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All across Texas this weekend - Friday March 20 thru Sunday March 21 - county-level conventions are being held by the Texas Democratic Party. It's a terrific (and free!) way to dive into progressive politics, and an especially fun way as a bright blue wave appears to be building across the Lone Star State. Joining us to talk about their individual events and all the reasons that YOU should attend YOUR county event are Mary Higbe, Vice Chair of the Collin County Democratic Party, and Jeff Hilton, Executive Director of the Harris County Democratic Convention - Progress Texas will be tabling, recording for our podcast, and slingin' awesome PT merch at BOTH the Harris and Collin events on Saturday March 21.
Learn more about the Collin County Democratic Convention at https://www.mobilize.us/collindemocrats/event/893043/.
Learn more about the Harris County Democratic Convention at https://www.harrisdemconvention.com/.
Thanks for listening and we hope to see you this weekend! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
5pm today is the deadline for primary runoff candidates to remove their names from the May ballot, establishing a deadline of for either John Cornyn or Ken Paxton to drop on on the orders of Donald Trump: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/trump-endorsement-texas-senate-runoff-22079256.php
...Cornyn attempted to soothe the irritation of Austin TSA workers yesterday with cold hamburgers: https://www.chron.com/news/article/tsa-cornyn-casar-austin-22079843.php
The water crisis in Corpus Christi appears worse than initially reported - actual shortages are weeks away, and total depletion is possible as soon as next year: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17032026/corpus-christi-water-shortage/
This weekend sees county-level Democratic Party conventions across the state - "the most important political event you're ignoring": https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/the-most-important-political-event
...Find your county convention, RSVP and submit resolution ideas here: https://texasdemocraticconvention.com/
Progress Texas is the official media partner of the Harris County Democratic Convention this weekend! Come see us on Saturday to say hi, grab some merch, and take part in our day-long podcast recording session: https://www.harrisdemconvention.com/
Progress Texas is expanding into both broadcast radio - including a new partnership with KPFT-FM in Houston - and into Spanish language media! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE, and to our Spanish expansion HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The trial of nine "Antifa" defendants in a federal trial held in Fort Worth were largely found guilty of charges against them on Friday, except for a charge of attempted murder, of which only one was convicted: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/us/antifa-protesters-terrorism.html
A marathon debate session is set in the U.S. Senate for discussion and an eventual floor vote on the SAVE America Act - legislation that Donald Trump has characterized as the Republicans' only hope to hold the House next year: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5783688-senate-floor-takeover-save-america-act/
...Former Senator Joe Manchin blasts Texas Senator John Cornyn for flip-flopping on the filibuster in order to pass it: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5780991-manchin-criticizes-cornyn-filibuster-change/
An Afghan man living in Richardson who worked on behalf of the U.S. military in Afghanisatn for years has died - less than 24 hours after being arrested by ICE: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/06/texas-afghan-refugees-visa-asylum/
...Texas CAIR and others are calling for an independent and transparent investigation: https://8am.media/eng/cair-texas-demands-investigation-into-nazeer-paktiawals-death/
The Trump administration is clogging the federal court system with flimsy cases against migrants for trespassing on military property: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/16/immigration-military-trespassing-texas/
The NPR Politics Podcast took a deep dive on the Texas primary and its huge Democratic turnout numbers on Friday: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1mcvwcI5oZ6XJ6VDTezEvd?si=7b5168420ea24ac2
California Governor Gavin Newsom gave a talk at SXSW in Austin yesterday, during which he discussed a possible presidential run in 2028: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/gavin-newsom-hints-at-presidential-run-at-sxsw/
"Mr. Nobody Against Putin", a documentary using Russia as an example of authoritarian takeover, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary at last night's Oscars: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/mar/16/mr-nobody-against-putin-wins-the-best-documentary-oscar
Progress Texas is the official media partner of the Harris County Democratic Convention this weekend! Come see us on Saturday to say hi, grab some merch, and take part in our day-long podcast recording session: https://www.harrisdemconvention.com/
Progress Texas is expanding into both broadcast radio - including a new partnership with KPFT-FM in Houston - and into Spanish language media! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE, and to our Spanish expansion HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Texas is an anti-worker state, and working Texans are tired of being trampled by billionaire-bought politicians and interests. You can see it in support of a more affordable Texas: public education that sets our children up for success, quality jobs that pay a living wage, environmental protections that shield us all from pollution, and justice for our citizen and immigrant neighbors under attack.
It’s clear that tides are changing, and with it, union membership is at the highest it’s been in 25 years, with major growth in the South, plus major victories from union leaders like Taylor Rehmet, who will deliver on people-first policies fighting for Texas workers. We can’t think of a better leader to talk about labor than the new president of the Texas AFL-CIO, Leonard Aguilar.
Learn more about the Texas AFL/CIO at https://texasaflcio.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
A theme has emerged this week: as the Dallas County Democratic Party throws in the towel on a lawsuit over denied voting access on primary Election Night, judging the Republican-dominated Texas Supreme Court a hostile venue for that complaint - while our senior Senator John Cornyn reverses himself on the filibuster out of pressure from Donald Trump and Ken Paxton to pass the SAVE America Act, which will allow the GOP to disenfranchise untold millions of American voters - the very foundation of our democracy is now under slow, steady, determined attack.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Tribune collects a lineup of Talarico-isms currently being distorted and twisted by Republicans, who clearly see their reign over Texas under dire threat by the Democratic nominee for Senate: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/12/james-talarico-texas-senate-republicans-attacks-god-is-nonbinary/
...They've also conjured a super-creepy and uncanny Talarico doppelganger via AI to deliver these supposedly-controversial lines: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ai-ads-texas-21957736.php
Senator John Cornyn, who has reversed himself on the Senate filibuster in an attempt to deliver the SAVE America Act to Donald Trump, is seen in a video failing to understand what it will do if passed: https://newrepublic.com/post/207707/republican-senator-cornyn-learns-save-act-bad
Progress Texas is expanding into both broadcast radio - including a new partnership with KPFT-FM in Houston - and into Spanish language media! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE, and to our Spanish expansion HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Among the midterm races that in cycles of yore might have seemed without hope for Democrats - but considering the massive outpouring of primary interest this year, suddenly seem possible - is Texas House District 112 in the northeast Dallas area, where widespread dissatisfaction with longtime Republican incumbent Angie Chen Button couples with that Democratic momentum to give nominee Zach Herbert a fair shot. Zach is an attorney, an entrepreneur, a veteran and a community leader - we enjoyed meeting him for this podcast.
