Rep. Steve Allison enjoying a puppy hug.

Puppy Paws and Makin' Laws

Another successful Puppy Day at the Capitol during the final days of the session, sponsored by Austin Pets Alive, TLR and Arnold Public Affairs.

Around the Capitol / On the Move

Tommy Meehan, former Senior Policy Advisor for Sen. Joan Huffman, is a Summer Associate with McKinsey and Company.

Former Rep. Matt Krause has announced he is running for a seat on the Tarrant County Commissioners' Court.

Rep. Gina Hinojosa is the new Chair of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee.

Veteran Capitol staffer Danny Mittnacht took over as Executive Director of Speaker Dade Phelan's political operation on July 1. Mari Bergman will serve as Political Director. She was Communications Director for the last campaign cycle, and worked in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism.

Former Senate Sergeant-At-Arms, Rick DeLeon is running for Matagorda County Sheriff.

Speaker of the House, Dade Phelan recently created a new select Committee on Educational Opportunity and Enrichment. Rep. Brad Buckley will serve as chair and Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins will serve as vice chair. Reps Trent Ashby, Keith Bell, Harold Dutton, James Frank, Cody Harris, Cole Hefner, Gina Hinojosa, Ken King, Oscar Longoria, Will Metcalf, Matt Shaheen, James Talarico, and Gary VanDeaver make up the rest of the Committee.

Rep. Giovanni Capriglione's Capitol Director, Katy Aldredge, is now serving as Chief of Staff in addition to her position as Clerk for the House Pensions, Investments & Financial Services Committee.

Former Capitol staffer, Shane R. Saum, has announced his candidacy for Lago Vista City Council.

Sen. Roland Gutierrez recently launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate. He will face a primary, and the winner of the primary will face US Sen. Ted Cruz in the 2024 general election.

David Estrada has been promoted from Policy Analyst to Senior Policy Analyst for Sen. Brian Bridwell.

Rep. Matt Shaheen, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, recently left the caucus.

Cyrus Hosseini was recently promoted from Legislative Aide to Constituent Services Director for Rep. Ann Johnson.

Rep. Ron Reynolds started a new position as Vice President of Business Development at Civitas Engineering Group.

Hector Menez has been appointed Communications Manager for Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simons. He served as the Communications & Press Director for the Texas Legislative Black Caucus during the last regular session.

Incumbents running for re-election (this is not a comprehensive list -- for that check out the SOS or the political parties' websites):

Rep. Ryan Guillen

Rep. Fredrick Frazier

Rep. Giovanni Capriglione

Sen. Chuy Hinojosa

Incumbents not running for re-election (this is not a comprehensive list -- for that check out the SOS or the political parties' websites):

Rep. Four Price

Rep. Julie Johnson

Rep. Tracy King

Rep. Lina Ortega

Rep. John Raney

Texas Politics Today is produced and sponsored by Arnold Public Affairs, an Austin-based public affairs and lobby firm working with corporate and non-profit organizations. Jim Arnold, Ellen Arnold and Taylor Aycock

Be sure to send us news of departures, promotions, births, marriages and other milestones, so we can share it with the Capitol community!

Information can be sent to jim@arnoldpublicaffairs.com or text at 512-431-5385

Lobby/Associations/Other

Dale Craymer has retired from the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. Vice President Jennifer Rabb took over as president in July.

Abel Mulugheta is starting his own consulting firm, after working for Rep. Rafael Anchia for seven years.

Cat Mouer, previously the Legislative Director for Rep. Jolanda Jones, will be joining Brady, the gun violence prevention organization, as their new Federal Policy Manager.

Seth Juergens recently was promoted from public policy analyst to Associate Director of Public Policy for the Texas Realtors.

Jeff Emerick, who was the LD for Rep. Trent Ashby, is now at the Texas Association of Business as Manager of Member Relations.

Capitol veteran, Aurora Flores, has joined the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma as their Senior Commerce Government Affairs Strategist. She previously worked as a Legislative Consultant for the Texas Conference of Urban Counties.

Andrew Keefer is now the Regulatory Affairs Administrator for Denton Municipal Electric. He previously served as a Senior Associate at Focused Advocacy.

Matthew Conner is leaving the Houston Independent School District. He will be joining Arete Public Affairs as the Managing Principal and will be a Principal at the Texas Education Alliance.

Texas 2036 President and CEO, and former Secretary of Education for President George Bush, Margaret Spellings, will be the new CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C. 

