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June 17, 2026      4:12 PM

Dallas City Council takes another step toward vacating City Hall

But the messy fight over the future of the historic building, which has been marked by unprecedented litigation and confusion, is far from over

DALLAS – Proponents of moving city operations out of Dallas City Hall won another victory today with a 9-5 vote allowing the city manager to proceed with scouting for other locations.

The vote, though, doesn’t spell the end for the historic Brutalist structure designed by famed architect I.M. Pei.

The contentious debate to vacate the building comes as downtown Dallas has taken multiple beatings in the last few months and the leadership faces a $53 million budget deficit.

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By James Russell

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June 17, 2026      3:47 PM

Smith: Working the Clock, AI Data Centers Game to Take Texas Water Before They Can Be Stopped

In this guest column, Glenn Smith argues that with growing water demands of data centers, “2027 is the last session in which new rules can still be written to protect our water. Wait until 2029 and the game is over.”

AI data centers and their friends in government are meeting public resistance with surprisingly empty spin. Their public relations efforts don’t seem aimed at persuading. They’re just patting the heads of concerned citizens while the real trouble goes on behind the backs of the public.

The industry realizes it just needs to distract and discombobulate long enough for the Texas Legislature to come and go in 2027. By that time, it will be well on the way to securing massive water rights that the state will never be able to buy back, whatever the consequences for the rest of us from the lost water.

Here is some of the empty spin. Reacting to local concerns about the data centers’ enormous water demands, Gov. Greg Abbott’s spokesman said “these facilities are required to bring their own water.” Bring their own water? From where? From whom? That was the first head pat.

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By Glenn Smith, guest columnist

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June 16, 2026      3:06 PM

Former Lt. Gov. candidate Collier leads nonpartisan group of plaintiffs suing over third party ballot access in Texas

Former Sen. Seliger, Tarrant Count Judge Whitley, and other Republicans joined with Ds and independents. Collier said “My strongest supporters were unable to sign my petition unless they gave up their right to vote in important primary contests…I refused to ask Texans to sacrifice one constitutional right in order to exercise another."

Editor’s note: A copy of the lawsuit is available to subscribers at the bottom of the article – SB

Former Democratic candidate for Texas Lieutenant Governor Mike Collier is leading a bipartisan group of plaintiffs in federal court who claim this state’s hurdles for independent candidates are unconstitutional.

The suit was filed in federal court in Austin with Republicans, Democrats, and independents signed onto it, including:

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By Scott Braddock

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June 16, 2026      8:59 AM

Kronberg: Patrick attacks on Cornyn could cause lasting problems for Texas GOP heading into November

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June 14, 2026      11:25 AM

Sen. Cornyn dings Patrick after Lt. Governor’s Texas GOP convention speech, says Patrick is worried about losing

With the theatrics of the convention in the rear view, what's consequential now is that senior Texas Republicans continue to feud following nasty primaries while party leadership calls for unity ahead of the general election

HOUSTON – After Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick shocked the world with his leather vest, vintage Ford Mustang, and a wrinkle-free AI version of himself – you could easily see all of it as a midlife crisis at 76 years old – Sen. John Cornyn took him to task for sounding desperate ahead of the November election.

In a fiery speech that included an accusation that Rep. James Talarico will “go to hell” for his religious beliefs, Patrick also correctly noted that Republican incumbents who lost their party’s nominating contests aren’t helping the ticket at all now.

Cursing at the Democrat in the race is the natural evolution of the outrage machine that Patrick helped build as a radio talk show host going back to the late 80s. But keep your eye on the ball, y’all: What may matter more now is that senior Republicans are still fighting with each other after the primaries have concluded.

First, Patrick had to do some cleanup on aisle 6 after singling out Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.

