How Democrats Are Working to Build Statewide Victory
The Texas Democratic Party can't rely on a superstar to save it. But rebuilding the party from the county level up might work.
R. G. Ratcliffe began working for Texas Monthly as a freelance writer in 2011 and joined the staff as a senior editor for politics in 2017. After retiring in 2019, he became one of the magazine’s writers-at-large. Drawing on 22 years of experience as a political and investigative reporter for the Houston Chronicle, Ratcliffe was on the Texas Monthly team that produced the Best and Worst Legislators list from 2015 to 2021. Ratcliffe covered seven presidential campaigns, as well as the classic gubernatorial races when Democrat Ann Richards defeated Republican cowboy businessman Clayton Williams, in 1990, and when she was defeated, four years later, in an election that put Republican George W. Bush on the path to the presidency. Ratcliffe was featured in the HBO documentary about Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, Journeys With George. He also was a key source in the Bill Moyers documentary Capitol Crimes, about the political corruption of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Republican House majority leader Tom DeLay. A native of Dallas, Ratcliffe earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and in American history from the University of Missouri.
The Texas Democratic Party can't rely on a superstar to save it. But rebuilding the party from the county level up might work.
The former land commissioner is challenging Bush in the primary to stop him from changing the Shrine of Texas.
The former San Antonio mayor speaks with Phoenix Democrats while eyeing a run for president.
The veteran lawmaker says he will not run for re-election next year.
He might have survived last week's naked selfie scandal, but this surely spells the end.
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A sudden onset of mental health issues prompted Mostyn to take his own life.
A quarter century after Ann Richards became governor, men in Texas politics continue to sexually harass women.
The former Houston mayoral candidate says voters are eager for a middle ground.
Cornyn's tactics to get hurricane recovery money for Texas have angered two tea party groups.
In the future, Straus could run against Governor Greg Abbott, who indicated support for an "oust Straus" movement.
Andrew White aims to capture the support of moderate Democrats and Republicans.
Prosecutors decided Dukes's lies to draw daily legislative pay were not a crime.
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Without naming Trump, Bush bashes nativism, protectionism, bigotry, and bullying.
Bruce K. Jacobson Jr. says Cruz broke a promise to voters by refusing to endorse Donald Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
The anti-transgender bathroom bill debate is a strike against any Texas city getting the Amazon HQ2.
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But the 2018 Mexican election could put a kink in the hose.
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Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp to lead rebuilding effort.
When emergency aid passed by for bigger cities, the residents of one small town came together to save their community.
A new insurance law taking effect lowers the penalty on insurance companies for slow storm damage payments.
The conflict about Confederate statues reflects the contradictions within historical figures themselves.
There’s more to it than you think.
Three-judge panel says Texas House map intentionally discriminates, and that leaves the speaker in an interesting position.
Almost 50 years ago, Hurricane Celia devastated Rockport. Hurricane Harvey is heading there now.
Association report says Permian oil production provides 45 percent of the output from the Lower 48.
The shale boom and the end of a decades-old export ban have put the Port of Corpus Christi on the global map. Finally.
Where the pygmies have gone deaf.
In a closed-doors meeting, the GOP discussed a new process for electing House speaker.
The special session ends without passing the lieutenant governor's marquee issues.
Republican congressman is among the most vulnerable in the nation.
The museum, situated where Lee Harvey Oswald is believed to have set up a sniper's post to assassinate JFK, came out against the bathroom bill.
”The twenty-for-twenty thing has never been a consideration for us.”
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Was Perry the victim of pranksters or Russian kompromat?
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A Central Texas rancher dropped some major cash into the governor’s $40 million campaign fund.
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Former Texas Comptroller nominated to be assistant secretary of the interior.