Garrett Fulce sits down with Peyton Hornberger of the Alliance for Secure AI for a genuinely spirited debate on how (or whether) government should regulate artificial intelligence.

Garrett and Peyton go back and forth on AI policy, data centers, age verification, and what it means that AI agents from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta have all recently "escaped" test environments and hacked into other companies. Then Garrett dives into the Paxton-Talarico Senate race and what shifting prediction markets actually tell us, two major Second Amendment rulings out of Texas courts, and a new legal fight over the state's Ten Commandments classroom law.

**Topics discussed:**
- Inside the Alliance for Secure AI's mission and policy priorities
- Lessons from the "Wild West" of Internet 1.0 and 2.0 applied to AI
- Age verification laws, app stores, and the fight over online anonymity
- Whether AI is becoming a partisan wedge issue heading into 2026
- Data centers, the power grid, and fears the issue becomes "climate change 2.0"
- AI agents going rogue: the OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta cybersecurity incidents
- Betting markets (Kalshi, Polymarket) show a dead-even Paxton vs. Talarico race
- A federal judge guts National Firearms Act registration for suppressors
- Ken Paxton's latest courtroom loss over the State Fair of Texas gun ban
- A new legal challenge to Texas' Ten Commandments classroom law

**Guest:** Peyton Hornberger, Alliance for Secure AI (secureainow.org) — find her on X/Twitter at @peytonhb_

**Sources:**
- *The Texas Tribune* — By Gabby Birenbaum — July 28, 2026 — [Talarico leads Paxton by 5 points in new Texas Senate poll](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/28/texas-senate-poll-james-talarico-ken-paxton-july-2026/)
- *Houston Public Media* — By Andrew Schneider — August 4, 2026 — [Another poll shows James Talarico leading Ken Paxton in their race for the U.S. Senate](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/election-2026/2026/08/04/558614/talarico-paxton-poll-senate-texas-southern-university-black-voters/)
- *Fox 7 Austin* — August 7, 2026 — [New Texas polls show a tight Senate race between Talarico and Paxton](https://www.fox7austin.com/news/talarico-paxton-senate-race-polling-august)
- *Associated Press (via Washington Post)* — August 5, 2026 — [Texas judge rules that law regulating firearm suppressors and some guns can't be enforced](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2026/08/05/gun-law-firearms-rifle-silencer-texas-judge/61fecd62-9127-11f1-9fdc-0a725c989a7b_story.html)
- *The Texas Tribune* — By Alex Nguyen — August 6, 2026 — [Appeals court rejects Attorney General Ken Paxton's effort to overturn Texas State Fair gun ban](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/06/texas-state-fair-dallas-gun-ban-paxton-appeals-court-ruling/)
- *Click2Houston/KPRC* — By Christian Hudspeth — August 7, 2026 — [Houston moms lose first round in fight over Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms](https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/08/07/ten-commandments-classroom-mandate-lawsuit-heads-to-injunction-hearing-after-judge-denies-emergency-order/)
- *CNN Business* — July 22, 2026 — [An OpenAI test model escaped and broke into a real company's servers](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/22/tech/openai-hugging-face-ai-cybersecurity)
- *Axios* — July 30, 2026 — [Anthropic says three Claude models reached real-world systems during cyber tests](https://www.axios.com/2026/07/30/anthropic-mythos-security-testing)
- *CNN Business* — August 5, 2026 — [An AI model from Meta also hacked another company during testing](https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/05/tech/meta-ai-hacking)

Chapters
0:00 Cold Open: This Week's Rundown
0:48 Guest: Peyton Hornberger Joins
2:44 AI vs. The Internet 1.0 Playbook
11:30 Age Verification & App Stores
14:27 How Peyton Actually Uses AI
17:29 Is AI Becoming a Voting Issue?
26:44 Data Centers: The Left's Next Cause?
32:40 AI Agents Going Rogue
37:47 Senate Race Betting Markets Flip
42:40 Gun Law Gutted + State Fair Fight
49:27 Ten Commandments Law Challenge

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

Texas just shattered its all-time power demand record during a brutal heat wave — and for the first time in years, ERCOT didn't ask anyone to turn down their AC. Former State Senator Drew Springer joins Garrett to break down exactly why, and what's coming next as data centers and AI reshape the Texas grid.

