In the September 13 episode, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate James Talarico touts the Republicans supporting his campaign and why he thinks he’s still an underdog despite recent polls. Plus, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says the RNC midterm convention was so successful, that both parties will probably replicate it. But will the big GOP gathering move any voters?
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Straight ahead here. Did it work? Will the Republican midterm convention in Dallas have any effect on close races? What the GOP said and did not say in their two day pep rally, and the one person not in the room that Republicans could not stop talking about. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker joined Texas Democrats in Dallas denouncing the GOP.
Is Pritzker going to run for president in two years? His answer to that question.
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Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator on data centers, why there will not be environmental requirements for them. And two years into his job, what is his priority? Deregulation or environmental protection? And is he really the underdog? Another new poll shows James Talarico leading Ken Paxton in the race for Senate.
Talarico takes our questions on Trump now. Getting involved.
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Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whitely starts now. Thank you for being here. The dust has settled in Dallas. We are now watching to see what effect, if any. The Republican midterm convention is going to have. It was an all star cast on the right President Trump, Vice President Vance, House speaker Mike Johnson, five cabinet secretaries and dignitaries from all over the GOP.
They talked about tax cuts and the sealed southern border over the last two years, and deregulation and government policies, but they did not talk about inflation, affordability and gas prices. Then President Trump, urging people to support Republican candidates in November, said this. And here is my promise.
If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our economic
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tremendous economic success like in history, we've never had anything like what's happening. But because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000. Paying $5,000 to every adult adult in the US would cost more than $1 trillion.
The president suggested the tariffs might help pay for it, but that idea drew immediate bipartisan pushback from Congress. Nothing Republicans say over the next two days is going to change how clinically deranged and out of touch the GOP has become, and they chose the wrong place to hold this clown show of theirs, because a new generation of candidates is rewriting the rules of Texas politics.
And if you don't recognize them there, that is Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. Remember, he is the one who offered refuge to Texas Democrats last year when they broke quorum in the legislature. Pritzker joins some of those Texas Democrats again in Dallas. Lots of speculation that he might run for president in 2028.
Especially since out-of-state events like this clearly raise his profile. But when asked about the white House, Pritzker brushed it off, said he first is focused on running for reelection in Illinois. The two day Republican convention provided some big moments for candidates like Ken Paxton, who is locked in that tight race for U.S. Senate.
Paxton did not speak in primetime during the convention, but in his four minute appearance, he touted his economic plan to give tax deductions for out-of-pocket medical expenses and even gym memberships, along with tax breaks for first time homebuyers. And like many Republican speakers at the RNC.
Paxton also took time to attack his Democratic opponent, James Talarico. He is the most radical Democrat in Texas history, but he's also the most well-funded. And that's why today I need your prayers, your votes, and your support. A brand new poll shows Talarico continues to lead in the U.S. Senate race.
This one is from Univision. Talarico at 48%. Paxton. They're at 43%. Those results are similar to other polls right now, showing Talarico still in the lead at least slightly. The Paxton campaign told us that he would not have time for an interview during the Dallas convention. His opponent, though, did make himself available.
Democrat James Talarico spent part of the week at a food drive in Oak Cliff, where we caught up with him. Representative, good to see you here. Good to see you. Republicans are hosting this midterm convention in Dallas here. Your opponent has this high profile spot there talking to supporters. Does that help or hurt your campaign?
Well, while corrupt politicians like Ken Paxton are partying with their billionaire mega donors down the street at the Billionaire Ball. My campaign has collected 20,000 pounds of groceries for working Texans. The contrast in this race could not be more stark. I have a legislative record of bringing both parties together to lower costs for Texans.
The cost of of child care, the cost of housing, the cost of prescription drugs, including insulin. Ken Paxton has a track record of enriching himself while in public office of benefiting his donors at the expense of the people of Texas. Today, I think, just brings that contrast into into a stark light.
You've said you're still the underdog in this race here. I mean, do you genuinely believe that polls consistently show you leading here? Is that is that messaging in your campaign? I don't believe the polls anymore. And the only poll that matters is, is on election day. I'm going to be the underdog until the last vote is counted.
And the reason I know that is because billionaire mega donors like Elon Musk are also pouring money into this race. Dark money PACs are pouring money into this race to try to stop this movement that we're building. They're terrified of the fact that we are bringing working people together across party, across race, across gender and religion and culture to take on that corruption at the very top.
