Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Good Tuesday morning. Chloe and I enjoyed attending the Davey O'Brien Award dinner last night. Inspiring: Cam Ward's career from getting only college offer to the likely overall top pick in the NFL Draft. Moving: Mack Brown's Legends Award acceptance speech about relationships. In his final days, Coach Darrell Royal would come to home games. He didn't know which team was Texas or that the stadium was named after him. But he remembered every player's name.

Get in touch: greg@gregcox.law

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Today's Top Narrative

An old school legislative fight. Hoo boy. I think we got ourselves a classic public education fight at the Texas Legislature. Which, to be quite honest, is a welcome reprieve from some of the fights we've been having in recent years. Since last week, Gov. Abbott has been on a digital tear against those opposing school choice. I have a theory that I'll get to below, but for now, grab some popcorn.

  • He called Beto O'Rourke, his 2022 general election opponent, a "repeat loser in Texas."
  • Responding to a UT-Austin professor's opinion column, he used quotes on "professor."
  • He called Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D–HD 75) a "fake doctor." (She holds an Ed.D from the UT–Austin.)
  • To the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Gene Wu (D–HD 137), he asked, "Gene, did your private school teach you math?"
  • He called Rep. Gina Hinojosa the "former head of the woke Austin school board."
  • To former GOP State Rep. Glenn Rogers, who he heavily campaigned against in 2024, he said: "The voters spoke, Glenn. They want school choice. They didn't want you."
  • And in response to a tweet from Antonio Esparza, Communications Director for Rep. James Talarico, Abbott compared crowd sizes and said Republicans will again pick up legislative seats.

Of those he chided, two serve on the House Public Education committee: Talarico and Hinojosa. Talarico also serves as Vice-Chair on the Subcommittee on Academic and Career-Oriented Education. Gonzalez previously served on Public Education, but not any longer. She is, however, the Vice-Chair of House Appropriations.

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