Team Talarico play for Republican crossover votes reeks of desperation

The James Talarico campaign wants so badly for Republicans to vote for him.

First came a questionable poll immediately following the Runoff which claimed a 47-44% lead for the Democrat nominee in the race for U.S. Senator from Texas.

The poll reported that one-third of John Cornyn's supporters from the Runoff would break for Talarico, thereby splitting their tickets and giving the carpetbagger Austin Representative a slight edge.

Then came the attacks on the conservative grassroots. 

FLECK: Travis Democrat Chair Ouster Attempt Is 'True To Form'

TCDP Chair Cohen (Instagram campaign video screenshot)

by Jennifer Fleck, Travis GOP Chair

The Travis County Democrats plan to petition the oust of their new County Chair, Jessica Cohen.

Will the Democrats use false narratives to oust their own duly elected candidate? Akin to Joe Biden winning the 2025 Presidential nomination by the voters, but the “party” supplanting their own nominee.

So much for democracy. 

The first sign something was awry came on March 3, 2026, during election night activities at Central Count. After early voting results were released, county officials appeared noticeably surprised by the outcome of the Democratic Chair race.

Your Conservative Local Election Guide: May 2, 2026 Election

Just over 1,000 Travis County residents submitted their ballots as early voting began Monday, April 20, in the May Local Election.

While that may seem like a small total, consider that not every Travis County resident will have something to vote on this time. Voters may also be confused about the Primary Runoffs, taking place later in May. Adding even more chaos: San Jacinto Day is Tuesday, April 21, interrupting what is already a short early voting period. 

But if you've read this far, you want to know who and what to vote on! We've got you covered. First. check with Travis County (www.votetravis.gov) and see your sample ballot to verify if you're eligible this election. 

Second, while our friends with the Travis GOP do not (yet) have any endorsements, local Republicans and conservatives have put together a complete list of local races and some recommendations where applicable. We include that list below. Happy voting, and we'll see you again during the Runoff.

How to directly help Travis County flood victims

Aerial view of Sandy Creek (X.com)

The July Fourth flooding event was tragic. That much has been the focus of national news over the weekend and into this week, with now over 100 deaths reported throughout Central Texas. Nothing more about that needs to be repeated here but here is a quick summary, followed by some ways to help.

• The majority of the deaths were along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County and, where numerous campers were evacuated, several died, and a few are still unaccounted for. 14 inches of rainfall on average hit the river basin.
  
  
• The San Gabriel River (including north and south forks) was also hard hit with around 16 inches of rain and the brunt of the infrastructure damage in Georgetown, where a pedestrian bridge was taken out and nearby apartments evacuated. A boil water notice is in effect for areas north of Georgetown.
  
  
• Cow Creek on the Burnet-Travis county line near Lago Vista was also devastated, with many trailer homes taken out and the only bridge between Lago and Marble Falls completely taken out.
  
  
• The heaviest rainfall of the flooding event was along the area known as Sandy Creek, just west of Leander in far northwestern Travis County. Numerous homes were emaciated, with about as many missing person reports in the wake of the flood. At least one teenager is dead, a student from Tom Glen High School in Leander. The only road into a portion of the Sandy Creek Ranches neighborhood is gone, as rescue workers are using kayaks to deliver relief supplies to homes and properties -- some of which are without utilities at the moment.

May 2025 Conservative Voter Guide - Travis County

Early voting is April 22-29 with Local Election Day being Saturday, May 3, 2025.

Turnout has been under 10,000 in Travis County for the first election since the mother of all elections in fall 2024. The good news there is that this is one of those elections in which the winners will be those who turn out the most of their supporters to the polls.

The bad news is that not everyone in the county will have a ballot, so voter confusion is a factor in the May 2025 Local Elections. Have no fear: The Tracker has you covered! First, find out if you're eligible for a ballot this time at www.VoteTravis.com and generate a sample ballot.

