Quorum Report Radio

Gov. Abbott was searching for any kind of message during an ABC News interview this week in which he was pressed about data centers, the price of gas, and whether he would give President Trump a letter grade on the economy. Hint: He didn't. And as Harvey has pointed out, President Trump and Speaker Johnson are campaigning in Texas where top GOP candidates including Abbott and Ken Paxton are flailing at the moment. HK also checks in about Paxton's data center plan while President Trump calls James Talarico "a little freaky." But first: Do we really believe Gov. Abbott has ever even heard some of the artists on his summer playlist like BigXthaPlug? Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston. 

With Texans furious about a THC ban, rising costs for everything, data centers, transmission lines, and Big Bend border wall construction of course Little Gov. Dan Patrick is spending his time railing about "filthy books" in school libraries. But it's not just a distraction. He's also trying to make it easier for the state to take over local school districts. Plus, Harvey and James get into the way data centers are reshaping the political landscape and Speaker Burrows is asked whether he understands why conservatives don't like the way he was elected with support from Democrats. We'll also travel to Far West Texas and check in with Travis Bubenik at Marfa Public Radio for the real scoop on what's happening in Big Bend. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston. 

In a 180 for the ages, Texas House Judiciary Chairman Jeff Leach is back to fully embracing his old political mentor, Ken Paxton, after previously helping lead the charge to impeach him back in 2023. The truth is they'll rise and sink together politically with Paxton now at the top of the Texas GOP's statewide ticket. Then Harvey weighs in on Sen. Cornyn's pushback to the Trump Administration, Susan Hays helps us try to make sense of Texas' new THC crackdown, and Jen Rice at Democracy Docket explains how a plan to slash the number of voting locations around Fort Worth quickly became a political hot potato. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

While a Fox News poll shows Democrats neck and neck with Republicans statewide, the Texas GOP is forgiving all their internal bad blood from top to bottom and starting a push to do almost anything rural voters want even if it's potentially bad for almost everyone else. In that spirit, we'll take you to an old school tent revival fused with a professional wrestling pay-per-view event. And in that vein, Republican leaders pull back on plans for electricity transmission followed by some advice for Uncle Paul Bettencourt about his Trump impersonation. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston. 

This week, either the Texas heat is making people do stupid things or the heat from voters is making candidates stake out positions on issues that have the potential to turn this state's politics upside down. Prime example: James Talarico wasn't saying anything on data centers. Now he sort of is while Gov. Greg Abbott celebrates the cancellation of a data center project. Why? Isn't he the one bragging about Texas being the "epicenter" of the industry? Meantime Harvey weighs in after Talarico was confronted at a town hall for Black voters. And: Paxton serves as the "hand grenade" who blew up the sports betting controversy at Texas Tech even worse than it already was. Jeff Ward will check in about that. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston. 

Houston was rocked this week by ICE agents gunning down a grandfather who's lived in the city for 35 years. Houston Chronicle Opinion Editor Evan Mintz joins the show with the latest on the investigation. Meantime, Little Gov. Dan Patrick says Black people won't vote for James Talarico, arguing the Democrat is “a 90-pound weakling” who “couldn’t lift a ten-pound weight in a gym if he helped it," whatever that means. But speaking of black outreach, Talarico's favorite rap song is Country Grammar by Nelly? Really? Yes, and he said this in H-Town. We'll be off next week, and the show will return on July 24th. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

In the 2026 campaign, it's the women in the Texas Democratic Party who are addressing the nitty-gritty, eye-level issues that voters of all stripes really seem angry about this year: School closures and data centers. And that merits a substantive discussion of the governor's race in which Gina Hinojosa is going right at Abbott on both. Plus: An election denier gets an elections job with Gov. Abbott and Texas House Democrats are coming under increased pressure to dump Speaker Dustin Burrows when he runs for reelection to hold the gavel next year. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston. 

Yes, Lt. Gov. Patrick got a lot of attention for saying James Talarico is "going to hell, for sure." But in understanding what may happen in this election, what's maybe more significant is that senior Texas Republicans including Patrick and Sen. John Cornyn are still feuding following some of the nastiest high-profile GOP primaries in this state's history. Plus, take a trip with us to South Texas as we look for the "Mexican tune" and try to figure out if the GOP can hold their recent gains there despite serious national headwinds. We'll also take you inside the Republican Party of Texas Convention in Houston with Tony Ortiz at currentrevolt.com - he and his team created a virtual simulation of the convention that you can play on your phone. Yes, really. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

Scott is at the Texas GOP Convention in Houston and Evan is on the beach. So, for the show this week we're featuring Harvey's conversation with Joe Trippi on his national podcast: On The Ground. Republicans feel entitled to keeping Texas. After all, they've been in power for nearly 30 years. But could Democrats flip the script? Harvey and Joe talked at length about the potential Dems have in the midterms. Our regular Quorum Report Radio show will return next week. 

Texas House Republicans and Democrats alike are getting really frustrated over the fact that they voted for billions in additional funding for public schools but the ISDs aren't getting what they were promised. Well, there was a shady process for passing that school funding bill last year and it deserves an explanation. Also: "Rural Texas is on fire" politically. That's the way one GOP legislator described backlash to data centers, failing farms, screwworm concerns, and more. And President Trump's Freedom 250 celebration may come down to just one musical act from Texas: Vanilla Ice. There's a problem and he'll try to solve it, apparently. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

Republicans are scrambling now to scrub their social media and deleting nasty comments about more than one of their GOP nominees in Texas: Bo French and Ken Paxton are at the top of the list, with the former being too extreme for Lt. Gov. Patrick and Gov. Abbott while the latter's been blasted by US Senate Republicans as a scandal-ridden albatross. Plus, Talarico hits back on all the nicknames, talks about his girlfriend, and starts to figure out how to recalibrate after the GOP highlighted his extremely liberal previous comments which Talarico now admits were "missing the mark" and even "cringey." Also, here's the link to donate to families affected after the tragic explosion this week in Dallas: https://www.missionoakcliff.org/donateOur producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston. 

