Garrett spent this week at the Texas Young Republican Federation's 69th Annual Convention in San Marcos, and the mood among the campaign staffers, volunteers, and college Republicans he talked to wasn't confidence. It was worry. Back in Austin, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick wants to fail entire school districts a letter grade over library books (including a Holocaust memoir), Governor Abbott just yanked state money out of Flock surveillance cameras, and Texas public schools are quietly losing more students than anyone in the Capitol is talking about.

This week Garrett brings you convention interviews with Texas Young Republican Federation leadership and college Republicans on what's actually driving young conservatives into 2026: affordability, immigration, and turnout. Then he breaks down why even hardened Republican staffers are starting to sound nervous about November, walks through the fight over Flock license-plate cameras, digs into Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's push to dock school accountability grades over "dirty books," and flags an under-covered enrollment crisis hitting Texas school districts heading into the 90th legislative session.

**Topics discussed:**
- Inside the Texas Young Republican Federation's 69th Annual Convention in San Marcos
- What's actually driving young conservatives: affordability, property taxes, and immigration
- Block walking, GOTV mechanics, and how Young Republicans plug into campaigns
- Campus fights: RSO restrictions, free speech, and volunteer turnout on Texas college campuses
- 2028 dream candidates: Rubio, Vance, and Cruz name-checked by convention attendees
- Why Republican staffers are nervous about November for the first time since 2018
- Money flowing into Ken Paxton's Senate campaign and what it signals
- How polling actually works and why turnout modeling matters more than topline numbers
- The end of straight-ticket voting and what it means for down-ballot Republicans
- Flock license-plate cameras: security tool, Big Brother, or both
- Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's push to dock school accountability ratings over library books
- Why "Night" by Elie Wiesel landing on a "dirty books" list undercuts the argument
- Meta's data center investment in El Paso and the growing backlash to AI infrastructure
- A quiet, under-reported enrollment crisis facing Texas public schools

**This week's convention voices:** Derek Wilson (Chairman, Texas Young Republican Federation), Eric Perikakis (Policy Director, Texas Young Republican Federation), William (Chairman, Texas College Republicans), and Joanne Luke and Will French (Texas Federation of College Republicans). Handles and additional titles not stated in transcript, producer to fill in.

**Sources:**
- *The Texas Tribune* — By Alejandro Serrano — August 19, 2026 — [Dan Patrick: "We're coming for the books" in school libraries](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/19/texas-dan-patrick-obscene-books-school-libraries-penalties/)
- *Houston Chronicle* — August 2026 — [Holocaust book among titles flagged for removal from Texas schools](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/banned-books-schools-dan-patrick-22402659.php)
- *The Texas Tribune* — By Ayden Runnels — August 28, 2026 — [Gov. Abbott blocks state agencies from spending money on Flock cameras](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/28/texas-greg-abbott-flock-cameras-order-state-money/)
- *Axios* — August 21, 2026 — [Scoop: Cruz-linked super PAC jumps into Texas Senate race](https://www.axios.com/2026/08/21/ted-cruz-super-pac-ken-paxton-texas-senate-race-republicans-midterms)
- *Houston Public Media* — By Andrew Schneider — August 24, 2026 (updated August 27, 2026) — [Trump to headline RNC fundraiser in Houston aimed at boosting Ken Paxton's Senate campaign](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/election-2026/2026/08/24/560231/trump-to-headline-rnc-fundraiser-in-houston-aimed-at-boosting-ken-paxtons-senate-campaign/)
- *The Texas Tribune* — July 30, 2026 — [What is still legal under Texas' latest THC ban](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/30/texas-thc-cannabis-ban-delta-9-8-marijuana/)

Chapters
0:00 Cold Open: This Week's Rundown
1:28 Derek Wilson: TYRF Chairman on 2026
10:03 Eric Perikakis: Policy Priorities and 2028 Picks
14:43 College Republicans on Campus Fights
17:39 College Republicans on Voter Fear and Turnout
27:48 Why Young Republicans Are Getting Nervous
38:56 Flock Cameras: Security Tool or Big Brother
47:58 Dan Patrick's "Dirty Books" Fight
55:35 Texas Schools' Quiet Enrollment Crisis

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 

State Rep. Jeff Barry (R-Pearland) sits on the two committees at the center of next session's biggest fight: the governor, lieutenant governor, and House Speaker all want agencies to cut spending 3% across the board — and Barry breaks down why you can't cut property taxes without cutting state spending first. As a freshman on Appropriations, he walks through how a budget bill actually becomes law, why "Robin Hood" school funding is about to collide with the push to eliminate local school taxes, and the insurance reform bill he says already stopped a rate hike for coastal homeowners.

