The Blast - July 2, 2025

13 days until the TEC and FEC filing deadlines
19 days until the first special session

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• Gina Hinojosa weighs comptroller bid, plus Dem finances

• Marc LaHood builds TLR primary defense fund

• Mike Olcott leading the charge — with Trent Ashby in tow

• Trump and DeSantis on a redistricting tidbit of interest

GINA HINOJOSA WEIGHS COMPTROLLER BID, PLUS DEM FINANCES

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa tells The Blast she is considering running for comptroller, making her the latest Democrat to weigh a statewide run in 2026.

Hinojosa is a former Austin ISD board president who has made public education her top priority since she joined the Lege in 2017. Beginning next school year, the comptroller will oversee the state’s new voucher program, which Hinojosa and Democrats have fought since Gov. Greg Abbott made it his top policy fight.

“We need an independent, outside voice holding Abbott and the Legislature accountable for wasteful spending and sweetheart deals,” she said in a statement to The Blast. “Now that the Comptroller is in charge of the taxpayer-funded voucher program, the opportunity for grift at the expense of our kids and schools is truly concerning and we need a strong, pro-public schools leader in that role.”

The Democratic nominee will face the winner of the Republican primary, which has attracted three high-profile candidates after longtime incumbent Glenn Hegar gave up the seat to become chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. Whoever emerges from the GOP primary would have significant financial backing in the general, likely making the contest an uphill climb for any Democrat with hopes of breaking their party’s three-decade losing streak. Acting Comptroller and former state Sen. Kelly Hancock has Abbott’s support, former state Sen. Don Huffines has U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s backing and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick had $1.6 million cash on hand at the end of 2024.

The makings of Democrats’ statewide lineup is starting to come into focus with Hinojosa’s potential comptroller run, former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred’s recent campaign launch for U.S. Senate and the possibility that state Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas will announce for attorney general. We’ll have updated fundraising numbers in a couple weeks, but here’s a rundown of where some announced and potential Democratic statewide candidates stood at the end of their latest fundraising reports:

• Allred of Dallas: $144,000 cash on hand (announced)

• State Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin: $151,000 (announced for lieutenant governor)

• U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio: $147,000 cash on hand

• State Rep. James Talarico of Austin: $639,000 cash on hand

• Johnson: $504,000 cash on hand

• Hinojosa: $72,000 cash on hand

In their recent statewide losses, Democrats like Allred and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who is also in the mix for a possible statewide run, have had little trouble raising gargantuan sums, allowing them to compete financially with fundraising juggernauts like Abbott and Cruz. Still, initial campaign finance numbers from statewide GOP candidates suggest Democrats may have to play catchup — assuming Republicans don’t end up depleting their war chests against each other.

For one, Republican attorney general candidate Aaron Reitz says he raised $2 million since launching his campaign on June 12. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he raised $5 million and will report $38 million cash on hand.

In the U.S. Senate primary, a PAC supporting GOP incumbent John Cornyn, Texans for a Conservative Majority, raised $10.9 million in Q2, outpacing its previous high water mark of $7.6 million — for Cornyn’s entire 2020 reelection cycle.

“This first report shows what the arm chair pundits fail to realize — this race is only beginning in earnest,” the PAC’s executive director, Aaron Whitehead, said in a statement to the Tribune’s Owen Dahlkamp. “With eight months to go before the March primary, Texans for a Conservative Majority is well positioned to take the fight to Ken Paxton and independently support Senator John Cornyn’s re-election.”

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MARC LAHOOD BUILDS TLR PRIMARY DEFENSE FUND

Freshman state Rep. Marc LaHood says he raised $1.25 million over the eight days lawmakers were allowed to accept campaign contributions during the latest fundraising period — equaling nearly half of what the San Antonio Republican raised over the entire 2024 cycle. The massive haul gives LaHood a head start in his reelection campaign, which could rival the price tag of last year’s already high-dollar campaign.

