
Winners and Losers in the Ken Paxton Impeachment Saga
The attorney general’s acquittal affects an upcoming legislative session on school vouchers—and the civil war within the Texas GOP.
The attorney general’s acquittal affects an upcoming legislative session on school vouchers—and the civil war within the Texas GOP.
Rick Perry rides a gunboat. Ted Cruz goes militiaman. Ron DeSantis and George P. Bush try their best.
Through anger, calm, and even some tears, former aides testified about the attorney general's alleged corruption.
We heard testimony on Paxton's affair and watched the defense make one of the prosecution's key witnesses squirm.
The Texas Senate did not dismiss any charges, Paxton will not have to testify, and more we learned from day one.
Everything you need to know about the alleged adultery, bribery, and abuse of office. Plus: Big-time lawyers! Billionaire donors! And burner phones!
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 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.
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.
Our scorecard of the Eighty-eighth Texas Legislature’s noisy scoundrels and quiet heroes.
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.
Amid a debate over competing property tax–relief plans, the lieutenant governor isn’t holding back. But is “California Dade” a good insult?
The rhetoric at the former president’s rally hearkened back to the fringe, anti-government messaging of the nineties Texas right wing.
The lieutenant governor has consolidated power in the Legislature and exercises near-total control of his chamber. Will anyone challenge him?
After banning almost all abortions in the state post-Roe, GOP lawmakers have proposed eighteen new ways of limiting access to the procedure.
A handful of bills target gender-affirming medical care. Some families have fled the state and others are ready to follow.
The ways of the Texas Legislature are confoundingly weird. Here’s a guide to the madness.
By not doing so, the state is jeopardizing the health of its most vulnerable populations and leaving billions of savings on the table a year.
Like Bill Hobby, Dan Patrick has made the most of an inherently powerful position.
State leaders used to invite coverage of their activity. Now the Texas Legislature is making reporting more difficult than ever.
The former president’s rally in Robstown was just like all his others in Texas, but he still commands state leaders’ attention.
The lieutenant governor’s rural bus tour looks more like an extended vacation than a reelection bid.
The lieutenant governor said the company was “discriminating against the oil and gas industry." He didn’t mention his own holdings in the firm.
On a state advisory committee, only one member has experience developing wind or solar power. And he’s voiced some eyebrow-raising ideas.
After the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, state Republicans near-unanimously lined up behind the former president—before details of the investigation left them silent.
“The globalists can all go to hell,” the authoritarian populist said at CPAC. “I have come to Texas.”
Observers cite the party’s convention as evidence that state Republicans have gone “full MAGA.” But if anything, MAGA folks are following Texas.
John Cornyn helped wrangle other senators from both parties to advance a spate of provisions. But will the Texas Legislature follow his lead?
After ten Texans were murdered at Santa Fe High School in 2018, the Legislature passed seventeen school safety bills. They didn’t work.
Defenders of limitless guns are out of ideas but full of excuses.
The state GOP long opposed new regulations on corporations. Then Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick launched a crusade against “woke” businesses.
The Houston accountant has lost two statewide elections and knows the challenge of being a Texas Democrat. Why is he running a third time?
There’s a long tradition in Texas of moral panics over what schools are teaching kids. The newest iteration is particularly quaint.
Answers to your questions about the state's new rules targeting transgender kids.
The old-school conservative spoke with us about partisan gerrymandering, Patrick’s hold on the state Senate, and Donald Trump.
The certified public accountant is running for lieutenant governor again and hopes Beto O’Rourke will top the ticket.
The former Bush adviser pledges to help Texas Democrats win in 2022—including, possibly, by putting his hat in the ring.
A wild year begat an even wilder legislative session. Lawmakers faced blackouts, a pandemic, and their own worst impulses. Amid the chaos, we plucked out the leaders—and the losers.
The lieutenant governor is no stranger to forcing votes on controversial issues, but a new gun bill the House passed has concerned some members of his Senate caucus.
Provisions of Senate Bill 7 would require some naturalized citizens to prove their right to vote.
The lieutenant governor has long responded to crises with more talk than legislation. But is something different this time as he deals with the aftermath of the blackout?
The lieutenant governor wants to require state pension and education funds to divest from financial giants that are trimming their investments in oil and gas—but he hasn’t thought through the potential consequences.
With state government more firmly in Republican hands, the next year will feature a return of the Republican civil war. Here are the skirmishes to watch for.
As new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations reach their highest levels yet, the state is relying less on restrictions and more on individual decisions.
After GOP leaders in 12 counties posted racist responses to the George Floyd protests, top Republicans declared war on bigotry in their party. It’s not going to be easy.
Despite the loud protests, very few Americans are ready to go back to work.
Plus, Ted Cruz says skateboarding is not a crime, and Dan Crenshaw becomes the cool face of the GOP’s coronavirus response.
In the best of times, our politicians can be a frustrating bunch. How are they doing in an unprecedented crisis?