Enlarge credit: Bob Daemmrich

Flanked by state leaders, Gov. Perry begins his State of the State speech on January 29, 2013

Your evening reading: Perry's State of the State avoids hot topics; Cornyn, Cruz vote against Kerry's confirmation; poll shows Perry vulnerable in 2014

Enlarge photo by: David Fulmer

El Paso, Texas

A proposed federal immigration reform poses a test for Texas Republicans: Their leaders, compared to politicians from other states, tend to be more moderate. But those leaders stand at the front of a GOP that is hostile to some of the proposal's key points.

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For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in politics and government, we asked about federal health care and the state, about abortion legislation touted by the governor and about state money for Planned Parenthood.

Enlarge photo illustration by: Gage Skidmore

A major new federal immigration proposal has corralled bipartisan support, but Texas Republicans aren't biting.

Enlarge photo by: Steve Pribut

Your evening reading: Texans react to senators' immigration plan; report urges state to expand Medicaid; Boy Scouts may end ban on gay leaders

Enlarge photo by: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

January 9th, 2013: Sen. Dan Patrick R-Houston who is in favor of eliminating the two-thirds rule, speaks on the Senate floor. Senators have agreed to leave the rule as is.

The blocker bill, a tradition of the Texas Senate, gives the minority party power, because it requires that two-thirds of the Senate must agree before a bill is heard on the floor.

Enlarge photo by: Todd Spoth

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

The immigration debate about to descend on Washington has already pushed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz into the spotlight.

Enlarge photo by: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

Gov. Rick Perry with wife Anita at a Williamson County Republican dinner in Round Rock, his first public appearance since leaving the presidential race.

Your evening reading: Republicans challenge group hoping to turn Texas blue; White House to begin immigration push next week; conservative groups come out against school security bill

Enlarge photo by: Tamir Kalifa

Democratic supporters at the Driskill Hotel in Austin erupt in celebration as CNN projects President Obama's re-election victory on Nov. 6, 2012.

A new group may provide Texas Democrats with an answer to their long-ignored prayers for a political comeback.

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Your evening reading: state tax-break bill targets federal contraception rule; national Democrats launch Texas initiative; Texas Republicans rebuke Clinton over Benghazi testimony 

Enlarge photo by: Khampha Bouaphanh

State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, faces Mark Shelton in a District 10 Senate debate at the Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus in Fort Worth on Oct. 11, 2012.

The 2013 legislative session may have just begun, but for half of the state Senate, the 2014 election season started Wednesday.

Enlarge photo by: Bob Daemmrich

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, is shown her lottery number by Senate Secretary Patsy Spaw on Jan. 23, 2013.

Your evening reading: senators draw re-election terms; five Texas Republicans vote against debt ceiling extension; major Democratic donor spending big in Houston special election

Enlarge photo by: Santiago Arce

Tuesday's shooting on a college campus in Houston has inflamed the already heated debate over gun rights in Texas.