In the December 21 episode, as many Texans face rising healthcare costs, Congressman Keith Self discusses the “minor reforms” Republicans made to healthcare and why the “heaving lifting” will come in January. State Representative Jared Patterson wants to ban Texas teens from social media and explains the big change he’ll make to his bill that he thinks will get it over the finish line. And State Sen. Joan Huffman tells us why she thinks her experience sets her apart from the three men she’s facing in the Republican race for Texas Attorney General.
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Straight ahead, 10 days away now from higher health insurance costs for millions of Texans. So why did Congress leave for the holidays without addressing it? Congressman Keith Self on that and whether he would support US boots on the ground in Venezuela. A renewed push to keep Texas teenagers off of social media. Australia and other countries have now banned kids from it.
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State Rep Jared Patterson says he will try a third time to get it passed, but with one significant change. A new survey with surprising results in the Democratic race for Texas attorney general. And in the Republican race for AG, state Senator Joan Huffman on why she says her experience is unmatched against all three of the men running against her.
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Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whiteley starts now. Thanks for being with us here this holiday week. Let's start the program with the headlines. The Democratic race for Texas attorney general is going to be one to watch next spring. A new poll shows Joe Jaworski ahead of Nathan Johnson just slightly by a couple of points here. Texas Southern University in Houston did the survey. It is important to note that more than 50% of Democratic primary voters said they do remain undecided right now.
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Speaking of Texas Democrats, bad blood between them in Harris County on full display. Outgoing Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo urged Democrats not to support fellow Democrat Anise Parker to succeed her. Hidalgo is upset that Parker endorsed Harris County DA Kim Ogg 7. Years ago back in 2018 and also supported the state's takeover of Houston ISD. Parker was a popular Houston mayor.
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You may remember she told the Houston Chronicle that her record of public service, stable, responsible, drama-free leadership speaks for itself. And Governor Greg Abbott says he's going to spend $25 million to try to flip the state's largest Democratic county. Harris County, now one of his top priorities going into 2026. Abbott's campaign said he plans to campaign against seven House Democrats, including their caucus leader Jeane Wu, who led the Quorum break. The Houston Chronicle also with the story.
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Abbott has not won Harris County in more than a decade. Let's begin right now though with the cost of health insurance. It is about to rise for several million Texans who buy their policies on the marketplace exchange. And with affordability already an issue going into 2026, why did Congress leave for the holidays without addressing this? Our first guest is Congressman Keith Self, a Republican who represents college. And Hunt counties in North Texas. Congressman, welcome back to the program here.
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Congress left for the holidays without taking that vote on whether to help 20 million Americans who are going to see their health insurance premiums rise here at the beginning of the year. Democrats and Republicans have their own plans, we know now, but was it a mistake for Congress to leave and not take a vote on either of these?
< spk_1 - 00:03:01.1600000 >
Well, we will take a vote. We have taken a vote on the program that will help reform, minor reforms to healthcare. We still have the heavy lifting to do in January, probably under a reconciliation 2.0. But yes, we've done things like help employers through the Choice Act, through the cost reduction, cost share reductions, giving them association plans.
< spk_1 - 00:03:27.5200000 >
So we have taken the vote on a minor reform of healthcare to help employers and help our citizens get the insurance companies out of the way. But yes, we do have the heavy lifting for the major reform of health care coming up. Look, 15 years ago, Obama broke the healthcare. We now have socialized medicine basically, so it's going to be a heavy lift to make a major reform to the health care system in America.
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Why do you think this wasn't any more of a priority for Republicans on the on the way out before the holidays, especially with the affordability looming as it is?
< spk_1 - 00:04:04.2790000 >
Well, I will tell you, this is one of the outcomes of the shutdown. The shutdown shined so much light on the problems in healthcare and Obamacare. With the enhanced subsidies that are expiring at the end of the year, that sunshine is helping generate this momentum that we see today. We now understand because of the shutdown just how broken Obamacare is.
< spk_1 - 00:04:30.1490000 >
So that has actually generated the momentum that we see now to do something early in 2026
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as a veteran. Curious about your thoughts on Venezuela. We watched the president order that naval blockade to prevent oil tankers in or out of that South American country. More attacks, most recently on the so-called drug boats, this time in the Pacific. Russia's foreign minister, I'm sure you've seen as well, said he hoped that President Trump would not make a fatal mistake on Venezuela. Do you support the military action underway right now?