Drew Springer was in the Texas Senate for Winter Storm Uri and helped write the reforms that followed. Now running Springer Financial Services, he comes back on Seeing Red to explain the post-Uri grid overhaul, the Texas Energy Fund, the fight over massive new 765-kilovolt transmission lines, and why the "Wild Wild West" era of data center growth is about to get its first real guardrails from the Legislature. Garrett also breaks down Gov. Abbott's new affordability push and the fresh trouble brewing for Senate candidate James Talarico.

**Topics discussed:**
- Why ERCOT didn't issue conservation alerts during last week's record heat wave
- What actually caused Winter Storm Uri's grid failure — and the SB3 reforms that followed
- 40,000+ megawatts added to the grid since 2021 — wind, solar, batteries, and gas
- The Texas Energy Fund and the push for more reliable, dispatchable power
- What an "interim charge" is and how the real legislative work gets done between sessions
- The fight over 765-kilovolt transmission lines and rural landowners pushing back
- Why data centers took off with zero regulation — and what guardrails are coming
- AI as a national security issue and why banning data centers outright would be a mistake
- How AI could change opportunity for the next generation of Texans

**Guest:** Drew Springer, former Texas State Representative and State Senator; now runs Springer Financial Services. (Social handle not stated in transcript — producer to fill in.)

**Sources:**
- *NATiVE Solar* — [ERCOT Breaks Demand Record July 2026](https://nativesolar.com/ercot-breaks-demand-record-july-2026/)
- *Houston Public Media* — [ERCOT prepares for record demand during Texas heat wave](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/infrastructure/2026/07/22/557719/texas-heat-wave-ercot-power-grid-demand/) — July 22, 2026
- *The Texas Tribune* — [ERCOT forecasts energy demand to double in six years](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/29/texas-ercot-power-grid-record-data-center/) — July 29, 2026
- *KXAN Austin* — [Tanya Tucker testifies, sings at Texas Senate committee hearing on massive power line project](https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/tanya-tucker-testifies-sings-at-texas-senate-committee-hearing-on-massive-power-line-project/)
- *The Texas Tribune* — [Texas must rethink massive transmission lines, lawmakers say](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/31/texas-transmission-lines-dan-patrick/) — July 31, 2026
- *KERA News* — [Gov. Greg Abbott rolls out initiatives to limit growth in home, car insurance costs](https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2026-07-16/gov-greg-abbott-rolls-out-initiatives-to-limit-growth-in-home-car-insurance-costs) — July 16, 2026
- *The Federalist* — By Matt Kittle — July 28, 2026 — [Mama's Boy Talarico Appears To Have Broken Texas Election Law](https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/28/exclusive-mamas-boy-talarico-appears-to-have-broken-texas-election-law/)
- *The Texas Tribune* — By Gabby Birenbaum — July 28, 2026 — [Talarico leads Paxton by 5 points in new Texas Senate poll](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/28/texas-senate-poll-james-talarico-ken-paxton-july-2026/)

Chapters
0:00 Cold open & episode tease
4:36 Welcoming back Drew Springer
6:14 What really caused Uri's grid failure
8:07 Renewables, gas & the new energy mix
9:18 The Texas Energy Fund, explained
11:58 What's an "interim charge"?
13:06 Tanya Tucker sings at the Capitol
14:37 Data centers: Wild West to guardrails
16:52 AI, opportunity & winning the future
18:55 AI is more than chatbots
20:47 The 765-kV lines & the Permian power crunch
21:58 Eminent domain: routes, fairness & the cost of delay
24:34 ERCOT's warning & the severance tax
25:55 Energy Fund + Water Fund: catching up on infrastructure
27:36 Data centers as neighbors: the Childress property tax cut
29:29 The $6 billion incentive math
31:21 Repealing the data center sales tax exemption
32:58 Grayson County: cement plant vs. semiconductors
36:05 Local control & the Death Star Bill
38:37 Life after the lege ($600 a month)
40:07 "Show up at a town hall"
41:45 Solo: Abbott's 5-point property tax plan
49:00 Housing, millennials & why spending cuts matter
52:37 Talarico's residency problem
56:10 Border wall fight in Big Bend
59:55 Reservoirs refill: Corpus Christi's reprieve

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

Want to know how a 20-something op-ed writer ends up on Fox News and in your local paper? Garrett sits down with Sam Raus, the David Boaz Resident Writing Fellow at Young Voices, to break down exactly how young center-right writers turn one op-ed into TV hits, radio spots, and a media career — plus a wild pitch to let Gen Z opt out of Social Security entirely.

Then Garrett runs down the week in Texas politics: the razor-close Paxton-Talarico Senate race, big Hill Country flood relief for Corpus Christi's water crisis, a court loss (and a Discord win) for Ken Paxton's AG office, and another data center fight brewing in East Texas.