Then Garrett takes over solo to break down the Talarico-Paxton Senate race turning into a real toss-up, why Governor Abbott's numbers are sliding in his own re-election bid, how data centers became the wedge issue nobody in the GOP wants to touch, and a wild pilot program out of El Paso ISD that's putting administrators back in the classroom as substitute teachers.

**Topics discussed:**
- The Texas budget process, from subcommittees to conference committee to the governor's veto pen
- The "Big 3's" push for 3% across-the-board agency budget cuts ahead of the 90th Legislature
- Why cutting property taxes requires cutting state spending first
- Property tax compression, homestead exemptions, and the fight over eliminating the M&O school tax
- Robin Hood recapture and funding for rural school districts
- The taxpayer-funded lobbying fight and the role of the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB)
- Barry's bill eliminating the TWIA insurance tax and his push for a state reinsurance program
- New building codes aimed at making homes more storm-resistant
- The Ike Dike and protecting the Houston Ship Channel from storm surge
- Privatizing operation of state mental health hospitals
- The Talarico-Paxton U.S. Senate race and the Abbott-Hinojosa governor's race
- Data centers becoming a rural-vs-suburban political wedge issue
- El Paso ISD's plan to have central office administrators substitute teach

**Guest:** State Rep. Jeff Barry represents House District 29 (Pearland/Brazoria County) and serves on the House Appropriations and Natural Resources committees. Learn more or get involved at votejeffbarry.com.

**Sources:**
- *The Hill* — August 20, 2026 — [Texas, Iowa Senate races shift to toss-ups: Cook Political Report](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6041660-cook-political-report-texas-iowa-senate-races/)
- *The Texas Tribune* — By Gabby Birenbaum — August 20, 2026 — [Talarico floods Texas airwaves in U.S. Senate race as Paxton, GOP stay quiet](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/20/texas-us-senate-race-donors-ken-paxton-james-talarico/)
- *The Center Square* — [Polls show tight Texas governor race, closest margin in Abbott's career](https://www.thecentersquare.com/texas/article_5e175925-bc41-467f-a20c-4682c21a9422.html)
- *The Texas Tribune* — By Paul Cobler and Alejandra Martinez — August 3, 2026 — [New Texas data center projects frozen until state audits them](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/03/texas-data-center-project-audit-greg-abbott/)
- *Texas Tribune* (via Houston Public Media) — By Jaden Edison — July 22-23, 2026 — [Texas' longstanding 'Robin Hood' school finance system will face a new legal challenge](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/education/2026/07/23/557775/west-texas-midland-district-lawsuit-school-finance-robin-hood/)
- *KFOX14/CBS4 El Paso* — [EPISD confirms central office staff, including superintendent, must sub eight days](https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/episd-confirms-central-office-staff-including-superintendent-must-sub-eight-days-this-year)
- *Houston Public Media* — By Lucio Vasquez — August 14, 2026 — [Texas schools see modest improvement in 2026 A-F ratings. Here's how they fared](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/2026/08/14/559560/texas-schools-see-modest-improvement-in-2026-a-f-ratings-heres-how-they-fared/)

Chapters
0:00 Cold Open & Episode Preview
1:17 Rep. Jeff Barry Joins the Show
4:27 How the Texas Budget Process Works
13:17 Cutting Spending to Cut Property Taxes
18:15 Robin Hood School Funding Explained
31:49 TWIA Tax Cut & Insurance Reform
40:53 The Ike Dike & Storm Surge Risk
48:32 Solo Segment: Senate Race Toss-Up
52:16 Data Centers Become a Political Wedge
54:34 El Paso ISD's Substitute Teacher Plan

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 

Governor Abbott just ordered Texas regulators to freeze new data center hookups to the power grid until they pass an audit, and former Republican Party of Texas chair James Dickey joins Garrett Fulce to explain exactly why, plus what it means for the fight over massive new 765-kilovolt transmission lines cutting across the state. Dickey, who now runs JD Key Consulting and publishes Hyperscale News, breaks down the difference between a real policy fight over eminent domain and water use versus manufactured outrage, plus what he's seeing on the 2026 campaign trail. Then Garrett goes solo to break down the TEA's new A-F school ratings, why Austin ISD is on track for a state takeover, and why that's a political headache for a certain gubernatorial candidate.

