The Blast - Wed, Jul. 8, 2026

118 days until the midterms

The Big Three are coalescing around the plan to close the GOP primaries during the next legislative session.

After Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed the Texas GOP request at the party’s state convention last month, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick today backed closing the primaries during an interview on the Mark Davis Show.

“I think the Senate will support it, and I’ll support it,” Patrick said.

Then, House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ office chimed in.

“Speaker Burrows is working hard to make sure every Republican is reelected so they can work on Republican priorities, including this one, next session,” Burrows spokesperson Kim Carmichael said in a statement to reporters.

It wasn’t as full-throated an endorsement as Abbott or Patrick, but an implicit endorsement nonetheless, and a good sign for the bill’s legislative outlook.

The Texas GOP tried going the legislative route last year. After they made zero progress, the party sued Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson in a bid to force the state’s hand with the freedom of association. Now, Nelson is almost out the door, and Abbott has tapped now-former state Rep. Nate Schatzline to lead the legislative push for election integrity.

Patrick, speaking on the radio, suggested Schatzline would advocate for closed primaries in that role, saying it would be his job to “drum that up.”

As recently as November, members of the House GOP Caucus were open to closing the primaries — as long as the data supported the plan. During a TribFest panel that month, state Rep. Mitch Little of Lewisville called it an “absolute no-brainer,” but state Reps. Jeff Leach of Allen and David Spiller of Jacksboro each said they wanted to make sure closed primaries wouldn’t backfire against Republicans.

“Closing primaries is a major, major change in the way we run elections and voter opportunities in Texas, and my concern is that we haven’t had that discussion and deliberation in public — on the floor of the Texas House, on the floor of the Texas Senate — for our voters to see and take part in it,” Leach said. “I would like to see that happen next session.”

Spiller said he wanted to do what’s best for the party long term.

“I don’t want us to shoot ourselves in the foot,” he said.

Leach, in particular, raised concerns that closing the primaries could hurt regions that were trending red, like in South Texas. Little said he hadn’t seen any data supporting those fears, and he disputed a study from centrist Unite America that closing the primaries would cost the state 219,000 jobs and $26 billion in revenue by 2050.

Leach and Spiller did not return The Blast’s requests for updated comment.

Patrick made the data-focused pitch during his interview, noting that less than 2% of voters have voted in both Republican and Democratic primaries. Yet, that share can change the course of a race, he said.

He also addressed concerns about the Hispanic vote, bringing up GOP gains in the Rio Grande Valley. There, voters have historically voted for Democrats, and depending on the bill language, could be barred from voting in GOP primaries.

“If they are forced to vote in the Democrat primaries, will they cross over and vote for us in the general?” Patrick asked, summarizing the questions from critics. “If you pigeonhole someone that you can’t, well, can you ever get people to grow our party?”

In a social media post, former Texas GOP general counsel Rachel Hooper, a proponent of closed primaries who laid the groundwork for the party’s lawsuit, called South Texas concerns “illogical.”

“Now, if a South Texas voter participates in the Republican primary, that is public information. So, if they register as a Republican, that would be no different,” she said. “Texas Republicans just want to restrict our team selection to Republicans.”

Patrick also predicted some Republican-leaning (and Democratic-leaning) voters will register as independents. Nevertheless, he stood by the Texas GOP goal.

Former party Chair Matt Rinaldi called Patrick’s points valid, but flipped the idea on its head. Closed primaries gatekeep the vote but also anchor voters to the party, he responded in a social media thread.

“This anchoring effect benefits the majority party, for which retention is paramount,” Rinaldi wrote. “Evidence shows that registration is not only symbolic. It is a formal, public act that strengthens psychological attachment to a party and influences partisan identity.”

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It’s a radio kind of day in the state of Texas. After Patrick made news with Mark Davis, Gov. Greg Abbott guest hosted the Sean Hannity Show, where U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz called in and warned that Democratic state Rep. James Talarico has a shot at flipping the Lone Star State this year.

