The Blast - June 23, 2025

28 days until the first special session

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• “Where has he been all session?”

• Special session fodder and special session leverage

• SD 9 vacancy’s impact on the special session

• Joan Huffman enters the AG race

“WHERE HAS HE BEEN ALL SESSION?”

Just as the 2023 special sessions began with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick digging in against Gov. Greg Abbott, the 2025 special session season appears to be beginning on the wrong foot.

In a press conference about 13 hours after Abbott vetoed the THC ban, Senate Bill 3, Patrick accused the governor of blindsiding him.

“What puzzled me was, the last time I talked to the governor in the Capitol before session, he said, ‘Don’t worry about the bill.’ He said, ‘Your bill is fine.’ That’s what he told me in front of witnesses,” Patrick recalled. “Where has he been all session?”

He said Abbott didn’t give him a courtesy call or ask for a final defense of the bill.

In a response to the Tribune, Abbott’s spokesperson did not address Patrick’s accusation that Abbott had backtracked on THC, but he said the governor is looking forward to working with the Legislature on the matter.

“Governor Abbott has always shared the lieutenant governor’s desire to ensure that THC products are not sold to our children and that the dangerous synthetic drugs that we have seen recently are banned,” spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said. “SB 3 was well intentioned but legally flawed and this is why he is putting it on the special session agenda so that it can be fixed, improved and signed into law.”

It’s a little reminiscent of the 2023 fight over property taxes, when Abbott swooped in to mediate the disagreements between the House and the Senate in the final run-up to sine die and endorsed a compression-only approach during the special sessions.

On the first day of the first special session, Patrick noted that the governor had “finally shown his cards.” In a press conference the following week, Patrick suggested the governor arrived late to the debate, perhaps without bearings on the situation.

“Suddenly, he said, ‘this is my plan.’ I don’t know if he knows what’s in the plan, and if someone told him otherwise, they’ve given him bad advice.”

The fight was the first time he and the governor had disagreed publicly, at least to that extent.

But Patrick also seemed to have public opinion on his side during the property tax fight. When it comes to a THC ban, polls show that Patrick is in the minority of Republican voters.

The phrase “nanny state Dan” has entered the public discourse. One Capitol insider described Patrick as being “so far off the public’s pulse” on THC. Another added that Patrick looks “unhinged” compared to Abbott.

And as for Patrick’s complaints about Abbott weighing in late on THC, several insiders say it wasn’t an unusual move by the governor.

“It’s certainly not a new pattern,” one told The Blast, “and it’s a little hypocritical to invite Abbott into the process when Patrick usually seems so resistant to his influence.”

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SPECIAL SESSION FODDER AND SPECIAL SESSION LEVERAGE

When the dust settled at midnight, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a total of 26 bills from the 2025 regular session. In addition to SB 3, Abbott named five bills that he will tee up for the special session starting on July 21, including Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s “coming for the pimps” bill.

Along with that bill, SB 1278, and the judicial omnibus bill, SB 2878, another piece of legislation that could find its way into the special session is SB 2111 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso. That bill attempted to implement recommendations from the Indigent Defense Commission, but Abbott in his veto statement said the bill would go too far in requiring counsel for post-conviction habeas proceedings.

“I look forward to considering other parts of this criminal justice bill if legislators can agree to deny bail to repeat murderers, rapists, and human traffickers,” Abbott said, a nod to SJR 87, which failed during the regular session by only three votes.

Other vetoed criminal justice bills that Abbott said he looks forward to revisiting include HB 305, which would have set a timeline for pretrial hearings after a criminal defendant is made fit to stand trial, and HB 413, which would have prevented defendants from being held in jail longer than their maximum jail sentence. Those could be ripe for special session fodder to keep Democrats at the table, which could be important if the special session’s focus shifts to redistricting, as the White House hopes.

And as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick lashes out against the SB 3 veto, an interesting loss for him is that the Texas Compassionate Use Program, as he put it, “is worthless now” with the THC ban gone.

Patrick meant that the TCUP medical THC bill, HB 46, is now moot policy, but it’s also worthless as a hostage. The bill was intertwined with the hemp regulation/ban debate during the regular session, and now Patrick has lost it as a carrot for the House. Gone, too, is his ability to use school funding as leverage.

SD 9 VACANCY’S IMPACT ON THE SPECIAL SESSION

While The Blast was off Thursday and Friday, state Sen. Kelly Hancock resigned and announced his campaign for Texas comptroller. That means Senate District 9 doesn’t have a senator lined up for the special session. But there’s still time.

In most cases, the Texas Election Code says to wait to fill the seat till the next uniform election date if there’s a legislative vacancy outside of the regular session. However, the law does allow for an expedited special election “during the 60 days immediately prior to the date of convening any session.”