You had Republican officials here today endorsing our campaign, and that that nothing is more terrifying to the people at the top than all of us as Texans coming together across Partizan lines to take on this corruption and get this economy back on track. So it serves working people. Again. I want to ask you about David Maxwell.
He's a former Texas Ranger. One of the whistleblowers in the Ken Paxton case worked for Ken Paxton. He endorsed you. What what does his endorsement tell Texans or Texas voters about Ken Paxton? They don't already know. Well, Ken Paxton fired his director of law enforcement for enforcing the law against Ken Paxton.
Ken Paxton doesn't believe the rules apply to him. It's why, since taking office, he has become a multi-millionaire on the public's dime. It's why he now owns 15 homes, while most Texans can't afford one. It's why he has taken bribes from wealthy donors, all while blocking overtime pay for Texas workers and gutting our health care.
We need a senator who's going to serve us, not a senator who's going to serve himself. That is the clear contrast in this race for the US Senate. You called for suspending the federal gas tax to make transportation more, more affordable, but that would only add to the $40 trillion deficit we have right now, which you've also pledged to close.
Which one is more important? They're both important, and we can do both. We're often told that the only way to close the deficit and tackle the debt is by doing it on the backs of working people, and that is not true. We can close the deficit by closing billionaire tax loopholes, making the wealthiest people in this country pay their fair share, and ending this disastrous forever war in Iran that is costing us $1 billion a day.
If we do those things, not only will it close the deficit and tackle the debt, it will also lower costs, including gas prices. So these are false choices in our politics. We can and must do both on behalf of the people of Texas. But you criticized Republicans for adding to the deficit before. Why would it be okay in this sense with suspending the federal gas tax if that were to happen?
If we pay for it by closing billionaire tax loopholes. I am never going to be for spending without paying for it elsewhere. And right now, our government is giving trillions of dollars of our taxpayer money to the wealthiest people in this country in the form of billionaire tax breaks. And and I think that money is better directed toward middle class families who are struggling to put food on the table, struggling to fill up their tanks.
That's the kind of senator I want to be. It's why I don't take corporate PAC money. I never have taken corporate PAC money because I answer the people of Texas, and that is who I will serve in the US Senate. Representative. Thank you. Thank you sir. Appreciate you. All right. Let's bring in the roundtable to talk about the politics of this.
But Kennedy is here from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Natalie Haddad, political reporter at WFAA in Dallas. And Ashley, good old political director at Kvue in Austin. Thanks for being here, guys. But let's start with you. Trump appeared at this RNC. He spoke twice, offered $5,000 to vote Republican to every adult in the U.S. if Republicans keep the majorities in Congress, but no mention of affordability, inflation, gas prices.
Is the RNC midterm going to move any voters and very little discussion of a war? Jason, you know, I think the Republicans found a few issues that they talked about over and over again. This was Donald Trump, the fabulous this is the the fabulous two likes to put on a performance. He was the ringmaster. He was at center stage every night.
I don't remember a convention where the nominee spoke every night. And a lot of things were different about this. You know, there was no candidates nominate, there was no platform to pass or anything like that. Natalie, let me ask you. Democrats showed up. We just showed Governor Pritzker a little earlier here, and they staged several events around the convention.
Was was that effective on their side? I would imagine where they were most effective was actually talking about the issues at the RNC, like you mentioned, those issues, the most important ones that voters are paying attention to. Affordability. What's happening here on the ground in Texas with data centers that was not discussed.
And if the RNC wants to avoid that, fine. But the Democrats who showed up and had these counter events did talk about these issues. And there's already a momentum in that party that we haven't seen in several years. And I think not talking about these issues at the RNC is going to come back to bite them. And, Ashley, at the end of the day here, there are very few undecided people in the U.S. Senate race in Texas and just in general out there.
Do you think that the RNC and the Democratic events against that counterprogramming there? Does that change anything at all? Does this change any race? What we saw over the last week in Dallas.
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You know, here's the deal, Jason. I want you to go outside and I want you to ask people, are you going to vote so you can get this $5,000? Because that's what all a lot of people heard at the end of the day, with all the talking that happened at the RNC, all people heard. The only thing they took home with them is, oh, if we vote for Republicans, the president is going to cut us a $5,000 check.
Now, most of us are still waiting on that $2,000 check. That was all. All so promised that we never got. But that's what's going to stick with people. And so I think that the Democrats missed an opportunity to talk about where that money is going to come from, how much that would cost. We now know what the president's plan is going forward, what he's going to continue to be talking about.
