KSEV Mornings · October 16, 2026 · Hour 2
Breaking news on the Carla Wyatt removal petition, a voter registration backlog cleared, Vince Coglianese on Talarico’s $65 million, and restroom etiquette.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt called KSEV Mornings with breaking news on Harris County Treasurer Carla Wyatt during Friday’s second hour, and Craig Coglianese and Wayne Dolcefino held the break to put him on right away. The hour also brought the Talarico abortion clip, Craig’s cousin Vince Coglianese on the Senate race and Shane Gillis, and a spirited defense of talking to strangers.
Meatballs, a cookbook and talking to strangers
The hosts opened hungry, comparing homemade meatball recipes and pitching a Mob Guys cookbook. Wayne admitted he is the guy who chats with whoever is at the next urinal, on his weekly drive to Austin and in elevators. “We got like 30 seconds together,” he said. “Let’s fill it up.” Craig does the same. “This is why we get along,” he said. Wayne also refuses to use self-checkout. “Life is like being forced down a tube of toothpaste,” he said. Craig, a New Jersey native, misses having someone pump his gas.
The Talarico abortion clip
Craig played the CNN town hall exchange in which Talarico told a pro-life woman that “the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion,” and she answered that it is not, citing the Ten Commandments and “thou shall not kill.” The hosts joked that it is “pretty popular in the Bible.” Wayne called Talarico’s answers that night “pablum” and said he was signaling that he is pro-choice without saying it. Craig said the danger is that without Paxton next to him, Talarico keeps getting friendly stages: “If Talarico pops up on another town hall because Paxton refuses to be on a television with him, it only benefits Talarico.”
Wayne wants the doer
Wayne said he understands Trump’s jokes about Paxton’s looks, but he doesn’t like a closing message of “we know you don’t like the guy, but vote for him anyway.” His son worked three years as one of many assistant attorneys general and, Wayne said, calls Paxton the best attorney general the state has had at arguing for its principles. “You want someone who wears $1,000 suits?” Wayne asked. “Or do you want a guy who’s gonna roll up his sleeves and get the crap done?”
Bettencourt on the petition to remove Carla Wyatt
Bettencourt said a Harris County resident had filed a petition to remove Wyatt and that the chief administrative judge had accepted it, with a press conference set for 10 a.m. at the Harris County Republican Party. He cited Texas Government Code 87.013, which allows removal for incompetence, official misconduct or intoxication from drinking alcohol. He said Wyatt has had at least four run-ins with the law, including two DWIs, and that she wants her salary raised from $149,000 to $304,000. His larger point: Democrats, as the majority party, should have policed their own.
Wayne offered the deadpan defense: “One or two drunk things, couple of major car accidents, rifling through a car, we’re being so judgmental.” Then he said removal motions should be used a lot more, and that he wanted to try one over Lina Hidalgo’s rodeo episode. “This is exactly what we mean by fight, fight, fight,” he said.
Half a million voter registrations
Bettencourt also explained the voter registration backlog. He said a vendor software problem between DPS and the Secretary of State’s office left motor-voter registrations unprocessed since last year, about 500,000 were sent out to counties, and the Harris County tax office worked through 108,000 of them in time for the election. His advice: if you aren’t sure you are registered, pick up the phone and check. Wayne then recalled the senator scene from The Godfather, and Bettencourt said he would rather be the corruption-fighting senator.
Vince Coglianese on the new press secretary and Shane Gillis
Vince agreed to a video call soon. On the new White House press secretary’s shaky first briefing, he noted she arrived Monday and faced reporters Tuesday. “You’d have to be a sociopath not to be nervous,” he said. When Wayne asked if Vince could have done it, he answered, “Yeah, because I’m a sociopath.”
On the Shane Gillis SNL joke about gym outfits, Vince said, “It’s a normal opinion that a lot of people have,” turned into something clever, and people laughed. “That’s a sign of good comedy.” On women sending Gillis their gym photos to get back at him: “The psychology of this needs to be studied.”
Vince on Talarico and $65 million
Vince said a debate would be fine, and that Talarico spent the town hall “gaslighting” viewers on the oil industry and on ICE. He said Talarico’s campaign pulled in $65 million, which he called the most any Senate candidate has raised in a single quarter, and argued much of it came from out of state. “People have a bad case of the Talaricos,” he said. Vince is on KSEV weekdays from noon to 1 p.m.
Press conferences and the drunkest friend
Wayne said Republicans in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties should be holding press conferences nonstop to point out what Democrats tolerate, like a treasurer “on a one-woman mission.” The hosts joked that the drunkest friend is always the smartest with money. Craig also recalled a climate bill Talarico backed around 2021 or 2022 that he said would have devastated Texas oil and gas.
Gillis, round two
Craig said the people angry at Gillis were already mad at him, and that Jimmy Kimmel made a gym attire joke a day earlier and nobody cared. The hosts agreed people have lost their sense of humor, and the week ended with a line borrowed from Marvin: “Good golf, good tennis, whatever makes you happy.”
Also in this hour
- Wayne predicted Talarico’s next answer about kids will be about little boys playing with army men. Wayne’s grandson’s toy soldiers, he noted, now come in different shades of green.
- The hosts’ recap of the hour: “We had the senator who’s trying to bribe us.” For the record, that’s not what happened.
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.
