When Erin Ragsdale stood in front of Collin County commissioners during a meeting in March, she was excited to talk about a new project geared towards supporting the growing Muslim community in North Texas.
EPIC City — a proposed development from the East Plano Islamic Center — would be centered around a mosque and include mixed-use buildings.
Ragsdale, one of the planners for the project's corporate entity, told residents it wouldn't be exclusive to the Muslim community. Everyone is welcome.
"Anybody who wants to buy a piece of land in this proposed masterplan community can buy one," Ragsdale said. "To build a house, to open a business, to build a school, to build a church, it is open to everyone, and their vision is to build an inclusive community for everyone."
The development is in the planning stages — the group hasn't applied for any permits and construction is far from starting.
But it's nonetheless received backlash from Collin County residents and people online. State officials like Gov. Greg Abbott have accused the development of having "serious legal issues," calling it the start of a "no-go zone" on X. It first caught Abbott's attention after Islamophobic social group Rise Align Ignite Reclaim Foundation's posts went viral on X.
And now, despite being little more than an idea in the head of its planners, EPIC City is at the center of a political fight between two powerful Republicans vying to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.
Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is facing a challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who announced last month he'd go after the seat in next year's midterm elections. Both have publicly questioned the legality of EPIC City in recent weeks.
Paxton first launched an investigation into EPIC City in February, beginning a series of several state probes — and on May 9, Cornyn announced the U.S. Justice Department was conducting its own federal investigation at his request.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, called this one of the toughest Republican primaries in Texas politics' history — and said both candidates are using the EPIC project to get conservative voters' approval.
"This primary will be a battle about who can be more Republican, who can be more conservative," Rottinghaus said. "If John Cornyn can make sure that Republican audiences know that he is a conservative from long ago and helped to prove his standing among those very conservative members, then he can mute some of what Ken Paxton's criticisms will likely be."
The two candidates have taken jabs at each other for years: Cornyn called Paxton a "conman" in reference to his legal issues, while Paxton has questioned Cornyn's loyalty to President Donald Trump after previous comments criticizing the president.
The race is also expected to be heavily influenced by Trump's endorsement — although he said he's stuck on that decision. Having an extreme right-wing president in office means both candidates want to align themselves with him to appeal to the Republican primary electorate.
If Cornyn wants to outflank Paxton on the right, he has to prove his conservative bona fides on a high-profile issue — like EPIC City — to get the attention of the White House, Rottinghaus said.
"Whoever gets the Trump endorsement is going to have a major leg up when it comes to the Republican primary voting crowd," Rottinghaus said. "I think every Republican recognizes, to be close to Trump is a political thumbs up."
The two rivals are eyeing EPIC City as its quickly received both state and national attention.
The proposal, a 402-acre development between Collin and Hunt counties, is centered around a mosque and includes more than 1,000 homes, a K-12 faith-based school, senior housing, an outreach center, commercial developments, sports facilities and a community college.
Paxton and Abbott in recent months accused the mosque of possibly violating the Texas Fair Housing Act by discriminating against non-Muslims, violating Texas consumer protection laws, causing potential financial harm to investors, and operating illegal funeral services. The two have yet to provide evidence of those claims.
Cornyn announced the DOJ's investigation centered on "racial discrimination" against Jewish and Christian residents after sending a letter to the department in April. Paxton, meanwhile, had already ramped up his ongoing probe by demanding documents from local city officials potentially tied to the development.
Bill Miller, a political consultant and co-founder of HillCo Partners, said this is no accident — but instead a race on who can conduct the best and quickest investigation as primary voters express concern over the project.
When EPIC City faced political backlash online and from Collin County residents, both Paxton and Cornyn likely felt they needed to take public stances on it.
"If you're running for election, you've got to align yourself with the concerns of the primary voters," Miller said. "And if you're not doing that, then you'll be unsuccessful as a candidate."
Miller described it as a strategic move to appeal to Republicans, who had a higher voter turnout than Democrats during the state's previous primary election.
The incumbent senator published an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, in which he reiterated how much he has worked "hand-in-glove with President Trump to accomplish his goals."
And calling for a federal probe on EPIC is just another way for Cornyn to show his influence on the U.S. government, Miller said.
"Both candidates jumped onto the issue, but this is an advantage for Cornyn," Miller explained. "Incumbency is a strength, and this is a good example of doing just that. He's the guy that can take the credit for this and say, 'see what I can do for you?' to Republican voters."
While the public won't know whether EPIC has any true legal issues until the end of the ongoing investigations, Rottinghaus said both candidates will continue to use it as a way to show how conservative they can be — especially since Paxton's popularity has grown amongst Texas' GOP in recent years.
"He is a more insurgent Republican," Rottinghaus said. "He is willing to throw bombs, he's willing to challenge authority, he is willing to take on the establishment, and that has endeared him to a very conservative primary audience, even if it's sometimes gotten into a pin of trouble with other Republican audiences."
This political proxy battle between the state's hardline, conservative wing of the party and the pro-business "old guard" is nothing new. The Texas Republican Party has grown more conservative over the years.
A 2023 poll conducted by The Texas Politics Project showed 41% of Republican Texans believed GOP elected officials were "conservative enough" and 33% believed they were "not conservative enough."
Miller calls this challenge from Paxton "part of the game." Cornyn has held his position for more than two decades and eventually had to face a rival.
"You've got a group of people that have been elected since John Cornyn was first elected statewide, which is a long time ago, that have become more conservative with each passing election," Miller said. "You can say the center of the party has turned rightward, and that's absolutely true. It's just the changing of the center of the party and these people that are up and coming."
Cornyn is also trailing Paxton in these early stages. The incumbent was down by nine percentage points in a recent Texas Southern University poll.
In that context, it makes sense to see Cornyn leaning more to the right as the primary elections get closer and support for Paxton grows, Rottinghaus said.
"Cornyn is looking for every political edge he can get," Rottinghaus said. "His approval numbers among Republicans are sluggish, and he needs a rally moment to improve those numbers. Paxton's tactics have been much more aggressive in his term as attorney general than Cornyn's have in the Senate."
In the meantime, while EPIC City is a focus for elected leaders, the controversy is having a real impact on Muslim residents like Fawzia Belal. The Plano resident – who moved to Texas from Connecticut more than a decade ago -- sees the proposed development as a way to expand the community and as an accepting place to practice her faith.
Belal was at the Collin County Commissioners Court meeting in March, where dozens of residents repeated stereotypes and expressed their opposition for the development. EPIC members like herself have also received threats online amid the negative attention, she said.
Still, she holds hope those residents can learn to understand her community better despite the misconceptions.
"As any other American family, we are Muslim American families raising our kids, wanting the same thing that any other community would want for their kids," Belal said. "Safety, security, education, opportunities, it's the same goal. It's just how we look, how we dress may be different, but at the end of the day, there are those common goals that unite us together or bring us together in humanity."
Penelope Rivera is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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