Topics discussed:
- What Young Voices is and how the fellowship/contributor pipeline works
- How to pitch op-eds differently in red states vs. blue states
- Sam's viral pitch: let Gen Z opt out of Social Security
- Intergenerational "economic injustice" — boomers vs. Gen Z/millennials on taxes and benefits
- Preview of 2027 Texas legislative fights: data centers, kratom/marijuana regulation, property taxes
- How to apply to Young Voices (joinyv.org)
- Paxton vs. Talarico Senate race: ad spending, polling, and turnout strategy
- The Sherman "Red River Roll Call" GOP rally and statewide turnout push
- Hill Country floodwaters easing Corpus Christi's water crisis
- A Texas appeals court ruling against Paxton's office in an abortion-clinic case
- Paxton's win forcing Discord to add child-safety protections for Texas users
- A rejected East Texas data center project and the corporate welfare debate

Guest: Sam Raus, David Boaz Resident Writing Fellow, Young Voices (Twitter/X: @samraus1). Young Voices: joinyv.org, @JoinYoungVoices.

Chapters:
0:00 Welcome & episode preview
0:34 Meet Sam Raus, Young Voices
2:52 Center-right media's big tent
6:02 Pitching red states vs. blue states
8:42 Let Gen Z opt out of Social Security
16:07 2027 legislative preview: data centers, THC, taxes
23:56 How to join Young Voices
27:18 Paxton vs. Talarico: money & polls
35:42 Flood update: Corpus Christi's water win
37:25 Paxton's court loss on abortion clinic case
40:28 Discord forced into child-safety fix

Sources:
- Texas Tribune — By Alejandra Martinez — July 27, 2026, 10:49 a.m. Central — Floods delay Corpus Christi's water emergency until 2028 — https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/27/corpus-christi-water-texas-floodwater-emergency/
- KLIF 570 — July 21, 2026 — Fort Worth: Paxton Surrounded By Law Enforcement, Blasts Talarico Over Defund Police Ties — https://www.klif.com/2026/07/21/fort-worth-paxton-surrounded-by-law-enforcement-blasts-talarico-over-defund-police-ties/
- Houston Public Media — July 23, 2026 — Appeals court overturns order closing Houston-area midwife clinics accused of illegal abortions — https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/court/2026/07/23/557809/texas-midwife-ken-paxton-appeals-court-ruling/
- Office of the Texas Attorney General — July 24, 2026 — Attorney General Ken Paxton Secures Historic Legal Victory Forcing Discord to Protect Texas Children — https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-secures-historic-legal-victory-forcing-discord-protect-texas-children
- Texas Tribune — June 30, 2026 — Abbott calls for ban on data center development in rural Texas — https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/30/texas-abbott-data-center-development-ban-rural-communities/
- KTEN — Texas politicians meet one-on-one with Grayson County taxpayers for Republican rally — https://www.kten.com/news/kten_news/texas-politicians-meet-one-on-one-with-grayson-county-taxpayers-for-republican-rally/article_a83a0e8f-5ed5-480a-acb9-2a4dfbbcfce7.html
- ProPublica (co-published with The Texas Tribune) — July 7, 2026 — Ken Paxton's Voter Registration May Violate Texas Election Law — https://www.propublica.org/article/ken-paxton-voter-registration-election-law

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

Houston Chronicle opinion editor Evan Mintz joins Garrett Fulce to break down the fatal ICE shooting rocking Houston — and why the paper's own editorial board said flatly you can't trust the federal government's story. This is a rare inside look at how a major Texas newsroom decides what to publish when a story turns into a national flashpoint.

Evan explains why he leads with "biased for Houston" instead of left vs. right, walks through the shifting federal accounts of the Lorenzo Salgado Araujo shooting, and makes the business case Houston's business community has made for decades on immigration reform. Garrett and Evan also dig into why data centers have become a bizarre partisan football, and Evan makes his 15-year case for building the "Ike Dike."

