The Blast - October 6, 2025

14 days until early voting begins
29 days until the November election
33 days until the 2026 primary candidate filing period begins
63 days until the 2026 primary candidate filing deadline

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• Hunt shakes up the race

• Kelly Hancock announces voucher name and operator

• Miller refuses to apologize after post about Islam

HUNT SHAKES UP THE RACE

After months of flirting with the idea of challenging U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt has joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in trying to primary Texas’ senior senator.

Hunt, a second-term Republican from Houston, and allied groups have spent months running statewide ads praising Hunt as an ally to President Donald Trump. They even ran an ad in the airwaves near Mar-a-Lago, prompting the president to call it a good ad.

But the White House hasn’t openly weighed in on the race. Cornyn’s team has several notable Trump personnel. Trump political adviser Chris LaCivita has joined the Cornyn-aligned Texans for a Conservative Majority PAC, and Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio is running Cornyn’s polling. However, Trump has declined to endorse yet, calling them both friends. That left the door open for Hunt.

Initial polls showed Cornyn down by double digits. However, Cornyn was tied or ahead in the two most recent public polls, and Decision Desk HQ’s polling average put Cornyn ahead for the first time late last month — by less than 1 point.

The gap may have closed thanks to the Cornyn campaign and his supporters spending big, and early. In an interview today with Walton & Johnson Radio, a conservative show airing along the Gulf Coast, Hunt said he’s running because Paxton hasn’t been fighting back.

“Ken hasn’t spent a dime and he’s not hitting back,” Hunt said, noting the filing deadline is coming up in December. “Somebody has to get in this race and fight back.”

Hunt running for Senate also means there’s yet another opening in Congress. Texas Republicans targeted five seats for a flip with their latest redistricting, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul of Austin is retiring and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin is running for attorney general.

Jon Bonck, who was running in the nearby 2nd Congressional District, announced he would instead run for Hunt’s seat and was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in short order. Cruz called Bonck a longtime friend.

Aviation industry leader Shelly deZevallos announced her campaign with support from state Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, and other local leaders. Army veteran and Houston businessman Barrett McNabb entered the race, as well.

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KELLY HANCOCK ANNOUNCES VOUCHER NAME AND OPERATOR

Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced today that Texas’ school voucher program will be called Texas Education Freedom Accounts and that Odyssey, which manages voucher programs in several states, will operate Texas’ program.

“We’re moving quickly to launch this program, keeping the end goal in sight every step of the way — giving parents the freedom to choose the best educational path for their children to reach their God-given potential,” Hancock said in a press release. “This is about empowering families, expanding opportunity and making sure every child can learn in the environment that works best for them.”

Hearst Newspapers’ Isaac Yu was the first with the news.

Odyssey, which is based in Manhattan, runs similar programs in Iowa, Georgia, Louisiana, Utah and Wyoming. Andreessen Horowitz and Tusk Venture Partners have been financial backers, according to ProPublica.

Odyssey has hired Luis Saenz, former chief of staff to Gov. Greg Abbott, and Daniel Warner, a policy adviser to former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, as lobbyists.

MILLER REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE AFTER POST ABOUT ISLAM

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is pushing back against calls from a Muslim advocacy group to apologize for an anti-Islamic post he shared on his social media feed late last week.

On Friday, Miller posted an image where “Islam” is depicted as a snake attacking a man’s leg. The man is holding a knife that is labeled as the “solution.” Miller posted an image with the caption, “It is about that time.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations asked Miller to apologize and called on other state leaders to condemn his statements.

“The graphic and the accompanying comment dangerously suggest that violence is an appropriate and necessary response to the presence of Islam or Muslims in society,” Shaimma Zayan, operations manager for CAIR-Texas, said in a statement. “The portraying of Islam — a religion practiced by some two billion people around the world and hundreds of thousands of Texans — as a ‘threat’ to be eradicated is not only deeply Islamophobic but also incites violence and hatred against the Muslim community.”

Over the weekend, Miller posted a link to CAIR-TX’s press release calling the group a “Hamas-financier and Muslim Brotherhood affiliate,” telling them to “go straight to hell.”

On Monday, he said in a press release that he depicted an image addressing concerns with “radical Islam.” However, the image Miller posted does not use the word radical and just says Islam. Miller refused to apologize.

“Commissioner Miller’s statement underscores his commitment to defending traditional American values, including Christianity, the Constitution, and liberty, and asserts that he will not be intimidated by groups he views as tied to terrorism,” the press release said.

Miller has caught flak for his social media posts before. In 2015, he posted an image on his campaign Facebook page that appeared to call for the atomic bombing of “the Muslim world.”

Miller’s campaign spokesperson Todd Smith said at the time that Miller did not personally share the photo and they had no plans to determine who on his campaign staff did.

— Kate McGee

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• Attorney general: The campaign of U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, says it’s raised nearly $4 million in 45 days.

• TX-18: Democrat Isaiah Martin has a new ad in the special election contest, which is just under a month away.

• TX-21: Trey Trainor, a longtime GOP operative and former chair of the Federal Election Commission, launched his campaign to succeed Roy. Trainor resigned from his seat on the FEC last week after a five-year stint on the commission. Read more from the Tribune’s Gabby Birenbaum.

• HD-21: Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed Texas Medical Association President Ray Callas of Beaumont to succeed former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, in his state House seat. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz have previously endorsed him.

Texans for Medical Freedom endorsed Sens. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, and Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, and state Reps. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, Lacey Hull, R-Houston, and Jeff Leach, R-Allen.

• Big day for Ray Callas: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday accused the Texas Medical Association of skirting new federal recommendations that childhood COVID-19 vaccinations are no longer needed. Read more from the Tribune’s Terri Langford.

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 & 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. 

RSVP today

• Texas A&M will hold its funeral service for Reveille IX on Friday.

• Gov. Greg Abbott, former governor and former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, state Reps. Cody Harris and Drew Darby, Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office Director Jarred Shaffer, Public Utility Commission of Texas Chair Thomas Gleeson and more are slated to speak at the Texas Nuclear Summit next week at the Fairmont Hotel in Austin.

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

• Texans for Life Coalition announced Joe Pojman as its new president, succeeding the late Kyleen Wright. Pojman recently retired as executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.

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“Greg Abbott authorizes Trump to deploy Texas National Guard to other states” by Alex Nguyen and Marijke Friedman of The Texas Tribune

“Abbott appoints Republican Harris County criminal court judge three years after disputed election” by Holly Hansen of The Texan

Op-ed: “This is no time to go wobbly on ObamaCare” by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy in The Wall Street Journal

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

(Oct. 6) Former state Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria
(Oct. 6) U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin
(Oct. 7) Opal Lee, the “grandmother of Juneteenth”
(Oct. 7) State Rep. Charlene Ward Johnson, D-Houston

SPONSOR MESSAGES 

St. David's Foundation - Safety net clinics are a key resource in providing affordable healthcare for the uninsured and underinsured – yet access to timely, responsive care remains out of reach for many Central Texans. Learn more.

Texas State Technical College - Customized training for a skilled workforce. It is happening now at The WorkSITE at Texas Industrial Park in Waco.

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Disclosure: The Fairmont Hotel, Texas A&M University, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Texas Medical Association 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.