Convenience Big Store: Expect a whole lot about Texas in Thursday's debate

Expect plenty of Texas in first debate

It would be easy for Texas to feel left out of the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump on Thursday.

The two candidates have largely directed their campaigns at just a few battlegrounds, rarely making trips to Texas except to raise money to spend in other states. They even agreed to skip the one debate that had been planned for San Marcos in September.

But while the messages on Thursday may be aimed largely at swing voters in Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona, the topics are unmistakably Texan and show how much the Lone Star State is driving the national conversation even if Biden and Trump aren't battling for the state's 40 electoral college votes.

On immigration, abortion and climate change, no state has been thrust into the national spotlight quite like Texas, keeping the state front and center as Biden and Trump prep for their biggest showdown yet this year.

In my latest piece, I dig into how Trump and Biden have used Texas to make their case on some of the biggest issues driving voters. Check it out here.

Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter

jeremy.wallace@houstonchronicle.com

Who's up, who's down

Up: Wesley Hunt.

The Houston Republican is becoming a growing voice in Donald Trump's campaign. He's already been a regular during Make America Great Again rallies even outside of Texas, now Trump has Hunt as part of a discussion in Atlanta on Wednesday focused on getting Black voters to support the former president's campaign. Hunt said Trump is already doing better with Black voters this year in the polls, but "we have to get those polling numbers translated into actual votes in November and that's why we're doing this event."

Down: John Whitmire.

The Houston Mayor is taking heat for calling Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's fiancé "a nerd" on social media but later deleted the post. Hidalgo in an interview with Houston Public Media responded, in part, "I don't know why someone would do something so cruel."

What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.

What else is going on in Texas

FILE - Surgeon General Vivek Murthy speaks during an Archewell Foundation panel discussion in New York City, Oct. 10, 2023. On Tuesday, June 25, 2024, Murthy, the nation's top doctor, declared gun violence a public health crisis, driven by a growing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms in the country. The advisory came as the U.S. grappled with another weekend marked by mass shootings that left dozens of people dead or wounded.

Photo by: Ted Shaffrey, AP

US surgeon general declares gun violence a public health emergency

In his advisory, Murthy calls on the U.S. to ban automatic rifles and introduce universal background checks for purchasing guns.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, June 22, 2024, at Temple University in Philadelphia. A judge has modified Donald Trump's gag order, freeing the former president to comment about witnesses and jurors in his New York hush money criminal trial but keeping court and prosecution staff off limits. Judge Juan M. Merchan issued his decision on Tuesday.

Photo by: Chris Szagola, AP

Judge alters Trump's gag order, letting him talk about witnesses, jury

A Manhattan judge on Tuesday modified Donald Trump's gag order, freeing the former president to comment publicly about witnesses and jurors.

FILE - In this combination of photos, President Joe Biden speaks on Aug. 10, 2023, in Salt Lake City, from left, former President Donald Trump speaks on July 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. Former President Donald Trump has his hopes set that Republican voters in Mississippi and three other states will push him over the top Tuesday night in his quest to clinch his party's presidential nomination for the third election in a row. President Joe Biden is the only option on the Democratic ballot in Mississippi. The earliest Biden can clinch his party's presidential nomination is March 19. (AP Photo, File)

Photo by: Associated Press

The first presidential debate is Thursday. Here's what you need to know

The first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign cycle is scheduled for Thursday with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump set to clash.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, left, exchanges words with Houston Mayor John Whitmire as they update the public following Thursday's storms which brought damaging winds and rains to the Greater Houston area during a press conference at Houston TranStar, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston.

Photo by: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

Hidalgo fires back at Whitmire's 'cruel' Facebook comment about her fiancé

In a comment that has since been deleted, Houston Mayor John Whitmire called Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's fiancé a nerd on Facebook.

Pick of the day

Texas Take With Jeremy Wallace for June 25, 2024.

Photo by: J.R. Gonzales

Damphousse was responding to the official notice telling Texas State University that they will no longer be hosting a presidential debate that had been scheduled for Sept. 16 in San Marcos.

What else I'm reading

American troops crossed into Juarez, Mexico, on Monday morning to take part in a joint disaster response exercise with the Mexican army. The Border Report writes that the American GIs made their way in at least three buses over the Bridge of the Americas and were met by a caravan of Mexican army trucks and Juarez police on motorcycles.