Did Richard King cheat his partner's heirs out of a chunk of the King Ranch nearly 120 years ago? He may have—and if the Texas Supreme Court permits Chapman v. King Ranch, Inc., to go to trial, the past could come back to haunt the state's most storied spread.
The line on James Leininger is fairly simple: He's a doctrinaire conservative who spends millions supporting candidates and causes he likes—and opposing those he doesn't. That makes him one of the most influential players in Texas politics in the post-Bush era.
Once upon a time, the Central Texas town of Crawford was like Mayberry: Everyone knew everyone, no one talked politics, and the air was ripe with the aroma of hogs. Then the leader of the free world bought a little place west of the Middle Bosque River, and nothing was
Evan Smith is the cofounder of the Texas Tribune, a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, and the former editor in chief and president of Texas Monthly.
Julián and Joaquin Castro's résumés look as similar as they do: degrees from Stanford and Harvard, billable hours logged at a tony law firm, and now, promising careers in San Antonio politics. Nothing could please their mother more.
So says Rusty Hardin, Houston’s defense attorney of the moment—the latest in a long line of courtroom heroes guilty of premeditated flamboyance and charisma in the first degree.
A year ago old friends Paul Begala and Mark McKinnon mixed it up in these pages over the president's job performance. Now the die-hard Democrat and the loyal Bushie are back for a rematch, wrestling with tax cuts, the war on terrorism, and more. And the winner is. . .
A businessman with the Western virtues of courage and self-reliance. An aloof aristocrat who bought his way into Republican politics. Who is the real David Dewhurst, and why are so many people so unenthusiastic about his campaign for lieutenant governor?
Tom Craddick of Midland wants to be the first Republican Speaker of the House in Texas since 1873. He may already have the votes, but his critics are questioning his tactics.
The 58-year-old banker and oilman from Laredo is enormously wealthy, has impeccable Texas roots, and–best of all–is Hispanic. Sounds like the Democrats' dream candidate, right? Maybe.
Idealistic? Yes. Reform-Minded? Absolutely. Bipartisan? That Too. During the 1971 session, the state representatives who came to be known as the Dirty Thirty were everything you’ve learned not to expect in politics. The group—which eventually numbered 35 members—put aside party loyalty (Democrats (D) are marked in blue,
Even his neighbors in New Braunfels haven’t heard much from Bob Krueger since he left Africa more than a year ago. Oh, they know that his wife, Kathleen, led a failed effort to ban beer on the Comal River, and they hear him occasionally on the half-hour Sunday morning religious
Rodney Ellis was excellent. Gary Elkins was well, significantly less so. Bill Ratliff was a model of dignified leadership. Domingo Garcia was a one-man leper colony. Our biennial roundup of the Legislature's leading lights and dim bulbs.
In Maverick County illegal immigrants are crossing in record numbers, creating a war zone. Mexicans have been shot and killed, houses robbed, cattle stolen. Some ranchers are fleeing. But others, like Dob Cunningham, have decided to stay and fight.
The next statewide elections are twenty months away, but a pack of would-be candidatesfrom a Laredo oilman to the mayor of Austinare already running hard.
After twenty years as a reporter who gave politicians a hard time, I decided to run for the Dallas City Council. Now I’m the one getting the hard time—from my fellow pols, who don’t trust me, and my former colleagues in the press, who’ve got me in their sights. And
His election was historic for many reasons, not least because he embodies the stifled hopes of generations of his countrymen. Still, the obstacles he faces when he assumes the presidency on December 1 are considerable. Will he be able to deliver?
When Senators Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison blocked the nomination of El Paso's Enrique Moreno to the powerful Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals they triggered a firestorm of protest fueled by wounded ethnic pride.
The first test was whether primary voters thought he had what it takes to be president. It was touch and go for a while, but he passed. Now George W. Bush has to get the rest of the country on his side. An inside look at his plan for doing
What are George Bush’s weaknesses as he heads into the fall campaign? We asked six Texas Democrats— a former governor, a former lieutenant governor, two wannabes, and two wiseacre pundits—to make the case against him. They pulled no punches.
Evan Smith is the cofounder of the Texas Tribune, a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, and the former editor in chief and president of Texas Monthly.
The changing of the calendars marks the start of the presidential campaign (this time we really mean it), and George W. Bush is still the favorite to win.
Paul Burka on John Connally, Patricia Kilday Hart on Minnie Fisher Cunningham, John Ratliff on Dan Moody, Patricia Busa McConnico on George Parr, and Katy Vine on the TV spot of the century.
“Johnson continues to tower over Texas politics not just because he was the first Texas-bred president but because, 26 years in his grave, he continues to extend the very idea of Texas into American political history.”
Henry Cisneros’ power derived from his ability to bring people together. It was supposed to get him elected governor, senator, president. He’s finally the president, all right —of a Spanish-language TV network. And all thoughts of a career in public life are in the past.
