
The Texan’s 89th Session Kickoff was a huge success!
At our second legislative kickoff event, we were happy to host Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker Dustin Burrows, Comptroller Glenn Hegar, and two dozen lawmakers to preview the current session. Our event sold out and the reviews from our attendees and sponsors were awesome!
First off, thank you to each and every speaker, our amazing sponsors, and our entire audience — many of whom watched each and every panel or interview throughout the day. We could not have pulled this off without each one of y’all.
As I’ve shown above with the links attached, we’ve already published our interviews with the lieutenant governor and House speaker so definitely click on each of those and take a listen! The rest of the panel interviews will be available on The Texan’s video and audio podcast feed shortly. So watch for those!
In the meantime, here are some highlights from the day:
- Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said, “My job is to pass conservative legislation out of the Senate. And then my job is to help them pass it out of the House. And my job is to, if they kill bills, to let everybody know their bills are killed. My job is to give [Speaker Burrows] an opportunity to succeed. But if it doesn’t work, I’m not going to sit quietly.”
- And then asked if he’s still seeking re-election in 2026, “Oh yes, absolutely. It’s hard to raise money. I spent a lot of time on it, and I wouldn’t raise the money if I wasn’t running.”
- Speaker Dustin Burrows spoke about the House rules adopted by the lower chamber, saying, “The Republican Party of Texas and Republicans wanted to make sure that Democrats were banned from committee chairmanships. That happened. Full stop. Win. That is exactly what happened last week on the Texas House floor.”
- And said of his relationship with Patrick, “We’ve always had a good respectful relationship. Twitter is not reality, I want everyone to know. I’m not a stranger to the lieutenant governor. I’m not a stranger to the governor. We have worked on major conservative policies in the past well together. I have committed to both of them that we are going to continue to work well together, that I will continue to meet with them and make sure that we are in coordination.”
- Comptroller Glenn Hegar left the door open to re-election: “I have $10.3 million reasons on why I can win re-election. … With that being said, I don’t know. I had run for this job thinking this would be my last term and I said it that way. I have learned at my age in life that after doing something for 10 years, it’s time for a new challenge. Could I see myself coming back? Yes. But I also think that we all have a shelf life in whatever we do.”
- State Rep. John Bucy (D-Austin) said, “You go to D.C. and you’re scared to be taking a vote over with the other guy. And that’s insane. If we become that — I’ve got a lot of Republicans in my district, not enough that they can beat me, but I don’t want to come down here and be like ‘Their voice doesn’t matter either.’”
- State Rep. Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) said, “You don’t vote to shut the debate of your fellow Republicans under any circumstance, ever.”
- State Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) said of the school choice-public education debate, “I feel like I’m the skunk in the garden party here. I’ve kind of been that way all my life. I’m kind of a contrarian.”
- State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) said on the same panel, “It’s funny, because we keep giving [public education] more money, and it doesn’t get better. In this situation, I say ‘Mo Money, Mo Problems.’”
Upon launching The Texan almost 6 years ago, one of our goals was to host events just like this — filled with differing and interesting perspectives from the officials actually making the sausage. And to see it play out so well, with all the great reviews and support from the audience, is a source of great pride!
The Texan offerings just continue to expand and I couldn’t be any more proud of all the different ways we’re reaching voters throughout Texas. Not only do we maintain our important daily coverage on the political issues that matter to Texans, but we provide unparalleled, comprehensive Texas election coverage with our War Room. We’ve expanded our podcasts to now include four different offerings, and launched in-depth newsletters that dive deep on the analysis so many of you crave.
Top all that off with live events, hosting the people entrusted with policymaking.
Even as we expand our offerings to meet our audience where they are, our primary goal of straight news reporting will never change. We are forever committed to providing Texans with fact-based news concerning issues, policies, elected officials, and campaigns without pushing the ideological narratives that are so pervasive across news media today.
And that’s not Fake News. Thanks for joining us on this journey!