Progress Texas Podcasts

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Special Session Update: San Antonio State Rep. Josey Garcia Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

For this next special session update, we welcome for the first time State Rep. Josey Garcia, who represents San Antonio's 124th House District and is the first active duty woman veteran to serve in the Texas House! Now that the GOP maps have been released, we see the shameful extent of their racist power grab - and Rep. Garcia has a thing or two to say about it. We've been looking forward to this talk!

Learn more about State Rep. Josey Garcia at https://www.joseygarcia.com/.

Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Daily Dispatch 7/31/25: New GOP Maps Will Leave Thousands Of Urban Texans Voiceless In D.C., and More Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

The revealing of new congressional maps ordered by Donald Trump show the extend of the damage they threaten against representative democracy - especially in Texas' biggest cities: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/07/30/congressional-plan-would-flip-five-seats-from-democrats-to-republicans/

...The blue dots on the Texas political map, centered on our major metropolitan areas, get a lot smaller and fainter in this new map: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/30/texas-redistricting-congressional-maps-house-republicans/?_bhlid=40de7e02fe98891fbb5d818a3f4add59b0359b2a

...Talk of a Texas House quorum break intensifies - but again, why isn't there similar talk in the Texas Senate? The reasons are many, and uncomfortable: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/senate-democrats-are-not-off-the?r=33j12m&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Members of Texas' Select Committees on Disaster Preparedness are set to meet with Kerrville and Kerr County officials - and the local public - on the July 4 flood today: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/31/us/texas-flooding-hearing-testimony

Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is alleged to have asked a friend to dispose of a bunch of cannabis back in 2022, fearing it would be found in his possession by the DEA: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/31/sid-miller-hemp-dea-texas-marijuana-gummies/?_bhlid=ffd26c50d0097bd54b1b44869f2c85949b47a86d

Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: ⁠⁠https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025⁠⁠

...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: ⁠⁠https://www.moontowersoccer.com/⁠⁠

Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Daily Dispatch 7/30/25: Details Emerge On Trump-Ordered, GOP-Stacking Congressional Map, and More Jul 30, 2025

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Punchbowl News publishes details on a new congressional district map that Texas Republicans lawmakers may release as soon as today, featuring five new GOP-leaning districts in Austin, D/FW, Houston and the Rio Grande Valley: https://punchbowl.news/article/campaigns/texas-sized-gamble/

...It bets heavily on Hispanic voters in Texas, in an election not featuring Donald Trump, to resist buyers remorse and remain loyal to Republican candidates in 2026: https://punchbowl.news/article/campaigns/gop-texas-latinos/

...The Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus will hold a press conference on Democratic options this afternoon upon the adjournment of House business, as U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries plans a closed-door meeting with those same lawmakers tonight: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/29/house-democratic-leader-hakeem-jeffries-to-visit-austin-amid-redistricting-fight/85429537007/

...The national Democratic Party is in a massive fundraising push ahead of a planned targeting of several Republican lawmakers they believe will be compromised by the new map: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/us/politics/democrats-texas-redistricting.html

...The House Majority PAC and its new Lone Star Fund have started running TV ads against those likely GOP targets in Texas: https://youtu.be/OvfgpTo2Vkk?si=sIfuvKXJMFNrhu_p

There's also a Democratic presser today being held by Dallas Senator Nathan Johnson and the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus on the status of THC regulation: https://www.facebook.com/NathanforTexas/photos/media-advisory-join-me-for-a-press-conference-on-cannabis-legislation-with-membe/1194566255807967/?_rdr

Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: ⁠https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025⁠

...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: ⁠https://www.moontowersoccer.com/⁠

Daily Dispatch 7/29/25: Anti-Redistricting Rage Rises At Arlington Hearing, and More Jul 29, 2025

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

UT Arlington saw yet another huge public turnout in opposition to the Trump-ordered Texas redistricting scheme yesterday, the crowd exceeding the accommodation limits of the event: https://www.keranews.org/government/2025-07-28/texas-redistricting-ut-arlington-hearing

...Democrats have begun making financial preparations for the potential daily per-member fines of $500 that may be a factor in a quorum break: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/29/texas-democrats-quorum-break-fundraising-fines-redistricting/

Austin Congressman Greg Casar went on a fact-finding mission to a San Antonio immigration court, where he found the treatment of immigrants showing up there "deeply disturbing": https://www.fox7austin.com/news/greg-casar-speaks-out-about-way-immigration-laws-being-enforced

...The Dallas Morning News confirms that ICE has been improperly detaining dozens of people in an office building in Dallas: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2025/07/29/ice-held-migrants-at-dallas-office-for-days-families-say-exceeding-agency-standards/

...A Houston man was improperly detained for two hours recently by ICE - he shares a name and resembles an immigrant they were looking for, but was born in College Station: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/us-citizen-ice-detained-houston/285-11f4cb64-fa4a-4a65-8d5b-518413664987

Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025

...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/

Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Special Session Update: San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez Jul 28, 2025

Show notes

For this next update from the special legislative session, we go to one of our favorite go-to voices and fighters in the upper chamber - State Senator Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio, who has just announced a re-election bid for the seat he's held since he displaced Republican Senator Pete Flores in 2020. Senator Gutierrez has been vocal in his opposition to the Trump-demanded carving up of Texas in a desperate bid to keep the U.S. House under GOP control, and his condemnation of cruel and un-American ICE activity in his district and elsewhere in Texas - we talk about those topics and more in this update.

