KSEV Mornings · October 6, 2026 · Hour 2
Wayne was at the dentist, so Craig took the calls, defended a nickname to his mom, and lost a taco argument to the producer.
Wayne Dolcefino spent Tuesday morning at the dentist (“and that’s never fun,” Craig noted), so Craig Coglianese held down Hour 2 with listener calls, a lot of audio, and eventually a full-blown taco debate with producer Russell.
Callers on the Harris County judge race
A longtime caller from the Energy Corridor asked the show to cover the Harris County judge race more often. Craig asked her to get specific and then explained what he thinks she means: Orlando Sanchez can actually win. Craig called Sanchez “awesome” and said the show is working on a second interview with him while Wayne is in the studio. He contrasted Sanchez with Dr. Letitia Plummer and was careful to describe the claims about her past as accusations: “I’m not trying to get sued on the radio.”
Craig said the bigger problem is a belief among Harris County Republicans that they can’t win locally. His message: if you want your day-to-day life to change the fastest, focus on local elections and try the other team. He also took aim at people on the right who say electing Democrats will somehow upend the system. “That couldn’t be a dumber thing for me to hear.”
Is the property tax loophole Bettencourt’s fault?
Another caller, from between Magnolia and The Woodlands, blamed Senator Paul Bettencourt for a property tax bill he said left a loophole Harris County used to raise taxes. Craig pushed back. One state senator doesn’t pass a bill alone, he said, and loopholes often exist because a bill wouldn’t have passed without them. Bettencourt has been closing tax loopholes for years, Craig said. The real question is how high the hikes would have been without those bills.
The caller argued that if Bettencourt goes on the radio to talk up his work, he takes the hit when it doesn’t work. Craig said that’s fair, and then joked that KSEV isn’t quite as influential as the caller seemed to think. The call ended with the caller saying he loves Chris Salcedo but really likes Craig’s show too. Craig was not expecting that, and was touched.
Yes, they’re the Mob Guys
Craig revealed that his mom recently asked whether “the Mob Guys” is offensive. His answer: no. He and Wayne are Italians from the East Coast who like the Godfather movies, and they aren’t going to show up and break your legs to get a live read. Besides, he said, the real mob in 2026 is the politicians, “they do mob stuff constantly.”
JD Vance and taxpayer-funded PSAs
Craig played JD Vance answering a reporter’s question about whether taxpayer-funded PSAs are a good use of money in a midterm year. Vance pointed back to the Obama administration advertising the Affordable Care Act. Craig noted that Democrats pretend they don’t do this while a taxpayer-subsidized public radio network delivers what he called overwhelmingly one-sided coverage. He described sitting in left-leaning newsrooms earlier in his career where pitching the conservative side of a story got you side-eyed. Craig said he has never known how to stay quiet in those rooms, which he called good for radio and bad for keeping a job, comparing it to how often even Rush Limbaugh got fired.
CNN, Thom Tillis and the Save America Act
Craig played a CNN panel where Scott Jennings, once again the voice of reason, pointed out that Democrats once warned there wouldn’t even be a midterm, and dismissed Thom Tillis as a critic since the president ended his career. Craig said the left loves propping up anyone with an R next to their name who will criticize Republicans, and it doesn’t move conservative voters. That, he said, is why John Cornyn isn’t the Senate nominee. He called opposition to the Save America Act one of the dumbest things he’s seen politically, since voter ID is popular across the board.
Craig also made his case for Ken Paxton: as attorney general, Paxton fought when it was hard, on the border and on protecting women’s spaces, and would do the same in Washington. Then Craig played President Trump saying they tried to smear, impeach, arrest and even kill him and failed. Craig said what he likes about Trump is how happy he is when he wins against nonsense. He called it an East Coast thing, from a guy born and raised in Jersey.
National Taco Day
To close, Craig went rapid fire for National Taco Day. Only 2% of Americans have never had a taco, and 53% prefer soft shells, which Craig says is wrong. He’s a hard-shell, corn tortilla guy. Russell jumped in for flour, because you can stuff more meat in it. Craig asked whether Russell eats two burritos so he can pretend he ate less than Craig’s seven tacos.
The debate moved to hot dogs. Russell likes chili, cheese and jalapeños. Craig told Texas to go to Portillo’s, which he says Houstonians mispronounce. He said he met the founder, Dick Portillo, and recommended the cake shake, an entire slice of cake blended into a milkshake, while warning that it’s basically asking for diabetes.
Also in this hour
- Russell recalled the station’s Valentine’s Day tradition of broadcasting live from the Kroger flower tents. Craig is buying Kroger flowers to test the theory on his wife, Betty.
- Craig and Russell started brainstorming stunts for the show, and agreed Wayne is the co-host most likely to dress up as a mascot.
Hear Craig and Wayne live weekdays from 7–9 AM Central on AM 700 KSEV, The Voice of Texas. Visit the KSEV Mornings show page for live-listening controls and more episodes.