One of Texas' top elected Republicans will have his career ended on Tuesday: Either John Cornyn or Ken Paxton. And election day can't come fast enough after President Trump may have dealt the political death blow to Texas senior senator, who's been nothing but a solid soldier for Trump. Loyalty up to Trump never equals loyalty back down, though, and Trump's endorsement of Ken Paxton serves as the latest lesson in that. The congressional runoffs around Texas are coming down to the wire and we'll check in on just about all of them. Plus: Answering your questions about that infamous taco order Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston. 

"Channeling his inner Trump": Even though his actual fight over property taxes is with Lt. Gov. Patrick, Gov Abbott's political operation is threatening lobbyists' livelihoods over that issue while Abbott himself is threatening local governments over immigration enforcement. Harvey has a lot to say about both. Plus, the Republican runoff for Attorney General is red hot while the US Senate race now includes accusations of AG Paxton taking it easy on a child molester in Waco. Oh, and Democratic nominee James Talarico boxed in Sen. John Cornyn on gas prices this week. Come for the coverage of all that. Stay for Scott's graduation in Houston. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

This week on the show: Even he can't believe it, but it's now been 30 years since Scott Braddock dropped out of high school to start a full time career in Texas media. He started as a small town disc jockey in Brenham and worked his way up to run the essential news outlet for Texas political professionals, the Quorum Report, alongside Publisher Harvey Kronberg. This past year he and Harvey launched the state's new #1 politics podcast: Quorum Report Radio. Scott is in Houston today celebrating with family and friends as he receives an honorary degree from Houston City College. So in the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy this conversation with Comms and Coffee host Hector Valle about Scott's three decades in print and on the air. Our regular show will return next week. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

On so many levels, the way Texans deal with grief was on full display this week. It was on the faces of the parents who testified about their daughters who were killed in Hill Country floods last year and it was in the outpouring of concern after the sudden death of radio host Chad Hasty. But our audience at Quorum Report really is a community that comes together during these times. I can't tell you how much it's appreciated. Meanwhile, Harvey has a warning about what the Texas budget might look like next session and Jen Rice at Democracy Docket joined the show to talk about what might happen in the immediate aftermath of a landmark ruling on redistricting. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

After voters in Virginia this week approved a new congressional map giving a big boost to Democrats, the Republican Party is now running behind in the redistricting arms race that started last summer at the Texas Capitol. We'll break it all down for you including some exclusive reporting on how some Texas Republicans in Congress were hoping state Democrats would block President Trump's "dumb" idea to redraw this state's maps. Plus: We'll go to Dallas County where Current Revolt's Tony Ortiz has been tracking the rise and fall of former County GOP Chairman Allen West. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

Some South Texas Latinos who have voted Republican in the last couple elections are throwing their MAGA hats in the trash after President Trump posted an AI-generated image clearly depicting himself as Jesus Christ while getting in a fight with the head of the Catholic Church over the war in Iran. Plus: The immigration fight playing out now in Houston is coming to cities across Texas as Gov. Abbott threatens to defund police departments that don't cooperate closely with ICE. Evan Mintz, Opinion Editor at the Houston Chronicle, checks in about that. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick raised eyebrows this week by going further than any other elected Republican has this year in describing the challenge faced by his party in the general election. Patrick even went so far as to say the Texas House majority is possibly in play. And yes he took a shot at yours truly as well. Plus, we'll head out to Far West Texas with Forrest Wilder, senior writer at Texas Monthly, so that he can fill us in on the latest in the fight over a proposed border wall through the Big Bend region. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.

We're not even really getting into the heat of the runoff elections yet and Gov. Abbott already seems to be slamming the door shut on any effort to expand gambling in Texas next session. The news comes right as Mark Cuban announces he regrets selling the Dallas Mavericks to the owners of Las Vegas Sands. Meantime, Texas House Democrats gathered for their retreat in Houston where there was an emotional send-off for a veteran of the caucus, Rep. Chris Turner. In North Texas, Republicans gathered for CPAC were warned about a "Talarico Takeover of Texas." Plus: A tribute to Texas Capitol veteran Ray Sullivan, who we lost to lung cancer this week. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston. 

Should there be a "Top AI Slop" award for campaigns in Texas? It sure seems like it. We'll get into that plus Tony Ortiz at Current Revolt checks in from CPAC in DFW. And yes, we'll address what Rep. James Talarico said about meat. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.

Crashing out: There are new calls for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo to resign after she claims she was "manhandled" by Houston Rodeo staff. That's not likely to happen but some sharp Quorum Report readers were quick to point out that officeholders crashing out at rodeos is now a bipartisan tradition in Texas. You know what else is bipartisan? The growing pushback to the rapidly expanding data center industry in Texas and around the nation. Let's get into it. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.

Now that he's the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Texas, national Republicans – and the ones around here – are wastin' no time working to define him as a "far left" Austin liberal. He’s trying to get ahead of that but Republicans are using Talarico’s own words to prove it. Meantime, Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton spent most of their week wondering if President Trump is about to shut down their GOP runoff by endorsing one of them and demanding the other quit the race. Plus, Tony Ortiz at Current Revolt stops by to talk about the confession by Congressman Tony Gonzales that he did in fact have an inappropriate relationship with his staffer who later committed suicide. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.