Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Governor Abbott remains defiant in the face of criticism over his abandoning Texas during Hurricane Beryl: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/greg-abbott-asia-hurricane-beryl/

...Abbott's attacks notwithstanding, Centerpoint Energy has donated heavily to Republicans for years - thus the lack of regulation, likely leading to Houston's vulnerability: https://www.kxan.com/news/centerpoint-has-contributed-at-least-1-4m-to-texas-lawmakers-since-2022/

...Beryl's death toll in Southeast Texas has risen to 18: https://abc13.com/post/hurricane-beryl-death-toll-hyperthermia-heat-illness-power-outages/15063218/

...And an already challenging hunger crisis in Houston has gotten a lot worse: https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/hunger-was-already-bad-enough-then-beryl-hit/

Ted Cruz returned to a Republican National Convention stage for the first time since 2016 last night - this time, not defiant to Trump, but groveling: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/ted-cruz-trump-republican-national-convention/

...RNC calls for "unity" and attempting to disavow political violence ring hollow, as several of their speakers, including Cruz, are known for stoking the violent tendencies of their audiences: https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/republican-convention-features-speakers-who-have-called-and-downplayed-political

Trump VP pick J.D. Vance once clerked for Senator John Cornyn: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/jd-vance-john-cornyn-texas-vice-president/

...And has publicly supported Texas' abortion ban: https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vance-defends-texas-abortion-ban-calls-rape-inconvenient

...Leading to fears that his presence on the ticket makes a national abortion ban more likely should Trump win: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/jd-vance-abortion-rights-groups

A new ranking of U.S. states by quality of life finds Texas the worst in the country, largely due to the by-products of Republican rule: https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/texas-worst-quality-of-life-in-america-ranking-19576834.php

See Progress Texas' new analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

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