News from the South - Texas News Feed
Greg Casar thinks economic issues will help Democrats win
“Progressive Rep. Greg Casar has a playbook he wants Democrats to use in 2026” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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WASHINGTON — As he traveled across deep-red Texas last weekend, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar centered his rallies on a simple theme he believes Democrats can use to win back working-class voters: money.
Casar — a prominent voice shaping the future of the Democratic Party as chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — has joined U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at several Texas stops on the Vermont independent’s anti-billionaire “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. On the stump, Casar has shunned social issues and focused on progressive economic goals like raising the minimum wage and hiking taxes on the wealthiest Americans — all part of the populist playbook the Austin Democrat wants his party to use to pull disaffected voters back into the Democratic fold.
“That’s a message that resonates with all different kinds of voters, from Democrats to independents and even former Trump voters who are looking for a political home right now,” Casar said in an interview with The Texas Tribune.
Casar, along with Sanders and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, has rallied crowds of thousands in pockets of Texas that saw marked rightward swings in the 2024 election. That included a Friday stop along the border in McAllen, the biggest city in heavily Latino Hidalgo County, where Trump surpassed his 2020 election performance by 20 points last year.
Casar argued that his economic-centric message is landing among swing voters in areas like McAllen, and in Republican strongholds like Amarillo, where Casar, O’Rourke and Sanders visited over the weekend.
The upcoming election is, in Casar’s view, an opportunity to realign Democrats with working-class voters they lost in droves in 2024. That is also the only way for the party to take back power in either chamber of Congress in next year’s midterms, Casar contends.
In 2024, Republicans peeled away key voter segments that make up the traditional Democratic coalition — including Hispanic and younger voters — on the coattails of President Donald Trump’s populist rhetoric. Nowhere was this more pronounced than in South Texas. Trump’s gains among Hispanic voters near the southern border were all but unmatched elsewhere in the country and dealt crushing blows to Democratic candidates statewide.
Relying on a similarly populist framework, Casar thinks Democrats can transcend partisanship and pull recently converted GOP voters back into what he envisions as a big-tent, liberal party driven by economic policies.
Key to this strategy is promising an expansion of health care, a raised minimum wage, a higher tax on the highest-earning Americans and a vow to protect Social Security. Social issues, on the other hand, breed disagreement and can repel voters who would otherwise agree with Democrats on kitchen-table issues, Casar said.
In defining this strategy, he is drawing on his time as a labor organizer working to mobilize employees around the promise of wage hikes.
“We had hundreds of guys with a variety of disagreements and all sorts of backgrounds, but we were able to unite everyone around the common economic needs of workers on a job site,” Casar said.
Apart from these policies, he said Democrats must also run “authentic candidates” who fuel their campaigns with small-dollar donations rather than wealthy corporate backers.
Theo Von, a popular podcaster among young men who was supportive of Trump during his 2024 run, endorsed Sanders just four years earlier in the 2020 Democratic primary.
Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, has a starkly different policy platform than Trump. But to Casar, Von is emblematic of many younger voters who prefer candidates perceived as “unbought and unbossed,” regardless of ideology.
“Voters want elected officials that aren’t picked by lobbyists, but instead are picked by voters and elected officials that don’t take tons of corporate PAC money,” Casar said. Both Sanders, whose forceful condemnation of money in politics was a central plank in his 2020 presidential platform, and Trump, who consistently condemned the Washington establishment in all three of his presidential runs, fit this mold.
To bill candidates as authentic and win back young men, there will have to be room for disagreements. But to Casar, these scuffles are normal. “I think we’re looking for leaders that are willing to tell us the truth and are willing to stand up for what they believe in” rather than simply “chasing after whatever campaign contribution a politician can get.”
Reflecting on the 2024 presidential campaign, Casar did not mince his criticism of party leaders. He said the Democratic Party had failed to show it was unbeholden to corporate interests and, in doing so, “allowed the Republicans to brand us as out of touch.” Most voters, he added, “don’t see a strong enough contrast between the Democrats and the Republicans in Texas on the economy.”
