In the October 12 episode, Congresswoman Julie Johnson tells us how she sees the shutdown ending and why she calls the Texas National Guard deployment to Illinois “outrageous.” State Representative Lacey Hull explains why she’s thankful a court blocked the execution of death row inmate Robert Roberson. And Dallas City Council Member Chad West discusses the future of City Hall and whether he’s had any talks with the Mavericks about the location.
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Straight ahead, will Dallas City Hall be sacrificed for a new Mavs arena? The building is in disrepair. City leaders want to keep the team in Dallas, and a decision could come sooner than you think. A committee that Councilman Chad West leads is going to kick off the conversation, and he is in studio to take our questions. Congressman Wesley Hunt shaking up the Republican race for US Senate.
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What voters said about him in a new survey, and where Hunt sees a path to victory. 10 days before his execution, a court has stepped in again to save a convicted murderer on death row. State Repent Lacey Hall is with us on what Robert Robertson told her from death row hours before that decision came down. And an El Paso court now faces a big decision with a little time to make it.
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Will judges let Republicans keep their new congressional maps or strike them down before Texas voters head to the polls? Congresswoman Julie Johnson and how an imminent decision could reshape Texas politics and what is at risk for Democrats in the government shutdown. Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whiteley starts now. I'm Jason Whiteley. A lot happening politically right now. Let's start with the headlines.
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A federal court in El Paso has a big decision to make and just a little time to make it. It's now up to a three-judge panel there to decide whether to block the new congressional maps that Republicans drew over the summer. These are the maps that eliminate 5 Democratic districts to help President Trump and Republicans keep control of Congress next year, a decision expected within weeks, perhaps sooner, as candidates must announce which office they're running for by December 8th.
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New poll numbers show us just how the race for US Senate is shaping up here in Texas. First for Republicans, Ken Paxton remains in the lead, barely at 34%. John Cornyn right behind him there, and Wesley Hunt, who just announced his own candidacy at 22%. For Democrats, Colin Allred at 46%, James Tallarico at 42%. This survey from the University of Houston and Texas Southern. And early voting begins a week from Monday for the November election here.
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Statewide, there are 17 amendments to the Texas Constitution, a couple of them about property taxes that need your approval. In Tarrant County, voters will elect a new state senator to replace Kelly Hancock, who's now comptroller, and in Houston, it's going to finally elect a new member of Congress to replace the late Sylvester Turner, who died back in March. Let's begin right now though with a rare rebuke of a fellow Republican.
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Governor Greg Abbott sent 200 Texas National Guard troops to Chicago at the request of President Trump, but the Republican governor of Oklahoma, who also chairs the National Governors Association, Says this sets a bad precedent. Governor Kevin Stitt said that Oklahomans would lose their mind if Illinois sent troops to their red state, and it makes you wonder whether Texans would be OK maybe if California, the National Guard there deployed troops to Texas.
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Our first guest, Congresswoman Julie Johnson, a Democrat from Dallas. We begin with the federal government shutdown though, and what will happen when Congress returns Tuesday. Congresswoman, welcome back to the program here. How do you expect this shutdown is going to end?
< spk_1 - 00:03:27.8890000 >
Well, I expect the shutdown is gonna end with passing of the Democratic Senate resolution to reopen the government that restores everyone's health care. You know, it's pretty simple. It restores the government. It opens it up just like everything else, but it doesn't slash healthcare for 32 million people. And so it just puts all that back in place. It continues the ACA tax credits that have been in effect.
< spk_1 - 00:03:53.7590000 >
It doesn't make any changes to that, so it restores people's healthcare, keeps the government open, and you know, the, the people are speaking very loudly that they want their healthcare.
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And to remind our viewers about this, the Democrats are trying to preserve this $40 billion in payments that go to insurance companies for insurance companies to keep premiums low, health insurance premiums low. Here's a question Why not just let Republicans take the hit on health insurance costs rising?
< spk_1 - 00:04:20.9100000 >
Well, you know, Democrats care about people and people suffer. You know, I care about my constituents who don't have healthcare. You know, people have reached out to me. That people have critical health complications, needs that they need to take care of medically, and if they don't, they could die or they could have really serious health complications. And so, you know, I I'm not in the business of trying to play politics with people's lives. I think Republicans are, are playing roulette like that. They're willing to cut everyone's health care off, um, you know, I'm not.
