Southwest
Here’s why rural Republicans are finally beginning to shift and support school choice
Rural Republican lawmakers are beginning to shift on school choice after historically blocking efforts.
The Wyoming legislature earlier this month passed a school choice bill after past failed attempts to make that happen in the Cowboy State.
Lawmakers hope to provide education saving accounts for all K-12 students to use taxpayer dollars to have alternatives to local public schools such as charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling.
The bill comes after two bills were introduced and swatted down during the 2023 legislative session. Republican Governor Mark Gordon vetoed a different charter school bill that passed earlier this year.
The Wyoming Education Association expressed hope that Gordon would strike this bill down.
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The state capitol in Cheyenne, Wyoming on October 21, 2023. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Whether or not he does, it’s striking that the legislature in one of the most rural states in America passed a robust school choice bill,” American Federation For Children senior fellow Corey DeAngelis wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
“Rural red-state Republicans, backed by teachers unions, have long opposed school choice. They say their constituents don’t want it because there aren’t many private schools in their districts,” he said.
DeAngelis, a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, explained further, “Yet the nine most rural states in the country (as measured by population share) now have some form of private school choice.”
He continued, “Maine and Vermont have the oldest private-school voucher programs in the U.S., both enacted in the late 19th century for students who live in rural districts without public schools. Both programs allow state funding to follow the child to the public or private school his family chooses.”
“The school choice stampede through rural states and the political success of education freedom supporters in rural districts should put to bed the myth that rural voters don’t want school choice once and for all,” DeAngelis told Fox News Digital.
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Wyoming’s advancement toward a universal school choice bill is part of a trend of red states passing the measure. Nine states passed universal school choice bills last year and Alabama made the move last week.
As Wyoming seeks to be the eleventh state to pass universal school choice, Texas struggled to join the phenomenon due to rural GOP lawmakers, some who were backed by the teachers’ unions.
Teachers unions traditionally reject school choice measures since they claim it debilitates public school funding and resources as taxpayer funding is siphoned off due to the existence of other education alternatives.
Per the Texas Tribune, the state senate tried different ways to pass an education savings account program, but Democrats and rural Republicans blocked their efforts.
State Rep. Travis Clardy, in particular, voted against school choice and told media outlets that he is not convinced vouchers are a good move for public schools in rural areas where there are not many options like there are in suburban and urban communities.
Gov. Greg Abbott on October 31st, 2023 issued a proclamation stating that universal school choice” would include additional school finance, such as teacher pay raises, school safety, and special education” to appease concerns over the impact of public schools. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Clardy is one of the 24 GOP lawmakers who voted against ESAs and has been at odds with Abbott over school choice.
Clardy received a donation of $250 from the Texas AFT in 2020. Clardy, a 12-year incumbent, was defeated in this month’s primary by Joanne Shofner in House District 12.
Jason Bedrick, education policy fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that rural voters are “waking up to the fact that there are issues in their schools too, and there are more options in rural areas than most people think.”
“As we note in the report, opponents of school choice often say that 1) there are no options besides the public schools in rural areas, and 2) so many kids would leave for these options that the public schools in rural areas would collapse. Those statements cannot both be true simultaneously, but they can both be false. And, indeed, they are false.”
He explained further, “As we document, there are more options in rural areas than most people realize, and with school choice policies in place, there is growth in the private options in rural areas. Additionally, far from destroying rural public schools, the evidence suggests that more choice and competition improves the quality of the public school system in rural areas, just as it does in urban and suburban areas.”
According to a poll from the University of Houston, it reported that 60% of Republican primary voters would be less likely to vote for an incumbent Texas House representative who opposed school choice measures in 2023.
The report stated, “The negative impact on the vote intention for a House incumbent who voted against school choice/vouchers does not vary by region, with 63% of GOP primary voters in urban and suburban counties less likely to vote for the incumbent compared to 58% in rural and semi-rural counties.”
Nine Republican incumbents lost their elections and eight more were pushed into runoffs in the primary last week. Considering the defeat of certain incumbents, the primary election favored Republican candidates who pushed for school choice.
A shift in the Texas legislature could enshrine school choice efforts in the Lone Star State, as GOP primary results indicate that voters favor school choice legislation.
DeAngelis added that the primary results indicate the “biggest political shift towards school choice in Texas history.”