< spk_1 - 00:04:59.0790000 >
I do. We've had classified briefings with the senior secretaries and the legal beagles. This is the president. Look, the president is looking at the 72,000. The latest figures we had, 72,000 Americans died in 2023 from illicit drugs. Venezuela is a major part of that, so he's looking at that. I told the Democrats on the floor of the House yesterday. Instead of trying to tear down Donald J.
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Trump, why don't we find a way to help stop the illicit drugs coming into the United States? So he's using constitutional Article 2 authority under the president to defend the United States at some point. If this widens, yes, Congress will have to be consulted, but now the actions that he's taking are under Article 2 of the US Constitution to defend the United States.
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But is this about drugs or is this about oil?
< spk_1 - 00:05:56.0190000 >
It's about drugs. When you shoot drug boats, it's about drugs, and that's what we're talking about now. He has a show of force because he has a complete carrier battle group standing off Venezuela. I don't think it's about the oil. I think it's more about Maduro, and he would like to see Maduro leave. The problem is that The people standing behind Maduro are probably as bad as Maduro, but that's, that is the key here.
< spk_1 - 00:06:22.7140000 >
And so he wants to stop because Venezuela not only is transporting drugs, the cartels are transporting drugs from Venezuela, it's also a base for Hezbollah, for China, for Russia. So it is a major base in South America for what I call the axis of evil, our main adversaries around the world.
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If Maduro doesn't leave, would you support US military action on the ground there in Venezuela?
< spk_1 - 00:06:51.2380000 >
We would have to see the mission, and I've told everybody this. I want, I'm a military planner for a decade. I want to see the mission. What is the mission? What are we going to accomplish before we do that? And at that point, Uh, we probably ought to have Congress involved. I've heard one briefing at the classified level. I would want to see the mission and what we're trying to accomplish and how we're going to accomplish it.
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Congressman, good to see you.
< spk_1 - 00:07:16.1700000 >
Good to see you. Thank you so much.
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All right, let's bring in the round table to talk about the politics of this. Bud Kennedy is here from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Abby Livingston is congressional reporter at PU News, and Natalie Haddad is political reporter at WFAA in Dallas. Let's go back to, uh, health care here and affordability, Abby. Was it a mistake for Republicans to leave without addressing this at all, without taking a vote, and something the Speaker said he didn't want to do, but is forced into it?
< spk_2 - 00:07:41.1400000 >
I'm not sure if they had a choice. The way Capitol Hill Republicans, particularly in the House side, have been functioning most of this term is day trading. They're just trying to get through the next day, and there is so much division internally. A lot of Republicans don't want to see these subsidies happen. Many do, and that. A very divisive point and they are headed into the midterms and he seemed very calm about it, but the problem is that the rate hikes are hitting voters sooner rather than later. Yes, January
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1st, bud,
< spk_3 - 00:08:08.5100000 >
well, it's going to be expensive and Keith Self has been one of the ones most outspoken, saying let it go, let the rates go up, let everybody pay more, you know, he blames it all on the ACA, on the healthcare Act, but actually this was. A special subsidy put in place for COVID. It wasn't a problem that dates back all the way to the beginning of the Healthcare
< spk_0 - 00:08:26.4400000 >
Act. Yes, and at the end of the day though, affordability, Natalie, is emerging as a huge campaign issue in 2026.
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Yes, and affordability isn't just a one party issue. Democrats are feeling this and Republicans are feeling this. Both Democrats and Republicans take part in the ACA. I can think of many on both sides of the of the issue taking part in this, and I think, you know, back to your original question, was it a mistake to Leave nothing set in stone or have a deal done before going home for the holidays, I think so. It's going to affect them come January and March is not that far from January. They're going to remember this.
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We are not that far away indeed. Back to you guys in just a moment. A lot more ahead here, including this. When we come back, a new push to keep Texas teenagers off social media. State Rep Jared Patterson on the one change his bill will have after Australia and other countries successfully enacted it.
