The Blast - October 1, 2025

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The Blast | Texas Tribune
October 01, 2025

By Renzo Downey and The Texas Tribune Politics Team

19 days until early voting begins
34 days until the November election
38 days until the 2026 primary candidate filing period begins
68 days until the 2026 primary candidate filing deadline

IN TODAY’S BLAST

  • Marc LaHood on watch

  • Familiar faces, new jerseys in HD-118

  • TX-SEN updates

MARC LAHOOD ON WATCH

As campaign season heats up, Texans for Lawsuit Reform is beginning to flex its campaign muscle after its top legislative priorities died in the 2025 regular session.

Fifteen state lawmakers were pictured at a TLR fundraiser last night. A photo posted by Quorum Report’s Scott Braddock included freshman members TLR called out as villains in its session postmortem: Reps. Andy Hopper of Decatur, Mitch Little of Lewisville, Shelley Luther of Tom Bean, Brent Money of Greenville and Katrina Pierson of Rockwall.

Absent from the fundraiser was freshman Rep. Marc LaHood, a San Antonio Republican and personal injury attorney who emerged as TLR’s top enemy for his role in killing Senate Bill 30, a bill to lower medical costs in personal injury lawsuits. LaHood has operated somewhere in the middle of the self-described reform caucus, breaking at times from the most hardline conservatives without fully toeing the establishment line.

LaHood told The Blast today that he has not spoken to anyone at TLR since the end of the regular session, and it’s “pretty clear” that they’ll be lining up a candidate against him. LaHood says his strategy for the primary will be the same as always, from his unsuccessful 2022 campaign for Bexar County district attorney to his ousting of former Rep. Steve Allison last year.

“I know what I believe. Be honest. Be consistent,” LaHood said.

This week, LaHood is collecting signatures for a letter requesting that Gov. Greg Abbott call a special session to address Kratom, taxpayer-funded lobbying, “subsidies” for illegal immigration and property taxes. LaHood is giving members until Friday to sign the letter, which is dated for next Monday. His office has even reached out to Democrats for their signature.

Candidates are beginning to jump in against LaHood. Two weeks ago, Republican David McArthur launched his campaign and listed priorities that included a commitment to “stopping the liberal lawfare that’s driving up costs on Texas families,” an apparent nod to SB 30.

“Texas House District 121 needs a proven conservative who delivers results, not excuses,” McArthur said in a statement.

McArthur has 17 followers on the platform formerly known as Twitter — including Allison, the anti-voucher San Antonio Republican who LaHood successfully primaried last year with the help of Abbott and others. Allison endorsed LaHood’s Democratic challenger in the general election.

Also vying for the seat is former San Antonio City Council member Reed Williams, previously a Republican, who says he will challenge LaHood as a Democrat.

In June, LaHood’s campaign got a $200,000 boost from Texans for Truth and Liberty, a PAC founded this year off a $10 million investment from Arnold and Itkin that appears to be positioning itself as the trial lawyers’ foil to TLR. The PAC also gave $100,000 to Little, $50,000 to Pierson and $25,000 each to Hopper and Money, as well as other lawmakers who’ve resisted TLR’s tort reform priorities.

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FAMILIAR FACES, NEW JERSEYS IN HD-118

In another San Antonio race to watch, former Democratic state Rep. Leo Pacheco and recent Texas Public Policy Foundation education specialist Jorge Borrego are wading into the Republican primary to succeed state Rep. John Lujan.

Pacheco, the former chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party, resigned from the Legislature in 2021 after being censured by the county party for voting in favor of permitless carry. Lujan succeeded him in a nailbiter special election and has held the seat in similarly close contests the last two cycles. But now, Lujan is running in the new 35th Congressional District.

Two sources tell The Blast that Pacheco has hired consultant Mitch Carney, son of Gov. Greg Abbott’s strategist, Dave Carney.

House District 118 is one of the few Republican-held seats Democrats believe they have a shot at in 2026. Democrat Kristian Carranza is making a second run for the seat after losing to Lujan in 2024 by 3.5 points, and members of her party are hopeful they can win it back due to potential electoral blowback to the Trump administration and the fact that the incumbent won’t be on the ballot.

Borrego resigned from his role as K-12 education policy director at TPPF days ago and has changed his social media bio to show he’s an HD-118 candidate.

Pacheco isn’t the only erstwhile Democrat running in HD-118. Attorney Desi Martinez, who ran as a Democrat in the 2021 special election, told the San Antonio Report last month that he will run as a Republican.