Secondly, see below for a complete list of recommendations. While we did our best to include all races, not all will have recommendations. Actually, most won't because of lack of local input, or the fact that most are non-controversial. But look for the bold print where we think a conservative vote is needed.

One last round of elections for 2024: Your Austin-area Runoff guide

After the monumental presidential election of 2024, most of us were content to prop our feet up, pop open a Topo Chico for this warm end to the year, and take a well-deserved break from the daily political grind.

Not so fast: there remains some unfinished business in many places, and that includes Travis County. If you live in Austin ISD, City of Austin District 7, and/or the City of Manor, there's a runoff election scheduled for this Saturday, Dec. 14. More info here. So far, just under 14,000 voters have submitted their ballots.

While there are no strong conservatives in the running this time, we believe there remain candidates that are head-and-shoulders above their competitors in terms of experience and overall philosophy. That's why we put together this short voters guide for you last-minute shoppers.

Info on school bonds and propositions for the still-undecided Travis County voter

Still undecided? Don't worry -- you're not alone!

Early voting continues today through Friday, with Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. If you haven't voted yet because you haven't had time to research the propositions and bonds on the ballot, we hope this article will help. We also hope it will empower you to not feel guilty about saying no to increased local government spending during the Biden-Harris recession.

2024 Travis County Voter Guide for the habitually late

Still making up your mind on candidates and propositions? Haven't been able to find a spare moment during a busy October? Or just a little lazy? We won't tell -- we just want to help you decide! 

Early voting ends 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, and picks up again 7 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5. Details.

Below are The Travis Tracker's selections on the best choices for conservatives on this year's general election ballot. Most are Republican nominees and endorsees, while others are conservative, conservative-leaning, or liberals who are less likely do do any damage.

We start with local candidates and with federal -- because if we don't prioritize our local candidates who else will? Races with no preferred candidates or positions are not included -- you'll see many unopposed Democrats in judicial positions, for example. And remember: When in doubt, leave it blank! Your ballot will not be thrown out because you left a race empty.

Analysis: Leander ISD candidate exposes 'garbage' pro-incumbent tactics

All campaigns at any level can get ugly, dirty, and downright underhanded. Yet there's a "positive-vibes only" one-sidedness that often occurs when we're dealing with public school board races.

The tilted perception of local school board races often goes something like this: 

There's a core of board/district leadership that's essentially a booster club. To them, the school and any state and federal machinery (and associated teacher unions) can do no major wrong -- and therefore, their preferred candidates are automatically assumed to have the moral high ground and have that as an advantage at the ballot box. Win or lose, much like at your alma mater's homecoming football game, you had better cheer every play the board makes or you're a traitor. Rah-rah! Or should we say kumbaya?

Then there's everyone else, who apparently have no school spirit because of their disruption of board harmoniousness. They are immediately accused of having no other agenda than to dismantle public education, take all the kids to private school, and bring the school tax rate down to zero. Why? Because they dare to criticize. Boo! Hiss!

Any thinking voter knows the situation is more complex than the black hats versus the white hats -- it's all very much political, with both Republican and Democratic parties now weighing in, as well as various internecine conflicts taking place as an undercurrent that voters often do not see. Taxpayer-funded lobby groups are not happy about this trend one iota. Florida voters are even considering whether or not to label school board candidates by party like up-ballot races.

Child care in crisis? What's the real motivation behind Travis County Prop. A?

"One lunch per month," proponents of Travis County's Proposition A claim the final cost will be to taxpayers.

Prop. A, a property tax rate increase of 2.5 cents per $100 valuation to fund child care services and related contractors in the county, would come out to about $10 per month for the average Travis County resident.

This begs the question of why lunch is now $10 to begin with, when you used to get back to the office with a five dollar bill and some change.

We all know the familiar refrain by now: rising taxes and unrestrained spending in Austin and Travis County has led to, among other factors, a decimation of small business vitality and an exodus of working families from the urban core. Will, then, heaping on another small tax increase keep families in the middle from leaving, or bring them back? 