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And state senator Joan Huffman running for Texas attorney general pushing back against accusations that she's an insider that and more up next on Inside Texas Politics. Welcome back to Inside Texas Politics. There is growing momentum right now around the world to ban teenagers from social media. Australia, Denmark, Norway, they've all done it. Texas has tried twice, but the idea has never passed. Republican state Rep Jared Patterson tells us though he will propose it again.
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This time though, with one significant change. Representative, it's good to see you again here. Uh, now you have Australia. Denmark, Norway all have instituted some sort of ban for 1516 year olds and under here. Ireland and Spain are considering it. Texas though has twice turned it down. Why do you think momentum is now shifting on this issue, at least internationally?
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Well, you know, Jason, first off, thank you for having me. And secondly, um, you know, we have made progress on this issue here in the state of Texas. Uh, we filed a bill in 2023. Uh, but in 2025, uh, we got the bill through the House, through a Senate committee, uh, and it just ran out of time before it was called up for a vote.
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Look, I think people are starting to realize now more than ever that our kids are killing themselves at a clip that we've never seen before in history, uh, that social media is a dangerous product, uh, for them to have access to. In fact, I think it's the most dangerous product that kids have legal access to in Texas. And I think that folks are starting to rise up and do something about it, and I'm hopeful that Texas is the next group to do that.
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We have more than a year until the next legislative session, but what will you be watching for as far as feedback goes in these other countries that might lead to you refining your bill?
< spk_5 - 00:11:06.1190000 >
Well, one of the things I think that we're gonna change is, you know, we started and got through the Texas House and through a Senate committee last session, a bill that would have, uh, you know, basically prohibited any minor under the age of 18 from being on social media and I think like Australia, we're gonna come back next session and move that age down to 16.
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I think that that was some feedback that we got, uh, from some parents and, uh, from others, uh, you know, kind of Talking about the ages and, and, you know, using the last couple of years of, of high school to kinda get familiar with it, but, uh, but, you know, regardless, I think that it's something that we've got to do. Again, I think it's the most harmful product that our kids have access to legally in Texas, and I think the statistics back me up. Jason, 21% of high schoolers, 21% of high schoolers in Texas.
< spk_5 - 00:11:51.2290000 >
Have seriously considered harming themselves or committing suicide. 21%, that's better than 1 in 5, Jason. That, that is a big, big deal. That's something that we've got to take seriously, and I think that if you look at it, uh, there is a direct link there with us, usage of social media.
< spk_0 - 00:12:07.4290000 >
And, and it's one of the reasons you're trying to lower the age from 18 down to 16, is that to give those two years to these student athletes or other students who might use social media in order to. Get the attention of colleges.
< spk_5 - 00:12:18.1500000 >
Yeah, look, if, if it was King Jared for the day, you know, we would make it under 18. Shoot, we might ban everybody from social media, uh, might make the whole world a better place, but, you know, look, there's 150 House members, there's 31 senators. We have a governor that can veto a bill. And so I think what we're trying to do is get.
< spk_5 - 00:12:33.9790000 >
The best possible, uh, legislation across the finish line that will help the most people, um, and then, you know, obviously we would reserve the right to go back and make further adjustments later, but, but I think that 16 is a negotiated age that, that makes some sense in some cases and so uh that's what I'm willing to push next session.
< spk_0 - 00:12:51.9790000 >
Representative, good to see you.
< spk_5 - 00:12:53.5000000 >
Thank you,
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sir. Now to the Republican race for Texas Attorney general. There are 3 men and 1 woman running to succeed Ken Paxton. Our next guest, state Senator Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who argues that her experience is unmatched in this race. Senator, welcome to the program here. You're one of the longest serving senators there in the Texas Senate, now the 2nd most senior Republican. What do you say to Republican primary voters who, who look at your, you know, expansive resume here and say.
< spk_0 - 00:13:23.9190000 >
Might look a little more, a little bit more like an insider in Austin rather than an outsider, which so many people want these days.
< spk_6 - 00:13:30.9690000 >
Well, sure, I've been in the Senate a long time and I've had a long career in public service, but I would say I'm anything but an insider. I have always say very connected to my constituents and uh I've worked very hard um to represent them.
