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Politics This Week in Texas: COVID-19 Mandates, Election Surprises
Rudy Koski of FOX 7 Austin and a panel of political analysts discuss how these issues have played out this week.
Austin, Texas – Court battles, polling surprises and political music chairs dominated Texan politics this week. Most of the action in Texan politics this week didn’t take place under the State Capitol dome, but much of it originally began there.
Several of the issues involve major legal disputes between the state and the federal government.
The FOX7 panel of political journalists discussed how the state was responding to the Biden government’s new corporate vaccination mandate. The federal government requires U.S. companies with 100 or more employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly tests starting Jan. 4.
Another major legal battle discussed began Monday with the Supreme Court hearing on the controversial Texas Heartbeat Act. SB 8 prohibits abortions if cardiovascular activity can be identified. Some in the Supreme Court raised concerns about the possible wider implications of the law.
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The Biden government yesterday also filed a lawsuit against Texas’s new electoral integrity law. It was pushed by the Republican majority in the state parliament and prevented the 24-hour vote wanted by the Democrats and clarified how postal votes can be carried out. In response to the federal lawsuit, Governor Greg Abbott posted a defiant social media post saying “Bring it”.
The shaking under the Texas Dome continues. State Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville) announced that he is not coming back. The Texas GOP flipped a seat in the State House held by a Democrat. A controversial council member also wants to return to Washington as a congressman.
RUDY: Here we are back in the LBJ penthouse talking about another week in Texan politics, and this week started in the Supreme Court and ends with another federal trial. So let’s start our headlines for the week with our group. Mark Wiggins, political advisor. What’s your headline for the week?
MARK: The Virginia election shows the Democrats must deliver.
RUDY: Steven Dial, FOX 4 Dallas What’s your headline for the week?
STEVEN: I’m going to draw one from a few weeks ago, Texas versus the United States.
RUDY: Cassi Pollock, Texas Tribune, what’s your headline for the week?
CASSI: The Republicans have flipped the Texas House seat in the San Antonio area.
RUDY: Scott Braddock of quorumreport.com, what’s your headline for the week?
SCHOTT: Even conservative Supreme Court justices are skeptical of the Texas ban on abortion.
RUDY: So this week we started a lot of legal proceedings. Scott, were you surprised to see the two Conservative Supreme Court justices raise concerns about Texas’ abortion law?
SCHOTT: Not really, because I’ve heard from many Conservatives in Texas who have some questions about it, especially Conservative Republican women, who are rolling their eyes at this new law in its construction. And I think the way it’s set up makes it less of an abortion and of wanting to open the doors of the courthouse to anyone who wants to sue doctors over something. It was fascinating to hear Judge Kavanaugh, who is not a Liberal, ask the Texas Attorney General, who is our attorney on this whole matter, whether it would jeopardize other constitutional rights.
CASSI: Just like what Scott is saying here, you know what Kavanaugh was getting at when he was interrogated, that this loophole is applied or widened to other rights. So I think, you know, the gun rights groups that we’ve seen somehow emerged, you know, in others who might have concerns about the applicability of the law and might set a precedent. It all makes sense.
RUDY: Steven, as the week ended, started a new federal challenge against Texas, but that focus is on Texas electoral law. Governor Abbott Says Will You Bring It, Big Fight?
STEVEN: Governor Abbott said, “Bring it.” And then Ken Paxton, the attorney general, sued the federal government in response to the Labor Department’s and OSHA’s political announcement (the corporate vaccination mandate) setting a deadline (beginning Jan. 4, 2022). The fight continues, of course, as everything Texas has done this year has been in the national spotlight.
11 states file lawsuits against Biden’s vaccine or test mandate for large companies
The lawsuit filed in the US 8th Court of Appeals in St. Louis argues that the authority to enforce vaccinations rests with the states, not the federal government.
RUDY: The tremor under the Texas Dome continues. State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. announces he’s not coming back.
MARK: So Senator Lucio gave the lieutenant governor the opportunity to pass many of his priority bills that were otherwise in line with the party line as bipartisan. If you lose him and you lose an independent Republican like Kel Seliger, I think you will finally see the bare part of the Senate.
RUDY: Cassi, you mentioned the flip-flop in San Antonio earlier, a Republican who wins a Democratic seat in a special election. Is that still to come or is it too early to say how it will all work out?
CASSI: I would say it is too early to say, and my main reason for this is that special elections, when they take place, should always be treated as specific events and not necessarily as harbingers of what is to come. At least one Republican group that has been involved in this race sounds pretty confident that this is just the beginning of the Republican track record for this upcoming cycle.
RUDY: There are many proposals on the ballot that we had on Tuesday. Some won, some lost Scott, any surprises for you?
SCHOTT: I found it interesting that Don Huffines was campaigning for the proposal, which had to do with whether local governments could shut down places of worship during a pandemic. He left robocalls for people that just sounded like voicemail from your friend, then said this was really on the ballot because Greg Abbott closed churches during the pandemic last year. And that’s not why Republican lawmakers and Democrats put it on the ballot, by the way.
RUDY: Mark, are you surprised that Austin City Councilor Greg Casar is running for Lloyd Doggett’s seat? [U.S. Rep. Doggett (D-Texas) earlier announced he will run in a new Austin-specific Congressional district.] This is not certain as this district extends all the way to San Antonio.
Greg Casar officially announces the course of the Texas convention
Greg Casar, who represents District 4 on Austin City Council, will run in Texas Congressional District 35.
MARK: Councilor Casar is a lightning rod even among Democrats, and some of his potential opponents are some really established people like Democratic leaders like MP Eddie Rodriguez, Trey Martinez-Fischer. We are proven fundraisers with a broad support network. But on the flip side, Casar can motivate a lot of voters who are outside the political mainstream, and that will be an advantage to take with him in this race.
RUDY: So with that, let’s end our week with one word, Steven Dial, your word for the week?
STEVEN: I could get in trouble. I brought vision aids, braves.
SCHOTT: Oh, see you next year, man.
RUDY: It’s painful. Cassi, your only word for the week.
CASSI: Well, mine was supposed to be baseball, but I don’t know if Steven has a prop. Special elections.
RUDY: Come on, Astros, Mark Wiggins, your only word for the week.
MARK: Reality check.
RUDY: And Scott Braddock, your only word?
SCHOTT: Cancellation.
RUDY: And so we close another week in Texan politics.
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