Randy Willis is the new Executive Director for Texas Association of Rural Schools. He was previously the Superintendent of the Granger Independent School District.

Former Senate staffer, Elliot Griffin, is a senior advisor for the Texas chapter of Never Back Down, Gov. Ron DeSantis' Super PAC.

Jessica Hart Steinmann has been named Director of Litigation in addition to her current role as General Counsel and Secretary of the Board for the America First Policy Institute.

The Texas Oil & Gas Association recently hired Tracy Gonzales as Director of Community Relations for Houston and Southeast Texas. She was previously the Government Relations Director for the Texas General Land Office.

The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas’ longtime Government Affairs Director and Chief Legislative Officer, Lee Loftis recently retired, and Regan Ellmer will be taking over as Director of Government Affairs.

Kevin Matula, the Government Affairs Director for Zachry Group, will be transitioning to serve as USAA's Director of Government Relations.

Former Rep. Rodney Anderson has been elected President of the Texas Land Title Association.

Steve Montgomery has been hired as the new CEO for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. He previously had his own government affairs firm.

Blaine Brunson has started a new position as Managing Director at Wells Fargo. He was previously a Vice President at Morgan Stanley.

Chris Cutrone will be starting as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff, Research Security Engagement Team at Sandia National Laboratories. He previously was the Communications Director for CPRIT.

Marnie Stewart is starting a new position as President at Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation in Memphis, TN. She worked in Texas for Gov. Greg Abbott's campaign in the early 2000s.

Glenn Deshields has been promoted to Government Affairs Director at the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters. He previously was the Legislative Director for the organization.

Ann-Marie Price is now a Senior Consultant with Health Management Associates after previously serving as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Access TeleCare.

Christina Perez-Gonazlez has a new position as Governor Affairs Manager for CenterPoint Energy. She previously was Vice President of Governmental Affairs at the Association of Electric Companies of Texas.

Dan Casey has returned to MoakCasey as a consultant.

Ryan Skrobarczyk is joining the team at the City of Corpus Christi as Director of Intergovernmental Relations after previously serving as Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs at the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. He will be replaced by Corey Perry.

Ben Bhatti started a new position as Vice President of Innovation and Research at the Dallas Regional Chamber. He previously had his own consulting firm.

Ashley Cruz has left Planned Parenthood Texas Votes and is now Advocacy Manager for Feeding Texas.



Rep. Eddie Morales' nod to Barbie mania

Fresh pink tortillas just came out & available NOW at the store: 340 Pierce St., Eagle Pass #Barbie #PiedrasNegrasTortillaFactory #Barbiecoa #EaglePass

State Agencies

PUC Chairman Peter Lake recently resigned his position and is now workings as a Partner at Trust Ventures. Kathleen Jackson is serving as Interim Chair.

Gov. Greg Abbott, last month, appointed his former Deputy Chief of Staff, Angela Colmenero, to be interim Attorney General.

Former Inland Fisheries Division Director, Craig Bonds, is taking over Clayton Wolf's role as Chief Operating Officer for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Scott McNaughton has a new position as a Budget and Policy Advisor in the Office of the Governor.

Braden Roehling moved to the Office of the Governor, Constituent Communications Division after previously working as the scheduler for Sen. Lois Kolkhorst.

Allison Winney will serve in a new role as Chief of Staff at TPWD. She was previously TPWD’s Senior Government Relations Specialist.

Barry Sharp is taking over the position of Director of the the Community Health Division at the Bell County Public Health District in Temple after a long career in state government and more recently as a high school teacher.

Sean Grove was recently promoted from Chief of Staff to Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

Sonja Gaines was recently promoted to Deputy Executive Commissioner at Texas Health and Human Services. Her previous position was Deputy Executive Commissioner for Behavioral Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds, who served in a number of executive positions at TEA, is now the Commissioner of Education for the State of Tennessee.

Birthdays

Note: If you'd like your birthday listed and we aren't friends on FB, email me and I'll make sure its included.



