Texas GOP’s senate primary narrows, while State faces lawsuits over new laws

The State of Texas is a weekly program produced by Nexstar for KXAN and Nexstar’s other stations. You can watch it live every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KXAN or the KXAN+ smart TV app.

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — While the Texas Legislature enters the third week of 2025’s second special session, the primary battle for one of the state’s US Senate seats continues.

On Monday, Texas House Republicans attempted to censure their Democratic colleagues for breaking quorum during the previous special session. However, they fell short of the necessary votes.

Over the past week, lawmakers moved forward with bills related to restricting sex-segregated private spaces, allowing private lawsuits over abortion pills, replacing statewide standardize testing in schools, and allowing Texans to get ivermectin without a prescription.

They’ll have more to consider in the session, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott adding topics to the special session’s agenda twice this week.

On Friday, Abbott signed the state’s new and controversial congressional maps into law. Those maps were already the subject of lawsuits brought by groups representing Black and Latino voters in the state.

Texas is also locked in legal challenges to laws passed earlier this year, such as Senate Bill 10, which created an unfunded mandate that public schools must display the Ten Commandments.

Civil rights groups sue to block ban on DEI, LGBTQ+ student groups

Supporters called Senate Bill 12 the “Parent’s Bill of Rights.” Now, opponents are suing over the bill they’re calling the “Student Identity Censorship Law.”

“Senate Bill 12 is a blatant attempt to erase students’ identities and silence the stories that make Texas strong,” American Civil Liberties Union of Texas Staff Attorney Brian Klosterboer said. “SB 12 is one of the most extreme education censorship laws in the country, undermining the free speech rights of Texas students, parents, and educators. We’re challenging this law in court because our schools should be places of truth, inclusion, and opportunity — not fear and erasure.”

SB 12 is an expansive bill relating to public school governance. Chiefly, the bill bans diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts from the Texas public schools, including banning DEI student groups.

“At its core, the Texas Parental Bill of Rights in Education is about reaffirming that parents are the chief decision makers for their children,” SB 12 author State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said when laying his bill on the Senate floor in March. “Making it clear that their fundamental role in their child’s education, their moral and religious upbringing, is decided by their parents.”

Read more about the focus of the lawsuit to block SB 12 from taking effect.

RFK Jr., Abbott pledge health care funding for rural Texas communities

St. Mark’s Medical Center in La Grange, Texas, used to provide emergency services and orthopedic surgery, but closed its doors in 2023 due to financial difficulties. Tejas Health Care CEO Sheri Kehler said it left a large gap in health care access for the community.

“That’s had a huge impact on the community,” Kehler said. “People were using that hospital to have access to emergency services, and now they don’t have that.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday participated in a roundtable discussion on solutions to rural health care access. 

“Rural America is in crisis, and the rural hospitals are absolutely critical for them to survive these crises,” Kennedy said.

“We have an obligation to ensure that those communities are going to be able to succeed,” Abbott said. “One of the most important ways to do that is having access to health care.”

Read more about what Kennedy and Abbott promised for rural communities during the discussion.

Paxton’s lead over Cornyn narrows in Texas Southern poll

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lead over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the state’s Senate primary is narrowing, according to an August survey from Texas Southern University’s Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center. 

The poll shows Paxton holding a 5-point lead among likely primary voters, 44% to 39%, in a two-way race with Cornyn. Another 17% said they were undecided.

The 5-point gap between Paxton and Cornyn remains the same in a hypothetical three-way race with Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, who has been considering a primary run. Paxton leads in the poll with 35%, while Cornyn trails at 30%. Hunt comes in with 22% support, and another 13% said they were unsure.

Whoever wins the Republican nomination could face Colin Allred, who is running in the Democratic primary for the US Senate seat. Allred sat down for an interview with KXAN about his latest campaign, which can be watched below.

Read more from The Hill about the poll, including how it compares to other recent polls.

Former astronaut talks Democratic primary run for US Senate

Allred currently faces former astronaut Terry Virts in a primary race to earn the Democratic Party’s nomination.

Virts announced his run in June, ahead of Allred’s announcement. The former F-16 pilot calls himself a “common-sense Democrat” on his campaign website.

“I bring a focus on mission and not on politics,” Virts said in an interview on State of Texas.

Virts said his background with NASA and in the Air Force is what will convince undecided voters.

“It’s been 30 years of running the same type of candidate, If we’re going to win in Texas, I think we need to run a different type of candidate, like me,” he said.

Colin Allred, who lost to Sen. Ted Cruz in the 2024 Senate election, is currently the frontrunner to be the democratic nominee, but Virts is not discouraged.

“We can’t just try the same thing over again,” Virts said. “I can beat Ken Paxton.”

Allred and Virts are currently joined in the primary by Emily Morgul and Michael Swanson, two outsider candidates with limited presence in the race.

Other political figures, such as state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, former US Rep. Beto O’Rourke, and Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from San Antonio, have signaled interest but have not entered the race.