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Republican John Kuempel, a 40-year-old metal salesman and University of Texas graduate, won tonight's special election in House District 44 with 66 percent of the vote.

Surrounded by statewide elected officials and a pack of fellow lawmakers, Democrats Aaron Peña of Edinburg and Allan Ritter of Nederland defected to the Republican Party this afternoon.

After serving eight years as a Democrat, Edinburg state Rep. Aaron Peña explains why he is joining the Republican Party.

State Rep. Aaron Peña of Edinburg has decided to change parties and will announce the switch at a press conference this afternoon with Gov. Rick Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus, according to Republican sources.

Your afternoon reading: Peña's problem; more on that supermajority; and Railroad Commission controversy

Members of the Texas Railroad Commission have become increasingly reliant on large campaign donations in the last decade, especially from industries they regulate, according to a new report to be issued today by Public Citizen's Texas office.

State Republicans got an early gift Monday.

State Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, who today withdrew his pledge of support for House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, was the beneficiary of two fundraisers this month at which a featured guest was ... House Speaker Joe Straus.

New Yorker writer Atul Gawande put McAllen's medical providers on the defensive in a 2009 article, claiming the region's health care was among the most expensive in the U.S. In a new blog post, Gawande seems to backtrack — at least in part.

A Virginia federal district court judge's ruling today that the individual mandate portion of the Obama health care law is unconstitutional is a "huge victory" for Texas, Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a phone interview.

Your afternoon reading: Abbott on health care ruling; anger at Democrat's defection; and death penalty stats

The state's new chief appellate lawyer is as new to the Texas bar as he is to the job.

Texas juries sentenced just eight people to death in 2010, the smallest number since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment here in 1976, according to a report published today by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

'Tis the season for team-switching.

For this week's installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether whether lawmakers ought to be paid full-time salaries instead of the $600 per month they make now — and whether they should be required to disclose more details about their personal income and assets.