What a Pulitzer Prize Winner Learned While Researching a Novel About Texas Politics
Lawrence Wright’s new book, ‘Mr. Texas,’ was inspired by what he discovered about corruption, political combat, and, yes, pig hunting.
Reporting and commentary on the Legislature, campaigns, and elected officials
Lawrence Wright’s new book, ‘Mr. Texas,’ was inspired by what he discovered about corruption, political combat, and, yes, pig hunting.
Before sunrise, journalists and eager onlookers gathered at the gates of the Capitol grounds, awaiting the start of the attorney general's historic impeachment trial.
We heard testimony on Paxton's affair and watched the defense make one of the prosecution's key witnesses squirm.
Defunct companies have left behind energy facilities that leak toxins into fragile coastal ecosystems. And guess who has to clean them up?
The Texas Senate did not dismiss any charges, Paxton will not have to testify, and more we learned from day one.
HB 2127, which strips municipalities of regulatory authority, was intended to target liberal cities. So why are conservative mayors so upset?
Everything you need to know about the alleged adultery, bribery, and abuse of office. Plus: Big-time lawyers! Billionaire donors! And burner phones!
The film by right-wing activist Michael Quinn Sullivan is a warning to Republicans who might vote for Ken Paxton's impeachment.
In far West Texas, where loneliness abounds, one man is on a quest to redefine the meaning of love and companionship.
For the second year in a row, the iconic spring-fed swimming hole has stopped flowing, the consequence of drought and overpumping.
Unpacking the bromance between the 36-year-old nightclub owner and the 60-year-old evangelical Christian and career politician.
Will tequila and trucks get more expensive? Will exports of chemicals and plastics to Mexico boom? What will happen to immigration?
The governor attracted strong support from small-dollar donors, but a large chunk of his haul came from multimillionaires and billionaires who quietly cut six-figure checks.
From his alleged dealings with Nate Paul to the attorney general’s seeming penchant for fast food, here’s what we learned from documents released late Thursday night.
An oil executive wants to block the South Llano River for private recreational purposes. Hill Country residents are outraged.
National party leaders are stoutly backing the centrist U.S. representative from Laredo, hoping to avoid a primary from a progressive.
The leading candidates for Houston mayor are two septuagenarians: state senator John Whitmire and U.S. congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. What happened to the city of the future?
We keep putting convicts away. And lawmakers want those numbers to rise.
More than one in six Texans lack health insurance, the highest rate in the country. Behind the statistics are countless human beings experiencing unnecessary suffering.
The Guardian thinks so and, weirdly, so do many Aggies.
A state district court judge narrowed Texas’s abortion ban, but the state’s appeal complicates access to the procedure.
Threats from the AG’s supporters loom over the Republican state senators who will serve as the jurors in the impeachment trial.
We analyzed the Texas lieutenant governor’s argument about why he was right to have A&M investigate a professor who’d allegedly made critical comments about him.
The state Senate’s vote on Paxton’s impeachment will proceed independently from his criminal case. But the outcomes are interlinked.
The disorder is commonly associated with the colder months, but studies show that excessive heat also impacts our mental health
A new era of climate change–fueled heat waves is pushing the high priests of Texas barbecue to their limit.
Policy changes aimed at reducing the number of children who end up in foster care—many championed by progressives in blue states—are being passed by Republicans in Texas.
Kimberly Mata-Rubio says after the tragedy, Uvalde remains a divided community—she wants to change that.
I like to think I am Texas Tough when it comes to the heat. But lately, my fortitude has been tested.
Confronted with human suffering and death, as well as disruption of their small town, some former supporters of Operation Lone Star have started to sour on the program.
The Texas GOP, which once advocated for a more humane immigration policy, is wedded to Operation Lone Star despite its exorbitant costs and failures.
Now that right-wingers have forced out a top-notch journalist at my alma mater, I worry that future students won't enjoy the same opportunities I did.
The former U.S. congressman from Texas on his bid to beat Trump, artificial intelligence, his zodiac sign, and more.
The Florida governor is still popular with many grassroots Republicans here, but most of the likely primary voters seem unready to abandon the former president.
After Governor Greg Abbott signed a law blocking gender-affirming care for minors, some have fled the state. Others have no choice but to stay.
J.P. Bryan, the embattled executive director of the TSHA, faces criticism for his approach to history—including recent history. He says he hasn’t seen evidence that the former president is a Christian.
Since 2004, non-Hispanic white residents have been outnumbered in Texas. And to the apparent surprise of many, that hasn’t worked out all that well for the Democratic Party.
Harlan Crow and Jerry Jones have bought access to the Supreme Court justice through carefully curated gifts. What do Michael Dell, Tilman Fertitta, Elon Musk, and others have to offer?
No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994, but Colin Allred and Roland Gutierrez have something working in their favor that Beto O’Rourke didn’t.
The Legislature took a big step Monday, but further efforts could come with great costs: a sky-high sales tax, decimated public schools, and defunding the police.
Many border residents no longer visit their home country, which may help explain the region’s rightward political shift.
The state senator was little known until last year, when the massacre in Uvalde, in his district, thrust him into the spotlight.
The governor has long suffered from the reputation that he’s a policy lightweight. He’s turning it around this year in five easy steps.
On property taxes, school funding, and more, “Democrats are not even in the conversation,” Dallas representative John Bryant says.
Thank goodness the state GOP's war on renewables has, so far, failed.
Two high-profile workplace complaints made headlines at the Capitol this year, but insiders say others against Houston representative Shawn Thierry have been ignored.
As celebrity lawyers feud in the press, Republican groups have launched an influence campaign in the Texas Senate.
The Brackeens sued after their initial petition to adopt a Navajo and Cherokee boy was denied. A 7–2 Supreme Court ruling represents a major win for tribal sovereignty.
The treasured banner was discovered in a Texas gun store, sparking questions about the repatriation of artifacts.
Our scorecard of the Eighty-eighth Texas Legislature’s noisy scoundrels and quiet heroes.