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An article posted by the Texas Tribune this morning alleges that a recent reorganization of office structure and locations at the Texas Democratic Party, including the relocation of its headquarters from Austin to Dallas, has led to staff shakeups that may undermine the party's efforts related to the 2026 midterm elections. Noting that all of those quoted in the story were done so in anonymity, we've invited Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder to give us an update from his perspective, and we also extend an invitation to those unnamed sources to speak with us, on the record.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Donald Trump and MAGA have rushed to blame the latest incident of gun violence in Dallas, in which three ICE detainees were shot and one has died...on the left? https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/24/dallas-ICE-shooting-fatalities/?_bhlid=0df430cf0996f8c2bbdc882fc4c66808a4e09676
...The shooter, who appears to have been much more interested in marijuana and video games than politics, doesn't fit the profile of either a left- or right-wing activist: https://time.com/7320384/ice-shooting-joshua-jahn-sniper-dallas/
Thousands and thousands of Texas voter registrations remain unprocessed, just days from the October 6 deadline, due to a statewide software glitch: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/25/texas-voter-registration-system-TEAM-county-election-officials/
The Texas Republican Party has invited ten of its own elected State Representatives to defend themselves against charges that they have fallen short of the MAGA agenda, ahead of a vote that could remove them from the ballot next year: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-gop-censure-dustin-burrows-21063724.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! 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:
Nexstar Media Group joined the Sinclair Broadcast Group in blacking out the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live to ABC last night, denying the show to viewers in both the Lubbock and Midland areas - we encourage you to voice your concerns with the companies that advertise on those stations: https://www.nexstar.tv/stations/
...Nexstar and Sinclair control about a quarter of the ABC affiliates across the country - thus, viewers in major cities including Washington D.C., Seattle, St. Louis, Portland Oregon, New Orleans and others were blacked out as well: https://www.axios.com/2025/09/23/jimmy-kimmel-return-sinclair-nexstar-abc
Jimmy Kimmel's full opening monologue from last night: https://youtu.be/aTZjo42xRH4?si=Td_SK0mWhbHjZn1j
Lawyers for the state of Texas, looking to undermine the arguments of opponents of the new Trump-ordered congressional map that it was done on a basis of race (as the Trump DOJ has asserted), are now saying that motive was "a mistake" - but that they want to keep the new map anyway: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/texas-officially-walks-back-justification-for-redistricting-throws-doj-under-bus/
The ACLU has sued 14 Texas school districts over the new Ten Commandments law: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-families-sue-over-ten-commandments-classroom-law/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! 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:
Jimmy Kimmel returns to the airwaves tonight, but the Sinclair Broadcast Group says they still won't run his show: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/22/entertainment/jimmy-kimmel-returning
...Find your town's Sinclair station here: https://sbgi.net/tv-stations/
Even within Republican circles, the attacks on free speech to avenge Charlie Kirk are becoming too ironic to swallow: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/charlie-kirk-free-speech-gop-21053192.php
...Similarly, Texas Christian leaders are getting fed up with stories of adultery coming from Ken Paxton's marriage: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-gop-primary-divorce-21049167.php
More and more data shows that the Trump-ordered redistricting of Texas may have been designed around faulty assumptions about Latino loyalty to the GOP: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cnn-harry-enten-trump-texas-republicans-redistricting-latinos_n_68cc06a5e4b0aa8d99fe7dca
...Analyst Steven Weintraub is seeing similar signs in the tea leaves: https://stevenweintraub.substack.com/p/did-democrats-actually-win-redistricting?utm_medium=email
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
A troubling number of U.S. House Democrats - including Reps Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez - voted Friday to honor Charlie Kirk, a notorious promoter of racist views: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/119-2025/h282
The same weekend as a large memorial event for Kirk in Arizona, Texas Republicans attended the Texas Youth Summit in The Woodlands, where they attempted to further radicalize Kirk's grieving fans: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/09/20/531467/republican-representatives-call-youth-to-action-at-charlie-kirk-tribute-in-the-woodlands/
...Resistance is building against the push by Governor Greg Abbott and others to silence Texas college students who choose not to lionize Kirk: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/22/texas-free-speech-college-campus-charlie-kirk-greg-abbott/?_bhlid=4a9636c9afe8b0572ffda1819115a6e7d1f10ae7
...Senator Ted Cruz, in a rare moment of clarity, says FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's threats against ABC resemble those of a mob boss - of course, he's mainly worried about future censorship of the right: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/09/19/ted-cruz-says-fcc-chair-sounded-like-a-mafia-boss-in-threats-against-abc-over-jimmy-kimmel/