Learn more about Zach Herbert and his run for the Texas House at https://zach4texas.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Under pressure from both Donald Trump and Ken Paxton - after years of defending the filibuster in the U.S. Senate - Senator John Cornyn, desperate for Trump's endorsement, has changed his position on a primary safeguard for the minority party in that body: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/11/john-cornyn-filibuster-save-america-act-texas-senate-runoff-voter-id/
...For now, the actual end of the filibuster seems unlikely - but Donald Trump is frantic and determined: https://www.axios.com/2026/03/11/save-act-talking-filibuster-senate-thune-republicans
Governor Greg Abbott is threatening a state takeover of Corpus Christi's water system as they plunge into a deep supply crisis - though it's unclear what the state would be able to do about it: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-corpus-christi-water-crisis-22070712.php
...Meanwhile, a huge chunk of Texas between San Antonio and south Austin is under a similar threat as the Edwards Aquifer nears its most severe warning level ever: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/edwards-aquifer-nears-emergency-drought-conditions/
A group of reporters at the New York Times analyzes the video of the ICE-involved shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez in South Padre Island - and reveals the name of the agent who pulled the trigger: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/us/texas-ice-shooting-south-padre-video.html
Progress Texas is expanding into both broadcast radio - including a new partnership with KPFT-FM in Houston - and into Spanish language media! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE, and to our Spanish expansion HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New polling from Texas Public Opinion Research shows Senator John Cornyn eight points behind Ken Paxton in the Republican primary runoff in May - a deficit too wide to be overcome by a Trump endorsement. Cornyn now faces a choice: eliminate Paxton from the race by helping kill the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act in the Senate, or head into a runoff he's likely to lose: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-senate-runoff-cornyn-paxton-trump
Trump's war on Iran is spiking profits for Texas oil companies and investors - while also spiking gas prices for the rest of us: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/11/texas-oil-iran-war-gas-prices/
Recent Texas GOP smears against our Muslim neighbors makes more sense in the context of a new war in the Middle East - they've already begun discriminating against Muslim schools in our new private school voucher scam: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/03/11/texas-vouchers-islamic-schools/
The "Antifa" trial in Fort Worth continues, featuring Trump federal prosecutors mining the defendants' personal lives for evidence of "material support of terrorism" - by criminalizing First Amendment-protected expression and association: https://slate.com/podcasts/what-next/2026/03/antifas-reality-is-on-trial-in-texas
The nearly 2,000 primary Election Night votes in Dallas County sidelined by Ken Paxton and the Republican Texas Supreme Court continue to be counted, while their eventual legal validity remains uncertain: https://www.keranews.org/news/2026-03-10/votes-cast-after-judge-ordered-polls-to-stay-open-checked-by-dallas-county-ballot-auditors
Progress Texas is expanding into both broadcast radio - including a new partnership with KPFT-FM in Houston - and into Spanish language media! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE, and to our Spanish expansion HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Gámez-Cuéllar family, including their two sons who are members of the acclaimed McAllen High School mariachi troupe, were released by ICE yesterday after a significant public outcry: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/09/texas-antonio-gamez-cuellar-monica-de-la-cruz-ice/
Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar was one of four Congressional Democrats to vote against a blocking of Donald Trump's Iran war funding last week - that resolution would have passed with the party solidarity of those four: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/south-texas-democrat-henry-cuellar-helps-kill-resolution-to-end-u-s-involvement-in-iran/
Donald Trump, irked at media anticipation of his endorsement of John Cornyn and goaded by Ken Paxton's pledge to step down should the Senate pass the SAVE America Act, is now again withholding this endorsement as a bargaining tool for a legal tool he could use to neutralize millions of American voters ahead of the midterm election: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/09/trump-is-delaying-texas-senate-endorsement-to-pressure-gop-senators-on-save-america-act-00819991
An official search of the former Zorro Ranch - formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein but never searched despite his crimes, and now owned by Texas Republican Comptroller candidate Don Huffines - has begun in New Mexico: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/epstein/new-mexico-department-of-justice-begins-search-of-epsteins-zorro-ranch/article_697b6470-861c-4c33-b8e4-1d0c308c006f.html
While Democrats and progressives have celebrated record turnout in the primary, their polar opposites in the House Freedom Caucus appear poised to add a new group of extremist right-wingers to the Texas delegation: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/10/steve-toth-brandon-herrera-house-freedom-caucus-texas-republican-primaries-2026/
...One of them is Brandon "The AK Guy" Herrera, who once demonstrated on his YouTube channel the rifle used to kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by shooting at a target resembling Dr. King: https://meidasnews.com/news/texas-gop-candidate-recreated-mlk-assassination-reviewed-shooters-rifle
Progress Texas is expanding into both broadcast radio - including a new partnership with KPFT-FM in Houston - and into Spanish language media! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE, and to our Spanish expansion HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
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