Texas Republicans aren’t worried about Casar’s efforts making a dent. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, a Houston Republican who is weighing a run for Senate, told the Tribune that with Trump winning Texas by over a dozen points in 2024, Casar is “in the wrong state.”
GOP Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Irving said she wasn’t interested in “what the Democrat messaging is.” She argued that if Democrats wanted to support economic prosperity, they should vote for the GOP’s landmark tax and spending bill.
No Democrats voted for the measure when it passed the House in May, with many voicing opposition to potential cuts to Medicaid and the extension of tax cuts for high-income households.
Chuck Rocha, a Democratic political strategist who worked on Sanders’ presidential campaigns, agrees with Casar’s messaging strategy and sees the Texas congressman as an emerging leader of the Democratic Party. Even with Casar’s left-wing ideology and alliance with democratic socialists, Rocha thinks his message carries broad appeal that can resonate with voters across the political spectrum.
“This has nothing to do with him being right or left,” he said. “It has to do with him being right on the issues.”
In a brief interview at the Capitol, Sanders also offered praise for Casar and his economic messaging, calling him “clearly one of the important progressive leaders in the Congress.”
Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O’Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer.
TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/25/greg-casar-midterms-2026-democrats-economic-populist-message/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
The post Greg Casar thinks economic issues will help Democrats win appeared first on feeds.texastribune.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Left-Leaning
This article primarily presents a left-leaning perspective by focusing on the progressive economic agenda promoted by Democratic Rep. Greg Casar, a leader in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. It highlights populist economic themes like raising the minimum wage, taxing the wealthy, and expanding healthcare—positions typically associated with the progressive left. The coverage is favorable to Casar and Bernie Sanders, framing their messaging as authentic and broadly appealing. While it includes Republican responses, these are brief and positioned to contrast with the Democratic viewpoint rather than balance it fully. The tone and emphasis indicate a sympathetic portrayal of progressive Democrats and their economic platform.
News from the South - Texas News Feed
Country singer’s teeth fall out on stage
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A popular country singer took to social media about an embarrassing moment on stage… 99.5 The Wolf’s Tara Ward discusses this and more trending topics on Good Day.
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News from the South - Texas News Feed
Citing safety concerns, Starbase restricts access to public streets
SUMMARY: The city of Starbase, Texas, approved SpaceX’s request to install gates at four intersections, citing safety concerns and aiming to limit visitor access to enhance security and community control. Despite a process requiring permits and notifications, SpaceX had already begun construction before full review. Residents and property owners raised legal concerns, questioning whether blocking public streets violates Texas law. Cameron County DA Luis V. Saenz indicated obstructing public roads without authority is a misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code. City officials emphasized controlled access for emergency services and necessary visitors, aiming to address incidents involving unwanted individuals, though critics argue this may create a gated community.
The post Citing safety concerns, Starbase restricts access to public streets appeared first on www.kxan.com
News from the South - Texas News Feed
The Rio Grande Valley as Heart of LGBTQ+ Resistance and Joy
We were just about done setting up for our workshop at the San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum when Hector Ruiz, president of the South Texas Equality Project (STEP), walked in. STEP is a coalition of diverse groups that celebrate and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in the Rio Grande Valley.
“Friend!” I rushed over to him. “Qué gusto verte.”
“Girl,” he playfully replied as he leaned in closer for a hug. “This is one of five queer events I’m going to today. Let’s pray I can make it!”
From the museum, we were equidistant from two key political events that had occurred that week: Forty miles to the East, an explosion after yet another failed SpaceX test in Boca Chica, and 40 miles to the West, Senator Bernie Sanders packed a McAllen event center as part of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
In the Valley, we are no strangers to being the backdrop of political power wars. From Elon Musk’s land-grab to Donald Trump and Greg Abbott’s power-grab, border residents are constantly cornered with restrictive narratives that capture the imagination of Americans across the nation. With frames meant to reduce our stories and humanity, we’re often made out to be these powerless one-dimensional caricatures that don’t know any better and can’t advocate for ourselves.