Perhaps surprisingly, a conversation between Joe Rogan and Matthew McConaughey finds Rogan opposing the posting of the Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms, and McConaughey supporting the new law: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/politics/article/joe-rogan-matthew-mcconaughey-21052729.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The staff needs a weekend bad after a week that has seen Jimmy Kimmel shown the door and massive attacks on free speech on college campuses and elsewhere as MAGA exploits the Charlie Kirk assassination to its fullest advantage. Progressive America awaits what's next from Trump, as action against "Antifa" appears primed to be an excuse to target anyone they choose. Freaky times indeed - and we're glad you're here with us in opposition.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Donald Trump has declared war on "Antifa", which isn't an actual organization - so what does his declaration actually mean? https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-targets-antifa-movement-terrorist-organization-2025-09-18/
The push by the press to unseal the Ken Paxton divorce records has grown to include a broad array of news media outlets: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/angela-ken-paxton-divorce-seal-21053528.php
As the school year hits its stride, growing numbers of Texas parents are finally clueing in that Bluebonnet Learning may be teaching their kids Bible lessons - some of questionable theological legitimacy: https://youtu.be/aky6oCEV9sk?si=XGIgibSy_JKPypOp
The Texas GOP's idea to close their primary is a bad move for democracy and a bad look for Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/09/18/texas-gops-closed-primary-plan-is-bad-for-our-state/
An unusually high degree of turnover is expected to result from the 2026 election - which, regardless of party control, represents a drain of institutional power for the Lone Star State: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/texas-congressional-delegation-midst-shakeup-21053185.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! 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 suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's show by ABC for criticizing MAGA for politically exploiting the murder of Charlie Kirk proves Kimmel's own point: https://www.vox.com/politics/461887/jimmy-kimmel-suspension-air-abc-charlie-kirk-nexstar
...That same outrage machine is ramping up a targeting of transgender Americans - Amarillo Congressman Ronny Jackson believes they should all be rounded up: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ronny-jackson-newsmax-trans-people-b2828571.html
...All while Governor Abbott, who oversees an economy equivalent to the 8th largest in the world, has the time to target a Seguin teacher for calling Kirk's death "karma" - further proving Kimmel's point: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-teacher-charlie-kirk-21053442.php
Tejano star Bobby Pulido, as expected, has announced a run for Congress in CD-15, challenging Republican Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/17/bobby-pulido-launches-texas-congress-campaign/
Houston families are cowering in fear as ICE raids ramp up in Texas' largest and most diverse city - as public support for immigration has grown significantly: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/houston-ice-raid-police-fear-immigrants-hpd-scotus-21042697.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! 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:
Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit against Beto O'Rourke and Powered By People, accusing them of bribery and other campaign finance violations, appears to be near defeat in court: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/17/ken-paxton-beto-orourke-texas-democrats-quorum-break-15th-court/?_bhlid=a0e58d7d33f7fdf5a4ed837802f072ff1560ec84
Andrew White, son of former Democratic Texas Governor Mark White, is considering a second crack at the job: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/abbott-white-governor-race-21051521.php
Houston residents have been being buzzed by low-flying military helicopters this week in a joint exercise between the Houston Police Department and the Trump-rebranded "Department Of War": https://www.chron.com/news/article/military-helicopters-houston-21050797.php
A second Black Texas college student has been expelled from school for expressing a lack of support for Charlie Kirk on campus: https://www.kvue.com/video/news/state/texas-state-university-student-expelled-mocking-charlie-kirk-death/269-ff2b7021-ccd8-4518-823a-e377dae048ce
...The American Freedmen Legal Fund notes that, just as the UT Austin crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators last year did, this wave of Abbott-spurred college expulsions violates the governor's own Executive Order GA-42, which protects unpopular expression on Texas college campuses: https://x.com/realAFLF/status/1968089395074044401/photo/1
An important factor to consider for upcoming elections: Texas has been found, for the second year in a row, to be the second-most-diverse state in the country: https://wallethub.com/edu/most-least-diverse-states-in-america/38262
...While the new Trump-ordered congressional map appears to rely on low Latino turnout: https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2025/09/17/texas-gop-may-be-banking-on-low-hispanic-turnout-in-new-map/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Great fun to gather with a big crowd of friends, both old and new, at Hopsquad Brewing Company in North Austin, within eyeshot of Austin FC's home stadium, for a conversation with goalkeeper and celebrated progressive activist Brad Stuver! Thanks to Landon Cotham of the Moontower Soccer podcast for co-hosting.
Learn more about the Brad And Ashley Stuver Foundation at https://www.bastuverfoundation.org/.
Learn more about Moontower Soccer at https://www.moontowersoccer.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
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