The Blast - August 11, 2025

8 days until sine die
89 days until the candidate filing period begins
119 days until the candidate filing deadline

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• Week 2 of the quorum break

• SREC takes up ballot “death penalty”

• Doggett to Casar: Run in San Antonio

• Exclusive: House Dems respond to Bo French’s Bhojani accusation

WEEK 2 OF THE QUORUM BREAK

Ninety-six members of the Texas House registered present today, sending us to Week 2 of Democrats’ quorum break.

South Texas Democratic Reps. Terry Canales and Eddie Morales registered present again after being absent on Friday. Texas House Republican Caucus Chair Tom Oliverson didn’t register on time, meaning the House is actually at 97, three shy of making quorum. They’ll try again tomorrow morning.

Six bills will be ready for the House floor: the proposed congressional maps and five disaster relief bills.

“The only thing standing between Texas and real disaster relief is whether our absent colleagues decide to show up tomorrow,” House Speaker Dustin Burrows said from the dais.

Burrows gave members the following updates about forming a quorum:

• Law enforcement officers are set up outside absent members’ homes, knocking on doors and calling their phones.

• Sent officers to former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s Fort Worth rally on Saturday, where it was advertised that Democratic Leader Gene Wu of Houston and Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth would attend. They tuned in via Zoom.

• The Department of Public Safety has established a tip line for the public to report if they see a member in the state.

• The House is tracking law enforcement’s travel and personnel costs to hold absent members financially responsible.

Democratic Rep. Salman Bhojani of Euless says he’s returning to the U.S. from Pakistan now that his aunt’s health is improving. He’ll join his Democratic colleagues in Illinois.

Around 10 absent Democrats haven’t appeared in photos, videos or public statements, so their whereabouts remain publicly unknown. However, several Republicans believe some of those members are in the state. The list of 10 includes seasoned members, like Reps. Alma Allen, Yvonne Davis, Bobby Guerra and Senfronia Thompson.

At the State Republican Executive Committee’s special meeting on Saturday, Deer Park Republican Rep. Briscoe Cain said three Democrats are in Houston.

“It just takes guts to go get them, so let’s see if some people have some guts to go get them,” he said. “At the same time, the news story will be — since we have the media — ‘somebody arrested grandmas.’ So you can see the difficulty of getting that one done. Who’s gonna arrest grandma?”

Gov. Greg Abbott filed a reply to Wu yesterday over his lawsuit to remove the House Democratic leader from office. Now it’s up to the Texas Supreme Court to make a decision.

While we wait, Abbott told Fox News this afternoon Texas may go for five more seats if California and Gov. Gavin Newsom go forward with their retaliatory redistricting.

“If California thinks they’re going to move their needle to the extreme and eliminate five Republican members of the United States Congress there, Texas is not going to do five,” Abbott said. “We’ll add 10 more Republican seats using the same procedure they’re using in California.”

That would make Texas’ seats 35-3, but potentially make Republican seats more vulnerable.

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SREC TAKES UP BALLOT “DEATH PENALTY”

In case you missed our Bulletin over the weekend, The Blast sat in on the State Republican Executive Committee’s special meeting to finalize its list of transgressions committed by state GOP lawmakers this past session. The party could use the list to bar “RINO” incumbents from the primary ballot.

It’s a process that the Texas GOP adopted at its state convention in 2024 and that picked up steam when a minority of the Texas House Republican Caucus voted with Democrats to elect Dustin Burrows as House speaker. Since then, the Democrats’ quorum break has helped unify Republicans behind Burrows.

Texas GOP Chair Abraham George told The Blast that the party now has an “open line with the speaker” following a meeting at the Governor’s Mansion with Greg Abbott and Burrows. George and the party had previously been at odds over Burrows’ leadership.

“A few months ago, I wouldn’t have guessed we’d be here… but today, we’re united and charging forward to deliver big conservative wins for Texas,” George said in a social media post today, sharing photos of George with Abbott and Burrows.

Still, the SREC voted to finalize its report on Saturday, drafting a list of actions that will help county parties initiate censures. The censure process is complicated, and county parties have needed a little bit of handholding so far to adopt legitimate censures.

Even at the meeting, committee members were aware of the mixed messaging. The Blast reported reservations from SREC member and former Lubbock County GOP Chair Steve Evans. But even Texas GOP general counsel Rachel Hooper noted that the quorum break has unified Republicans, giving the state party an opportunity to lead.

As for the censure process, she told the SREC that she voted to enhance Rule 44 at the 2024 convention because the House impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“Sometimes there’s acts that are so bad that you need the death penalty,” Hooper said.

And as the meeting wound down, George urged the SREC to give lawmakers a chance to respond to make sure the SREC’s report is as accurate as possible.

“I want the right people censured if they deserve a censure,” George said. “I do not want anyone getting censured by county parties or districts if they don’t deserve a censure. This is a serious matter for the party as a state party, so we want to do the right thing.”

Lawmakers under threat of censure will have until Wednesday evening — not today — to explain any of their actions that were deemed censurable offenses. (The Blast previously incorrectly reported today as the deadline. We regret the error.) The SREC will hold a Zoom meeting on Friday to finalize the list of censurable offenses.

