A wild year begat an even wilder legislative session. Lawmakers faced blackouts, a pandemic, and their own worst impulses. Amid the chaos, we plucked out the leaders—and the losers.
Residents of the South Texas beach town say SpaceX’s billionaire owner is ruining their “little piece of heaven.”
Plus, Lubbock becomes Texas's largest "sanctuary city for the unborn."
You ain’t a cowboy till your stunt double’s been bucked off.
Our governor and lawmakers want to blame everyone but themselves for the February blackouts, the latest crisis of their own making.
Lone Star State leaders have worried about transplants importing West Coast values and politics here. But they’ve largely ignored the more pressing challenges newcomers are bringing with them.
Lawmakers will have their hands full with a budget deficit and the pandemic. Here's what else to watch for this session.
Texas’s junior senator shares responsibility for inciting the mob that breached the U.S. Capitol. That’s brought him scorn from much of the country—but might win him fresh support from Trump Republicans.
The rebel salon queen beat Governor Greg Abbott once, but on Saturday, he had the last laugh.
Facing a bribery allegation and criminal fraud charges, the Texas attorney general is tossing his supporters fresh red meat by leading an attempt to overturn the will of American voters.
In Dallas, the “Stop the Steal" events were more of a celebration than a wake.
Texas GOP chairman Allen West is at war with the governor and in love with the camera.
GOP control of redistricting will cost Democrats for a decade, and out-of-state donors might well decide their money is best spent elsewhere.
Cornyn's race against MJ Hegar has been relatively sleepy, but that is to the senior senator’s advantage.
The last year has featured bizarre scandals, lots of bickering, and troubling signs that Tuesday could be rough on the state’s Republican juggernaut.
The state’s minority party hasn’t had this big an opportunity to shake off its loser mentality in a long, long time.
For the first time in a decade the Texas House—and influence over redistricting—is in play. Will it slip out of the Democratic party’s grasp once again?
State leaders have long tried to correct for the problem of too much democracy. But voters may get the last laugh this election.
The Texas attorney general has called his 2015 indictment for securities fraud a “witch hunt.” Now, seven of his aides accuse him of corruption.
The governor’s most recent order on ballot drop-off locations follows a long history of efforts by him and his party to lower voter turnout, and could have an outsized effect on the battle for control of the state House.
Facing down a potential Democrat-controlled Texas House, the governor has made a hard push to reframe the November election on his terms.
Both parties’ conventions sidelined politicians from the nation’s second biggest state. They might have had good reason.
The East Texas Republican tested positive for the coronavirus after refusing to wear a mask—which almost made us forget about his supporters allegedly beating up his opponent’s campaign manager.
While demonstrators marched in cities and towns across the country, a police union rep, an activist, a legislator, and an attorney sat down to discuss how to break the deadlock and bring about better policing.
When Texas Republicans gather for their biennial convention, it's usually an impressive show of force. This time, it was an embarrassment.
The COVID-19 crisis is the predictable result of the governor muddling through things.
Originally scheduled for May and pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic, the elections feature a few key races, some scandal-ridden candidates, and many old friends.
The race to choose a Democratic challenger to John Cornyn has been overshadowed by other news, but it finds the Texas Democratic Party bitterly divided.
With Donald Trump’s approval rating dropping among his formerly reliable white evangelical base, the administration dispatched the vice president to Robert Jeffress’s First Baptist Church.
Days after he attended his county party convention, Bill Baker was hospitalized with COVID-19. In three weeks, more than 7,000 Republicans will descend on Houston.
It’s an unusual and risky campaign strategy: Jackson is trying to appeal primarily to Trump, in the hopes that the voters will follow.
A month and a half after telling local officials they couldn't mandate masks, the Texas governor congratulated a local official on realizing that, actually, they could.
It's March 2021 and Democrats are in power again, the state budget is a bloodbath, and the coronavirus stalks the Capitol.
After GOP leaders in 12 counties posted racist responses to the George Floyd protests, top Republicans declared war on bigotry in their party. It’s not going to be easy.
The UT professor sees echoes of the past—and hope for the future—in the demonstrations rocking the nation.
On Saturday, a diverse crowd of 150 showed up in Vidor, once known as a Klan stronghold, to turn their backs on the town's past.
With a virus-infected economy and an oil bust to boot, the Texas model is facing an unprecedented crisis.
The resignation of a key election official serves as a warning about the dangers of conducting elections in person during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Shelley Luther saga gave Texas politicians an excuse to change the conversation, and deflect blame.
Despite the loud protests, very few Americans are ready to go back to work.
In the best of times, our politicians can be a frustrating bunch. How are they doing in an unprecedented crisis?
The candidate is running in a district that’s home to more Asian Americans than anywhere else in Texas. Her newest campaign ad blames the People's Republic for the coronavirus pandemic.
The Texas lieutenant governor is among a growing number of politicians who are willing to trade lives to save the economy. It’s a false choice.
Surprising statements by oil industry leaders have grabbed headlines. But the bigger change is underway more quietly, among young Republicans.
A high uninsured rate, hospital closures, and poor elder care leave Texas especially vulnerable to a COVID-19 epidemic.
At a honky-tonk in Dallas, the Democratic party made its move against Bernie—finally.
Led by a twentysomething Latina, Democrats now run Harris County, offering a glimpse at what things might look like—for better or for worse—if the party finds itself back on top across Texas.
The departure of the longtime Austin senator—for the greener pastures of higher education—will set off a fierce race for his seat.
This year is going to feature a lot of confident pronouncements from experts who will be proved wrong again and again.
Beto & co. came up embarrassingly short, but the result probably doesn’t say all that much about November.
