The Blast - Mon, Oct 20, 2025

Early voting begins today
15 days until the November election
19 days until the 2026 primary candidate filing period begins
49 days until the 2026 primary candidate filing deadline

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• Keeping up with the chairs: Abraham George

• And Kendall Scudder

• Edited ad strikes in SD-9 special

• Harless asks Paxton to enter Harris LEO pay fray

KEEPING UP WITH THE CHAIRS: ABRAHAM GEORGE

Texas GOP Chair Abraham George says party leaders held off on barring censured state House members from the 2026 primary in part to preserve the ballot ban for future, worse offenses against the party principles.

As The Blast has covered extensively, county GOPs asked the state party to ban nine Texas House Republicans from the 2026 ballot under the party’s updated Rule 44. Ten total members were up for censure, though the State Republican Executive Committee validated only five censures and rejected every ballot ban request.

In an interview with WFAA’s Jason Whitely last week, George said he didn’t think the censures were strong enough to hold up in court. However, he didn’t get the final say, as he was only one of 64 votes on the matter, and he abstained on each count.

“We want to preserve it,” George said of Rule 44. “It’s our freedom to associate with the people who we think are good, conservative Republicans who we can have on our ballot. If we don’t see a huge reason to remove someone from the ballot, we don’t want to use that.”

“The Rule 44 must be preserved for a real issue that could happen in the next session or the session after,” he continued. “We just wanted to have a good case to take it to court.”

George also predicted that the party would again revisit Rule 44 at the next state convention, slated for June. The rule should clarify what can be included in censures to help a ballot ban hold up in court, he said, calling the current rule vague.

That echoed calls made by the rule’s supporters and opponents during the SREC tribunal this month. Proponents argued the ballot ban rule should reflect the will of the grassroots, not the SREC members.

As for whether he would run for reelection at the next convention, George said he would announce his intentions at the December SREC meeting.

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AND KENDALL SCUDDER

Whitely also interviewed Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder and asked him about the Tribune’s reporting about staff departures.

Over a dozen insiders that The Blast and the Tribune spoke to feared that moving the party’s headquarters now would push out the party’s experienced staffers and potentially fray relationships with party partners.

“The best time to do it, I think, is in an off year, and we’re running out of runway in an off year to do it,” Scudder told Whitely, “so we need to do it quickly, so that whenever we hit the ground running in January, February and March of next year, we’re full-steam ahead.

Scudder said Whitely’s count that seven of nine paid employees are leaving wasn’t accurate. However, he declined to share specifics about departures or how many people they plan to hire, saying he hadn’t prepped the exact numbers for the interview.

They also touched on the Texas Observer’s reporting that the state party is increasingly outsourcing its general election campaign to the Texas Majority PAC. Liberal megadonor George Soros, a conservative boogeyman, has donated $7.5 million to the Texas Majority PAC since 2023. Scudder called it awesome when partners can help support the party’s efforts and that money is a big piece of the campaign puzzle.

“As far as I’m concerned, if you’re fighting to turn Democrats out to win elections in this state, you’re a part of the coordinated campaign now,” Scudder said. “There is no old baggage. We’re not letting personalities get in the way. We’re literally fighting to save this republic right now, and those personalities and that infighting that’s happened in the past, it’s done.”

EDITED AD STRIKES IN SD-9 SPECIAL

Leigh Wambsganss, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s endorsed candidate in the Senate District 9 special election, says her opponent photoshopped a picture of her in a mailer to turn her cross necklace upside down. Alterations like that could’ve been made illegal — or at least disclosed — in a bill that died in the Senate this year.

Wambsganss, who is the chief communications officer at Patriot Mobile, accused the campaign of her main competitor, former Southlake Mayor John Huffman, of altering the photo. In social media posts today, Wambsganss called the alteration demonic and Patrick called it satanic.

“I’ve never seen a campaign do anything this despicable and disgraceful,” Patrick wrote.

“We need to reject evil campaign tactics like this by John Huffman and send them to the dustbin of history.”

Wambsganss and Huffman are the two Republicans running in the special election to succeed Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, who resigned from the Senate to become acting comptroller and run for that statewide office. Early voting in that race began today.

