and there is a GOP supermajority in the state legislature, how is she going to get anything passed? The GOP supermajority will block and obstruct her in every way, leaving the electorate more disenchanted with the state of politics. They will continue to believe "both sides" suck.

Early voting numbers for Texas are in, published in the latest report from Ryan Data & Research (which tracks county rosters against state voter files).

While overall Day 1 turnout across the state is up +23% compared to Day 1 of the 2022 midterms (812,998 votes vs. 661,476), the demographic breakdown reveals a massive drop in opening-day participation among Hispanic voters.

Here is the breakdown of what the numbers show:

Day 1 Key Data Points:

* Raw Hispanic Ballots Cast: 32,143 voters. For context, Day 1 of 2022 saw 101,289 Hispanic voters cast a ballot (a drop of over 69,000 votes). Day 1 of 2024 saw 170,611.

* Share of the Day 1 Electorate: Hispanic voters accounted for only 4% of total opening-day ballots cast. In both 2022 and 2024, Hispanic voters represented 15% of the Day 1 vote.

* Participation Rate: Only 2% of registered Hispanic Texans voted on Day 1, compared to 4% of Non-Hispanic registered voters.

* Non-Hispanic Vote Share: Non-Hispanic voters made up 96% (780,855 votes) of the Day 1 turnout.

Day 1 vs. Historical Final Midterm Turnout:

For historical perspective, looking at the cumulative/final election totals from Ryan Data & Research:

* 2022 Midterm Final: Hispanic voters cast 1,441,361 ballots (18% of the final electorate) with a full-cycle turnout rate of 33%.

* 2018 Midterm Final: Hispanic voters cast 1,610,001 ballots (19% of the final electorate) with a full-cycle turnout rate of 42%.

Takeaway

Starting at a 4% share on Day 1 is well below the historical baseline of 18%–19% that we typically see by the end of a Texas midterm cycle.

While early voting patterns can shift as the days go on—and mail-in ballot processing timelines can vary by county—opening day shows a clear and disproportionate lag in Hispanic voter turnout.

If you haven't voted yet, early voting is underway across the state. Check your county elections page or [VoteTexas.gov] to look up hours, locations, and accepted voter ID requirements.

(Source: Ryan Data & Research Early Voting Report email update, Day 1 General Election data )

TL;DR: Texas Day 1 early voting data from the Ryan Data & Research newsletter shows overall turnout is up +23% compared to 2022 (812k+ votes cast), but Hispanic turnout cratered on opening day. Only 32,143 Hispanic voters cast a ballot (down from 101k+ on Day 1 in 2022), making up just 4% of the opening-day electorate (down 11.4 points) with a 2% participation rate. Hispanic voters typically make up 18%–19% of the electorate in Texas midterms, so there is a massive gap to close as early voting continues.

Can someone confirm if this is happening?

I already submitted my vote and did not check the paper ballot before submitting. 🤦‍♂️

There are some people saying they selected Talarico on the screen but on the confirmation screen/paper it showed up as Paxton.

Does it show the candidate and their party, what other things are there to vote on besides candidates, anything I should know

How much of an effect do you think Talarico will have on downballot races? Republicans lost 10 state legislative races in 2018, could they lose even more this cycle?

I've been seeing a Texas PAC commercial repeatedly on Paramount+ featuring a mother of five claiming that James Talarico supports putting parents in jail if they refuse to surgically transition their children.

What disgusts me, beyond the dishonesty, is what this says about how the people funding these ads view Texas voters generally and Republican voters in particular.

Do they really believe that all they have to do is spend a billionaire's money spreading lies designed to frighten parents, and that's enough to earn their votes? Do they think so little of voters that they don't even need to explain what they're going to do to improve our lives?

We're struggling with rising grocery prices, housing costs, wages that aren't keeping up with inflation, gun violence, mental health issues, immigration enforcement and environmental concerns. Yet instead of explaining how they're going to address these problems, they're spending millions trying to frighten people about something that doesn't affect the overwhelming majority of Texans.

To me, this is an appeal to fear, prejudice and division rather than an attempt to earn our votes. I've lost a great deal of respect for the Republican Party over the years, and advertising like this only reinforces my concerns about what the party stands for.

I'm a Democrat, but I'm especially interested in hearing from Republicans. Do you support this kind of advertising? Does it represent your values, or does it make you question what your party stands for?

I'm genuinely curious whether other Republicans are noticing this and how they feel about it.

I know the ad was pulled from Meta by the PAC themselves after being confronted about the factual accuracy of the content, but it is still being shown in other platforms despite the lies it includes.

Source: https://popular.info/p/watch-gop-super-pac-quietly-launches

The former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, a widely respected moderate Republican, has an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle encouraging Republicans to go vote for quality down-ballot candidates but to 'vote wisely' when it comes to the awful candidates who lack character and principles. Here's a key quote:

I admit that I am an angry Republican. 

