Jay Root
is a native of Liberty. He never knew any reporters growing up, and he has never taken a journalism class in his life. But somehow he got hooked on the news business. It all started when Root walked into the offices of The Daily Texan, his college newspaper, during his last year at the University of Texas in 1987. He couldn't resist the draw: it was the biggest collection of misfits ever assembled. After graduating, he took a job at a Houston chemical company and soon realized it wasn't for him. Root applied for an unpaid internship at the Houston Post in 1990, and it turned into a full-time job that same year. He has been a reporter ever since. Root has covered natural disasters, live music and Texas politics — not necessarily in that order. He was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a dozen years, most of them good. He also covered politics and the Legislature for The Associated Press before joining the staff of the Tribune.Root is the author of “Oops! A Diary From The 2012 Campaign Trail,” an insider’s account of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s dramatic collapse in the 2012 presidential race. The book was released in September, 2012.
jroot@texastribune.org
512-716-8643
Recent Contributions
Republican candidate Mitt Romney waves to the crowd at the CNN Charleston debates on January 19, 2012.
Mitt Romney has snagged endorsements from three Texas congressmen, including Pete Sessions of Dallas, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, who said it's time for the GOP to unite behind one candidate.
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Gov. Rick Perry presents the Governor's Award for Historic Preservation to The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Wildland Firefighting Teams and their families for the work done combatting the wildfires Texas has faced in the past year.
Gov. Rick Perry will tour tornado-devastated areas of North Texas on Thursday. Hundreds of homes were damaged and several people injured during frightening afternoon twisters on Tuesday.
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Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are treating the upcoming Texas primaries and caucuses as if their political lives depend on it. They're working to round up delegates before the voting begins.
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Republican candidates, left to right, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul say the Pledge of Allegiance at the CNN Charleston debates on January 19, 2012.
The Republican Party of Texas is making plans to host a presidential debate in Texas before the May 29 primaries. Party chairman Steve Munisteri announced Friday that all the major candidates except Mitt Romney have accepted the invitation.
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Rick Perry announces from Charleston, S.C. that he's suspending his presidential campaign and returning to Texas on January 19, 2012.
Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential odyssey ended in January, but the bills for the security force that protected him on the campaign trail keep pouring in, boosting the pricetag to almost $3 million so far.
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Joe Straus
Last year, opponents of Speaker Joe Straus urged House members to eject him from his powerful job at the Capitol. This time, they are trying to defeat him the traditional way — at the ballot box.
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photo illustration by: Gage Skidmore / Todd Wiseman
Texas is usually flyover country for Republican presidential candidates. But if Mitt Romney is unable to clinch the nomination before the state's primary on May 29, Texas could see a competitive GOP race for the first time since 1976.
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Rick Santorum walking onstage at the CNN debate in Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 19, 2012.
Rick Santorum promised Thursday in San Antonio to mount a vigorous campaign to win the Texas primary, saying the state could help him “reset” the race.
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photo illustration by: Todd Wiseman / Jay Root
Critics are questioning the use of state money they say is being spent to attract sporting events that originated in Texas and don’t appear to be leaving anytime soon.
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Gov. Rick Perry thinks people who call others names should "grow up," but he said liberal critics of Rush Limbaugh are hypocrites who have done their fair share of name-calling, too.
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Gov. Rick Perry in his office at the Texas Capitol for a round of press interviews on Feb. 21, 2012.
Gov. Rick Perry said Texas will continue to fund the Women’s Health Program no matter what the federal government does. But Planned Parenthood won't be able to participate — and the program likely won't operate under Medicaid.
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State Rep. Lon Burnam has been told he can start drawing a government pension without leaving his job. But he wants to stop the hidden perk reserved for lawmakers.
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photo illustration by: Fort Worth Star Telegram / Todd Wiseman
Tough times have forced the Fort Worth Star-Telegram decided to shut down its capital bureau. As a former bureau chief, here's my farewell.
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photo by: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
Gov. Rick Perry speaks at Williamson County Republican dinner in Round Rock, his first public speech since leaving the presidential race.
Gov. Rick Perry's use of the obscure provision has shed light on a controversial practice that has remained in the shadows.
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Overtime pay for the officers who protect Rick Perry skyrocketed while the governor and his family were out on the presidential campaign trail, new records indicate.
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