Mandy Castoe

From @TheBlaze: "One of the few Republicans who managed to keep his seat in the Texas House of Representatives through Tuesday's bloodbath is calling on Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to rein in the powers afforded to the governor before Democrats formally take power in January. Abbott was voted out of office on Tuesday, losing decisively, 52.8%-45.7%, to Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, an open-borders Democrat who has advocated taxpayer-funded health care for illegal aliens and sanctuary cities in the Lone Star State and voted against restrictions on sex-rejection surgeries on kids. 'The grassroots can help us force action now.' Hinojosa said in her victory speech on Tuesday, "The voters have delivered a mandate for change, and it is change they will get." On the campaign trail, Hinojosa signaled a desire to use gubernatorial emergency powers as soon as she takes office. She stated ahead of Election Day, "Within an hour of taking the oath of office, I will declare a high-cost emergency in the state of Texas and issue an emergency executive order to: one, suspend the gas and diesel tax; and two, freeze electricity rates." Of note, once in office, she will also have the support of a Democrat-controlled Texas House of Representatives as well as a Democrat lieutenant governor, Vikki Goodwin, and a Democrat state attorney general, Nathan Johnson. However, Republicans will retain a majority in the state Senate. While Texans of various political stripes may be amenable to a tax freeze, state Rep. Brian Harrison (R) suspects Hinojosa might wield her newfound powers for nefarious purposes. Harrison sent a letter to Abbott on Wednesday imploring the badly defeated governor to call a special session "to rein in executive emergency powers before it's too late." "During this time, we Republicans still control the entirety of the Texas government, and we muse use every minute of it and every lever of power lawfully afforded to us to protect Texans against the coming four-year period of near total Democrat rule," wrote the state representative. Harrison suggested that owing to "Texas's absurd (and almost certainly unconstitutional) emergency powers laws, Gov. Hinojosa will literally inherit the power to modify laws, ignore laws, or create and enforce laws — including criminal laws — on a whim!" The state representative has a pandemic-era bill ready to go that would bar the governor from suspending or modifying statutes; torpedo emergency orders in 30 days if not ratified by the legislature; bar the governor from reissuing expired or rejected emergency orders; and subject emergency orders to expedited judicial review. The bill would also require that an order issued by the governor or another state official that infringes on the rights of a private person must be "narrowly tailored to serve a compelling public health or safety purpose" and "limited in duration, applicability, and scope to reduce any infringement on individual liberty." Neither Abbott's office nor Hinojosa's campaign responded to Blaze News' request for comment. "Governor Greg Abbott has ignored my numerous requests for special sessions to pass countless conservative policy priorities, but time is really short now for him to act on this imminent threat!" Harrison said in a written statement to Blaze News. "I had no problem calling this out back in 2022 when Republicans were in power. Democrats agreed then; they should agree now." Harrison, who expressed hope that "the grassroots can help us force action now," stressed the urgency of taking action as quickly as possible, noting that Hinojosa's promised use of emergency powers "could wreak havoc on our oil and gas sector." The state representative also noted that Hinojosa has before her an opportunity to show consistency on the subject of emergency-power uses. "Gina Hinojosa has publicly complained that Gov. Abbott has 'abused' emergency powers and told me she wants to limit them," said Harrison. "She has an opportunity to prove she isn’t being hypocritical, and she should be forced to answer if she still believes emergency powers should be limited." Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R) signaled support for Harrison's proposal, as did Florida's Voice founder Brendon Leslie, who tweeted, "Abbott will do this if he gives a damn about his legacy.""

From @WesternJournalX: "Following the devastating 2026 midterm elections that cost Republicans the state of Texas, one Republican lawmaker in the Lone Star State began petitioning Gov. Greg Abbott to take immediate action to limit at least some of the power that state Democrats are poised to gain come January. That lawmaker was Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison, who posted to social media after the election urging Abbott to “rein in” the executive emergency powers that’ll soon be available to Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa. “Republicans lost last night, but Democrats were not sworn in [yet],” Harrison wrote in a lengthy statement to the social media site X that was published the morning after the 2026 blue-wave midterm elections. “We still have total power in Texas, and we must act like it by using the remaining ten weeks to restore separation of powers and limit the emergency powers that Governor-Elect Hinojosa is set to inherit, which would allow her to destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat,” he added. When Harrison wrote that “we still have total power in Texas,” he meant that Republicans now hold Texas’ governorship, as well as the state’s House of Representatives and Senate, and they will continue to hold it until January. The Republican state lawmaker continued his post by preemptively pushing back on concerns that his request was partisan. He did so by noting that he’d been calling for the state’s executive powers to be reined in for years. “I’ve warned since I was first elected that NO governor, Republican or Democrat, should have unchecked emergency powers!” he wrote. He was elected to office in 2021. Abbott was still governor at the time. “Now that Texas has elected a Democrat Governor, the urgency is undeniable… and inaction is intolerable,” his post continued. Harrison reiterated this same point in a statement to Fox News. “Texas should have reined in executive emergency powers when I first demanded it in 2022,” he said. “If these are not revoked, Gina Hinojosa will assume not just the powers our state constitution bestows upon a Governor, but will, in effect, inherit nearly all the powers of a dictator.” “Most people are shocked to learn Texas governors can write, edit, or change any statute on a whim if they just declare an ‘emergency,’ and this is unconstitutional,” he continued. According to Fox News, Section 433.002 of the Texas Government Code allows the governor to issue directives and “amend, modify, or rescind” those directives during a declared state of emergency. “These powers have been abused in the past, and Governor-Elect Hinojosa has pledged to use them on day one,” Harrison warned. “Republicans are still in control for ten weeks; we need to start acting like it.” In his social media post, Harrison similarly urged the Texas state House and Senate to “immediately pass” HB911, a bill of his that would reportedly restrict the Texas governor’s “never ending emergency powers.” Harrison was 100 percent right in his demands. And the fact is that we all know that Texas Democrats would do the exact same thing if they were in the same boat. In addition, limiting Hinojosa’s power may be the only way to prevent Texas from permanently transforming into the blue-state hellhole that is California. According to The Texas Tribune, the governor-elect has said that she intends to use her power to block the construction of data centers, hand out $1,500 checks to every Texan, and terminate the state’s private school voucher program. And according to Gov. Abbott’s social media campaign account, her past record similarly includes “voting for gender transitions for children,” “investigating parents for refusing to affirm a child’s gender identity,” and allowing “men in women’s private spaces.” This woman simply cannot be granted unlimited power, even if that means weakening the power of potential future Republican Texas governors. Kudos to Harrison for what he’s doing. Let’s just hope Abbott listens to him and takes action before it’s too late for the Lone Star State."

🚨Father of Democrat Governor-Elect Gina Hinojosa once demanded use of executive EMERGENCY POWERS to make Texas elections 100% “VOTE-BY-MAIL!!!” We must have a special session to limit these unconstitutional powers before the Democrats take over and turn Texas into a SANCTUARY STATE and destroy election integrity!! (I’ve been pushing for years!) @GregAbbott_TX

Momentum for a special session to limit the Texas Governor’s emergency powers continues to grow! Thank you @lltrainor and @TravisGOP! Cc: @GregAbbott_TX @TXGOPCaucus @TexasSenateGOP