Former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan this year filed House Bill 366, which would have required candidates, their political committees and financial supporters to disclose when political advertising has been altered. The bill narrowly passed the House in April but was never referred to a Senate committee.

It’s up to Patrick and the Senate to refer bills to committees.

Phelan dropped his speaker reelection bid after getting dragged into an open war with Patrick, who supported his 2024 primary challenger. Club for Growth Action PAC ran an ad depicting former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hugging Phelan, which never happened. Club for Growth Action PAC was bankrolled by Jeff Yass, a pro-school voucher Pennsylvania megadonor who financed Gov. Greg Abbott and his voucher primary campaign.

In a social media post, Phelan said the anti-Wambsganss mailer would have been subject to punishment under HB 366, assuming the campaign didn’t disclose the edit.

“As AI gets better with each passing day this will continue to be a challenge for voters seeking accurate and truthful information on candidates,” Phelan wrote.

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HARLESS ASKS PAXTON TO ENTER HARRIS LEO PAY FRAY

Texas House Corrections Committee Chair Sam Harless is asking Attorney General Ken Paxton to weigh in on the Harris County constables pay issue after the county Commissioners Court rejected a higher pay raise for its eight elected constables.

Harless, a retiring Republican from Spring, requested an opinion from Paxton on whether House Bill 4205, signed this year, requires the Harris County Commissioners Court to give elected county constables the same pay raise that was granted to the county sheriff. The request comes a month after commissioners voted 3-2 to raise the constables’ pay by 62% to $260,000, less than the $290,000 the constables had initially requested.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a Democrat, supported the constable pay raises and supported pay raises for sheriff deputies earlier this year. His base salary is up to $330,012.

Those pay increases were part of the reported $100 million in law enforcement pay raises the county approved last month despite its $200 million budget deficit.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo opposed both proposed constable pay raises, pointing to the county’s budget crunch. The Commissioners Court had already raised constables’ pay from $133,000 to $179,000 in the previous fiscal year.

HB 4205, which Harless filed alongside Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, says that any law enforcement pay raise made at one agency in Harris County should apply across the board within their class, an effort to limit pay disparities among agencies that lead law enforcement officials to leave for better-paying departments.

Harless believes the Harris County constables and sheriff pay should be linked, and he wants to know whether the county should modify its newly adopted budget.

During this year’s legislative sessions, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt took the lead on a number of high-profile issues: reducing housing costs, property taxes, replacing the STAAR test and more. 

Bettencourt and Tribune Editor-in-Chief Matthew Watkins will look back on the sessions and look ahead to their impact on 2026.

Doors open at Lonestar College-University Park in Houston at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, and the one-hour event begins at noon.

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• Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach’s response to Democratic state Rep. James Talarico’s new Senate ad about inflation hitting the state fair was the runner-up for Post of the Day.

• Gov. Greg Abbott will speak at a get out the vote event in Cypress tomorrow afternoon for the constitutional amendment election.

• TX-18: Candidates in the special election are now required to report donations of $1,000 or more. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee on Saturday reported raising $17,000 the day before. Former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards reported raising $5,000. State Rep. Jolanda Jones reported raising $8,000 total on Thursday and Friday.

• HD-61: Former state Rep. Frederick Frazier last week announced his campaign to retake the district after losing his primary last year to state Rep. Keresa Richardson. Both are McKinney Republicans.

• The Blast hasn’t confirmed the Daily Mail’s and Current Revolt’s reporting that U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, was romantically involved with his regional district director, Regina Aviles of Uvalde, before she died from severe burns in a fire at her home. We’re sharing the Daily Mail’s story because it’s a storyline to be aware of. YouTuber and Second Amendment activist Brandon Herrera is primarying Gonzales after coming within 400 votes of beating him in the 2024 runoff.

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“In special election for Houston congressional seat, candidates confront a bewildered electorate” by Gabby Birenbaum of The Texas Tribune

“UT Austin professor dismissed from administrative duties for ‘ideological differences’” by Greta Díaz González Vázquez of KUT

“Student activists sue Texas over new age verification app download law” by Mary Elise Cosgray of The Texan

The Texas connection: “How Russell Vought became Trump’s shadow president” by Andy Kroll of ProPublica

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

(Oct. 20) State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston
(Oct. 20) The State Preservation Board’s Chris Currens

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