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Discussion Points Episode 15: Texas Senate Showdown – Could Republicans Lose The Lone Star State?
In another Senate Battleground episode, Myra and David discuss the Texas Senate race between James Talarico and Ken Paxton. They look at the vote history of Texas and the key groups that will determine who wins this high profile race that is projected to be the most expensive of the 2026 election cycle. Questions discussed in this episode: Watch the full episode on YouTube here.
Latest Posts
Roll Call: Republicans Need To Make A Solutions-Based Argument
Blue Wave Or Red Undertow?
The Latest Voter Outlook On Higher Education
Washington Examiner: Are GOP Doomers Overreacting?
The Focus Factor In The Closing Argument
Policy and Politics
Blue Wave Or Red Undertow?
Democrats are betting on a Blue Wave and are likely to interpret a win as a mandate. But last week, Charlie Cook made an insightful observation about a more appropriate description of what a Democratic win might be: While many have long predicted that Democrats will enjoy a “blue wave” election, I
The Focus Factor In The Closing Argument
Six weeks out from the election, our new survey for Winning the Issues (September 12-16) shows an alarming environment for Republicans. The economy is overwhelmingly seen as headed in the wrong direction (28-64 right direction-wrong track). Inflation is seen as getting worse (67%) rather than better (13%) or not changing
Republican Trouble In Ohio
In August of last year, Sherrod Brown announced he was a launching a comeback campaign after his defeat in 2024, leading many Republicans to scoff at the idea. In an August 2025 blog post, we wrote: Although Ohio has seen an increasing trend of Republican party ID, Republicans should take Brown’s
The Wall Street Journal: The Republican Party Is Losing Its Edge With Voters on the Economy
The Winston Group’s David Winston was recently featured in an article from The Wall Street Journal about cost-of-living worries and how the preference for Republicans to handle economic issues has started to slip. If Democrats win by double digits among independents and can sustain leads on the economy, a Blue
GOP’s Big Opportunity With 127 Million Filers: The Standard Deduction
In efforts to sell their Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans have focused more of their messaging on no tax on tips and overtime, but they may be missing their biggest opportunity to reach the most people with the standard deduction. The IRS says that about 90% of tax filers — 127
Are Tax Cuts Depriving The Government Of Needed Revenue?
Republicans have just passed the one year mark of their signature legislative accomplishment, The Big Beautiful Bill. One of the main Democratic criticisms of the BBB and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is that tax cuts “deprive the federal government of needed revenue.” Given the nation’s bleak fiscal
The Latest Voter Outlook On Higher Education
Colleges and universities have found themselves facing new challenges over the last year, a sentence we’ve written — in one form or another — about higher education several times over the last several years. The forecasted demographic cliff is starting or soon to hit. To boost enrollment, some schools are
New PISA Results: Reading A Continued Struggle For US Students
The Tuesday after the unofficial end of summer brought news that was on balance bad, but not wholly unexpected from the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. The biggest headline was in reading. Between 2022 and 2025, US 15-year-olds’ reading scores dropped a precipitous 14 points. This mirrors
“Are The Schools Ready?” “Ready For What?”
In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel, Center for Education Reform founder Jeanne Allen spoke at length about all the positive developments related to school choice happening around the country. As she discussed the current environment, Allen also described the dynamics of the last several years
Roll Call: Republicans Need To Make A Solutions-Based Argument
In his latest column for Roll Call, The Winston Group’s David Winston argues that Republicans need to make a “solutions argument” – that their ideas have made progress and will eventually fix the economy – to the country. A month out from the election, voters don’t see themselves having a
Roll Call: Voters To Republicans: Fix The Biden Economy
In his latest column for Roll Call, The Winston Group’s David Winston writes that Republican candidates need to focus their own message on the economy. This means pointing out that progress has been made but acknowledging a lot more needs to be done. And, most importantly, defining what Republicans plan
Roll Call: Trump On The Ballot – Will It Help Republicans?
At last week’s GOP convention, President Trump implored his supporters to pretend he’s on the ballot. Will that help Republicans? In his latest column for Roll Call, the Winston Group’s David Winston digs into previous elections to answer that question, and analyzes how presidential job approval comes into play in