Enlarge photo by: Todd Spoth

Ted Cruz at the JW Marriott hotel in Houston on May 29, 2012.

Your evening reading: internal Cruz poll draws skepticism; Dewhurst surrogate clashes with Cruz after forum; soot a growing threat for Texas, scientists say

Enlarge photo by: Todd Wiseman

More than half of the patients at Cedar View Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center rely on Medicaid.

With the Supreme Court's health care decision still echoing through Texas, a new report from the federal government has cast an unflattering light on the state's own health care system.

Enlarge photo illustration by: Todd Wiseman

Your evening reading: federal agency rates Texas' health care services worst in nation; congressman hits Justice Department for hiring group with Democratic ties; Peña Nieto remains ahead in partial recount of Mexican presidential ballots

Enlarge photo by: Jennifer Whitney

Lobbyists have set off the latest round of back-and-forth between Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst over where they're getting their money.

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Your evening reading: Elizabeth Ames Jones endorses Donna Campbell in SD-25; Lawmakers and their family members find themselves in legal trouble; Drilling trucks damage Texas roads.

Enlarge photo by: Todd Spoth

U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz with his daughter at the JW Marriott hotel in Houston on May 29, 2012.

As the fight for Texas’ open seat — the most expensive U.S. Senate race in the nation — trudges forward, one candidate is drawing heat because of his largest single donor.

Enlarge photo illustration by: Todd Wiseman / Chad Kainz

Your evening reading: Texas candidates outspending rest of nation on ads; new Mexican president begins transition to power; Burgess endorses Cruz

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I'm pleased to report that the Trib's first-half-of-the-year traffic and fundraising numbers are significantly ahead of where they were in 2011.

Enlarge photo by: Julian Aguilar

Voters line up to cast ballots in Mexico's presidential election Sunday at a voting sight on Popocatepetl street in Mexico City's Colonia Condesa.

Repercussions from Mexico's presidential election Sunday may soon begin to ripple north.