< spk_6 - 00:13:47.6900000 >
I, you know, I've got a long history, uh, but you want someone with a long history who has, you know, I've got 20 years as a prosecutor and a judge, another 16 as a senator, but if you look around, I am running with the support of law enforcement. I don't have, uh, the endorsements of other big elected officials, and that's because I'm in my own lane, I'm on my own person.
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And I'm running on what I have done in my record and what I've accomplished in my long career.
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Republican primary voters will see you, we'll see fellow Senator Mays Middleton from Galveston, Congressman Chip Roy, and then Aaron Wrights on the ballot as well. How are you most different from them?
< spk_6 - 00:14:29.1690000 >
I think again it's, it's my background, um, um, I'm, I'm an open book, you know, I've taken almost 40,000 votes in the Senate, long career, uh, as a prosecutor. There's nobody else in this race and really, honestly, there's been no other attorney general in the history of Texas that has my unique background, extensive litigation experience in the criminal courtroom, over 100 jury trials. I've had, um, you know, death penalty cases I tried, had individuals executed.
< spk_6 - 00:14:58.6900000 >
Um, presided over tens of thousands of serious felony cases as a criminal district court judge and then as a conservative state senator, I've chaired some, most of the most powerful committees, uh, in the Senate, the state affairs Committee where a lot of the Second Amendment and some of the big pension issues, fiscal issues, but really, um, very, the conservative issues really. Go through there. I chaired redistricting.
< spk_6 - 00:15:23.8690000 >
I know redistricting law, that's one of the main functions of the AG is to defend those maps and you know, I chaired jurisprudence, which a lot of the legal big complex issues passed through and then for the last 4 years I've been chair of finance overseeing every state agency. I know where all the money is. I know how the money is spent. I know where the needs of the state are, so I.
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Perfectly aligned with what the duties would be as an attorney general and nobody else, frankly in the history of Texas has ever gone into the office with those sets of qualifications, and I present that to the voters. I'm ready to do this job.
< spk_0 - 00:16:02.2890000 >
I've also heard you emphasize potentially being the first woman and the first mother to serve as Texas Attorney general if elected. How much do you want GOP primary voters though to factor in gender into this race?
< spk_6 - 00:16:14.8090000 >
Well, you know, I, I don't say I'm running because I'm a woman, but I think we can always agree that women bring a little different perspective to problem solving, um, but I stand on my record and I add that I'm a woman and I would be the first, uh, woman, uh, attorney general in the history of Texas. You know, when I became a senator, I was only the 13th female senator in the history of Texas. That's kind of hard to believe in 2008.
< spk_6 - 00:16:40.5390000 >
And I think we look around and we say, you know, here we are in 2025 and there's never been a female attorney general. I think there's time for 11 that's qualified and here before the voters and asking for their vote.
< spk_0 - 00:16:54.2290000 >
Senator, it is good to see you. Thank you for the time.
< spk_6 - 00:16:56.3090000 >
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
< spk_0 - 00:16:58.4600000 >
The roundtable is ready when we come back here on Inside Texas Politics. And heading into the new year, we invite you to subscribe to our podcast. It's called Y'alllitics. The concept here is simple, folks. We have a Texas craft beer and we talk about a political issue in Texas. Those episodes drop every Sunday wherever you get your podcasts. Alright, time now for reporters roundtable to put the headlines in perspective. Bud, Abby, and Natalie all back with us here. You know, let's start with Governor Greg Abbott.
< spk_0 - 00:17:28.1890000 >
Bud, he wants to spend $25 million we mentioned earlier in the program to turn Houston, the largest Democratic county in the state, solid red in the next cycle. You can throw money at problems and fix some problems. Can he fix this with $25 million?
< spk_3 - 00:17:41.7090000 >
You know, obviously it's not for him. He's going to win the election probably. Sure it's for the candidates down ballot. He wants some more of Houston House members, but most of all, it's for all the Republicans. It's to keep the Democrats from getting a lot of votes out of Houston in order to win the Senate race, in order to win any other race. The ticket, the Democrats need to target Houston and get votes out of Houston. If Abbott is in there with his big Republican get out the vote campaign, that undermines the Democratic candidate for Senate.