But as we celebrate Pride Month, I am struck by the contrast of what I know to be true about this region and what the popular narratives may be—behind the curtain of these filters imposed by outsiders, the Valley boasts an abundance of creative, powerful, and joyful communities, one of them being the LGBTQ+ community.
Starting in Brownsville, a short drive from Musk’s SpaceX, you can find a thriving network of queer business, advocacy, culture, and nightlife. Take Shop JZD, a queer-owned Latina lifestyle brand headquartered in downtown Brownsville that in April revealed a prestigious collaboration with Brooks, the iconic running shoes brand. Down the street from their store, you can find Bar-B, an LGBTQ+ bar that hosted a Pride flag-raising event on the first day of Pride Month with the support of the city commission’s LGBTQ Task Force established in 2019. And, if you’re lucky, you might run into Emmy award-winning star Lushious Massacr during one of her famous
“dragvestigations” where she masterfully blends pop culture and timely political perspectives.
That’s not to say that the area doesn’t also actively engage in direct advocacy. Earlier this year, a group of trans leaders pushed Democratic Congressman Vicente Gonzalez to meet with us and address his transphobic rants after Trump’s re-election. After gathering more than 300 petition signatures condemning his remarks, we confronted the congressman in a virtual meeting where he listened to his constituents’ personal stories and the impact his remarks have on the lives of trans individuals.
Then we head East to the San Benito and Harlingen area. Raised in San Benito, Jade Perez was just crowned Miss Gay USofA 2025 in one of the most important and respected drag pageants in the United States. In Harlingen, creative queer-owned businesses like ENTRE Film Center and Cactus Valley Art provide spaces for artistic expression, community building, and workshops. And a few minutes down the highway in La Feria, you will find Mount Calvary Christian Church, a trans and queer-led church, a rare beacon of hope for faith and spirituality for our South Texas community.
In San Juan, La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) is hosting its second annual Pride celebrations. LUPE, founded by labor rights leaders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, is a legacy organization from the farmworker and Chicano civil rights movement of the ’60s and ’70s. Earlier this month, the group hosted a panel in Spanish with local trans leaders to discuss identity and advocacy. With an audience composed of mainly older working-class immigrants, it made for a unique space that challenged LUPE’s members to have critical conversations and build solidarity across differences.
The truth is, we could go city by city in the Valley sharing its historic and present significance to the LGBTQ+ community. Even in the westernmost rural part of the region, in Starr County, the Roma High School Inclusion Club, formerly known as the Roma High School Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), is actively organizing. To add to its cultural impact, the Roma GSA founder, Frank Garcia, eventually went on to compete in the primetime show The Voice.
Many might find themselves surprised at the abundance and depth of the LGBTQ+ community in the Rio Grande Valley, and this just scratches the surface. There’s a long list of craft groups, book clubs, running clubs, and so many other initiatives that have made for an event-filled Pride Month. Projects like Pansy Pachanga have served to provide important historical context to the long-standing presence of queer and trans people on the border, and organizations like the South Texas Equality Project, GenTex,
and Under the Umbrella guide us to fight for the present and envision a more inclusive future for the politically contested region.
While we might not be the biggest in terms of population compared to other Texas metro areas, it is an undeniable fact that the LGBTQ+ community of the Rio Grande Valley is a shining example of grit, resistance, and joy—especially as we see the rise of aggressive anti-democratic practices from the state and federal government.
With billionaires and power-hungry politicians in every corner of our region trying to gain at our expense, we dare to exist beyond the headlines and define ourselves for ourselves—one drag show, one support group, and one protest at a time.
The post The Rio Grande Valley as Heart of LGBTQ+ Resistance and Joy appeared first on www.texasobserver.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This content reflects a Center-Left political bias through its support and celebration of LGBTQ+ communities, advocacy against perceived authoritarian actions by right-wing figures, and emphasis on grassroots organizing and social justice. It critiques conservative politicians and billionaires, while highlighting progressive political figures and movements focused on equality and inclusion. The tone is positive about diversity and intersectional activism, which aligns with common themes in Center-Left discourse without veering into more radical language or positioning.
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