This week: Abbott's PUC and ERCOT audit of data centers, the messy fight over 765kV transmission lines connecting the Permian Basin to the rest of the state, what a former state party chair is seeing on the campaign trail heading into November, and predictions for what actually passes in the 90th Legislature. Then, the state's newest school ratings are out, and Austin ISD's repeated failing grades are about to become both a policy problem and a campaign problem.

Topics discussed:
- Governor Abbott's directive requiring PUC and ERCOT audits before new data centers connect to the grid
- How Senate Bill 6's new "batch" process is supposed to fix ERCOT's endless interconnection evaluations
- Why data centers' water-use survey compliance came in under 20%
- The fight over 765-kilovolt transmission lines linking the Permian Basin to the Texas Triangle
- Eminent domain, property rights, and who's really driving the need for new transmission
- Balancing renewable and dispatchable power on the Texas grid
- James Dickey's read on 2026 campaign unity and messaging discipline
- Predictions for the 90th Legislature: property tax cuts, school choice, water infrastructure
- The TEA's new A-F school ratings and a likely Austin ISD state takeover
- Why Austin ISD's failing grades are a political problem for Gina Hinojosa
- Houston ISD's state takeover results, merit pay, and early-intervention teaching

Guest: James Dickey is the founder and principal of JD Key Consulting, publisher of Hyperscale News, and former chair of the Republican Party of Texas (2017–2020). Find him on X and LinkedIn.

Chapters:
0:00 Cold Open
0:29 Meet James Dickey
1:35 Abbott's Grid Audit Explained
10:36 765kV Transmission Line Fight
22:24 GOP Campaign Trail Insights
29:33 2027 Session Priorities Preview
33:58 TEA Ratings & Austin ISD Crisis
44:45 Houston ISD Takeover Lessons

Sources:
- The Texas Tribune — By Paul Cobler — August 3, 2026 — New Texas data center projects frozen until state audits them — https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/03/texas-data-center-project-audit-greg-abbott/
- Texas Policy Research — August 4, 2026 — Texas Releases First Education Freedom Accounts Report — https://www.texaspolicyresearch.com/texas-releases-first-education-freedom-accounts-report/
- The Texas Tribune — July 31, 2026 — Texas must rethink massive transmission lines, lawmakers say — https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/31/texas-transmission-lines-dan-patrick/
- Texas Scorecard — Patrick, Schwertner Call on PUC To Reject Controversial 765-kV Transmission Applications — https://texasscorecard.com/state/patrick-schwertner-call-on-puc-to-reject-controversial-765-kv-transmission-applications/
- The Texas Tribune — By Andrea Ball — August 14, 2026 — Failing AISD campuses reach Texas threshold for state intervention — https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/14/austin-isd-ratings-texas-school-takeover-trigger/
- KERA News — August 14, 2026 — Texas schools see modest improvement in 2026 A-F ratings. Here's how they fared — https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2026-08-14/texas-education-public-school-rating-tea-2026
- Houston Public Media — August 13, 2026 — 4 HISD schools receive F ratings, Mike Miles says, a year after there were no failing campuses — https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/education/2026/08/13/559474/hisd-accountability-ratings-houston-schools-wheatley-high-school/
- K-12 Dive — Houston ISD stays at B rating in 2025-26 — https://www.k12dive.com/news/houston-isd-stays-at-b-rating-in-2025-26/827960/
- MyRGV.com — October 24, 2025 — Democrat cites Valley roots in bid to challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — https://myrgv.com/local-news/2025/10/24/democrat-cites-valley-roots-in-bid-to-challenge-republican-gov-greg-abbott/

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 

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