The 2012 election marked the rise of Super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited funds from individual and corporate donors. These groups spent more than $17 million in Texas, and received more than $100 million from Texas donors. Use our interactive to learn more.

Much of Texas voted less Democratic and more Republican in 2012 than 2008. Use our interactive to see the differences, by county, between the 2012 and 2008 vote totals.

Bill filing for the 83rd legislative session kicked off on Monday, and lawmakers filed more than 250 bills on the first day alone. The Tribune has retooled last session's bill tracker and put it to work, pulling in all the legislation that's been filed so far for 2013. 

Now that we know who will be serving in the Texas Legislature in 2013, we take a look at how much they spent to get the job. Use this interactive to take a look at which state candidates got the most bang for their campaign bucks, and who spent the most money but lost.

State and federal candidates and their political committees spent more than $175 million during the 2012 election season. Some candidates spent up to $60 a vote to secure victory.

Candidates have finished collecting and spending money, and the votes are in. Use this interactive to take a look at which federal candidates got the most bang for their campaign bucks, and who spent the most money but lost.

On Oct. 25, federal candidates filed their pre-general reports, the last campaign finance reports before the Nov. 6 general election. These reports are our last look at how much money each candidate had on hand before the big day. Use our interactive to view the contribution, expenditure, cash on hand and outstanding loan totals for each candidate.

On Oct. 29, state candidates filed their eight-day reports, the last campaign finance reports before the general election. Use our interactive to view the contribution, expenditure, cash on hand and outstanding loan totals for each candidate.

The execution of Donnie Lee Roberts Jr., 41, on Wednesday for the 2003 shooting death of a Polk County woman marked the 250th execution during Gov. Rick Perry’s tenure, and the 12th in 2012. The total is the largest — by far — under any recent governor in the United States. 

We've updated our campaign finance database to reflect state contribution and expenditure data reported by candidates and committees 30 days before Election Day. Use our tool to find out how much money was being spent in the final weeks of the 2012 election cycle.

Using data collected by the Texas Secretary of State's office, which provides early voting totals for the 15 counties with the most registered voters, we have built an interactive way to explore these numbers.

Our latest look at the hottest races on the Texas ballot includes the money those candidates reported in their latest campaign finance disclosures. 

As Election Day nears, editorial boards at newspapers across Texas have begun endorsing candidates. Here's a list of official endorsements in particularly competitive or noteworthy races. We'll update the list as endorsements come in.

Early voting in Texas is under way for the Nov. 6 general election. In an effort to remind our readers of their districts, we have revived and revamped the district discovery tool we deployed during this year's redistricting battle, except this time without the comparison to last election's districts.

New campaign finance reports filed this month show that Texans gave another $5 million to Super PACs, bringing the overall total to $83.1 million.