Republicans unveil bracket voting to boost voter turnout in '26 election

It's a three-fold problem the GOP faces: 

• Recruiting more hands and eyes on the election process, making sure each and every vote is counted.
• Coming up with a sexy new voting method to rival the left's call for Ranked Choice Voting.
• Tapping into an ever-growing demographic of sports fans as a source of new voters, especially basketball fans.

This week the Travis GOP Committee on Voting Affairs rolled out a bold concept to help with all three dilemmas: 

A bracket-style tournament ballot for the 2026 primary election! 

Just in time for March Madness in two years, Republican voters will be able to participate in a series of bracket-style matchups between Republican candidates. Like with a tournament, each winner will advance to the next level until a winner is decided. And it would totally eliminate the need for an expensive runoff.

7 reasons why not to raid the other party's Primary this year

We get it. Sometimes there's a race in the other party that's appealing  -- when you want the more conservative Democrat (or Libertarian, or Green, or Constitutionalist, for that matter) to win.

This kind of party-hopping is extremely tempting in the Austin area for we Republicans. After all, Democrats maintain the same kind of numerical advantage over Republicans locally that Republicans enjoy statewide over them. In many cases, the winner of the Democratic Primary in the Austin area is presumed the winner of the general -- though this is certainly not always the case, and local Republicans have made an art of upset victories.

This year in Travis County it's especially tempting to jump ship during the primary, and for voters of both major parties.

For Democrats, they're bored by the presumptive re-nomination of Joe Biden, and many are perfectly willing to switch over to the R primary and vote against Donald Trump by casting their vote for another presidential candidate. This new "Operation Chaos"-like tactic could have the effect of distorting many Republican races down ballot.

But on the other hand, Travis County Republicans are wanting to do everything they can do to stop Soros-supported District Attorney Jose Garza, a radical Leftist Democrat, from winning another term and gutting the law enforcement system even further than he has. Although Republicans have their champion in the form of Daniel Betts, he is unopposed on the R ballot. But Garza is opposed by Democrat Jeremy Sylestine on the D ballot, leaving Garza opponents wondering if voting for decidedly pro-law-enforcement Sylestine would make for an effective first line of defense before it's Betts versus the Democratic nominee in November.

While it's true the Presidential race is effectively already decided and there aren't as many prize fights on this year's Republican primary ballot as usual, here are some reasons why you should consider keeping your vote in the Grand Ol' Party this Primary, courtesy of the Travis GOP's blog:

HOME latest example of Austin not listening to us

Late-night hubris.

Guest editorial by Rupal Chaudhari

Even though hundreds of people waited all day to speak Thursday on the elimination of single-family neighborhoods in Austin, it obviously didn't matter to the city.

As public testimony wrapped up late into the night, the city had its celebratory press release all queued up just before midnight, complete with generic clip art photos of obviously non-Austinites smiling at a marketer’s camera, crowing about passage of the one item on the agenda.

Thankfully two city council members voted against approving phase 1 of the risky HOME Initiative – perhaps to avoid drawing opponents with candidate filing ending on Monday. But add this to a growing list of examples of the city of Austin not considering our voices equal to theirs.

Banning Single Family zoning in Austin? Just say no!

The following call to action by education policy activist Brian Talley was sent by the Travis County Republican Party. Over 300 people are reportedly signed up to speak to the Austin City Council today on this critical issue to the city's future.

Banning singe-family zoning has been a Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) talking point, and a Biden administration agenda item, for quite some time. They call it exclusionary zoning because it limits the number of units and families per lot. Here is [Congressman and former Austin City Council member] Greg Casar promoting his work to "dismantling exclusionary zoning laws" back in September of 2019.

Get to know the 14 amendments appearing on your November 2023 ballot

Local recommendations coming soon! For now join the discussion here.

With 14 state propositions on the ballot this fall, voters may not have all the time to study and analyze each of the proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. Even further complicating matters, the media focus is on the 2024 primaries and the upcoming presidential election.

