Every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers. The countdown to the November election continues—45 days to go. There are some big wins as well as some colossal losers to report this week. Here’s who made the list:
Winner: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
Gov. Abbott declared war on the brutal and murderous Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, this week promising to bring the full force of Texas government on gang members. He went to El Paso, where many of the gang members are concentrated, and promised to use the courts and enhanced criminal penalties that came with the passage of Senate Bill 4 last year to keep the dangerous gang members behind bars for a long time. More than 3,000 Venezuelans have migrated into Texas illegally since 2021, and 200 are currently wanted by the authorities.
Incredibly, the mainstream media’s response to the Venezuelan crime in Texas, and elsewhere, is to insist that it has been exaggerated by Republicans, even though the feds have also declared Tren De Aragua a transnational criminal organization. Abbott changed the national conversation on immigration when he bused illegal migrants from the border to so-called “sanctuary cities” so the rest of the country could see the impact of massive immigration on communities and crime first-hand. His decision to focus on the ruthless gang activity is also likely to shift the narrative.
Winner: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Following the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Florida last week, DeSantis announced that his state will also investigate the attempted shooting. DeSantis promised an investigation that will be transparent, saying federal officials have “clammed up” on the on-going investigation of the Trump assassination attempt in Pennsylvania—but he will do better.
The federal investigations following both the assassination attempts on Trump have been sluggish and murky. It is a good bet that the free state of Florida will be more aggressive in its pursuit of the facts.
Loser: Trans Agenda in Texas
The National Republican Congressional Committee launched ads this week targeting South Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, for his congressional votes in support of legislation allowing men to use women’s restrooms and letting men who think they are women play in women’s sports. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz went after his opponent, Rep. Colin Allred, with new ads for voting the same way. Both Democrats waived off the charges against them, suggesting, in a Kamala Harris-kind of way that voters want to talk about bread-and-butter issues like inflation and jobs, not trans issues.
They are likely right about that, but that does not mean Texas voters are willing to overlook the Democrats’ ongoing efforts to normalize the aggressive transgender agenda which includes allowing children to receive dangerous cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers and even unnecessary castrations and mastectomies while calling it “gender affirming care.”
Democrats try to pretend this is a civil rights issue—the legislation Gonzalez and Allred supported was called the “Equality Act” —but it has nothing to do with gay rights. The majority of Texas voters oppose every aspect of the transgender agenda, from open bathrooms to the attack on women’s sports. Allred and Gonzalez are both saying that their positions are being misrepresented in the campaign ads, but they voted with the Democrats on the trans agenda and Republicans are right to hold them accountable for it.
Loser: Colin Allred
Colin Allred made another Kamala Harris-like move this week when he first proudly posted that he had been endorsed by an anti-fracking group, the National Resources Defense Council, and then pulled the announcement down and announced that he, like Harris, has supported fracking all along.
With only 45 days to go until the election, Democrats believe they can pretend that it wasn’t the Biden-Harris Administration that cut back almost all drilling leases on federal lands, canceled the Keystone Pipeline, drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and heaped tons of production-killing regulation on the oil and gas industry. Climate change zealotry is a core belief for Democrats and they will not back away from their war on fossil fuels once the election is over. They are only pretending.
Winner: TEA Commissioner Mike Morath
Morath told the Senate Higher Education Committee that week that he believes students should be banned from carrying cellphones at school. Noting that the latest data shows that only 41% of Texas students can do basic math, Morath believes the distraction of cellphones is harmful to student progress.
Tons of data indicates that cellphones have a negative impact on kids ,and giving them up during school hours is not as draconian as taking them away all together, which is what many experts recommend. Some Texas districts have already banned cell phones, but they must overcome blowback from many parents who believe the phones are essential for monitoring their children’s activities throughout the day. The Legislature will debate whether to impose a statewide ban or let the districts decide, but it is important that Education Commissioner Morath put this on the table.
Winner: Trump’s Teamsters “Endorsement”
When the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced this week that it would not endorse Democrat Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, it was a victory for former President Trump, even though they didn’t endorse him either. The Teamsters released internal voting data showing almost 60% of their members are supporting Trump.
The Teamsters have endorsed every Democrat presidential candidate since 1996. When Teamsters president Sean O’Brien spoke to the Republican National Convention in July, it sent shockwaves through Democrats who were forced to acknowledge that Trump’s message resonates with working class voters. Harris’ campaign has fought back with its “White Dudes for Kamala” groups, but so far polling does not indicate that working class men—the base of Trump’s support—is moving toward the Vice President.
Winner: David Axelrod
Perhaps that’s because Kamala just doesn’t sound authentic. But don’t take that from me. I have conservative bias. Harris mostly sounds unhinged to me whenever she talks. But a big guy on the Democrat team, David Axelrod, a former Obama advisor, said this week that Harris is having trouble gaining traction because when she talks about economics it “sounds like its flowing from a poll.”
So when you hear Harris talk and it sounds phony when she says she was raised in a middle-class family and just wants to make life better for working people, it’s not just you. Apparently, she even sounds like a phony to Democrats.
Winner: Patrick Mahomes
Following the hoopla over Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris for President, it is notable that Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback (and former Texas Tech star) Patrick Mahomes said he would use his platform to encourage people to do their own research and vote. Humility among celebrities is rare these days and it is refreshing that Mahomes does not believe that his back-to-back Super Bowl wins gives him any special political insight that he should share with voters.
Loser: Texas Commuters
Next time you are stuck at a railroad crossing for what seems like hours, know that you are having what is, in many ways, a distinctly Texas experience. A report in the Wall Street Journal this week revealed that Texas is hosting far more so-called “monster trains” —some of which are three miles long—than any other state in the country.
Texas reported 8,000 blocked railroad crossings in the past year. No other state is even close to that number. Illinois, which ranks second, had about 1,600 blocked railroad crossings a year.
The good news is that the long freight trains are a sign of Texas strong economy. They are largely carrying cargo out of our ports on the Gulf. The bad news, of course, is that it can take forever to get anywhere.
Winner – Texas Football
After Week 3 in college football season, UT’s football team made it to the No. 1 spot and Texas A&M is back in the top 25. Arch Manning will start tomorrow for UT against Louisiana-Monroe while Quinn Ewers recovers from a strained muscle. Texas A&M plays Bowling Green and Texas Tech goes up against Arizona State. Looks like it’s going to be a good day for it.
Have a great weekend.
Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
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