Topics discussed:
- Evan Mintz's return to the Houston Chronicle and what "biased for Houston" really means
- How the Chronicle's editorial board decides which op-eds to run — left, right, and everywhere between
- The Houston ICE shooting: what changed between ICE's first statement and U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz's account
- Comparing the ICE shooting to a separate HPD officer-involved shooting the same morning
- Why Houston's business community, not progressives, historically led the push for immigration reform
- Trump, Tom Homan, Susan Collins, John Whitmire, and Greg Abbott's competing reactions to the ICE vehicle-stop pause
- Why political "absolutists" end up driving policy on immigration
- Being "biased" for a city vs. being partisan — and why John Whitmire hates the word "politicize"
- Data centers as a new, oddly bipartisan flashpoint
- Evan's 15-year campaign for the "Ike Dike" coastal barrier

Guest: Evan Mintz, Opinion Editor, Houston Chronicle. Contact/social handle: Not stated in transcript — producer to fill in.

Chapters:
0:00 Welcome & Episode Preview 
0:46 Meet Evan Mintz, Houston Chronicle
8:24 Inside the ICE Shooting Ed Board Debate
16:53 Enforcement's Political Trap for the GOP
21:44 Why Absolutists Drive the Immigration Fight
24:04 Biased for Houston vs. Being Partisan
28:21 Data Centers Become a Partisan Football
31:17 The Ike Dike, Explained

Sources:
- Houston Public Media — By Michael Adkison, Andrew Schneider — July 15, 2026 — Texas Rangers will investigate ICE shooting in Houston. Here's what that means — https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2026/07/15/557147/ice-shooting-houston-texas-rangers-investigation-request/
- Click2Houston (KPRC) — July 16, 2026 — US Attorney Aaron Reitz speaks publicly for first time on fatal ICE shooting of Lorenzo Salgado in Houston — https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/07/16/us-attorney-aaron-reitz-speaks-publicly-for-first-time-on-fatal-ice-shooting-of-lorenzo-salgado-in-houston/
- The Texas Tribune — By Eleanor Klibanoff — July 9, 2026 — Aaron Reitz, former Texas AG candidate, picked as U.S. attorney — https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/09/texas-aaron-reitz-us-attorney-southern-district/
- CBS News — July 14, 2026 — ICE halts most vehicle stops after Maine, Texas shootings, sources say — https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-agents-halt-vehicle-stops-after-shootings-maine-texas/
- KHOU 11 — By Jaime E. Galvan — Houston mayor calls for 90-day ICE moratorium after Trump backs traffic stops — https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/deadly-ice-shooting/trump-ice-traffic-stops-policy-pause/285-e8f9fa4b-ea64-4f54-9694-356ccb53fdd6
- Click2Houston (KPRC) — July 15, 2026 — Gov. Greg Abbott confirms Texas Rangers investigation into ICE shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo — https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/07/15/gov-greg-abbott-confirms-texas-rangers-investigation-into-ice-shooting-of-lorenzo-salgado-araujo/
- Office of the Texas Governor — July 17, 2026 — Governor Abbott Appoints Howden As Texas Secretary Of State — https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-appoints-howden-as-texas-secretary-of-state
- FOX 26 Houston — Officer-involved shooting in Highland Village, suspect taken to hospital — https://www.fox26houston.com/news/highland-village-shooting-officer-involved-shooting-reported-westheimer-road

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

e built the #1 honey brand in America — then knocked off a three-term, Trump-endorsed incumbent without ever holding office. Nate Sheets, the Republican nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, joins Garrett to break down the fight over data centers eating up rural Texas land, and why Texas farmers are going broke.

Garrett and Nate go deep on the data center wars — dueling newspaper op-eds, who should pay for water and power infrastructure, and whether counties should get zoning power over these projects. Plus: Nate's path from the Navy to 12 years in Christian ministry to running Nature Nate's Honey, and a preview of what's coming later in the show — the Paxton-Talarico Senate race, the fallout from the Houston ICE shooting, Camp Mystic's bankruptcy filing, and the looming deadline for Texas school choice families.

*Topics discussed:*

• How Nate Sheets built Nature Nate's into the top-selling honey brand in America
  
  
• His path from the Navy to 12 years in Christian ministry to the CEO's chair
  
  
• Beating three-term, Trump-endorsed incumbent Sid Miller without ever holding office
  
  
• The conversation with Rick Santorum that convinced him to run for Ag Commissioner
  
  
• Dueling Houston Chronicle op-eds on data centers — Garrett's take vs. his opponent's
  
  
• Why Texas farms are going under, and how that's fueling the rural land rush for data centers
  
  
• The GoTexan program and other tools Sheets says he'd use to help farmers and ranchers
  
  
• Google's $40 billion bet on Stamford, Texas, and what it means for rural communities
  
  
• Preview: the Paxton-Talarico Senate race, the Houston ICE shooting, Camp Mystic's bankruptcy, and the school choice (TEFA) deadline
  
  

*Guest:* Nate Sheets, Republican nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner; founder of Nature Nate's Honey, where he served as CEO until November 2024. (Social handle not stated in transcript — producer to fill in.)