After spending my adult life helping to build the Republican Party in Texas and Harris County, working alongside candidates, officeholders and armies of volunteers, I am disgusted by the self-inflicted damage being done to my party. This damage is not only hurting our candidates during this election cycle, but is undermining our next generation of voters. 

This damage is being done by candidates for major offices who refuse to address the issues of importance to voters and don't even have the courage to engage in debate with opponents. This sort of candidate is an embarrassment. 

Making outrageous claims over and over doesn't help the Republican cause. Super PACs formed by a few billionaires to support certain Republican candidates are spending millions of dollars for negative ads that aim to scare ordinary parents over transgender issues — parents who know their own children and wonder why these billionaires are so focused on issues that don't affect them. 

Talk shows and social media influencers have become propaganda outlets for bizarre theories and, at times, pure hatred, relying on sources who are truly evil. 

We've already been through this. The Republicans ran the show for the 26 years leading up to now. It's 2026, and nothing is ever going to change. We're just due for the same recycled promises, only this time from the Democrats.
USA! USA! USA!

Walking out of the polls in ATX today, I overheard an older woman say, “I didn’t know a lot of the people, so I just picked the names I liked.”

🤦🏻‍♀️🤬

My beloved fellow Texans, Austinites, brothers and sisters in and out of Christ, this is not a pop quiz.

You can skip measures and races you do not understand. In fact, I urge you to do so. Otherwise, you’re doing real harm. It’s staggeringly stupid and irresponsible.

🗳️🧠💙

Ad PSA as we get inundated by political ads!

If you’ve seen Ken Paxton’s ad about James Talarico and God, here’s the part it leaves out. In 2021, Talarico said on the House floor that “God is nonbinary.” He was answering lawmakers who quoted scripture to pass a bill. His point was that the Bible uses both masculine and feminine language for God, and that no human category can contain God.

Talarico’s point is that :God is bigger than any human category. That’s not a fringe idea. Most Christian traditions teach that God is spirit and has no biological sex (Texas Monthly).

He’s since said he was being provocative to make that point. Most Christian traditions agree God has no biological sex. The Bible calls God “spirit.“The ad uses an AI-generated Talarico and stitches together lines from speeches two years apart.

FactCheck.org called out the missing context. factcheck.org/.../paxtons-ai-heavy-ad-leaves...

If a campaign has to fake a video of you, that tells you something. Talarico has a phenomenal film crew for his ads and they never use AI in them!

I'll start by saying that I'm partisan. I've knocked on hundreds of doors, signed up dozens of new voters, texted, walked, gone to rallies, etc. But other than one single person making an unfortunate hand gesture (thanks, neighbor!), everyone I've met has been pleasant, willing to talk, and, most importantly, ready to vote.

I can't tell you what a thrill it has been to see the reactions of some of the people I've met the last few months: people who gave me a thumbs-up for a Talarico or Gina t-shirt, the one lady who told me "baby, you know I'm voting for TALARICO" - yes she spoke in all-CAPS when saying his name, and the lady who said that whole house is voting blue and asked me to go talk with her Fox news-watching mom who lives nearby (I still need to talk with her!). But the topper was the family with all the Halloween yard art with political commentary about the corruption and cruelty that the Texas GOP has visited on us. You know who they'll be voting for the Democrats!

This experience has renewed my faith in our country and I know that people in Texas are hungry to restore some balance to the system and bring us back from the far-right insanity we have had in Texas the last decade or more. If you have any doubts about how important each of your votes are though, please put those aside and go vote because they'll likely never count for more than they do here in the '26 elections. You might see just a few Trump or Paxton signs, but please don't take that as permission to sit this one out.

That's why- your vote, wearing that "I voted sticker," and talking to your friends who are on the fence about why you voted will build the turnout that gives Democrats like Vikki Goodwin, Gina Hinojosa, and James Talarico a real shot at getting Texas back on the right track for its citizens, not just big business and the billionaires. Early voting has started, so get out there and do your part! thanks!

It was 2003 and doctor and hospital groups were sounding the alarm.

At the Texas Legislature’s first public hearing that session, The Dallas Morning News reported, debate focused on medical malpractice lawsuits. Lawsuits were out of control, doctors and hospital groups and those representing their interests, argued. They wanted change and they wanted it big, to protect doctors and to preserve healthcare access. They characterized their proposed measures, The News wrote at the time, as “the last hope to rein in rising physician costs.”

The centerpiece of the proposed reforms was a cap on the amount of money patients could be legally awarded for pain, suffering and other difficult-to-quantify impacts of medical malpractice. 

That cap remains in place to this day — with no increase for inflation.

The state’s medical malpractice law — and the cap in particular — is a key part of a monthslong investigation by The News into a category of extreme surgical errors called “never events,” looking at why these errors happen and how patients fare after the fact. 

READ HERE.

Rep. Keith Self says “Not in November.” Who exactly is he warning voters about?

A fake flyer from a nonexistent trans rights group is showing up in voters’ mailboxes, fueling right-wing hysteria.