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I'm willing to fight as hard as I can to make sure people get the health care that they need and because it's important. It's, it's for people's health, it's for their financial safety, it's for their health safety, and it's just the right thing to do.
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Let's shift off and talk about the lawsuit unfolding in El Paso over the congressional maps that Republicans redrew over the summer. You've been watching this from afar, but, but what does it look like? Are you confident at all in in the back and forth over there? And what do you think is going to happen?
< spk_1 - 00:05:17.7200000 >
Well, you know, yes, uh, I'm very optimistic that the court is going to overthrow these racist maps that the Texas legislature and Greg Abbott. Uh, Drew, it is unquestionable that race was used inappropriately, illegally, in a way to diminish and dilute the vote of minority voters in the state of Texas. So you know, at the end of the day, in my opinion, you know, I'm a lawyer. I've been practicing law here in Dallas for over 35 years, and.
< spk_1 - 00:05:45.4700000 >
At the end of the day, if this, this is the quintessential case of racial discrimination in vote allocation and gerrymandering, if Texas loses this case, if we lose this case as the plaintiffs, then there just really is no viable claim for racial gerrymandering claims going forward in this country, and the Supreme Court of the United States have already held in two different instances in Louisiana and in Alabama.
< spk_1 - 00:06:09.0890000 >
That both of those states violated the law in inappropriately racially drawing lines, and they forced them to redraw them to allow for two minority opportunity seats. And that's why we have Shamari Figgs and Cleo Fields from those states. And so, you know, this very Supreme Court has already taken the stance that yes, racial gerrymandering claims are a viable cause of action in this country. And in my opinion, I think that what the state of Texas has done in these maps is very, very egregious and certainly falls within that category.
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Before I let you go, I want to ask you about the Texas National Guard in Illinois. What's your reaction to this?
< spk_1 - 00:06:43.4500000 >
It's just outrageous. You know, I cannot believe that Governor Abbott is again bending the knee to President Trump. There is no end to which that man will bend to the will of Trump and what he's trying to do in his unlawful militarization of our American cities. You know, Houston and Dallas has some of the highest crime. You know, they have, we What, 10 shootings just this past weekend.
< spk_1 - 00:07:06.4940000 >
And so, you know, Greg Abbott is ignoring the crime in his own state and deploying our National Guard, our men and women of the state of Texas, into, into other states. It's just absolutely inappropriate. It's wrong, and I wish he would not do that, and they should come home.
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Congresswoman, good to see you. Thank you for the time. Absolutely,
< spk_1 - 00:07:26.0150000 >
thanks for having me.
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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. Ashley Godot is political director at Caveview in Austin, and Aya Mitra is with us from Austin as well, the Texas Tribune. But let's start with you. The Oklahoma governor says to clarify those federal, those troops from Texas should have been federalized first before the governor just sends them, uh, north to Illinois. Do, do you think that we're gonna see any. More pushback from fellow Republicans about this deployment.
< spk_2 - 00:07:52.3950000 >
I don't expect pushback. You know this is not the first time that Texas has been used as a show prop. Jason. Remember just a couple of years ago Texans spent millions of dollars bussing immigrants from the border to cities like Chicago that now we're helping round up to send back. So it's only 20. Troops, it's not a big deployment.
< spk_2 - 00:08:13.0520000 >
And by the way, the Oklahoma governor should look at his history about the time the Texas Guard and the Oklahoma Guard lined up across the Red River from each other at Sherman to argue about which military was going to open the bridge.
< spk_0 - 00:08:25.4110000 >
Bud's dropping the history on us here, Ashley, but let me ask you this. I mean, he also brings up a good point. He's go ahead, go ahead.
< spk_3 - 00:08:34.9090000 >
I mean you're dropping history, but I, I think there's just no way Governor Greg Abbott would allow, let's say, the California guards to come into Texas. There would be more lining of troops going toe to toe at airports before he would let them come into the state.
< spk_0 - 00:08:49.6690000 >
Yeah, and, and I, a judge has temporarily paused this deployment of, of these 200 Texas National Guard troops up there, but how do you expect this is going to unfold? Is this gonna fade away?
