{"id":454387,"date":"2026-10-02T15:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/454387\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T15:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:50:08","slug":"today-on-texas-standard-six-u-s-house-races-are-key-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/454387\/","title":{"rendered":"Today on Texas Standard: Six U.S. House races are key in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s what\u2019s coming up on Texas Standard for Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. Listen<\/a> on your Texas public radio station, or ask your smart speaker to play Texas Standard. Check back later today for updated story links and audio.<\/p>\n

Key U.S. House races in Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year, Republican lawmakers redrew the state\u2019s congressional map with the explicit goal of making five Democratic seats more winnable for the GOP. Despite that effort, right now six Texas congressional districts are considered especially competitive \u2014 including four of those newly redrawn seats, along with two Republican-held districts Democrats hope to flip. All six have majority-Hispanic eligible-voter populations, and four touch the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n

Did redrawing the map actually make Texas more predictable as Republican politicians hoped, or just reshuffle the battleground?<\/p>\n

Gabby Birenbaum, who reports from Washington for The Texas Tribune, tells us more.<\/p>\n

The latest on the governor\u2019s race<\/p>\n

This is Texas Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s 12th year leading the state, making him the country\u2019s longest-serving governor in office right now. If re-elected in November, Abbott would be on track to becoming Texas\u2019 longest serving governor in history.<\/p>\n

While most polls currently show him in the lead over his Democratic challenger, Gina Hinojosa, the race has tightened as Election Day draws near.<\/p>\n

The Texas Newsroom\u2019s Blaise Gainey reports on what\u2019s making this race more competitive \u2014 and what Abbott is doing to turn up the pressure.<\/p>\n

Rope ladder washes ashore on Texas beach<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas has hundreds of miles of coastline, yet for many of us, the Gulf can feel a world away. Resident beachcomber Jace Tunnell provides a glimpse of beach life even for those among the pines or on the plains.<\/p>\n

This week, he tells us about a 70-foot-long rope ladder that washed ashore.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the ROI for Texas library funding?<\/p>\n

The Texas Library Association commissioned a study this summer to measure the return on investment for public dollars spent on libraries. Their findings? Every dollar spent by local libraries generates almost $5 in statewide economic activity.<\/p>\n

Shirley Robinson, the association\u2019s executive director, joins Texas Standard with more.<\/p>\n

Freshman forward making an immediate impact for Abilene Christian University women\u2019s soccer<\/p>\n

Conference play kicked off last week for Abilene Christian University\u2019s women\u2019s soccer. The Wildcats have faced top competitors from outside the conference and have had an impressive showing so far.<\/p>\n

KACU\u2019s Josiah Wonnell takes a look at Addison Briscoe, an impactful freshman forward who chose ACU over bigger programs.<\/p>\n

Fangoria on \u2018The Town That Dreaded Sundown\u2019<\/p>\n

Ready for spooky season? Jason Kauzlarich, creative director of FANGORIA Magazine, tells us about \u201cThe Town That Dreaded Sundown,\u201d a movie filmed in Texas and inspired by iconic horror villains while being based on a true story.<\/p>\n

Artemis II crew returns to Houston<\/p>\n

For the first time since NASA\u2019s historic Artemis II mission, Houston celebrated the crew in Space City this week. The four astronauts say it\u2019s still surreal to have returned to Earth as celebrities \u2014 and some of them are moving on to new roles.<\/p>\n

Houston Public Media\u2019s Michael Adkison reports.<\/p>\n

Typewriter Rodeo<\/p>\n

The gang delivers another custom poem.<\/p>\n

The week in Texas politics<\/p>\n

The Texas Tribune\u2019s Jasper Scherer joins the Standard with a recap of the week that was in Texas politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what\u2019s coming up on Texas Standard for Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. Listen on your Texas public radio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-454387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}