Reporting and commentary on the Legislature, campaigns, and elected officials
Food insecurity has soared during the pandemic, but Alamo City bus drivers came up with a solution: get food to the hungry.
The rebel salon queen beat Governor Greg Abbott once, but on Saturday, he had the last laugh.
A fixture of Texas political punditry, Richard Murray retired from teaching at the University of Houston this month.
Two major conservation funding victories could create a brighter future for Texas's public lands.
Let’s face it: this was no one’s favorite year. Here are a few dozen reasons why.
Because it grew so overconfident about its ability to win Texas that it didn’t bother to figure out how to win Texas, the state’s Democratic party is our Bum Steer of the Year!
Can you help Texas's attorney general escape the long arm of the law?
The not-quite-twenty Texans who spectacularly disgraced themselves during the pandemic.
In Harris County, two public officials fought off legal challenges to hold a successful election in the middle of a pandemic.
The University of Dallas professor is urging Republicans to build a post-Trump, big-tent, big-spending party that’s economically populist and socially conservative.
Young and ideologically aggressive, James Ho, Andrew Oldham, and Don Willett are already making their mark on the nation’s most conservative appellate court.
A resolution calling on four other state legislatures to override the will of their voters passed after electors in those states had already confirmed Biden’s win.
Following the election, many migrants were hopeful the incoming president would quickly ease the U.S. immigration process, but he has to unravel new restrictions imposed by his predecessor.
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.
An estimated 50,000 seniors from northern states are heading to Texas for the warmer weather despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Trump ramping up efforts to construct the border wall, South Texans say the effort has been stripped to its essence: “It’s basically just big government taking Texas land.”
Austin’s mayor, already a punching bag for his state’s powerful right wing, lectured his city’s residents to stay home to prevent the spread of COVID-19—while on a beach vacation.
Rural Texans have long accepted that strips of their land might be acquired to build oil pipelines and highways. But the prospect of a high-speed rail line has sparked a whole different level of outrage.
GOP state legislators have proposed bills that could make it more difficult to cast a ballot in 2022. Some might backfire on the party.
Expect marijuana, college football, and compromise to play central roles.
The city council’s vote to reallocate $150 million away from the APD’s budget took observers by surprise. But for local activists, it was years in the making.
In Dallas, the “Stop the Steal" events were more of a celebration than a wake.
The COVID Community Court has helped enforce social distancing and wearing of masks. But some undergrads say the feeling of being watched has become another cost of the pandemic.
Democrats have taken voters in the region for granted. This year, many were receptive to Donald Trump’s messaging on jobs, opportunity, and law enforcement.
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.
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.
Donald Trump wins the state, John Cornyn defeats MJ Hegar, and Democrats fail to make substantial gains in Congress or the Legislature.
Cornyn's race against MJ Hegar has been relatively sleepy, but that is to the senior senator’s advantage.
Democrats like when lots of voters cast ballots. Republicans generally don’t. But we won’t know until tomorrow whether high participation rates favored one party over the other.
The county’s decision to open eight locations for round-the-clock early voting drew workers too busy to vote during the day—and others eager to send a message about voter suppression.
Three years ago, Candace Valenzuela was a college counselor. Now, she’s hoping to ride anti-Trump sentiment in the Dallas suburbs to a seat in Congress where, if elected, she’d be the first Afro-Latina.
In North Dallas, Genevieve Collins challenges Colin Allred, whose win two years ago proved that Democrats could compete in the Texas suburbs.
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.
In Texas's Second Congressional District, challenger Sima Ladjevardian sees an opportunity in the representative’s COVID-19 response.
The conservative incumbent has alienated members of his own party, leaving room for challenger Wendy Davis to pick off centrist voters in Texas’s Twenty-first Congressional District.
Graduates say the 14-week program illuminates challenges that cops face, but glosses over issues of brutality and racism. Records show the alumni association enlists members as public advocates for APD.
When longtime GOP congressman Kenny Marchant announced his retirement, his seat representing the district surrounding DFW Airport became a prime pickup target for his party’s opponents.
We’re number one! We’re number one! For now, anyway!
The campaign to lead city hall in rapidly diversifying Pearland has been injected with national partisan politics, as Donald Trump claims Democrats want to “demolish” the suburbs.
“Bonkers” is, of course, a technical term.
In the district just west of Houston, Republican challenger Wesley Hunt's campaign has focused on his opposition to the Green New Deal.
They're not disengaged—they’re waiting to be heard, and fully understood.
An ambitious politics cover package ahead of the 2020 election wouldn't have been possible without these key players.
A short history of overoptimistic predictions about the always-imminent liberal takeover of the Lone Star State.
The incumbent rarely faced competitive races before labor lawyer Mike Siegel’s challenge in 2018. Now, winning a rematch is no sure thing for McCaul.
The election has yet to be decided, but one result can already be called: the Texas Republican party has lost its ability to speak to much of the electorate. And Democrats are poised to reap the benefits.
We surveyed a range of Texas politicians in competitive races to see how they’re addressing the demands of the movement.