< spk_4 - 00:09:00.3400000 >
Fade away maybe, but it's it's there's going to be a long legal battle about this, and then, you know, not just as the legal battle continues, there's still the public relations battle too, you know, Governor JB Pritzker was like mocking this whole thing, you know, wearing a military vest in Chicago, basically saying that, you know, it's so unsafe that the Chicago Cubs have been invaded by the Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs. I mean, that's going to be another part of this too is like the actual reality on the ground and the actual, you know, showing what's actually happening here.
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Yes, I think a lot more to come indeed, guys. Thanks so much for that. A lot more ahead here when we come back. Welcome back to Inside Texas Politics. Robert Robertson's execution is on hold again. He is the East Texas man convicted of killing his two year old daughter. Robertson is also the man that a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers think was wrongly convicted. State Rep Lacey Hall, a Republican from Houston, is one of those state officials who is advocating for him to now get a new trial.
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Representative, welcome back to the program. Uh, why do you think this decision came down to the wire?
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We see that a lot of times in these cases. Obviously, we, we wish it was sooner, but just so thankful that it happened. We just, just so thankful.
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And just 24 hours before this decision came down from the court, you, you were in, uh, Livingston at the Pulunski unit, otherwise known as death row, uh, with Robert Robertson. What did, what was the visit like and what did you tell him?
< spk_5 - 00:10:25.7800000 >
The visit was incredible. Robert is such a sweet and gentle soul. Uh, we held hands and hugged. We prayed together. He also talked about his deep sadness about the loss of his daughter, how he grieves, um, the loss of Nikki, and it just, you can see the heartbreak on his face.
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You still have colleagues in the House, Republican colleagues who are adamantly against this. What have those conversations been like in, in the hall with, with some of your colleagues? Ah,
< spk_5 - 00:10:57.9890000 >
well. Most of, most I say don't really talk about it. Um, and I think most that I would say are speaking out, haven't fully looked at all of the information. Um, those of us who are advocating for Robert have dug through everything. And for a very long time, we have been saying, and it's actually last year, OK, are we missing something? None of us are going to sit here and defend a child murderer. We're, we're, we're absolutely not going to do that.
< spk_5 - 00:11:27.1500000 >
And so we're like, what are we missing? And we realized we're not missing anything. Every. Thing that we discover time and time again with this case, it is, oh my gosh, this is even worse than what I thought. Robert has never had justice, never had, never had a fair trial, never had due process, and anyone that objectively looks at this case comes to that same conclusion.
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Now that this goes back to the trial court, any idea when the trial court might decide whether to even suggest a new trial for the Court of Criminal Appeals to finally consider?
< spk_5 - 00:11:57.8300000 >
Not sure on the timing. Uh, again, all of that is up in the air because in, in what the Court of Criminal Appeals put out today, there is no timeline. So, we do not know.
< spk_0 - 00:12:09.8400000 >
Representative, thank you for the time. We appreciate it.
< spk_5 - 00:12:12.0390000 >
Yes, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
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All right, now to a significant story developing in Dallas. The Dallas Mavs basketball team, and they want a new arena. The city wants to keep them downtown, and there is a lot of chatter that Dallas might just tear down Dallas City Hall for a brand new sports venue. The future of Dallas City Hall begins with a committee led by Councilman Chad West. Councilman, good to see you again. Likewise, good to see you. Thanks for coming in here. Absolutely.
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It, it feels like the obituary for Dallas City Hall is already being written, people saying it's functionally obsolete. There's mold. It has a million issues and $500 million in, in deferred maintenance. Question is, do you expect? Dallas City Hall to be in the same place it is right now within 5 years.
< spk_6 - 00:12:57.7290000 >
I would disagree that the obituary has been written. I would say that right now it is on life support and Um, it needs a lot to come back to the health that it needs to be to be a functional city hall. Uh, City Hall is, is in a bad state right now. It has not had the deferred maintenance that it's needed for decades now. We, we need a new roof.
< spk_6 - 00:13:19.3900000 >
Um, the, the plaza that I mentioned that where the water's coming down in the parking garage, it's literally pulling away from City Hall, um, at this moment, like incrementally, but it's still pulling away.