“The Texas election is already sending shockwaves all across the country: rural voters want school choice,” DeAngelis said to Fox News Digital. “These legislators also knew about the non-binding ballot proposition from 2022 finding that 88% of Texas Republican primary voters supported school choice, but they ignored the will of their constituents. In fact, Representative Glenn Rogers said that the Republican primary ballot proposition result was ‘not valid data’ the same day he voted against school choice last November. He ended up losing by 27 points to Mike Olcott on election night.”
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed an unprecedented school choice bill called the Students First Act. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Furthermore, the primary results came after a recent report showing donations from teachers’ unions supporting Republicans who previously rejected school choice measures.
Although the teachers’ unions publicly endorse Democrats, they have shown support for Republicans with a track record of voting against school choice measures.
Campaign finance reports posted by Corey DeAngelis on X show that the Texas AFT donated $25,000 to the PAC “Defend Rural Texas PAC.”
DeAngelis told Fox News Digital last year that Texas state lawmakers could face consequences for choosing not to support school choice by being ousted in the next primary election cycle. He foresaw a parallel between Texas and what occurred in Iowa when Gov. Kim Reynolds sought to pass universal school choice legislation.
Reynolds endorsed nine candidates with a pro-parent platform in primary elections, ousting the incumbent GOP candidates who did not support that platform.
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TUCSON, Ariz. — A 34-year-old man was arrested late Thursday night outside the Arizona home where Nancy Guthrie went missing earlier this month, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told Fox News Digital.
Shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday, deputies arrested 34-year-old Antonio De Jesus Pena-Campos in front of Guthrie’s home on misdemeanor DUI charges, the department said.
The arrest is not related to the Guthrie investigation, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department added.
Pima County sheriff’s deputies stopped a blue Chevrolet Equinox compact SUV near Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. A man was later taken into custody after what appeared to be field sobriety testing. (Fox News)
Footage shows Pima County sheriff’s deputies shining a flashlight into the driver’s side of what appeared to be a blue Chevrolet Equinox compact SUV parked near the home where Guthrie was last seen Feb. 1.
Moments later, deputies spoke with Pena-Campos near a white canopy tent set up along the roadside as a deputy shined a flashlight toward the man’s face.
In another sequence, Pena-Campos walks in a straight line in what appears to be part of a field sobriety test. In subsequent footage, he is placed in the back of a sheriff’s pickup truck.
The man was detained as investigators continue searching for Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, who was reported missing Feb. 1 after authorities said she was taken during a home invasion. Investigators have said her pacemaker last synced with her iPhone around 2:30 a.m. that morning.
Her family has since offered a $1 million reward for information leading to her safe return as authorities continue to pursue leads.
NANCY GUTHRIE’S NEIGHBOR SAW SUSPICIOUS MAN WALKING NEARBY 2 WEEKS BEFORE SUSPECTED ABDUCTION
A deputy shines a flashlight toward a man’s face during what appears to be field sobriety testing outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. The man was later taken into custody. (Fox News)
The development comes after a Catalina Foothills resident’s street-facing Ring camera captured 12 vehicles passing by between midnight and 6 a.m. on Feb. 1, the morning Guthrie is believed to have been abducted.
Some of the activity occurred around the 2:30 a.m. mark, roughly when authorities said the 84-year-old’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone.
A man walks in a straight line under the direction of deputies during what appears to be field sobriety testing outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. (Fox News)
Homeowners Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas told Fox News Digital that police had not canvassed their neighborhood in the 25 days since Guthrie was allegedly taken from her bed in what authorities have described as a home invasion kidnapping.
The couple said they alerted both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department to the footage. It was not immediately clear whether the video would prove useful to investigators or whether any of the vehicles had traveled on Guthrie’s street.
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Pima County sheriff’s deputies speak with a man near a white canopy tent set up along the roadside outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. (Fox News)
The Stratigouleas home sits on a back road that leads out of Guthrie’s neighborhood and avoids major intersections. The property is approximately 2½ miles — or about a seven-minute drive — from the crime scene, according to Google Maps.
One of the videos was recorded at approximately 2:36 a.m., roughly eight minutes after Guthrie’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone, based on the sheriff’s timeline.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Olivia Palombo contributed to this report.
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The Texas Senate primary for Republicans is a bloodbath, and President Donald Trump isn’t wading in.
Trump, who appeared in Corpus Christi, Texas, to tout his energy agenda Friday, had the opportunity to stake his claim in the contentious race and endorse a candidate.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is the longtime incumbent fending off seven challengers.