Between primarying former Rep. Steve Allison and staving off Democrats in the longtime moderate seat, LaHood ran one of the most expensive Texas House races of 2024. With the deep-pocketed Texans for Lawsuit Reform potentially looking for a primary fight after LaHood helped derail some of their top legislative priorities this session, LaHood may have yet another battle on his hands.

“During this first legislative session, I proved that absolutely nothing matters more to me than doing what is right by our families and our communities,” LaHood said in a press release. “Our historic fundraising reflects the reality that you can vote as a principled conservative Republican and still be an unapologetic voice for working class families.”

LaHood’s latest seven-figure haul, likely to put him in the territory of some candidates for statewide office, came after the moratorium on political contributions surrounding the legislative session was lifted on June 23. To put the eight-day total in perspective, LaHood raised $2.85 million in monetary and in-kind contributions in the 12 months of his campaign leading up to the November 2024 election.

In that cycle, he was up against Allison, establishment-aligned Republican groups and anti-voucher forces. This cycle, if Texans for Lawsuit Reform backs a primary challenger, LaHood will again have a contentious primary before Democrats presumably target him again in the general election.

One key for LaHood in 2024 was that major bankrollers came to his defense. Gov. Greg Abbott’s $704,000 in contributions during the primary made up two-thirds of LaHood’s fundraising totals in that time period. Between Abbott, casino magnate Miriam Adelson’s Texas Defense PAC, TLR PAC, West Texas oilman Tim Dunn’s Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, the pro-voucher Family Empowerment Coalition PAC and political newcomer Alex Fairly’s Dealon LLC, $2.2 million of LaHood’s $2.85 million came from major interests who donated at least six figures to his campaign.

Now that he’s made an enemy of TLR, Texas’ leading tort reform group, LaHood will need to continue raking in big dollars to defend his seat. His early fundraising prowess suggests the anti-TLR forces are ready for the fight.

“TLR is bound to pour a boatload of (dollars) into a campaign to defeat him,” one Capitol veteran told The Blast. “This big war chest should help him fend off their attacks.”

State campaign finance reports for the first half of 2025 are due July 15. That’s when we’ll get a look at who’s supporting LaHood and other candidates as they jockey for elected office.

MIKE OLCOTT LEADING THE CHARGE — WITH TRENT ASHBY IN TOW

A letter sent by state Rep. Mike Olcott and his long list of co-signers exemplifies why the freshman Republican is a rising star to watch within the rightmost flank of the Texas House.

Yesterday, the Fort Worth Republican led 29 of his colleagues in a letter raising the alarm against in-state tuition for migrants. That follows a court order in early June that ended Texas’ long-running policy of letting undocumented students qualify for the lower tuition rates extended to Texas residents.

Olcott, writing to interim Texas University System Chancellor and former state Rep. John Zerwas, asked for data about students who are in the country illegally and sought confirmation that schools in the system are following the new policy of charging those students the full tuition rate and denying them financial aid.

“Should any institution attempt to circumvent this requirement, you risk exposing your institution — and yourselves personally — to legal liability,” Olcott wrote.

It’s Olcott’s name on the letterhead, but the co-signers include the usual suspects of Republicans who oppose House leadership, along with some of the softer “reform”-oriented Republicans, like Reps. Ben Bumgarner, Caroline Harris Davila, Hillary Hickland and Tom Oliverson. The list also includes two recently declared state Senate candidates, Reps. Trent Ashby of Lufkin and David Cook of Mansfield.

Cook is the Allen Blakemore candidate to succeed retiring Sen. Brian Birdwell of Granbury, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s universe has not yet weighed in on Ashby’s campaign for the seat held by retiring Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville. State Republican Executive Committee member Rhonda Ward is occupying the lane to the right of Ashby in the Nichols succession fight.

Ashby, who is serving in his seventh term, runs in the same circles as House leadership, but he voted for Cook in this year’s speaker race against the eventual winner, Dustin Burrows. However, as one of the House’s top rural Republicans, Ashby became an important voice in the negotiations on public school funding in House Bill 2.