The Democrats are going to have to step it up if they're going to try to get people to to not vote Republican now. And let me ask you the same question I asked Natalie Budd. Did Democrats miss an opportunity? Like like Ashley said here, I don't know if the Democrats had an effective message at this. They have a generally effective message in Texas, but I'm not sure they gained ground nationally.
They can talk about data centers. They can talk about THC. They can talk about every objection that people have had to the Republican administration. But the events they performed in Dallas didn't get much attention, didn't get much airplay. All right, guys, back to you in just a moment here. A lot more ahead when we come back.
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Welcome back to Inside Texas Politics. Republicans say their midterm convention in Dallas went off without a hitch. And the EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, who was also there, told me that the concept is here to stay. And likely, he says, for both parties. Mr. Zeldin, good to see you here. Tell me about the event behind us here.
What's it supposed to accomplish? There's no candidate to nominate. There are no party platforms to pass here. Is this just a big rally for two days? 55 days to go before a very important election. And there are a lot of people in this country who don't vote in between presidential elections. There are a lot of people out there who just don't vote at all.
Well, here in Texas, there's a very important US Senate race. I'm strongly supporting Ken Paxton now, race a really important House races as well, determining control of the House of Representatives in the Senate come January. So for people who maybe in the past have set out these midterms, it's important to get engaged.
Homestretch. 55 days left. I think this is something that is going to now happen every four years. I think you'll probably see both parties doing it. Uh, the RNC, the Republican Party, President Trump, they were the first ones to bring this idea to light. It was a great idea. I'm surprised it hasn't happened earlier.
To be quite frank, but I'm pretty sure it's here to stay. I've heard a lot of talk here about James Talarico. His name has been mentioned a lot here. Does that surprise you? I think with all of the Senate races across the country, you have a choice of not only what kind of a future you want for your country, but also who represents your voice, your values in Congress, in the House, in the Senate.
That's what this moment is. And the more you learn about this guy Talarico, the more that you realize how out-of-touch he is with Texas values. And I think those types of decisions, as you go across the map, you look at places like Michigan and Ohio to North Carolina and elsewhere. People are thinking about the candidates that are in front of them and thinking, okay, which one best represents my values.
And there are a lot of Texas voters who are not only going to decide it's Ken Paxton, but they're going to make sure their voice is heard. Through their vote. You cannot sit this one out. You have to show up. Let's talk about data centers. It's a red hot issue in Texas here. You said the EPA is not going to establish nationwide environmental requirements for data centers.
And in Texas, we've seen the governor here, Greg Abbott, the attorney general, Ken Paxton, saying, hey, we need to slow things down here. Which ones? Right. Well, as as I said, actually, EPA has core statutory obligations under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act. We take it very importantly, our core mission is protecting human health in the environment.
What I have also said is that we will not sit behind a desk in Washington, D.C., and act like we know the land, air, and water of Texas better than Texas does. We want to advance something called cooperative federalism. We believe in federalism. We we believe in Governor Abbott and his team. We want to work together to make sure that that relationship between President Trump and the governor is strong, and you're listening to the questions that people ask when the data center gets built, they want to know, is there a bill going to go down or up?
That's why President Trump has put forth his ratepayer protection pledge, which so many hyperscalers and others have signed on to, because when a new data center is built, if there's any movement in the bill, it needs to go down, not up. I tell members of Congress on any issue that if you don't agree with something I do, then change the law and I'll follow whatever the law says there was.
There are cases that have come out that have made it clear that they don't want executive branch overreach. They don't want an agency head to look at the law and say, well, this law doesn't say it can't. So I guess that must mean I can. They want us to follow the law, and that's what we're going to continue to do.
But we're not going to act like we know Texas air, land and water better than the leadership of Texas does, like Governor Abbott. Thanks for the time. Okay, you got it.
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All right, so the big question now post convention is will the RNC midterm move the needle for Republicans for any of the races for Ken Paxton as well? That's the focus of this week's political podcast, insiders on the right and the left tell us what they will be looking for next after the convention. Yellow ticks always has new content, fresh interviews and episodes drop every Sunday wherever you get your podcasts.
And when we come back on this program here, the roundtable is standing by.
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This is Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whitely.