August

1 -- Rep Terry Meza, Emily Ainsworth Howell, Jesse Lewis

2 -- Hugh Brady, Fmr. Sen. Kent Caperton, Sam Nancarrow

3 -- Jay Rosser

4 -- Noe Barrios, Diana Rivera

5 -- Robert McVey, Yvonne Barton, Marian Wallace

6 -- Rep Shawn Thierry, Sen Brandon Creighton

8 -- Kelsey Bernstein, Kym Olsen, Luis Gonzalez, Ellen Arnold, Rep. Morgan Meyer, Gaylord Armstrong

9 -- Katrina Smith

10 -- Logan Davidson, Fmr. Sen. Troy Fraser

11 -- Dennis Kearns

12 -- Rep Robert Guerra, Julie Young, Stewart McGregor, Stephanie Speer Smith

13 -- Rep Ann Johnson, Rep Tony Tinderholt, Rep Cody Vasut, Sen John Whitmire, Sheila Beckett, Fmr. Rep. Cindy Burkett, Dan Casey, Gary Fuchs

14 -- Will Adams, Deborah Giles, Fmr. Rep. Ed Emmett, Sergio Cavazos

15 -- Mattie Heith, Dennis Borel

16 -- Rep Sheryl Cole, Rep Cody Harris, William Seilheimer

17 -- Rep Jon Rosenthal, Sen Joan Huffman, Carol McGarah

18 -- Rep Lina Ortega, Christine Garrison, Claudia Russell

19 -- Rep Stephanie Klick, Fmr. Rep. Mike Villarreal, Fmr. Rep. Matt Krause

20 -- Hil Carter, Rebecca Montgomery, Rina Hartline, Beaman Floyd, Bill Stevens

21 -- Rep Lacey Hull, Sarah Gouak, Ricco Garcia, Jennifer Chambers

22 -- Eddie Aldrete, Billy Phenix

23 -- Libby Elliott, Monica Hearn

24 -- Deanna Kuykendall

25 -- Rep Ana Hernandez, Claudia Rodas

26 -- Rep Todd Hunter, Mike Warner

28 -- Rep Terry Wilson, Reb Wayne, Fmr. Rep. Ellen Cohen, Joey Longley, Jeff Moseley

29 -- Luis Figueroa, Caleb Goodman, Mark Malone

30 -- Jennifer Cawley, Kathy Walt, Laramie Stroud, Angela Hale

31 -- Jim Cosgrove, Tim Tuggey

Shout Outs

Congrats to Sushma Jasti Smith, who recently received the 2023 Betty King Public Service, voted on by her colleagues in the Senate.

Congratulations to Rep. Senfronia Thompson for being recognized by the House for 50 years as a

House member.

Shout out to Jay Propes who recently received the Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Ophthalmological Association. 

Congratulations to Will Bashur and Becky Breuer on their recent engagement.

Congratulations to Rep. Drew Darby and Clarisa Darby on the recent birth of their grandson Reece Ryan Drake.

Congratulation to Darrell Davila and Rep. Caroline Harris on their recent wedding.

Congratulations to Cody Cazeres for finishing up at Texas A&M University- The Bush School of Government and Public Service.

Congratulation to Gardner Pate and Dana Harris on their recent wedding.

Congratulations to Samantha Lopez-Resendez on her recent nuptials.

In Our Thoughts

Our thoughts and condolences are with the friends, family and colleagues of John Kennedy, who passed away recently.

Our thoughts are with Jim Harrison and Louri O'Leary on the passing of Jim's father, William Harrison.

Our thoughts are with Shannon Phillips Meroney and Mike Meroney on the passing of Shannon's mother, Donita Phillips.

Condolences to Shakira Pumphrey and her family on the recent passing of her cousin, Khyana Pumphrey.

Condolences to the friends, family, and colleagues of James Gaston, who passed away after battling cancer for several years.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the friends and family of Donna Phillips.

Condolences to friends, family, and colleagues of former lobbyist Bob Huxel, who recently passed.

Condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Susan Grotevant, who passed away recently.

Our thoughts are with former Rep. Warren Chisum and friends and family after his wife, Omega Chisum's, recent passing.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the friends, family, and colleagues of Jack Rains who recently passed away.

Condolences to Jordan and Nicholas Wat on the recent passing of Jordan's grandfather, David Newcom.

Sending our thoughts and condolences to the family of Rep. Donna Howard on the recent passing of her step sister, Terry Lynn Blincoe Newman.

Judge Mike McCormick passed away recently. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the friends, family, and colleagues of David Erickson.

Mario Martinez recently passed away and our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

Sending our thoughts and condolences to friends and family of Mae Beth Palone.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the friends, family and colleagues of Edd O'Donnell who recently passed away.

Former Sen. Jane Nelson's former Chief of Staff, Nancy Fleming Carpenter, recently passed away and our thoughts and condolences are with her friends, family, and former colleagues.

Condolences to family, friends and colleagues of Tamoria Jones, who passed away recently.

Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of Mark Lehman, who passed recently.