Fortunately, we have you covered! Below is our analysis on each of the propositions, preceded by our suggestion on how to vote (or not vote in two cases). Our analysis may shift as further information and inpput is gathered (we might could be convinced on the tax breaks), but in the meantime, you can do your own homework via the Texas Legislative Council's thorough analysis. If you need help voting or are looking for polling locations and what's on your local ballot click here.

Scroll all the way down for our Quickshot Guide for fast reference or to memorize.

Austin-area Conservative Voter Guide: May 2023 Local Elections

Early voting polls opened this morning at 7 a.m. in the May 2023 local elections. From police accountability, to school bonds, to local board and council candidates, to the creation of new taxing districts, this will be a critical election in some places within Travis County, but in other places there may be nothing on the ballot.

To find out what's on your ballot, see if you're registered to vote, check out a map of voting locations with wait times, and more visit www.VoteTravis.com.

Below are our recommendations (updated as of 4/24/23). Special thanks to the members of the Travis County Republicans Facebook Group for their insight. If you have any suggestions of your own please feel free to use the comments or weigh-in at the link above. Please note: multiple endorsements may be included in each race.

Cutting through the hype in Austin's Prop A versus Prop B election

When cornered and left without much in the way of reasonable argument on any given ballot issue, radical Progressives in Austin will almost always resort to blaming conservatives.

Such has been the case with Proposition A versus Proposition B, appearing on the May local election ballot starting Monday, April 24, 2023.

The unsubstantiated rumor going around is that those dastardly Republicans, independent conservatives, assorted Libertarians, and any number of right-leaning rabble-rousers are behind Proposition B as a sinister means to derail Proposition A and any attempt to provide oversight of law enforcement and achieve racial justice within the capital city. And how dare they!

TAYLOR: How to rise above manipulation of words

By Dan Taylor
Guest Contributor

I want to think out loud about how our use of words has become so twisted in the modern world.

The very definition and meaning of words are often twisted, oftentimes to fit political, cultural, or personal agendas.

We can see this on national debate stages, but more intimately, in localized manipulators that we all see in our day-to-day lives.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹

The socialist political organizer Saul Alinsky has a chapter in his book “Rules for Radicals” in which he talks about the modern manipulation of words to gain political favor, but this has existed for the past 100 years (at least, but I don’t want to dive beyond that). 

Statesman endorsement process of County Judge tilted in favor of Democratic incumbent, complete with mystery quote

That the Austin American-Statesman did not endorse the Republican candidate at the top of the countywide ballot is no surprise.

Even if the Houston Chronicle broke loose of the usual gravitational pull toward Democratic candidates and endorsed Republican contender Alexandra del Moral Mealer over Democratic incumbent Lina Hidalgo, the Statesman's top editors predictably held on to their familiar ground in the left-leaning capital of a conservative state.

Yet Travis County Judge challenger Rupal Chaudhari was right to be hopeful. Change is in the air, for reasons already predicted in numerous media outlets in the weeks leading up to this election. The issues she has raised are not the typical red versus blue struggles in D.C., or under the Pink Dome for that matter. Chaudhari has outraised and from what we can tell outworked Democratic incumbent Andy Brown. She's a candidate for the people, and to that there has been little to no questions throughout the entire year of her campaign.

City Runoff results hint at conservative resurgence, relevance of shoe leather politics

The results are in for Leander and Manor Municipal Runoff elections. While they're two different scenarios entirely, we can draw two lessons from them.

First, let's look at the results, which you won't find covered much in the local media:

Leander Council member Place 3 

Juan Alanis 1162 votes (37%) 

David McDonald  2910 votes (63%) 

Leander Council member Place 5 

Chris Czernek 1952 votes (62%)

Bill Louden 1193 votes (38%)

Manor Council member Place 6 (unexpired term)

Kathy White 29 votes (43%)

Deja Hill 39 votes (57%)