*Sources:*

• The Texas Tribune — By Kate McGee and Jess Huff — March 4, 2026 — [Nate Sheets defeats Sid Miller in Texas ag commissioner race](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/...)
  
  
• Houston Chronicle — [Opinion: Clayton Tucker, the Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner, calls on Texas to put a moratorium on building new data centers](  / 1436698931807574  )
  
  
• The Texas Tribune — November 14, 2025 — [Google data centers totaling $40 billion coming to Texas](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/...)
  
  
• The Texas Tribune — July 8, 2026 — [Houston mayor questions city's authority to probe ICE shooting amid calls for independent investigation](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/...)
  
  
• CBS Texas — [Camp Mystic files for bankruptcy nearly a year after deadly Texas floods](https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/ca...)
  
  
• The Texas Tribune — By Kayla Guo — July 8, 2026 — [Talarico more than triples Paxton's Q2 haul in Texas Senate race](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/...)
  
  
• Community Impact — [More than 100K students have been awarded Texas Education Freedom Accounts. Here are the next steps.](https://communityimpact.com/austin/ce...)

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

Texas schools made international news after the State Board of Education approved a statewide literary works list that includes Bible passages.

So what actually happened?

This week, Garrett Fulce sits down with Brandon Hall, State Board of Education member for District 11, to talk through the SBOE’s new literary canon, why the Bible made the list, how the fight over Islam showed up in the social studies TEKS debate and what the board actually controls.

They also get into the Revolutionary War almost getting stripped from the draft standards, local school board authority, convention strategy, campaign bracketing, Dan Patrick’s new podcast and the fight over closed primaries in Texas.

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

This week on Seeing Red, Garrett Fulce talks with Doug Kelly, CEO of the American Edge Project, about what data centers actually are, why they matter in the U.S.-China AI race, what communities get out of them and why the panic over power and water may be aimed at the wrong target.

Doug makes the case that data centers are not the villain — they are infrastructure. AI exposed the weakness in America’s grid. Now the question is whether Texas builds for the next boom or lets somebody else do it.

Later in the episode, Garrett breaks down the State Board of Education’s debate over Bible references in Texas curriculum and reflects on the one-year anniversary of the Camp Mystic floods — what Texas learned, what it still has not fixed and why disaster preparedness cannot be a press-release exercise.

Subscribe for weekly Texas politics, policy and campaign analysis.

Follow Garrett:
X: @gwfulce
Substack: seeingredpod.substack.com

Guest:
Doug Kelly, CEO of the American Edge Project
American Edge Project: americanedgeproject.org
X: @dougkelly
American Edge on X: @americanedge

Chapters:
0:00 Why data centers matter in the U.S.-China AI race
5:47 Jobs, tax revenue and local benefits
13:28 Energy, water and the Texas grid
20:18 AI, automation and the future of work
26:15 SBOE, Bible references and Texas curriculum
34:10 Camp Mystic floods and disaster preparedness

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

Texas Republicans left Houston with a new party chair, new priorities and a familiar challenge: can the party stay united long enough to win in November?

In this episode of Seeing Red, Garrett Fulce breaks down the Republican Party of Texas convention before sitting down with former State Senator and The Texan founder Konni Burton.

Garrett's Op-ed: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/data-center-texas-execeptionalism-garrett-fulce-22298369.php

They discuss:

• Dorinda Randall's election as Texas GOP Chair
• The calls for party unity from Abbott, Patrick and Burrows
• Why 2018 still haunts Republicans
• Coalition shifts among suburban voters, Latinos and union households
• The future of conservative media
• Why Konni launched The Texan
• The growing problem of activist journalism
• Texas' opportunity to become America's data center capital

Whether you're a grassroots activist, political junkie or simply trying to understand where Texas politics is headed, this conversation provides a candid look at the challenges facing both parties.

Subscribe for weekly Texas political analysis, interviews and commentary.