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All right. Back now with the roundtable to talk more politics here. But Kennedy, back with us from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Natalie Haddad, political reporter at WFAA in Dallas, and Ashley Goudeau, political director at Kvue in Austin. But let's start with the U.S. Senate race, which we're all talking about, at least in the political circles.
Time is running out before early voting begins. A little more than five weeks from now. Is a Senate debate going to happen between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, and will it matter? Well, I think Ken Paxton has more reason than ever now to debate. He started his campaign. The ads have started running against Talarico.
That. That attack him over and over again. He needs to get Talarico out on a TV, in a studio stage and just flog him about everything he said in the past. He wants to talk over and over about things. Talarico said, a year or two year, five years, he needs to repeat all those at a debate. He needs to. He needs to bring Talarico out and show people that he fights like Donald Trump.
Natalie, we saw President Trump up there twice speaking at the RNC. He kept saying on both nights, and he said over and over, and it got a lot of laughs there in the moment that he doesn't like Ken Paxton's looks or his speeches, but calls him the greatest attorney general and praises Paxton's record here.
How much is he really helping Ken Paxton? That is a wonderful question. I'm not sure how well people take to backhanded compliment, but I think this is something we have seen in both times that President Trump was in the white House. So I'm not necessarily surprised he went this route, but I don't think it did Ken Paxton any favors.
Ken Paxton is already avoiding any sort of debate. We are only just now seeing the ads pick up he doesn't respond to. He didn't speak about any Texas specific issues at the RNC. I don't know that calling him ugly is helping him at all.
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Yeah, we shall see about that. Ashley, you might have something to say about that there, but but, Ashley, let me ask you about the Democrats. The Democrats had several counterprogramming events in Dallas as the RNC unfolded the American Airlines Center. The Democratic events did not feature James Talarico.
Instead, James Talarico had his own events there. What was the point of that? As Talarico distancing himself from Dems
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is its strategy. And that's exactly what James Talarico is doing. Like, at the end of the day, the Democratic Party, the Texas Democratic Party is not well received in the state of Texas. When you look at polls, it doesn't have a good favorability rating. And on top of that, there are more Republicans in Texas than there are Democrats.
People love to say no, no, no. You know, it's purple. People just don't vote. No. When you look at these polls, the people say that they are more Republican than they are Democrat. And so James Talarico cannot run as the Democrat. He has to run as James Talarico, the candidate. And so putting some distance between himself and the party, that's just smart.
Let me ask you again here too. Earlier in the program, I asked about the $5,000 Ashley. But, you know, the president promised to pay that $5,000. It's got everyone talking. If Republicans maintain majorities in Congress. Is that line going to sway any voters?
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Yes. Point blank. Period. I mean, should you think it will? Are we going to pay for it in the long term? Yes. You know why? Because there were so many people who we heard saying that they were going to vote for the president because of the stimulus check that happened. And so I think that that really swayed people.
You had people talking about what the president did for them and they got their check. And so I do think that that's going to have an impact on them. And again, there's enough time, though, between now and November for the Democrats to try to counter and point out how much that will cost us and what happened to the economy the last time everybody got a stimulus check.
And but I want to ask you about that. Even governor DeSantis from Florida was saying, too, that it's going to only add to debt and inflation is at the, you know, at the end of the day here. Do Americans understand that? Because we all saw what happened 5 or 6 years ago, like Ashley said, Jason, I think if people understood it, they would be frightened because what happens when you tax everybody, collect federal taxes, and then you dole money back out equally to everybody in the country, you have everyone get an equal amount.
Isn't that socialism? That's it. Does you know, people does kind of sell like that. Let's switch off to advertising here, Natalie. Governor Abbott released a few more ads. It's kind of the similar GOP playbook that we've seen that, you know, if Texans elect Gina Hinojosa, then, you know crime will run through the streets here.
Hinojosa has her own ads out as well. Are either of these ads going to be effective because this race is closer than it normally is? I think Gina's as are going to be effective because I mean, just personally speaking, I find them to be much more relatable than the same talking points that we have seen from Governor Abbott over the last three terms that he has served.
I would like to ask, when is he going to come up with something a little more creative and a little more relatable? Because, as we've heard before, others say he's running on issues that have been the problem in Texas, that have been problems in Texas over the last 12 years or so. So I don't know how effective these same talking points are.
He probably could have run ads from his last election. We shall see. And on this week's episode of Yellow Taxi, they're warning everyone to get ready for a advertising tornado. Over the next five weeks, between now and November. Thanks so much.