Bold Talk
My old pal, former State Rep. Garnet Coleman left us a couple of days ago. He was one of the best to ever serve in the Texas Legislature. For three decades. Hard working, tenacious, passionate, savvy, thoughtful, and great political instincts. He studied and immersed himself in the issues of the day. I always respected his service to Texas and to his community.
I first met him in the 1980s and worked side by side with him on a couple of local campaigns. He had a great sense of humor and was never, ever full of himself.
In 1991, State Rep. Larry Evans died while in office. A special election was called to fill the Evans vacancy. Garnet filed for the position, and he asked the late Keith Wade and me to run his campaign. Garnet worked his tail off and won in a runoff.
The rest, they say, is history.
A public servant that I highly admired.
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It was cool and crisp early this morning when I went out to fetch the Chron hard copy. Nice.
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39 days until election day. See this from the Trib:
Texas lawmakers are 40 days away from a heated midterm election that will determine how much power Republicans will be able to keep — and how much Democrats will be able to grab — ahead of next year’s legislative session.
Three Texas Democrats brought a heavy dose of optimism to a discussion of their plans for the 2027 legislative session during The Texas Tribune Festival on Thursday. State Rep. Gene Wu, the minority leader in the House, said he thinks Democrats will take a majority in the chamber, requiring a gain of 14 seats.
“If everyone pushes a little bit, we win,” Wu said, pointing to Democrats fielding candidates in every House, Senate and statewide race.
State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins said that she’s optimistic for a majority, but admitted that she realistically expects Democrats to gain six to eight seats.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa was more measured during an earlier conversation, where she said there will not be Democratic majority in the Texas Legislature.
“There’s just not,” she said. “I live in reality.”
Their optimism is fueled by their constituents’ anger and frustration, the panelists said.
“The other side are running the same old, tired-ass campaign talking about bathrooms and stuff like that and who’s in what sports, I mean, people are tired of that,” State Sen. Carol Alvarado said, particularly pointing to Latino voters. “We’re seeing buyer’s remorse, they don’t like what Republicans have done to them.”
That is bold talk from Rep. Wu. We will find out in 39 days.
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The featured photo is from the Rep. Hinojosa ad hitting back at MAGA Gov. Greg Abbott. It is very good ad.
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National journalist @ChrisCillizza posted this:
It is now a real possibility that Republicans lose the Senate majority because Donald Trump endorsed Ken Paxton rather than John Cornyn in Texas.
Remarkable.
Nope. Cillizza obviously doesn’t know Texas. Cornyn was a goner before Trump got involved.
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Since you asked, the Hallmark Channel Christmas flicks season begins 3 weeks from today. I better get ready.
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It has come down to the final weekend of the 2026 MLB regular season. 10 of the 12 playoff teams have punched their tickets. We still need the final NL Wild Card team and the AL West Division winner. We won last night and are still tied for first place. We also hold the tiebreaker. We have three more games against the A’s in Sacramento.