Following President Joe Biden’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, some state GOP leaders and activists are circulating conspiracy theories of a sneaky coup by Barack Obama and are voicing racist attacks on the vice president.
In the wake of Hurricane Beryl, Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick have doubled down on their long-standing neglect and mistreatment of the state's largest city.
Drawing on biblical concepts, Texas politicians reacted to the shooting by saying the former president is chosen to rule.
A revision of the upper chamber’s employee policy was supposed to address misconduct exposed by the #MeToo movement. In practice, it protects the institution, not the women who work there.
Conservative Speaker of the Texas House Dade Phelan narrowly beat a far-right challenger—and liberals appear to have pushed him to victory.
The GOP primary has yanked the lower chamber, once again, to the right—a huge victory for Greg Abbott and lieutenant governor Dan Patrick.
The Speaker governs as an old-school conservative—a crime for which right-wing Republicans are determined to banish him.
The North Texas state senator voted to acquit the attorney general in September but has called for new proceedings to evaluate Paxton’s fitness for office.
The lieutenant governor has made himself the state’s most commanding politician. But with great power has come great irresponsibility.
This week, the women-focused dating app joined dozens of other Texas companies that say ambiguity around life-saving medical care is bad for business.
The Houston exurb offers cheap land to hardworking families. But some in the GOP see the benefit in demonizing the migrants who’ve moved there.
After right-wing activist Jonathan Stickland hosted Nick Fuentes in his office, many in the GOP have attacked Stickland’s critics.
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.