Mere minutes before the campaign finance filing deadline, Ron Paul reported raising $13.3 million for his presidential bid in the fourth quarter of 2011, an amount larger than his previous three quarter's contributions combined.

Hot on the heels of his fellow GOP Senate candidates Craig James and David Dewhurst releasing their tax returns, Ted Cruz has provided the Tribune with the last five years of his tax filings.

Nobody said running for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas was cheap. A (partial) release of Ted Cruz's finances, and other political news from around the state.

Craig James, the former sports commentator who is running to replace Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, has released his tax returns from the last five years. Expect his opponents to follow suit. 

The team over at ProPublica has created a new news app called PAC Track that tracks Super PAC expenditures. The Make Us Great Again Super PAC has spent $3.8 million in support of Rick Perry. Endorse Liberty, the Ron Paul Super PAC, has spent nearly $3 million.

Four of the state's top officeholders each raised more than $1 million during the second half of 2011. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is running for the U.S. Senate, raised $1.5 million for his federal campaign account during the fourth quarter alone.

Rick Perry attacked Mitt Romney on Tuesday for his history at Bain Capital, a private equity firm. Similar companies, though, have contributed generously over the past 11 years to the Texas governor's campaigns.

In politics, one man’s mistake is another’s opportunity. Now that state Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, has been sentenced for “double dipping,” opposition researchers in this primary season are scrambling for other examples.

Using information provided by the Texas Ethics Commission, we have built a new interface for accessing campaign contributions and expenditures dating back to 2000 — our most comprehensive campaign finance database yet.

Root on Rick Perry's controversial new ad, Tan on the fallout, Aaronson's map of where the food stamps go, my interview with Stephen Colbert's campaign finance lawyer, Aguilar on the drop in the number of illegal immigrants crossing into Texas, Hamilton on the growth of unregulated colleges, Galbraith's interview with S. David Freeman on the environmental failures of public power, Grissom on the newest state agency and and Hamilton and M. Smith on a sudden change at the top of UT's law school: The best of our best content from December 5 to 9, 2011.

He may be the new Republican presidential front-runner, but Newt Gingrich has been well behind his rivals in raising campaign cash from Texas.

Rep. Joe Driver and Travis County prosecutors come to terms on his legislative expense accounts.

So far, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul has spent the most campaign money in Texas of any presidential candidate, with Gov. Rick Perry second. Use our news application to search federal campaign expenditures in Texas by all the presidential candidates.

The latest UT/TT Poll on the 2012 race and other issues, Root on Herman Cain's stumble, Ramshaw and Titus on Texas Republicans who don't support Perry, Murphy maps presidential fundraising in Texas, Philpott on changing the constitution for parks and education, Hamilton on a case of higher ed separation anxiety, Grissom on the state's breakup with a death penalty witness, Galbraith on a congressman's search for a big leak, Aguilar on the Border Patrol's effort to operate in environmentally protected areas and Aaronson on a dramatic drop in government employment in Texas: The best of our best content from October 31 to November 4, 2011.

Want to see where in Texas Gov. Rick Perry, his GOP opponents Mitt Romney and Ron Paul or President Barack Obama have received the most financial support? Explore our visualization of presidential contributions broken down by ZIP code.

Use our news application to search federal campaign expenditures by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul in the 2012 election cycle so far and see where his campaign has spent its money in his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Super PACs are a dream for the sort of person who likes being a political worker but hates the candidates: it will soon be possible to run a campaign without dealing with an actual contender.

In this edition of the Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, executive editor Ross Ramsey talks about the influence super PACs have on political campaigns, and reporter Kate Galbraith explains the challenges Texas faces with its wind power boom.