With the special session set for July 21, the Legislature is well within the 60-day window, meaning the governor could call an election if he wants to. The law prescribes that such a special election must take place on a Tuesday or a Saturday between 21 and 45 days after calling for the election. 

So far, state Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, has expressed interest in running for SD 9. State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, was a rumored contender but reaffirmed today that he plans to run for reelection.

The other Republican in the House who overlaps with Hancock’s old seat is freshman Rep. David Lowe of North Richland Hills. Also in the area is former representative and current Tarrant County Commissioner Matt Krause, although Krause told The Blast he was content with his current gig.

If Abbott is good with the list of SD 9 candidates, maybe he would call for an expedited election.

Still, there’s the question of how quickly Tarrant County elections officials could prepare a ballot. There’s also the practical question of why bother.

An empty Republican seat hardly changes the math for passing bills in the Senate. The threshold for five-ninths, two-thirds and four-fifths votes drops by one with a member missing, meaning a vacant Republican seat would have little effect on those votes. However, the number for a simple majority remains 16, meaning Republicans could now only bleed three votes from their 19-11 majority to pass any contentious bill.

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JOAN HUFFMAN ENTERS THE AG RACE

State Sen. Joan Huffman is now the third GOP candidate running to succeed Ken Paxton as attorney general.

The former judge and assistant district attorney from Houston today launched her campaign with a swing at her Republican opponents.

“You want an experienced attorney,” she said, “not someone who’s never seen the inside of a courtroom or is simply a young politician climbing the political ladder.”

The experienced attorney line was a clear dig at fellow Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, who has made his career as a businessman rather than as an attorney. The young politician line could refer to Middleton, 43, or former Paxton and Ted Cruz staffer Aaron Reitz, 38. Reitz certainly took it to mean him.

“While I agree w/ her that our nominee should have seen the inside a courtroom, her attack on me as a ‘young’ politician is totally misleading,” he posted on social media. “W/ my hairstyle, I could be at least 70. I will not exploit for political purposes my opponents’ youth & inexperience!”

It was a chummy welcome into the race — apart from calling her the liberals’ candidate.

Unlike Middleton, Huffman is not up for reelection in 2026. If she loses the race, she’ll still be around for the 2027 regular session.

• SB 22, the film incentives bill that was a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, will take effect without Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature.

• The House Natural Resources Committee will meet on July 15 to hear invited testimony on the impact of high-capacity and large volume groundwater production in the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District.

Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup!

Texas’ future takes center stage at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, happening Nov. 13-15 in downtown Austin. TribFest brings together Texas’ boldest thinkers and doers for three days of conversations guaranteed to inspire, challenge and surprise you.

The newest additions to the lineup include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O’Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer.

These dynamic speakers — and hundreds more — will take the TribFest stage to dive into the issues shaping Texans and the nation. See the lineup so far.

Get tickets now and join us this November. Donate $50 or more to become a Texas Tribune member and get a ticket discount, access to members-only sessions, and more. Also, discounted tickets (just $65!) are available for educators and students.

Buy your tickets now and see the future of Texas at TribFest.

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

TX-SEN: Terry Virts, a former astronaut and International Space Station commander, announced Monday he is running as a Democrat. Read the story here.

Comptroller: An interesting line from Gov. Greg Abbott’s endorsement of former state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills: “I endorse Kelly Hancock because I want a candidate who will actually win the election, not someone who has already lost an election to a Democrat.” The frontrunner before Hancock entered the race was former state Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, who challenged Abbott in the 2022 primary elections after losing his 2018 reelection to Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas.

Travis County Democratic Party: The TDCP’s executive committee has elected Doug Greco to be the party’s next chair. Greco, 54, succeeds Pooja Sethi, who is running for the state House seat held by Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin.

Fundraisers

With the end of the moratorium on political contributions, it’s now fundraiser season. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows will have a fundraiser at The Driskill tomorrow morning. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had his fundraiser this morning.

Comptroller: Hancock, who resigned last week to run for comptroller, has a fundraiser set for Thursday morning.

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

• Outgoing Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp has joined the Collegiate Edu-Nation board of directors after the board approved the appointment this week.

“With prospects of a THC ban eroded, Texas hemp industry supports age restrictions, more regulation enforcement” by Stephen Simpson of The Texas Tribune

“Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes funding for federal summer lunch program” by Terri Langford of The Texas Tribune

“Former Harris County DA Kim Ogg calls herself ‘bad Democrat’ in quest for job in Trump administration” by Keri Blakinger of the Houston Chronicle

“A nasty Texas primary campaign has Republicans in a panic” by Elizabeth Findell, Lindsay Wise and Mark Maremont of The Wall Street Journal

“House Democrats will decide Tuesday whether to hand Jasmine Crockett top oversight job” by Joseph Morton of The Dallas Morning News

“Tesla’s robotaxi service begins cautiously in Texas” by Joann Muller of Axios

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