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TX-SEN UPDATES

State Rep. James Talarico has set a new bar for Democratic fundraising in Texas, raising $6.2 million in the first three weeks of his campaign for Senate.

For some perspective, the Austin Democrat’s competitor in the primary, former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas, raised $6.2 million in the first two months of his 2024 Senate campaign. Before that, former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso needed nine months to raise that amount in 2018.

Allred, who launched on July 1, the start of Q3, says he raised $4.1 million over the three-month period. That puts Talarico in the fundraising lead ahead of the March primary.

Texas’ statewide races have reached stratospheric levels of campaign spending in recent cycles, though the Allred-Talarico race figures to be the first Democratic primary to feature two fundraising juggernauts. Whoever emerges as the nominee will have to overcome an even bigger mountain of cash in the general election, where Republicans will be determined to extend their three-decade statewide winning streak. 

Incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, hasn’t posted his Q3 totals yet, but he finished June with $5.9 million cash on hand in his campaign account. We’re also still waiting to see Attorney General Ken Paxton’s haul, though he posted a strong Q2 number in the first fundraising period of his challenge against Cornyn, outraising the incumbent when accounting for limits on how much Cornyn could pull from his joint fundraising committee.

Cornyn has been spending early to preemptively deny state Paxton a shot at the Republican nomination. In a few days, we’ll know how the fundraising looks on the GOP side.

It looks like Cornyn’s “spend early” strategy may be working. The four-term Republican today pulled ahead of Paxton for the first time in the Decision Desk HQ polling average of the race. That comes on the back of a Sept. 20-22 poll commissioned by and distributed by groups tied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, who commands a financial network that is backing Cornyn.

Texas is running out of water, with increases in demand, outdated infrastructure and a changing climate straining the state’s supply. In response, state lawmakers are making big investments to boost supply and protect against future disasters, and are asking voters to approve $10 billion in new spending over the next decade. Will this be enough?

On Oct. 8, Texas Tribune environmental reporter Alejandra Martinez will moderate a conversation with policy experts about the state’s water crisis, water supply fights in East Texas — one of the few water-rich regions in the state — and solutions that are proposed across the state.

Speakers include: 

  • Janice Bezanson, senior policy director, Texas Conservation Alliance

  • Kelley Holcomb, general manager, Angelina and Neches River Authority

  • Jeremy Mazur, director of infrastructure and natural resources policy, Texas 2036

Doors open at Longview Community Center at 6:30 p.m. and the one-hour conversation begins at 7 p.m. 

  • TX-SEN: Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, will be in South Texas tomorrow through Saturday.

  • Attorney General: Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, endorsed U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin.

  • HD-50: State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, formally endorsed her chief of staff, Samantha Lopez-Resendez, to succeed state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin.

  • HD-71: Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC endorsed Jay Hardaway to succeed retiring state Rep. Stan Lambert, R-Abilene.

  • HD-135: Democrat Odus Evbagharu released endorsements today from numerous community leaders and elected officials after formally launching his campaign to succeed his old boss, outgoing state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has rolled out ads attacking Democrats on the government shutdown in 42 battleground districts across the country, including against Texas Democratic U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen. The ad buy is reportedly four figures.

  • Asked today if the state’s new Houston crime prevention initiative was a signal to President Donald Trump that Texas has crime under control, Gov. Greg Abbott said, “There’s never been any threat or any assertion that that may be happening in Texas because the president does know that I, as governor, as well as our local law enforcement, we are very committed to this.”

  • State. Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, concurred with conservative podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey after Pope Leo XIV said someone who opposes abortion but favors the death penalty “is not really pro-life.” “‘I am for the death penalty for the same reason I’m against abortion: I value innocent life,’” Leach said, quoting Stuckey. “Well said.” Leach’s post came minutes before he joined a press conference to argue against the execution of death row inmate Robert Roberson.

  • Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows will speak at an American Legislative Exchange Council planning meeting ahead of the conservative organization’s 2025 State and Nation Policy Summit in Fort Worth in December. The planning meeting, taking place in the Austin Club on Oct. 15, will include speeches from state Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, and state Rep. Caroline Harris Davila, R-Round Rock, and a video message from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, and state Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston, serve as state chairs for ALEC, which promotes model conservative legislation among state legislatures.

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“Texas halts commercial drivers licenses for many immigrants” by Colleen DeGuzman of The Texas Tribune

“Texas redistricting case could reshape House balance after 2026” by Elena Mejía and Joe Lovinger of Bloomberg

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

(Oct. 2) State Rep. Oscar Longoria, D-Mission

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Disclosure: The New York Times, Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Public Policy Foundation 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.