“Unfortunately, I do think he has a real chance,” Cruz said. “I think this is a real race. I think it’s going to be close. I think we’re going to win, I think we’re going to keep Texas red, but the polling right now shows this is a 1- or 2-point race.”

Cruz called the Austin Democrat “radical” and “extreme” for labeling God nonbinary, saying there are six recognized sexes and previously running a “non-meat” reelection campaign, all part of the trove of attacks Republicans have unfurled against the Democratic Senate nominee.

(“As you know well, governor, in Texas, we like our damn barbecue,” Cruz said.)

Cruz, Texas’ future senior senator, speaks from some experience. At 2.6 points, his 2018 reelection margin marked Texas’ closest statewide race this millennium. Recent public polling has shown Talarico running neck and neck with the GOP nominee, Attorney General Ken Paxton — well ahead of where the polls had Cruz’s opponent, Beto O’Rourke, at the same point six years ago.

As in 2018, the national environment looks ripe for Democrats given voter backlash to President Donald Trump, whose approval rating has settled just under 40% since late April. And once again, Texas Democrats are running a candidate who hopes to appeal to middle-of-the-road voters.

“This guy is also charming,” Cruz warned. “He is affable, he sounds like a preacher, and I worry about the voters who may not be paying close attention to the issues, who just turn on the TV and say, ‘Oh, he seems like a nice young man.’”

Abbott, who subbed in for all three hours of Hannity’s daytime talk radio show, was more optimistic.

“I personally think Talarico is going to be very beatable once Texans get to know who he really is,” the governor said, pointing to the litany of attack lines Cruz recounted.

Paxton has faced his own share of attack ads, including from Republicans hoping to stop him from ousting U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the primary. Cruz encouraged Republicans and “ordinary commonsense Texans” to vote, echoing concerns Patrick has raised repeatedly about the prospect of a divided GOP spelling the party’s defeat. In particular, Patrick has called on Cornyn to do more to help Paxton.

“We need John to come around,” Patrick told Mark Davis in the morning, also questioning whether acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock had endorsed his successor, GOP nominee Don Huffines, since losing the primary.

Later in the show, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott, a senator from South Carolina, likened Talarico’s values to the “amorality” of embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who has described himself as a democratic socialist. Platner suspended his campaign today amid accusations of rape and sexual misconduct.

“Democrats are bound and determined to turn the page to socialism today and communism tomorrow,” Scott said.

Abbott, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, and Cruz, a former state solicitor general, also discussed the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship. The pair discussed ways around the ruling outside of a constitutional amendment, including passing a federal law or executive order denying visas to women who are visibly pregnant.

“If it’s someone coming before there’s any indication they’re pregnant, that’s one thing, but if someone is seven, eight, nine months pregnant and visibly pregnant, I think the administration ought to say we will not grant a tourist visa, visitor visa or any other visa to anyone who is pregnant,” Cruz said. “That makes sense, and there’s no legal impediment to doing that.”

The governor’s other guests in the three-hour show included White House border czar Tom Homan, Elon Musk, Buc’ee’s founder and CEO Arch “Beaver” Aplin III and Longhorns Football Coach Steve Sarkisian. Notably, neither Homan nor Abbott addressed the fatal shooting of a man in Houston on Tuesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

Humoring the governor, Musk told Abbott he’d try to get a Texas flag emoji on his social media platform, drawing a round of applause from the governor over the air.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has launched a digital ad accusing Republican Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina of helping steer a county contract to one of his congressional campaign donors.

The ad began running last week on Facebook and Instagram, and links to the Salon story that raised the pay-to-play allegation. The contract for GPS trackers went to Laredo-based Monarch Tracking, whose CEO, Neal Hill, donated $2,582.64 last July, reportedly around the time the county began soliciting proposals, and $781.56 in October, less than a week before the meeting where Tijerina expressed his support for Monarch Tracking’s bid.

“Tano Tijerina pushed to award his campaign donor a lucrative taxpayer-funded government contract,” reads the ad.

