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The Texas Miracle #8: The Death of the Texas GOP

With leadership in disarray — and an underwhelming state convention — is the Texas GOP gasping its last?

With leadership in disarray — and an underwhelming state convention — is the Texas GOP gasping its last?

Andrea Grimes Jun 10, 2016, 3:31 pm CST

This week on The Texas Miracle podcast, the Observer‘s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but probably wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star state: Considering the dire condition of the Texas Republican leadership — Jesus shottin’ Sid Miller, indicted Ken Paxton and Jade Helmin’ Governor Greg Abbott — are we watching the death knell of the Texas GOP? Political analyst Harold Cook has some (occasionally NSFW) thoughts about the prospect.

We’ll also get on the phone with Sofia Peña, a South Texan who’s on the front lines of the fight to to keep abortion legal — and accessible — in Texas, and find out just how hard it is to get an abortion in a state crusading to put abortion providers out of business.

Alleged Yeti cooler thief Tanner Beattie. Gregg County Jail/KLVT

We’ll also polish off a bottle of wine or two talking Texas politics — and Texas travesties, which are often the same thing — with three of Texas’ top journalists: Lauren McGaughy and Bobby Blanchard of the Dallas Morning News and Bobby Cervantes of the Houston Chronicle. And Observer staffer Patrick Michels will regale us with the story of a surprising home birth, a Yeti cooler thief and many more strange tales from far-flung Texas on this edition of Strangest State.

[Editor’s note: There is adult language in this podcast! You can find the Texas Miracle on iTunes and Stitcher. Follow us at @TheTexasMiracle and here on the website for news and updates. If you want to submit an Ask A Texan question, e-mail us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 512-981-5936!]

To support journalism like this, donate to the Texas Observer.

Do you think free access to journalism like this is important? The Texas Observer is known for its fiercely independent, uncompromising work—which we are pleased to provide to the public at no charge in this space. That means we rely on the generosity of our readers who believe that this work is important. You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. If you believe in this mission, we need your help.

Andrea Grimes is a writer and feminist activist living in Austin.

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