also addressed the contested Senate primary won by State Representative James Talarico over U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett, arguing Talarico now has a party infrastructure Beto O'Rourke lacked in his narrow 2018 loss. On data centers, he accused Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton of feigning opposition while Abbott's administration has committed roughly $1 billion in taxpayer incentives to the industry, calling their posture insincere and warning it could hurt Republican turnout in rural Texas, where the issue has become politically sensitive.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino in federal court, seeking to force Abbott to sign extradition paperwork for ICE agent Christian Castro. This follows a judge's earlier denial of Minnesota's request for a restraining order to keep Castro jailed in Texas amid the extradition dispute. Castro faces four felony counts of second-degree assault and a misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime after a January shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge, with surveillance video contradicting his account. Minnesota's suit argues the nearly three-month delay is unlawful and unusual, noting past extraditions between the states were typically resolved within about 30 days, and cites a 1987 Supreme Court ruling requiring states to honor extradition requests. Abbott, facing reelection, has not commented on the pending matter. Texas law caps fugitive detention at 90 days, making Castro eligible for release around August 26. The Justice Department is reportedly weighing separate federal charges.