< spk_6 - 00:13:30.2190000 >
Uh, we have lighting issues, water issues, all the above, and it hasn't been modernized, um, in a way that newer buildings are modernized to be more energy efficient, to be, you know, have better work environments, and so those are investments we need to make if we choose to stay in City Hall.
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The City Hall site is just the right amount of land for Dallas Mavericks when it's looking for a new place to call home. The timing here is skeptical. Is this all about finding a new place for the NBA team in the city?
< spk_6 - 00:14:03.4290000 >
I mean, I'm, I'm not in any discussion with the Mavericks. Uh, of course I've heard all the media rumors that the Mavericks are looking for another location. I feel like personally as a Mavericks fan, a season ticket holder, uh, that we need to do everything we can to keep them in the city limits of Dallas. Um, the location does make sense. They're probably watching us to decide what. Or to to see what we're going to do and then I would guess the negotiations would start at that point if they are interested in City
< spk_0 - 00:14:31.3300000 >
Hall, but it's, it's the right amount of land. It's right downtown. There's talk of entertainment district being built with convention center which would, would butt up next to City Hall. I mean it's, it's the perfect location.
< spk_6 - 00:14:42.1900000 >
It is a great location for it, but you also have to remember there's going to be 30 additional acres. Opened up when the convention center starts going through their reconstruction so there's a lot of other options for the Mavericks downtown, not just where City Hall is located. So I, I don't want to give the public the perception that this is a foregone situation with the Mavericks because frankly it's not it's, it's an option that's on the table, um, if they choose to accept it. Um, but I go back to what I said earlier.
< spk_6 - 00:15:11.6790000 >
We cannot lose the Mavericks. They're our, they're our hometown team, and they're, they're called the Dallas Mavericks for a reason, not the Frisco Mavericks, the Grand Prairie Mavericks or something like that. And frankly, I cannot imagine them even leaving our city. Like they are as much a part of us as we are of them.
< spk_0 - 00:15:27.0390000 >
And to make sure I'm clear on the October 21st meeting of the Finance Committee, it won't be any, any final binding decision that comes out of that about the future of City Hall. But, but do you expect that to happen? And by the 1st of the year or 1st quarter, 2nd quarter of next year,
< spk_6 - 00:15:41.6790000 >
I expect us to be taking some type of action within this calendar year. So by December of this year, um, on giving Kim Tolbert, our city manager, the directive on what to do with City Hall, and then
< spk_0 - 00:15:53.6690000 >
that would go before council for a final vote, I would presume, right? That's
< spk_6 - 00:15:57.0390000 >
correct. It would go before council, and the reason is not necessarily to. Time it with any of that stuff you just mentioned, but it's because our deferred maintenance bill is so high. If we are gonna stay in City Hall, we have got to start investing in it now, and we're literally holding off on millions of dollars in investment until City council decides if we're going to stay there or if we're gonna move.
< spk_0 - 00:16:18.1640000 >
Last question on City Hall. I know we've talked a lot about this, but here, here's the last thing on City Hall. Um, there are no state laws, as you probably know, requiring City Hall to be within the city center of, of any Texas city. Do you expect a new city hall, if that's what the, the council decides to do, would that be in, in the downtown area, do you think?
< spk_6 - 00:16:37.3400000 >
Absolutely. Yeah, I, I, no question in my mind, uh, I've never, uh, in the discussions I've had with city staff and with, uh, a couple other council members, um, there's never been a thought of if City Hall has to move of leaving downtown. We are the core of the city.
< spk_6 - 00:16:53.8800000 >
And um it makes us to be centralized um when you think about how all the districts are um you know geographically located around the city you need a city city hall needs to be at the center of its of its core even if the residents are not necessarily concerned about where we're at um and more focused on the services our location is still representative of our investment in downtown.
< spk_0 - 00:17:17.1890000 >
The councilman's unedited interview, like all of our interviews each week, are posted online. When we come back here though, the roundtable is ready. All right, time now for reporters' roundtable to put the headlines in perspective. Bud, Ashley and I are all back with us here. Ashley, let's start with you and the, uh, the, the trial on hold for Robert, uh, Robertson here. This is the 2nd time a court has put this execution on hold.
