Reporting and commentary on the Legislature, campaigns, and elected officials
Despite a judge’s ruling that her opponent rightfully won the election, Daisy Campos Rodriguez stubbornly clings to her office.
My father spent twenty years in the Air Force. I value his service, but generations of Latinos have sought equality through the military only to remain suspect citizens.
The state’s top attorney will be suspended from duties, pending a trial in the Texas Senate.
The Texas House has voted to impeach the attorney general. After nearly eight years under indictment—during which he won two elections—why now?
After Elon Musk killed their Twitter app, two software developers in the North Texas suburbs are trying to shape the future of social media.
HB 590 wants only honey “exclusively” made in Texas to be labeled as “Texas honey,” but that’s not as sweet a deal as it seems.
The attorney general, under indictment since 2015, now faces potential impeachment from the Texas House.
Phelan’s office called Paxton’s late-Tuesday statement a ploy and “a last-ditch effort to save face.”
Abortion restrictions running in conflict with training requirements are pushing lifelong Texans to leave the state—maybe for good.
Depositions in a recent lawsuit reveal that state rep Tom Craddick, his wife and son, and his daughter, Christi, who leads Texas’s oil and gas regulating agency, profit from industry deals not available to just anyone.
Ted Cruz wants the Beer Institute, the industry’s self-regulatory body, to investigate whether Bud Light broke the law by reaching out to a transgender influencer.
Dallas journalist Roxanna Asgarian’s new book, ‘We Were Once a Family,’ examines a murder-suicide that made national news—and finds that the story behind the story is even worse than we thought.
The longest-tenured governor of Texas, who is famously great with groups of three, aims for a failed campaign hat trick.
Rarely are special-interest bills in the Texas Lege quite so special as in Brooks Landgraf’s bill targeting the tiny town of Volente.
An unusual number of lawmakers have crossed the aisle to support Republican bills this year. Party operatives are furious.
Legal sports gambling in the state still faces a long and complicated path that would require a constitutional amendment.
The gun bills most likely to pass aren’t restrictions but those that further protect firearm ownership.
These benefits could be ours, if the Lege would just help insure a million more Texans.
Inside the arguments, lawsuit, and angry outbursts that are dividing a key authority on historical matters.
Hint: if one of them were Baker Mayfield, he could pass a football to the folks on either side of him.
After the latest bloodbaths in Allen and Cleveland, the governor turned to a familiar playbook of deflection.
What’s behind the Legislature’s relentless campaign against wind and solar power, which are saving Texans billions?
One year ago, before the school shooting in Uvalde, Kimberly Mata-Rubio had never been on a plane or given a public speech or scolded a U.S. senator right there in his office. A year in the life of a grieving mother.
Progressive faith leaders and women’s health advocates are adopting the messaging to push for a 12-month Medicaid extension for postpartum care.
Environmentalists have filed a suit looking to block Elon Musk’s company from doing what state leaders invited him to do at Boca Chica.
The former Baylor linebacker and NFL player has won the last three elections in his Dallas congressional district.
In my small East Texas town, students are struggling with mental health issues while dealing with the constant threat of gun violence. Little is being done to address either.
While extremely limited, avenues for abortion access exist in Texas. That’s where fear tactics from antiabortion activists come into play.
Amid a debate over competing property tax–relief plans, the lieutenant governor isn’t holding back. But is “California Dade” a good insult?
Last month, the entire full-time staff of the state representative from Houston resigned. They broke their silence to tell Texas Monthly their story.
A right-wing First Amendment lawyer is representing a plaintiff suing representative Jeff Leach of Plano for harsh tweets about a TEXIT backer.
Families of Texas mass shooting victims waited more than twelve hours to testify on a bill that would raise the age to purchase certain guns.
Our man picks a fight with a San Antonio icon. Maybe they should settle this on the court—or in the 2024 election?
A pair of bills at the Lege seek to help Texans compete for real estate against these deep-pocketed companies.
Scientists have figured out how to grow meat in a lab. Cattle farmers insist it’s not the real thing.
In a post-Roe Texas, cities such as San Antonio have tried to protect reproductive health care—but a state government big on preemption has other plans.
Customers “tell me it’s better than therapy, actually, and cheaper, too,” said a trainer at one rental facility.
Coming up on the docket of Matthew Kacsmaryk, the Amarillo judge: cases involving ESG investing, press freedoms, and workplace harassment.
Governor Greg Abbott wants to overrule a jury’s conviction of Daniel Perry, who murdered a man at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.
The unprecedented move means that access to abortion across the country could, in some ways, be restricted like it is in Texas.
There are fewer gay bars in Texas today than there were in the eighties. Owners of those that remain say they aren’t going anywhere.
Update: An ethics complaint against Representative Bryan Slaton, who skipped the session’s most consequential debate, has been filed alleging an “inappropriate relationship.”
Fentanyl killed more than 5,000 Texans last year. The Legislature is taking the epidemic seriously, but first responders and policy experts are skeptical.
The Jewish billionaire has long been the target of antisemitic attacks from the far right. What are Republican leaders signaling when they single him out as the main force behind the former president’s woes?
This week, the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs advanced two bills that would criminalize many drag performances. The bills, both filed by Republican Bryan Hughes of Mineola, take aim at men or women who use “clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers” to “exhibit” as
In the ongoing push to preempt progressive policies at the local level, the GOP-controlled Legislature could undo protections against predatory payday lending.
Federal help could keep facilities open in several small towns, but they'll be forced to cut back to offering only emergency care.
The administration’s new border policy has slowed the flow of asylum seekers, while frustrating those who are trying to follow the rules.
After 28 men and women died in custody last year, officials are throwing money at the overcrowded facility. Advocates for inmates say reforms are needed.
Menstrual products are subject to a sales tax, and Democrat Donna Howard has tried to change that since 2017. With support from powerful Republicans, this could be the year.