Buddying up with Olcott — a protege of outgoing Rep. Tony Tinderholt of Arlington and longtime grassroots activist before his election to the House — is one way for Ashby to boost his conservative bona fides.

This afternoon, Ashby announced more than 70 endorsements from local officials and activists in Senate District 3.

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TRUMP AND DESANTIS ON A REDISTRICTING TIDBIT OF INTEREST

President Donald Trump has so far not publicly weighed in on the prospect of redrawing Texas’ congressional district lines, but comments he made yesterday show it’s not far from his mind.

On site at “Alligator Alcatraz” with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the president endorsed the idea of redoing the 2020 census to count only American citizens — not residents or migrants — for congressional reapportionment. That could prompt a rare mid-decade round of redistricting.

“Ron would love it. I would love it. [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem] would love it,” Trump said. That’s what they have to do. They have to bring it back.”

DeSantis then contended that Florida, which added one new congressional seat after the 2020 census, should have actually gained two.

“Texas should’ve had another one,” he continued. “That could be the difference in the House of Representatives and the majority, so I would love for them to redo the census for ‘26. My Legislature, we’ll redistrict those lines, we’ll get it to where it’s fair. But as it is right now, this country is not fairly apportioned.”

Three bills took effect yesterday:

• HB 1109: creating a new tax exemption for gasoline sold to a county for the county’s exclusive use

• SB 1405: Increasing access to and reducing taxes on broadband

• SB 1902: Transferring dealer-issued license plates

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• The website for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts now officially lists former state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, as the acting comptroller.

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• SD-9: Former Southlake Mayor John Huffman confirms he and his family are “prayerfully considering” running to succeed acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock in the Senate. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has endorsed Patriot Mobile’s Leigh Wambsganss.

• SD-9 cont’d: Wambsganss today announced that she raised $350,000 in a span of less than four days after launching her campaign Friday afternoon. In a press release, she claimed that was a record for a Texas Senate campaign. “She could have been cited for speeding,” “joked” Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn.

• HD-49: Consultant David Weinberg tells The Blast he is considering running for the seat if state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, does not run for comptroller.

• HD-82: Former House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, will run for reelection. Craddick will be 83 when the 2027 session begins and is getting close to serving for a third of Texas’ history as a state.

• HD-93: After state Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, failed to get Patrick’s endorsement in SD-9, Schatzline became Patrick’s first state House endorsement for the cycle. Northwest ISD board trustee Steve Sprowls, who is challenging Schatzline from the center, responded to Patrick’s endorsement yesterday. “This just shows how Nate’s political ambition has led him far astray from the true mission of a state representative.”

• The Henderson County GOP’s executive committee voted 5-1 to censure Palestine state Rep. Cody Harris. That makes at least six Republicans who have been censured by at least one of their county parties. The others are: 

  • Angie Chen Button of Garland

  • Stan Lambert of Abilene

  • John McQueeney of Fort Worth

  • Morgan Meyer of University Park

  • Angelia Orr of Itasca

• House Speaker Dustin Burrows has also been censured — by the Dallas County GOP, which does not operate in his district.

Programming notes: “Renewing our commitment to political and investigative journalism” by Matthew Watkins of The Texas Tribune

“Texas medical marijuana industry to push for hemp age restrictions and delta-8 ban” by Stephen Simpson of The Texas Tribune

“Inside Elon Musk’s stellar year at the Texas Capitol” by Lauren McGaughy of KUT

“New regulations are coming for driverless cars in Texas. Here’s what to know” by Megan Kimble of the Houston Chronicle

Oops: “Hardline Texas Republican may have just leaked his own run against Dan Crenshaw” by Chron.com

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(July 2) U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Friendswood
(July 5) State Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield
(July 6) Former President George W. Bush
(July 6) Gardner Selby

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Disclosure: Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Texas A&M University System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.