In response, a Tijerina campaign spokesperson defended the contract, saying the story left out that Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar — the brother of Tijerina’s opponent, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo — said the county needed GPS and camera equipment. The spokesperson also noted that Sheriff Cuellar supported awarding the contract to a Laredo-based company, and that the contract was approved by the county commissioners court.

“Before they take a swing at Judge Tijerina, they might want to figure out whose name is actually all over this,” the spokesperson told The Blast.

The DCCC plans to spend five figures on the digital spot.

“Tano Tijerina is a self-interested politician who cares more about political ambition than he does about serving the people of South Texas,” DCCC spokesperson Madison Andrus said in a statement to The Blast. “DCCC is going to make sure that every single voter in TX-28 knows who Tano Tijerina truly is when they go to cast their vote in November.”

In April, the DCCC promoted reporting from the Laredo Morning Times about a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing Tijerina of avoiding Texas’ resign-to-run provision. He launched his exploratory committee in June 2025 but didn’t formally launch his campaign till Dec. 2, the first day he was eligible to run without being forced to resign as county judge.

The DCCC spent $10,000 to $15,000 on that ad, which made more than 1 million impressions.

Tijerina is challenging Cuellar in one of three South Texas battleground districts. The National Republican Congressional Committee has named the county judge to its rebranded “MAGA Majority” program and voiced optimism about sinking Cuellar by highlighting his federal corruption charges for which he was pardoned late last year by President Donald Trump.

The Tijerina campaign also mentioned those charges in response to the DCCC’s latest ad.

“The Cuellars work for themselves,” the spokesperson said.

But the bulk of the GOP’s attention in Texas has been focused against U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, and Tejano star Bobby Pulido, a Democrat who is challenging U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg.

The DCCC spent $10,000 to $15,000 promoting a Substack post criticizing De La Cruz for voting to expand ICE’s budget. The group named Pulido to its “Red to Blue” program the following month.

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Democrat Bobby Pulido gave his first interview about his history of performing with a bandmate who was a registered sex offender — and it’s set off another round of pushback from his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, whose campaign again alleged the Tejano musician is lying about how things went down.

The Hidalgo County congressional candidates are locked in a competitive race for De La Cruz’s South Texas district, which President Donald Trump won by 18 percentage points in 2024. But internal polls in both camps show a tight race within the margin of error.

That’s in spite of a series of headlines about Pulido’s now-former bandmate, Frankie Caballero, who has a long rap sheet, including a 2014 conviction for indecent sexual contact with an 8-year-old girl that landed him on the registered sex offender list.

In his interview with The Monitor of McAllen, Pulido said Caballero joined his band in 1995, but was let go in 1996 for substance abuse issues. He said he did not communicate with Caballero until his manager — who is his uncle — rehired him in 2017. Caballero was let go a second time in 2021 when Pulido’s manager was made aware of a domestic abuse allegation against him, the Democratic candidate said.

But Caballero is credited as an accordionist on two Pulido albums after 1996 — 1997’s “Llegaste a Mi Vida” and 1999’s “El Cazador.” Additionally, after serving a prison sentence for the 2014 conviction, Caballero performed with Pulido at a benefit for an Edinburg middle school in 2018 where children were invited. The two also performed together, according to concert footage, as recently as 2021.

A Pulido campaign spokesperson said Caballero is credited after his departure because he was hired by another producer independently for a guest feature on a song. 

“As said before, Caballero was a needs-based contractor hired for short-term engagements during Bobby’s career, and Bobby had no knowledge of his criminal history beyond substance abuse issues,” the spokesperson said. “Where Caballero appears in a credit after his initial departure, is because another producer on the album independently hired him for a specific recording session for one song without Bobby’s direct involvement.”

Pulido has said he was unaware Caballero was a registered sex offender until the New York Post broke the story earlier this year, while De La Cruz and Republicans have accused him of lying.

“The idea that Bobby Pulido was the last man in South Texas to know that his close friend and longtime bandmate went to prison for molesting children is absurd,” a De La Cruz spokesperson said in a statement.

— Gabby Birenbaum

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