< spk_0 - 00:17:42.0500000 >
And what's going to be different this time because his, his attorneys have had a year to try to convince the trial court that he deserves a new trial.
< spk_3 - 00:17:51.9490000 >
Yeah, I think that the difference here is that they're actually going to look at it under the state's junk science law, which is what lawmakers, uh, from across the state, both sides of the aisle have been calling for is that there's some evolving evidence, right, about shaken baby syndrome and how this two year old child died. And so they actually do want to take a moment to take a look at this, and that is really what we've been hearing lawmakers ask for
< spk_0 - 00:18:17.3590000 >
and I in that 2013 junk science law, it is yet to give any death row inmate in the state a brand new trial. Why has this case split so many Republicans? It passed under Republican leadership.
< spk_4 - 00:18:30.9490000 >
Yeah, I think there's a, there's a, you know, a debate among Republicans too about just about regarding the law as well as just making sure they're strong on criminal justice. And so, you know, it's, it's a fine line for them and there's still the divide continues in this case, you know, Ken Paxton and other Republicans like Mitch Little have been still very Critical of letting this move beyond and not letting the death sentence be implemented here, so that's going to continue, but I think there's a law enforcement kind of debate within this within the Republican Party.
< spk_0 - 00:19:00.6500000 >
But what happens next?
< spk_2 - 00:19:01.5000000 >
Oh, Jason, well, I was going to say the division between Republicans is so interesting because it's a religious right. That's divided. The fundamentalists are divided, and it all comes down to whether you believe that God is a forgiving God or a vengeful God. That seems to be the way it falls. The people who believe in, in the vengeance want to have vengeance on the death penalty.
< spk_0 - 00:19:20.5690000 >
And Bud, let's stick with you for a moment on this new poll we mentioned at the beginning of the program from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University. It shows Cornyn and Paxton essentially tied, uh, but there's a new twist here. Colin Allred is in a, a, a, a virtual tie with either Cornyn or with Paxton. That's a new dynamic
< spk_2 - 00:19:37.2190000 >
here. Well, and that means millions of dollars to Colin Allred's campaign. You know, it shows that he does better, frankly, than Tellerrico against. He is even with either Cornyn or Paxton in a two-way race, and he does about 4 points. Than Tallarico does right now head to head, Tallarico would have to run hard to catch up.
< spk_0 - 00:19:57.4000000 >
And let's talk about Tallarico for a moment, Ian, because Tallarico draws these massive crowds and, and, and started, you know, with this, this huge huge explosion on the Democratic side. What does this say about him?
< spk_4 - 00:20:08.9890000 >
It says that he probably still needs to build up his name recognition. You know, these polls are always interesting at this point. A lot of it is just about familiarity with names and a lot of folks are still getting to know James Tallarico. So, you know, he has a lot of popularity with younger folks. He may not show up in some of these surveys, but he still has a long way to go. Let's not forget Colin Alred has ran. Statewide campaign he has more familiarity there, so that that's his advantage at this point in the campaign.
< spk_0 - 00:20:31.7500000 >
5 months to go before the uh before the primary. Ashley, let's shift off with Democrats here and talk about the rumor that we've all heard. State Rep Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat from Austin, talking about potentially running for governor. Why would she give up a safe seat?
< spk_3 - 00:20:47.8390000 >
You know, I think it's one of those if not me then who? I think that is sort of the issue right when it comes to Democrats running against Governor Greg Abbott is going to be tough to do. He is going to be tough to beat frankly it'd be tough for anyone to to beat him in such a red state, but you have to have someone you gotta keep trying, uh, and, and you know, maybe she's saying that.
< spk_3 - 00:21:12.0740000 >
At this point with where the legislature is, with how tough of a session it was for Democrats, that why not, why not just go for the gusto here and shoot for the, for the governor's race?
< spk_0 - 00:21:24.3050000 >
Can't can't wait to see what happens if, if she decides and makes a public announcement in the coming days here. Guys, thanks so much. We appreciate it as always. Thanks for the input. We appreciate you watching as well. We're back next Sunday to take you inside Texas politics, and we hope to see you then. Take care.