But the real race is between Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas.
President Donald Trump stops to speak to the media as he departs from Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House Feb. 27, 2026, in Washington, D.C. ( Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
All three were in attendance at Trump’s rally, reminiscent of the made-for-TV spectacles that dominated his successful 2024 election campaign. Yet Trump didn’t endorse any of them as Election Day in the primary fast approaches.
Trump acknowledged all three — he paired Cornyn and Paxton and mentioned Hunt later in his remarks. He noted that they were all engaged in an “interesting election.”
“They’re in a little race together,” Trump said of Cornyn and Paxton. “You know that, right? A little bit of a race. It’s going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people, too.”
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and John Cornyn, R-Texas (Getty Images)
Cornyn is running for a fifth term in the Senate and fighting for his political life in a nasty primary election that Trump has time and again refused to weigh in on. He’s got the full weight of Senate Republican leadership behind him, too.
Paxton, who has faced headwinds with scandals over the years, has strongly aligned himself with the president and built a coalition of conservative backers in the House, including Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who brought him to Trump’s State of the Union earlier this week.
And while the trio duke it out, money is being burned at a record pace. So far, a whopping $110 million has been spent on the Senate primaries, and $88 million of that has been dumped into the GOP contest, according to data from AdImpact.
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Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, walks up the House steps for a vote on the budget resolution in the U.S. Capitol April 10, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Given the crowded field, it’s likely the race will head to a runoff, which will turn into a brutal sprint until late May. Paxton believes he could come out on top with at least 50% of the vote come March 3, while Cornyn is eying the long game.
The coveted Trump endorsement could put either over the top in ruby red Texas. And he may be close to picking his favorite.
Ahead of the event, Trump was asked if he had decided who to endorse.
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“Pretty much,” he told reporters.
But when asked if he would say who, he said, “No.”
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Southwest
Jasmine Crockett reveals Colbert hasn’t invited her on show since furor over Talarico interview
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, revealed Friday she’s still not been asked to appear on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” days after the host claimed pressure from the Federal Communications Commission effectively censored an interview with her Senate primary political opponent, James Talarico.
Earlier this week, Colbert said CBS prevented the broadcast of Talarico’s appearance due to guidance from the FCC requiring shows to provide “equal time” to opposing candidates.
In response, the late-night host criticized the FCC and his own network. The Talarico interview was posted online, where it has garnered more than 8 million views on YouTube alone. The tumult and extra attention to the interview helped raise more than $2.5 million for Talarico’s campaign.
“No, I’ve not been invited on Colbert prior to his interview nor post his interview,” Crockett said on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” Friday.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks to members of the media following a House Oversight and Accountability Committee deposition in New Albany, Ohio, on Wednesday, Feb. 18. (Dustin Franz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Crockett explained that while she has appeared on Colbert’s show twice before, she has not been invited since she launched her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
“The only information that I got was after this debacle took place, I did receive a phone call from the parent company,” Crockett said.
She said that CBS representatives told her they did not tell Colbert he couldn’t air the Talarico segment. Instead, they said that if he had Talarico on, he had to offer the same time to Crockett.
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Texas state Rep. James Talarico, left, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, both Democrats and U.S. Senate candidates, participate in a debate during the 2026 Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention in Georgetown, Texas, on Jan. 24. (Bob Daemmrich/The Texas Tribune/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“They just said, if you air it, just make sure that you offer the representative equal time. Now, obviously, I wasn’t engaged in that conversation, so I cannot confirm the veracity of any statements,” she said.
“But I can confirm that I had never been asked to go on as it relates to kind of talking about the Senate race,” Crockett added.
CBS released a statement denying it censored Colbert, insisting the show chose to share the interview on YouTube instead to avoid the equal-time requirement.
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Texas state Rep. James Talarico appears with Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” in New York on Feb. 16. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
However, during Monday night’s broadcast, Colbert insisted he and his guest were being censored, telling his audience, “[Talarico] was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast.”
The media attention and Colbert’s multiple segments this week about the controversy provided a boon to Talarico’s campaign. On Tuesday, Colbert crumpled up the CBS statement denying it had forced the comedian not to air the interview and put it into a dog waste bag before throwing it away.
On Wednesday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr dismissed the controversy as a “hoax,” stating that Talarico “took advantage of all of your sort of prior conceptions to run the hoax, apparently for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks. And the news media played right into it.”
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A spokesperson for Colbert’s show didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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