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.
Fearing primary challenges, GOP lawmakers focused mostly on wedge issues such as guns and abortion, rather than the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure of the state’s electric grid.
Members of the minority party knew they didn’t have the votes to kill Senate Bill 7, but won a few useful amendments behind closed doors.
Amid a slate of culture war offerings, lawmakers are set to discuss Medicaid expansion and accessing COVID-19 relief funds for schools.
A few of Texas's big businesses have publicly criticized efforts to make voting more difficult. But many more, fearful of Republican retribution, are trying to keep their heads down.
The state’s top elected official used to have limited sway. But Abbott has steadily seized authority from the Legislature and governing boards—a process accelerated by the pandemic.
Provisions of Senate Bill 7 would require some naturalized citizens to prove their right to vote.
Governor Greg Abbott has identified passing “election integrity” bills as one of his priorities for this legislative session, but the man in charge of ushering such legislation through the Texas House seems not up to the task.
The lieutenant governor wants to require state pension and education funds to divest from financial giants that are trimming their investments in oil and gas—but he hasn’t thought through the potential consequences.
The state is expected to receive three new U.S. House seats. But those looking to expand the GOP majority in the congressional delegation won’t have an easy task.
Comptroller Glenn Hegar projected a nearly $1 billion deficit—far smaller than lawmakers feared.
With state government more firmly in Republican hands, the next year will feature a return of the Republican civil war. Here are the skirmishes to watch for.
After his denying local authorities tools to combat community spread, it’s no wonder Texans are desperate for vaccinations to save us from COVID-19’s renewed surge.
After a too-close-for-comfort Senate race two years ago, the Texas GOP went into overdrive to ensure the state would not be won in 2020 by newly hopeful Democrats.
After initially deferring to city and county leaders on COVID-19 response, Governor Abbott has renewed his battle with local government.
Unless the courts rule decisively, Texas voters could face a terrible choice: risk their health at the polls, or risk prosecution by using a mail-in ballot.
One of Governor Greg Abbott's top aides says more testing and contact tracing should have been in place before restrictions were lifted.
The plan deviates considerably from what many public health officials say is needed for Texans to reopen businesses.
The governor tries to address coronavirus concerns in the face of lobbying from his most conservative supporters.
Family care physicians say they still don’t have enough personal protective equipment. So they’re seeking other solutions.
Historically, the Lege has met shortfalls with tax increases or spending cuts. Whether Dems or the GOP are in power makes all the difference.
The colorful mogul lost the 1990 gubernatorial election after making a joke about rape and admitting to not paying some income taxes.
This could be the year that Texas Democrats finally break through. (Yes, really.) But Republicans have a solid plan to stop them.
The lieutenant governor’s pledge to “take an arrow” from the NRA is a surprise, but the move is not as politically risky as it looks.
The growing controversy around Bonnen's quid pro quo is about much more than palace intrigue. Fundamentally, it concerns unethical, possibly criminal, behavior on the part of the speaker.
Long before Texans had heard of “no pass, no play,” and before free trade was a major political issue, H. Ross Perot entered my life as a super-patriot who believed perseverance was the key to success.
They called it the kumbaya session, but we still found plenty of scoundrels and statesmen.
Texas's top lawmakers managed to put together an $11.5 billion package, but they did it in a way that all but guarantees a tax hike in 2021.
The Legislature’s own budget advisors have warned that a constitutional amendment prohibiting an income tax could cost the state billions in lost revenue from the business tax.
“We believe we have a path to [winning] … if the Democrats choose a far-left person who is espousing socialistic policies.”
A recent poll of Texas voters shows opinions about President Trump’s wall depend on where in the state you live.
Keying off of Governor Abbott’s opposition to President Obama’s Syrian resettlement policy, Russian trolls built Texas dissent.
Beto O’Rourke came out on top of a poll of progressives, prompting Bernie Sanders supporters to complain.
Texas's senior U.S. senator says he will have to make the case for his re-election based on his positions, not those of the president.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry has avoided the turmoil of the Trump Administration by staying out of Washington.
Matthew Whitaker repeatedly hammered the idea that people who enter the country without authorization are ”illegal aliens.”
Dallas billionaire Ross Perot often is miscast as a spoiler in the election that saw Bill Clinton replace George H.W Bush in the White House.
It was a funeral marked far more often by humor than by maudlin sentiment.
The last urban stronghold of Republicanism in Texas is being captured by infighting instead of planning for the 2020 elections.
The 41st president's death comes less than eight months after that of his wife, Barbara.
Texas law would allow Beto to take a shot at the White House and at Senator John Cornyn at the same time.
The Associated Republicans of Texas co-chair is out to prove that clashing with Dan Patrick doesn’t make you a Republican In Name Only.
The socially conservative Midland oil man has been putting a lot of money into the fight for the GOP’s soul.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Joe Straus had a rocky relationship to say the least.
The Angleton Republican says he has 109 commitments when 76 are needed to elect him to the leadership post.
Ted Cruz won the Senate election, but he had no coattails. Some takeaways from election night.
A spirited campaign by opponent Beto O’Rourke made the race a national obsession.
How to interpret results as they come in—and not hyperventilate in the process.
Texas voter turnout is the highest in a midterm election precisely because O’Rourke stayed left.
The GOP enjoyed the strong support of young Texans in the 2000s, but that appears to be changing.
