Capital Highlights Week of Sept. 30 – Oct. 4

Phelan’s GOP foes back one challenger

Texas House Republicans who want to oust Speaker Dade Phelan have coalesced behind a single opponent: state Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield. A total of 48 representatives are backing the two-term representative, including four who dropped their own bids for speaker.
Phelan’s opponents, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, claim he has given too much power to Democrats by naming some to lead legislative committees. 
“This vote highlights the growing momentum for change within the Texas House, as members rally behind a shared vision of a decentralized leadership model that empowers all members,” Cook said in a statement.
Phelan is seeking his third term as speaker after narrowly surviving a challenge for re-election to represent his district in the GOP primary, winning a runoff election.
“Not only are their actions disappointing and unacceptable, they are futile, as I proudly have the clear majority votes needed to be the Speaker today and will have the clear majority support needed to become Speaker again come January,” Phelan said in a statement.

Polls show near tie in Cruz-Allred race

The U.S. Senate race in Texas has tightened, with a poll last week showing Democratic challenger Colin Allred nearly within the margin of error in his race against incumbent Republican Ted Cruz, the Austin American-Statesman reported. A poll released by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation shows Cruz ahead of Allred 48% to 45%, nearly within the margin of error of 2.83%.
Cruz is seeking his third term in the Senate. He won his last race against challenger Beto O’ Rourke by just 2.6 points.
The tightening race prompted the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to announce last week that it is sending millions of advertising dollars to Texas to boost his campaign. The committee plants to put its money toward airing more Allred campaign ads. Committee chair Gary Peters said the Democratic candidate needs more funding to get his message out.
“But it is his message,” Peters said. “He knows Texas inside and out.”

Texas Supreme Court rules on gun ban at state fair

The State Fair of Texas opened last week with its newly enacted ban on weapons intact after the Texas Supreme Court rejected a challenge by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton just 13 hours earlier. The Statesman reported the court ridiculed the state’s legal arguments in a five-page opinion, with Justice Jimmy Blacklock writing that “the State’s filings do not even attempt to answer” the question at the heart of the case.
Two lower courts also rejected Paxton’s attempt to lift the ban, enacted after three fairgoers were injured in a shooting incident last year. 
The state fair runs through Sunday, Oct. 20.

Party game company sues SpaceX for trespassing

Cards Against Humanity, makers of a humorous adult party game, is suing Elon Musk’s SpaceX company for trespassing and damaging land the company purchased in Cameron County. The company purchased the land in 2017 to send a political message to then-President Donald Trump’s campaign to not build a border wall.
KUT reported that the company raised money to purchase the land by soliciting $15 donations from 150,000 people. It says the land has been kept in its pristine state, but SpaceX has dumped gravel, tractors, and space garbage on it. 
A website maintained by the company announced it is seeking $15 million in damages and displayed photos purportedly showing “before and after” images of its land. SpaceX did not respond for comment from Texas Public Radio.

Going lights out for migrating birds

Audubon Texas is asking residents to not leave the porch lights on this fall, during peak migration season for millions of birds. The Texas Standard reported the 2024 Lights Out, Texas, campaign is underway, and Texans are urged to turn off unnecessary lights to minimize light pollution. Migrating birds can become disoriented when traveling through densely populated areas. 
Up to 1 billion birds are killed each year due to collisions with buildings. Peak migration runs through Oct. 29, with fall migration ending around Nov. 30. One of every four birds migrating through the U.S. passes through Texas, according to Audubon Texas. 
Building owners, businesses, developers and homeowners can help protect migrating birds by turning off all nonessential lighting from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night. Lighting shields that direct light downward can reduce bird casualties. More information is available at tx.audubon.org.

Looking back on last summer’s weather

The summer of 2024 is in the books, and Dr. Mark Wentzel, hydrologist with the Texas Water Development Board, says it ended up in the middle of the pack when compared to the last 25 summers – the 12th most miserable during that time period.
The amount of the state in drought declined to 28 percent from a high of 88 percent during the summer of 2022, Wentzel wrote. Last summer certainly was an improvement over the two previous, which were considered the second and third most miserable in the past quarter century. But they both pale in comparison to the summer of 2011, which had the worst drought conditions in Texas history, and wildfires swept the state.
Relatively plentiful rain made last summer seem more tolerable, but records indicate it was the fourth-hottest summer of the past 25 years. 
Thank goodness for autumn.

Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected]