The Blast - June 9, 2025

13 days until the governor’s veto deadline

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• Congressional delegation meets about redistricting

• Miller sympathetic to at-risk THC businesses

• Texas GOP’s tough election year continues

CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION MEETS ABOUT REDISTRICTING

Texas’ congressional Republicans just met on Capitol Hill to discuss a push by the White House for the state to do a mid-decade redistricting.

U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Waco, confirmed to Tribune fellow Owen Dahlkamp and other reporters the subject of the meeting. That verified a report this evening from The New York Times, which lent credence to a rumor that’s been floated around Austin.

“There’s a lot we don't know,” Sessions said. “We don’t know how much the governor would want to do or not do. We don’t know whether the governor would include other matters in that or whether it would just be congressional.”

(Big first day for Dahlkamp.)

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MILLER SYMPATHETIC TO AT-RISK THC BUSINESSES

The Blast ran into Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller at lunch today. Like everyone else in Texas, Miller isn’t sure what Gov. Greg Abbott will do with the THC ban.

The governor is weighing the bill, like he does every other one. Although the Legislature passed Senate Bill 3 at the insistence of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and others, Abbott is getting a lot of pressure from businesses — and voters — to veto the bill.

Miller’s view is that the bill would bring Texas back to where things were before 2019, with the medical THC program expanding under House Bill 46 to become what lawmakers had intended.

Still, the commissioner said he feels bad for the 6,000 or so businesses that will go under thanks to the ban.

It’s not a new line for Miller and sympathetic electeds. Last summer, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a similar bill, saying it would “impose debilitating regulatory burdens on small businesses.”

Miller waffled a bit on THC before the session, when Patrick first took aim at the THC market and its legal loophole. In December, Miller posted on social media that “it’s time to support the will of Texans,” citing “the polls.” But less than a month later, the commissioner said he would not come out against Patrick’s effort.

“The Lieutenant Governor is right to go after these unregulated and often illegal businesses,” Miller said in a lengthy statement/op-ed. “Even if the legislature voted to legalize recreational marijuana tomorrow, that legislation would create a legal market with rules, guardrails, checks, and balances. What we have now is the wild west.”

TEXAS GOP’S TOUGH ELECTION YEAR CONTINUES

Texas Democrats are cheering Republican defeats in the runoff elections from over the weekend, headlined by Gina Ortiz Jones’ defeat of Rolando Pablos for San Antonio mayor. But it wasn’t the only loss for Texas’ conservative apparatus.

• McKinney City Council: Former Republican state Rep. Scott Sanford lost his Abbott-backed campaign for mayor to former City Council Member Bill Cox, 56%-44%. Cox was endorsed by outgoing Mayor George Fuller.

• Irving City Council: Businessman David Pfaff defeated casino opponent Sergio Porres in an expensive race, 53%-47%. Porres was the Families for Irving PAC-backed candidate hoping to take up the reins from outgoing Council Member Brad LaMorgese, whom the PAC had backed previously.

• Mansfield City Council: Business-aligned Todd Simmons defeated Tarrant County GOP-backed Melisa Perez in the race to succeed former City Council Member Julie Short, 65%-35%. Short, another Tarrant GOP-backed candidate, resigned to challenge incumbent Mayor Michael Evans but lost that race last month.

At least one North Texas seat flipped the other direction:

• Dallas City Council: Democratic-backed Jeff Kitner lost to conservative Bill Roth 54%-46%, flipping the City Council seat held by outgoing member Jaynie Schultz.

It’s early, but the smaller wins like Jones’ race and others are what down-ballot candidates may be looking at as they weigh whether to launch campaigns for 2026.

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• Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar has certified the state budget as passed by the Legislature. Now it’s off to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.

TX-SEN: The Blast can confirm that U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, is actively looking at a run.

Attorney general: Outgoing Federal Election Commissioner Trey Trainor, a Republican, is considering a run. Semafor reported on Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Aaron Reitz, former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and a former Paxton deputy, is expected to run.

HD-24: Appropriations Committee Chair Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, announced his reelection campaign. Bonnen had been named as a potential candidate to succeed state Sen. Mayes Middleton, the Galveston Republican who is running for attorney general. However, Bonnen’s name had been floated before state Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston, jumped in and picked up the endorsement of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

HD-42: State Rep. Richard Raymond announced that he is running for reelection — as a Democrat. There had been speculation that Raymond, a member of the ever-shrinking cohorts of moderate Democrats, might switch parties, although Raymond has shot down those suggestions.

HD-94: Jackie Schlegel, the executive director of Texans for Medical Freedom, announced a Republican campaign to succeed state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington. Tinderholt has endorsed Cheryl Bean. Meanwhile, check out this ominous post from former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford.

• Former House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, opposed the ban on THC products in a social media post this morning. “The gas station garbage must go while Texans enjoy the freedom they expect from conservative governance,” he wrote. Phelan voted for SB 3 but opposed the amendment that made it a ban instead of taking the House’s regulatory approach.

• A post from Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French this morning: “A few well placed snipers would end violent protests in two seconds.”

• The Congressional Baseball Game is set for Wednesday. No Texans are on the Democrats’ team, but U.S. Rep. Roger Williams of Willow Park will once again coach the Republicans. Other Republicans on the roster are Jake Ellzey of Waxahachie, Morgan Luttrell of Magnolia, Nathaniel Moran of Tyler, August Pfluger of San Angelo, Pete Sessions of Waco — and freshman Craig Goldman of Fort Worth. “It’s not really bipartisan,” Williams said in a promo video for the charity game. “We want to beat each other.” Interested fans can view players’ stats dating back to 2009 here, courtesy of data journalist Nathaniel Rakich.

“A Texas Republican new to Congress, Brandon Gill has a knack for getting noticed” by Katharine Wilson of The Texas Tribune

“Group backed by George Soros to plow millions into turning Texas blue” by Ken Thomas of The Wall Street Journal

In lieu of their Ten Best and Ten Worst: “The nine lawmakers (and one lobbyist) who tell the story of the session” by Allegra Hobbs, Christopher Hooks, Forrest Wilder and Robert Downen of Texas Monthly

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

(June 10) State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen

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