They also plan to push back the censure timeline accordingly. That delay will protect them in court, George said. However, they still aim for the SREC to approve censures at the planned Oct. 11 meeting.

DOGGETT TO CASAR: RUN IN SAN ANTONIO

Democratic U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar have been drawn into one Austin district under the proposed congressional maps and both plan to run for reelection. Now, Doggett is saying Casar should run in the new GOP-leaning San Antonio-area district.

Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, represents the current TX-35, which stretches from Austin to San Antonio. But as a former Austin City Council member, his core constituency is in Austin. 

Most of the redrawn TX-37, the sole Democratic Travis County district under the proposal, remains in Doggett’s current district, and Doggett says he’ll run again, even if there’s a primary.

The proposed TX-35 is 57% Hispanic and voted for President Donald Trump by 10 points. But former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke lost it by less than half a point in 2018, former President Joe Biden lost it by 2 points in 2020, and former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred lost it by 4 points just last November. It’s not a shoo-in for Republicans.

“If this sorry Trump map for Texas is eventually approved, l remain hopeful that Congressman Casar will not abandon his reconfigured CD35, in which he is the only incumbent,” Doggett said in a fundraising email published by Punchbowl News.

“He has the potential to use his organizing skills and populist message to win over the disaffected, particularly disaffected Hispanic voters,” he continued. “This could become a national model for turning back the Trump tide. Without Greg’s power of incumbency and ability to attract support, this seat could be lost by a weaker Democratic nominee.”

Shortly after, Casar took to social media to say, “I love you Austin Texas.”

Doggett doubled down in response to the Punchbowl post, saying his only war is against Trump.

“Abandoning winnable majority Hispanic #TX35 to challenge me in #TX37 helps Trump, divides progressives,” he posted.

Notable to many amid this burgeoning primary is that Doggett, 78, was the first Democratic congressman to call on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.

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HOUSE DEMS RESPOND TO BO FRENCH’S BHOJANI ACCUSATION

After Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French claimed today that Euless Democratic state Rep. Salman Bhojani was hiding in Southlake — not abroad for a sick family member, as Bhojani says — Bhojani is bringing receipts.

In a social media post this afternoon, French called Bhojani a “Pakistani born muslim democrat,” and noted that Pakistan was “the same place Osama Bin Laden hid.”

French claimed Bhojani was hiding in a Southlake home outside of his district. However, the Texas House Democratic Caucus shared photos of Bhojani’s boarding pass and what they say are his passport stamps, showing he arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday and left on Sunday.

In a statement, the THDC said Bhojani represents the best of the American dream and Texas values.

“Meanwhile, Bo French represents exactly what Republican extremists stand for — attacking and harming hardworking Texans, based solely on their religion and ethnicity,” the caucus said, pointing to what they call frequent collaborations with Christian nationalists and antisemites.

“The contrast couldn’t be clearer: Democrats are fighting for hardworking Texans like Rep. Bhojani, who embody the American dream; while Republicans like Bo French sling division, hatred, and extremism,” they continued.

Public radio and television have informed, educated and entertained Texans for decades. But recent cuts in federal funding could endanger some of that work.

On Aug. 26, we’ll talk with three public media leaders about the services they provide, the impact of the cuts and where their stations will go from here.

Confirmed speakers include: 

• Corrie MacLaggan, executive editor of KUT News and The Texas Newsroom. 

• Luis Patiño, president and CEO of Austin PBS

Additional speakers will be confirmed soon.

Doors open at Studio 919 at 8:30 a.m. and the one-hour conversation begins at 9 a.m.

RSVP today

This week:

• The Senate Finance Committee will meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow to consider SB 3, supplemental appropriations for disaster relief.

• The House Public Health Committee will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday to consider HB 5, the hemp bill.

View the full list of upcoming committee notices here and here.

The House will convene at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
The Senate will convene at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

• TX-18: The Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus endorsed Harris County Attorney Christian Meneffee in the special election to succeed the late U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvester Turner.

• TX-23: YouTuber and gun rights activist Brandon Herrera says he will rematch U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, after he lost to the incumbent by less than 400 votes in the 2024 primary. Read the story here.

• HD-9: Angelina County Commissioner Rocky Thigpen will hold a fundraiser on Sept. 9 in Austin featuring incumbent state Rep. Trent Ashby, who is running for the state Senate.

• HD-64: Denton Central Appraisal District member Lisa McEntire announced a primary campaign against state Rep. Andy Hopper, R-Decatur. She stirred controversy because she mentioned her relationships with U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill and state Rep. Ben Bumgarner, both of whom reiterated their support for Hopper after her announcement.

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“Five years after shedding Confederate moniker, a West Texas high school may be Lee High again” by Carlos Nogueras Ramos of The Texas Tribune

“Some House Democrats may still be in Texas. Why haven’t they been arrested?” by Taylor Goldenstein of the Houston Chronicle

“3 people killed in shooting outside Target store in North Austin” by Chelsey Zhu of KUT

Do you or someone in your office have a birthday you’d like mentioned? Email us.

(Aug. 12) State Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-Mission

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