00:00 Texas GOP convention recap

01:45 Dorinda Randall elected chair

02:15 Burrows boos and party unity

04:20 Why Republicans are worried

05:26 Konni Burton joins the show

06:19 Lessons from the 2018 election

08:43 How Beto changed Texas politics

11:27 Why down-ballot races matter

13:26 The danger for Republicans in 2026

17:07 Matt Talarico and candidate quality

19:24 Coalition shifts in both parties

23:05 Why data centers matter

30:34 Konni Burton's political journey

37:00 Founding The Texan

44:16 Journalism versus activism

53:09 The future of media in Texas

Connect With Our Guest

Konni Burton

The Texan:
https://thetexan.news

X:
https://x.com/KonniBurton

The Texan on X:
https://x.com/TheTexanNews


Subscribe

YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@SeeingRedPodcast

Substack:
https://seeingredpod.substack.com

X:
https://x.com/GWFulce

Email:
[email protected]

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

Texas Republicans are gathering in Houston for the Republican Party of Texas Convention—and while most coverage focuses on speeches and personalities, the real action happens in the committees.

This week, Garrett Fulce sits down with Texas Voice publisher Mark McCaig to break down how the party platform is built, how legislative priorities are selected, why those priorities matter to lawmakers, and what delegates can expect as convention business gets underway.

Garrett and Mark also discuss the race for party chair, the role of the Texas Secretary of State, the debate over open versus closed primaries, and how convention decisions can shape the political fights heading into the next legislative session.

00:00 Welcome to Houston & Convention Week
05:41 RPT Chair Race
10:10 How the Party Platform Works
19:36 Secretary of State & Election Administration
28:47 Legislative Priorities Explained
35:44 Convention Culture & Networking
41:12 School Closures & Demographic Change
49:58 Convention Prep & Final Thoughts

Topics include:

• How the Texas GOP platform is created
• Why legislative priorities matter
• The race for the Republican Party Chair
• Secretary of State speculation
• Open vs. closed primaries
• Election integrity debates
• School closures and demographic shifts in Texas
• What delegates should expect in Houston

Follow Mark McCaig and Texas Voice:

Texas Voice: https://Thetexasvoice.com
X: https://x.com/TheTXVoice

Follow Seeing Red:

Substack: https://seeingredpodcast.substack.com
X: https://x.com/GWFulce

Subscribe for weekly conversations on Texas politics, elections, campaigns, public policy and the people shaping the future of the Lone Star State.

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce 

The 2026 election cycle is already taking shape.

In this episode of Seeing Red, Garrett Fulce examines new warnings emerging from Republican strategists about vulnerable legislative districts, turnout challenges, and the impact of the Paxton-Cornyn Senate race on down-ballot Republicans.

Later, Mark McCaig joins the show to explain the Republican Party of Texas convention, delegate selection, party leadership elections, the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC), legislative priorities, and how grassroots activists influence the future direction of the Texas GOP.

Topics include:

• Texas House battleground districts
• Republican turnout challenges
• General election strategy
• The Republican Party of Texas convention
• SREC and party governance
• Delegate selection
• Legislative priorities
• Grassroots organizing
• Door-knocking and voter outreach

Subscribe to Seeing Red for weekly analysis of Texas politics, elections, campaigns, and public policy.

00:00 Texas Senate Race & Down-Ballot Fallout
01:12 Why R+12 Districts Are Suddenly Vulnerable
03:05 Texas House Seats Republicans Could Lose
05:35 Why Paxton Changes Every Race on the Ballot
07:55 Winning Primaries vs. Winning General Elections
10:38 What Is the Republican Party of Texas Convention?
12:40 How Delegates Actually Get Chosen
16:20 The Race for Texas GOP Chairman
18:25 What Does the State Party Chair Actually Do?
20:59 Should Republicans Close Their Primaries?
22:21 Credentials, Rules & Convention Fights
25:36 Can Republicans Stay Unified in 2026?
30:29 How Campaigns Identify Persuadable Voters
32:56 What Is the SREC?
40:44 Inside an SREC Meeting
43:43 How the Texas GOP Has Changed
51:18 Republicans Need a New Message
53:39 The Most Effective Door-Knocking Strategy
1:01:53 What's Next for Seeing Red?

Guest Information

Mark McCaig
Publisher, The Texas Voice
Former State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) member
Attorney and longtime Texas political activist

Follow Mark
X/Twitter: @MarkMcCaig // @TheTXVoice
Website: TheTexasVoice.com

Mark McCaig is the publisher of The Texas Voice, a Texas political news and analysis outlet focused on state government, elections, and conservative politics. A former member of the State Republican Executive Committee, McCaig brings years of experience in party politics and grassroots organizing to discussions about the Republican Party of Texas and the broader Texas political landscape.

Find us at seeingredpodcast.substack.com for full episodes. Follow us on all socials at @theseeingredpod and online at our website Seeing Red Podcast. x.com/gwfulce