> Rural voters may not stop the spread of data centers, but they could stop Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
> The Republican is bleeding support from small towns as he seeks a fourth term because of two late-emerging issues: power-hungry tech campuses and a planned $33 billion electric transmission build-out.
> A federal agent facing assault charges in Minnesota has been jailed in Texas since May. Gov. Greg Abbott has not granted an extradition request.
> Minnesota leaders on Tuesday sued Gov. Greg Abbott to force the extradition of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer** **who is accused of injuring a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis earlier this year and lying about the circumstance leading up to the shooting.
> An investigation into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's six-year crackdown on noncitizen voting found that he produced just one charge from a referral list of 53 suspects.
> Through a public records request, NBC News
obtained 53 names referred to Paxton's office for investigation — and only one, Ada Otuka, was formally charged with noncitizen voting. The NBC News report was published on Monday.
> Over the weekend, a clip posted on X by independent political journalist Aaron Rupar shows a young man asking Paxton to share his thoughts on Texas’ controversial ban on hemp products that contain THC, the compound in cannabis that gets people high.
> “Um, I don’t know the details of it, but let’s talk about it later,” Paxton responds before scurrying away from the unidentified man.
> The data center industry has donated thousands to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign as Hood County waits for a ruling from his office on a its authority to impose a moratorium.
> Paxton’s political operation received at least $448,000 as of June from executives and political committees of data center companies, according to reporting from the Washington-based digital news outlet NOTUS, which covers government and politics.
> The Jaffe family has appeared in two batches of the Epstein materials, which were released by the Department of Justice, according to MS NOW. Those documents revealed the family had appeared once for reportedly trying to purchase Epstein's notorious private plane, and "once for reportedly associating — according to an anonymous tipster — with scantily clad young women."
> The fair banned firearms in 2024 after a shooting at Fair Park. Paxton’s lawsuit has faced multiple setbacks, the latest from a court appointed entirely by Gov. Greg Abbott.
> Like his U.S. Senate rival, Ken Paxton, the Austin state lawmaker introduced a plan to address what he called an “affordability crisis.” But they differed on who is to blame for rising costs.
Direct quote from the DMN today:
>“If we lose Texas, I have no doubt that the U.S. Senate turns to the Democrats,” Paxton said at the event before calling Talarico a “deceiver” who is trying to hide his record. “We need rural counties to deliver and not be apathetic, because we can lose Texas.”
Republicans should have stuck with Cornyn IMO. I dislike his politics, but at least he isn't an obvious crook.
Paxton has just barely enough plausible deniability that his buddies could acquit his impeachment. His wife left him citing "Biblical reasons." This is really the guy? Yuck.
If Texas Republicans lose this seat, they only have themselves to blame.
> While the state's new required reading list won't take effect until 2030, Texas has finalized the books, poems, speeches and biblical passages students will eventually be required to study.
> The Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education approved the list in June. The required reading list establishes the minimum literary works students must study from kindergarten through high school. Teachers and school districts will still be able to assign additional books and texts beyond those required by the state.
> Members of the hemp industry are suing Texas, claiming that the ban on hemp-derived THC products imposes an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.
> Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico called the new state ban on many types of THC products, which went into effect Friday, “a gift to the cartels.” His Republican opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, has previously sued Texas cities for decriminalizing marijuana.