Time for the week that was in Texas politics with Emily Ramshaw, editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune.
A video featuring Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke went viral this week. In the video, O’Rourke was asked about NFL players kneeling to protest police brutality. He said there is “nothing more American.” Senator Ted Cruz begs to differ.
The race between the two has continued to grow closer, and O’Rourke contnues to outraise Cruz.
“They both have pretty hefty war chests” Ramshaw says. “But Ted Cruz is still leading Beto O’Rourke in the campaign polling, by about 4 points, according to the latest NBC/Marist poll.”
State Rep. Travis Clardy is the latest candidate in the race for Texas House Speaker. Clardy, a Nacogdoches Republican, is the fifth candidate, and fourth Republican, to enter the race.
Ramshaw points out that it’s not clear who will be in the Legislature until after the November election, so it’s too early to guess who might have the best chance to become speaker.
Texas Republicans have so far stayed “very quiet” about the convictions of two former aides to President Donald Trump on campaign finance violations and fraud. Ramshaw says state GOP leaders say they are trying to remain focused on the economy and other issues.
Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.
