Texas Observer reader,
Thus, it ends as it began as it begins as it ended. Or something like that.
The state, and to some extent the nation, waits to see who prevails between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton in the May 26 runoffs. Trump could still endorse (and may indeed do so in the gap between press time for this magazine and when you read it), but he let pass the deadline for either candidate to formally drop out. The third GOP hopeful, Wesley Hunt, turned out to be nothing more than a marginal spoiler ensuring said runoff.
On the blue side, the front-runner from last fall, James Talarico, indeed secured the Senate nomination after all—leaving his truncated tiff with Jasmine Crockett as one of those feverish episodes short-lived enough to feel more like a vexatious dream than history.
We, meanwhile, soldier on through the inexplicably long gap between our early-March primary and late-May secondary primary (a new name to suit the absurdity). Only two other states are unwell enough to hold their midterm primaries as early as we do, and neither waits so long as Texas to then finish the job. For that matter, most states don’t have primary runoffs at all; instead, they presumably just enjoy the springtime like normal humans.
Yet, here we are, with just a few long weeks and the consciences of a tiny group of hardcore Republicans between us and a likely railroad commissioner who believes that every single Muslim in America should be deported. Godspeed to us all.
And here we are as well (flawless transition), with the Observer’s third issue of the year.
I’ve been thinking, in the two years now that I’ve been editor, about what our covers should be for. It’s a tricky call. I want them to genuinely catch your interest, so I don’t want you to feel like you’ve basically already read the stories they advertise. At the same time, they can’t be so obscure that you’re perplexed. Sometimes, I think they should be a reprieve from an ambient heaviness; other times, they should be a call to skip brunch and take to the streets. And sometimes, perhaps just one time, they should be a rattlesnake.
May/June 2026 cover (Adrià Voltà/Texas Observer)
This issue’s cover, I hope, will serve as a planted flag. A statement of principle in the face of political headwinds blowing from both sides of the aisle. Something small to hold onto as some Democrats—in this election season without end—subject civil rights to political expediency.
Solidarity,
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The post Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our May/June 2026 Issue appeared first on The Texas Observer.
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