Learn more about Senator Roland Gutierrez at https://rolandfortexas.com/.

Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Daily Dispatch 7/28/25: Wild Weekend Sees Rallies and Hearings As Dems Rage Against Redistricting, and More Jul 28, 2025

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

College Democrats across the state are calling for a quorum break to stop the GOP redistricting scheme: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AGqBhU9AT/

...Texas House Dems staged a "quorum break jump scare" on Friday, heading out for a short visit to California to discuss reciprocal redistricting with Governor Gavin Newsom: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/newsom-california-texas-trump-redistricting-20788484.php

...Another delegation headed for Springfield, Illinois to have a similar conversation with Governor J.B. Pritzker: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/us/politics/texas-democrats-redistricting.html

...The University of Houston saw an anti-redistricting rally prior to another public hearing held by the Texas House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting on Saturday, resulting in similar vitriol to Thursday's hearing in Austin: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/houston-congressional-district-meeting/285-65cbbc1a-0ad4-4468-8cda-97f259457bf5

...Almost all of the Democratic candidates to fill the long-vacant U.S. House seat for CD-18 were present and spoke: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/07/27/527261/candidates-for-texas-18th-congressional-district-speak-against-redistricting/

...Dallas Rep. Julie Johnson talked redistricting this weekend on MSNBC: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9k3NQH6GdU⁠

Friday also saw a bombshell allegation by an exotic dancer who claims to have had a 17-year affair with Southlake Republican State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, who last week announced a surprise reversal on his recently-announced re-election bid: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/gop-texas-rep-capriglione-drops-re-election-bid-after-reported-affair-allegations-he-funded-abortions-38066215

Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Special Live Pod: Austin's "The People Vs. The Power Grab" Rally Jul 26, 2025

Show notes

As, promised, here's our full capture of Friday night's rally at the Delco Center in northeast Austin, hosted by Powered By People, and featuring in order:

01:06 - Travis County Democratic Party Chair Doug Greco

04:39 - Austin State Representative Gina Hinojosa

16:06 - Round Rock State Representative James Talarico

29:39 - Austin Congressman Greg Casar

37:10 - Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett

47:30 - San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro

1:02:06 - Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

In Progress: LIVE From "The People Vs. The Power Grab" Jul 26, 2025

Show notes

This week's kvetch is a rare LIVE kvetch, as the team warmed up to capture Powered By People's rally on Friday night at Austin ISD's Delco Center. As we awaited a who's who of Texas progressive politics: Beto O'Rourke, Joaquin Castro, Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico, Greg Casar, Gina Hinojosa and new Travis County Democratic Party Chair Doug Greco, we covered the events of a week that were pretty insane, but that term has become very much relative these days in Texas. Our full capture of the event will follow this pod in the Progress Texas Podcasts feed. Thanks to Chris and all at Powered By People for the hospitality!

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Daily Dispatch 7/25/25: CD-18 Candidate Isaiah Martin Tackled And Arrested at Redistricting Hearing, And More Jul 25, 2025

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

At the conclusion of last night's contentious hearing on Texas Republicans' push to redraw our congressional maps - at the behest of Donald Trump and with no actual maps to show - Isaiah Martin, one of the Democratic candidates for Houston's District 18, was taken to the floor twice by Capitol security and arrested by DPS on multiple misdemeanor charges: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/tempers-flare-at-texas-redistricting-hearing-as-critics-slam-mid-cycle-map-effort

...Several prominent Democrats were present to testify against the redistricting scheme, noting that no Republicans showed up to defend it: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/us/politics/texas-redistricting.html

...Texas NAACP president Gary Bledsoe and LULAC Texas State Director Gabriel Rosales both testified at the first of seven planned public hearings: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/24/texas-redistricting-hearing-house-legislature-congress/

...Republicans called the meeting at 8:30, but Democrats continued listening to testimony from concerned Texans, some of whom had driven hours to be heard: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/public-hearing-coming-to-arlington-on-mid-decade-congressional-redistricting-in-texas/287-86144250-a764-42e4-b7b8-e6cbf9757206

Attorney General Ken Paxton and his soon-to-be ex-wife, State Senator Angela Paxton, are suspected of mortgage fraud as three of the homes they own are listed as their primary residence on mortgage documents: https://apnews.com/article/paxton-mortgages-trump-primary-residence-homestead-deduction-bd259b6bd122afcaf4f11eac5a3a152e

North Texas has seen a massive uptick in ICE arrests of suspected undocumented people with no criminal history: https://www.axios.com/local/dallas/2025/07/23/dallas-ice-arrests-noncriminals

Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive⁠⁠⁠⁠

Happy Hour 226: Travis County DA José Garza Puts People Over Politics Jul 24, 2025

Show notes

There's probably no elected Democrat in all of Texas who has been a more frequent target of right wing smear attacks than José Garza, currently in his second term as Travis Country District Attorney. He's also a great example of how, when one becomes such a lightning rod for MAGA, one is probably doing excellent work - Travis County and Austin are the safest they've been in years, and it's largely due to Garza's work - and the voters of the Austin area are largely very happy customers.

Learn more about the Travis County District Attorney's Office at https://districtattorney.traviscountytx.gov/.

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