< spk_0 - 00:18:09.9490000 >
And Natalie, the, you know, some of the people he's targeting Gene Wu, state rep from the west side of Houston there, um, it seems like a long shot because Gene's still in a very Democratic district.
< spk_4 - 00:18:21.3490000 >
Yeah, the first two or. That come to mind are good luck. He's got some insane, you know, Representative Wu specifically has some insane name recognition in all of Houston. And even if you are not totally well versed in who is on the ballot, that's, that's what you're going to go for. You're like, oh, I've heard this person's name before. I think Greg Abbott, Governor Greg Abbott is going to have a hard time trying to change
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things. Are you watching this from afar at all?
< spk_2 - 00:18:45.3100000 >
Houston, I, I think Houston is one of the most important counties to watch in Texas for just the reasons they've stated, but I'd also remind you that this is maybe a point of pride. This is where Abbott started his legal career, and it's also a whole lot of Republican donors live in River Oaks. Yes,
< spk_0 - 00:18:58.2290000 >
but at the end of the day, but I just, I just don't see Houston flipping, and people go back to, you know, what, 10 years ago when it, when it was a red county with a county judge there, but I, I just, I can't see this happening right now.
< spk_3 - 00:19:09.1090000 >
Look at he's going to talk about. He's going to emphasize crime. He's going to talk about bail, which has been a totally. A Houston story and he's gonna talk about taxes and and reducing property taxes so he's gonna appeal to the Houston voter
< spk_0 - 00:19:21.9490000 >
and of course we'll see who he has to run against uh some of these folks as well. Uh, let's talk about the other big news here too. Um, Abby Mark Vasey, congressman who's been in office for a long time, he worked for Congressman Martin Frost for years. Uh, he was redistricted out. Republicans drew him out of a district, uh, 33, and now he has decided to run for Tarrant County Judge, and now he's backed out of that race as well. He's a casualty. Redistricting, I guess here,
< spk_2 - 00:19:45.1500000 >
right? I think that's fair. I think that this is an earthquake in Texas Democratic politics for two reasons. One, he was sort of the de facto leader of the Texas Democrats, and this means that younger Democrats are going to have to start stepping up to be leaders. The second point is this is a huge hit to Fort Worth, which is very parochial about their congressional seats, and they're going to lose one to Dallas, which is very painful for anybody from Fort Worth. And he also had a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which is obviously a big deal to an oil town.
< spk_0 - 00:20:12.5600000 >
Yeah, it is a big deal. For Houston to lose this position,
< spk_3 - 00:20:15.7500000 >
it's a big deal for Fort Worth. It's a big deal for Tarrant County. He had quite a bit of, he was particularly significant in helping with the Trinity River project, the downtown project that Kay Granger on the Republican side promoted, you know, that was actually drawn into Mark Vasey's district so he could carry it during the during the Biden term. He was a big deal, particularly during the Biden term, but in Tarrant County, when he looks around where to run against at home, running as county judge, run against Alyssa Simmons, you could run back for Texas. His house again against Nicole Collier.
< spk_3 - 00:20:45.1090000 >
Those are both Democratic heroes in Tarrant County right now. He wasn't going to run those races.
< spk_0 - 00:20:50.3000000 >
Why would he move to Dallas and run for his newly drawn seat?
< spk_3 - 00:20:54.6700000 >
Well, he, he didn't have to run. He didn't have to move to Dallas. He could have, he could have run, but yeah, Colin Allred had already staked that out, and Julie Johnson has a, a good ground in that race. Yeah.
< spk_0 - 00:21:05.1090000 >
And then of course, Natalie, the big question is, what are, what are Democrats going to do? Can they seize on affordability? Can they seize on, on any missteps nationally? President Trump to try to, you know, convince voters to support them and maybe hold Republicans off from getting the 5 seats they want.
< spk_4 - 00:21:20.0690000 >
I think we see folks on both sides of the aisle really ticked off about just how overall the state of the nation is, especially with affordability, and I think like we saw in the midterms, we're going to see the outcome of that here in the midterms. Yeah,
< spk_0 - 00:21:32.8290000 >
probably so, guys, thanks so much, Abby. It's great to see you. Thanks for being here as well. Thanks for having me. Thanks so much for watching us. We're back next Sunday to take you inside Texas politics. We hope to see you then. Take care.