Quorum Report Radio

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.  

Reporting from Deep East Texas this week: A Texas Senate race here is intriguing because it's the only such race in which Little Gov. Dan Patrick isn't overtly trying to hire a specific senator. We'll explain. Plus, bossman Harvey Kronberg checks in about how the primary and general election could completely change the math in the Texas House for Speaker Burrows, who's made the decision to govern by caucus instead of coalition. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.  

Reporting from San Antonio this week: Big John Cornyn says the future of the Republican Party itself is on the line in this primary season that now features a former Senator buying Jeffrey Epstein's ranch and Sid Miller's opponent turning a debate into a public confessional about alcoholism, porn addiction, and infidelity. Meantime a Congressman faces allegations of an affair with a woman who later committed suicide and the Democrats are at each other's throats after a pretty boring interview was deemed "too hot for TV." It would be hard to believe all that happened since our last show, but this is Texas. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.  

The hatred some Texas Republicans expressed for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime show reminds me of the racism and hatred some Texans expressed decades ago when a legendary rock station in Houston flipped formats to Latin Pop. Then, as now, they sound angry and bitter. More significantly, they sound like the past while Bad Bunny sounds like the future. We'll get into that. Plus, faith-based groups are sticking with Attorney General Ken Paxton even while his wife divorces him "on Biblical grounds." And: Houston Mayor John Whitmire ruffles feathers at Austin and Dallas City Halls as he slammed them during his State of the City Address. Reporting from Houston this week, our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in H-Town. 

Not even 48 hours after their historic win in Fort Worth, Texas Democrats were already at each other's throats in the US Senate primary with former Rep. Colin Allred all but calling Rep. James Talarico a racist and a pro-Talarico group slamming Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the first attack ads of the party's nominating contest. But are these the nastiest attacks ever seen in Texas? The boss, Harvey Kronberg, and Current Revolt founder Tony Ortiz join the discussion. Plus, we'll take you to South Texas where a Trump made the rounds trying to pump up Latino Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.

This week, why don't we all have a conversation about why we are now in a place where federal immigration enforcement includes the deadly shootings of American citizens? How did we get here? After the ICE shootings in Minneapolis and the detention of children and tear gassing of protesters in South Texas, I can't help but think about the way a Republican President's administration 20 years ago prosecuted Border Patrol agents for shooting an unarmed man on the Texas-Mexico border. The difference between then and now is truly unbelievable. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.  

Reporting from the campaign trail this week in Dallas-Fort Worth: As a potentially catastrophic winter storm bears down on Texas, Republicans and Democrats are going head to head in a special election in deep red Tarrant County that even Little Gov. Dan Patrick thinks the GOP could lose. As Patrick said, Democrats might pull off an upset victory because it's something Republicans were able to do in a special election in South Texas a few years ago. Plus: Where the hell is Wes Hunt? One of the things he's doing is running from reporters who want to know why he isn't showing up for work in DC. And, my conversation with legendary Texas defense attorney Dan Cogdell, who defended AG Paxton during the impeachment. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.  

Reporting this week from Houston: The Republican primary for Texas Attorney General includes talk of fighting the "dark forces of the left" and making state government the enforcer of biblical values. Reporter Jen Rice checks in about the governor's plan for the state to take over Houston elections. And we check on the Uvalde families seeking at least a small slice of justice following the massacre at Robb Elementary School. NBC News Correspondent Ryan Chandler joins us about that. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.  

The year begins with unrest around the world after US Military action in Venezuela and an ICE shooting in the Midwest that's reverberating on the campaign trail in the Great State with less than six weeks to go before early voting starts in one of the most consequential elections on Earth: The Texas primary. Plus, President Trump kind of admits what the whole redistricting war that started in Texas was really about. And no, I do not hate any of the candidates running even though some of y'all wish I did. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music is by Checkmayne in Houston.

It's a Christmas extravaganza this week as we close out the year with a debate about ketchup on tamales with Chad Hasty, check in with my mother about her favorite songs of the season, and a Christmas Miracle as Dan Patrick brings a voice of reason to the debate over property taxes. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.  

Democrats who were hoping they could avoid what's sure to be a nasty US Senate primary in Texas are about to find out if they've got the stomach for it. We'll take you to Rep. Jasmine Crockett's launch event in Dallas and you'll get some historical perspective on how combative candidates have fared in Texas. Plus the redistricting wars that started at the Capitol in Austin at the behest of President Trump may end up being a wash, which might mean Democrats won't get as much national help as they otherwise could have as they try to defend seats south of Interstate 10. Our producer is the famous Evan Sherer and the original music for the show is by Checkmayne in Houston.