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By Scott Braddock

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June 12, 2026      10:13 AM

D'rinda Randall wins the race to become Chair of the Republican Party of Texas after Chair George concedes

After losing in multple SDs this morning, Abraham George said "While this race has come to an end, our mission continues. Now is the time to come together, unite behind our Republican nominees, support the entire Republican ticket in November, advance our legislative priorities in the next session, and continue standing firmly for the conservative principles outlined in our platform."

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June 11, 2026      4:20 PM

Kronberg: Speaker Burrows has a difficult tightrope to walk at the Texas GOP convention

With the promise of likely Democratic gains in the next election, Burrows will probably have to promise the GOP delegates he’ll further marginalize those who helped elect him in the first place

Aside from the usual antics and internal backstabbing at any state political party convention, the Republican Party of Texas gathering unfolding now in Houston includes another moment of drama and potential insight for Texas political professionals and addicts.

Speaker Dustin Burrows will address the convention on Friday. Now, it is not a given that statewide officers speak to the party’s most ardent activists. After passing the post-Uvalde gun bill, Sen. John Cornyn was man enough to show up and get booed for 25 of the 30 minutes he was on stage but Gov. Greg Abbott’s last appearance inside the convention hall was in 2018 for fear he’d be blasted as insufficiently “MAGA.”

Burrows speaking is of particular interest considering it is virtually assured that Republicans will lose seats in the Texas House this cycle. The only question is how many.

Conventional wisdom has it that next session we’ll see somewhere around 78 Republicans to 72 Democrats which would radically change how the House can operate. But more about that later.

Democratic Speakers rarely spoke to the convention. They would traditionally appear on stage with the Democratic state representatives for a brief introduction and a round of applause and then blend into the background. The first Republican speaker, Tom Craddick, did speak to the convention. If memory serves, it was a relatively uneventful celebration of the GOP finally gaining the majority in the 2002 elections. Since then, GOP Speakers Joe Straus, Dennis Bonnen, and Dade Phelan either kept a low profile at the convention or did not appear at all.

But there is a great deal more drama surrounding this convention, this upcoming election, and this speaker.

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By Harvey Kronberg

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June 11, 2026      4:14 PM

Cornyn predicts a "miserable" final two years in office for President Trump and stands by his attacks on Paxton

"He’s going to have the most miserable two years of his life in the last two years of his term, I think, because I think November is going to be a disaster," Cornyn said

From the New York Times:

Mr. Cornyn believes that impact will reach far beyond his race. He is the epitome of a reliable conservative with what he listed as his “99.3 percent” voting record in line with the president. Unlike Mr. Cassidy of Louisiana, he did not vote to remove Mr. Trump from office after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters. Still, he said, the president threw him under the bus. If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody,” Mr. Cornyn said. “There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100 percent, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants. But obviously that’s not what the senator’s role is supposed to be, especially in terms of checks and balances.”

Also:

Mr. Cornyn stood by his attacks on Mr. Paxton and said that while he supported the party ticket, he would not campaign or raise money for his primary opponent — a loss for Mr. Paxton since Mr. Cornyn was a prolific fund-raiser. But he fears Republicans are in for a rough midterm and Mr. Trump for a difficult final two years, in part because of self-inflicted wounds such the president’s endorsement of Mr. Paxton putting the Texas seat at risk.

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June 11, 2026      3:58 PM

Federal judge blocks Paxton lawsuit against ActBlue

Judge says Paxton acted in retaliation for (and in an attempt to suppress) ActBlue funding for James Talarico’s Senate campaign

The ruling is here.

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June 10, 2026      9:54 AM

Abbott asks regulators to require data centers to pay for all electric infrastructure costs

In a letter to leaders at PUC and ERCOT, the Gov also outlined some of his proposals on data centers for next session

Data centers in Texas have been described by at least one Republican leader in the Texas House as a key reason that “rural Texas is on fire politically.” Feeling the heat, legislators have already started to dig into what might be done about it next session.

Meantime, Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday asked regulators to “take action to require data centers to pay for all of their electric infrastructure costs to ensure that no residential ratepayer is burdened by those costs.”

From his letter:

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