Lost track of who's leaving and who's staying in legislative office?

The possibility of five or more new Republican senators in 2013 opens a tactical door for conservatives who'd like to gain control of the Legislature.

Chris Harris and Will Hartnett say they won't be back, but the horde of candidates for state and federal legislative seats is growing.

U.S. Senate candidates David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz have new online ads, with Dewhurst assailing the president and Cruz hunting for the elusive chupacabra.

Gov. Rick Perry came in a distant second in the Michigan straw poll over the weekend. And his top opponents' ties to the state may make it impossible to do any better come primary day.

Nobody is required to pay attention to you just because you’re running for office. Not the news media, not the money people and not the voters. But where is the line on who’s in and who’s out?

General elections in Texas will be less competitive than ever under the redistricting maps approved by the Legislature earlier this year. The political threats to incumbents, if any, will come in primaries and not in general elections.

Gov. Rick Perry calls Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and says people ought to control their own retirement money. But if the social safety net created in 1935 were eliminated what might take its place? In Galveston, a possible answer.

A handful of Texas House members who say they're leaving — either getting out or trying to move into other posts — top this week's roundup of campaign news.

General elections in Texas will be less competitive than ever under the redistricting maps approved by the Legislature earlier this year. The takeaway is simple: Texas has a strongly Republican map and the political threats to incumbents, if any, will come in primaries and not in general elections.

At our latest TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz talked about Social Security — whether it's a Ponzi scheme, as Gov. Rick Perry says, and how it can be fixed.

At our latest TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz talked about the debt ceiling debate — why he would have voted no and why the threat of default was political theater.

At last Friday's TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz talked about President Obama's jobs speech, Social Security and the debt ceiling debate.

At our last TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz talked about President Obama's jobs speech, the future of Social Security and the debt ceiling debate, among other topics that could impact his 2012 GOP primary race.

At this morning's TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz explained why the presumed frontrunner in the GOP primary race, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, is the wrong man for the job.

At this morning's TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz explained why the presumed front-runner in the GOP primary race, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, is the wrong man for the job.

Don't expect a redistricting ruling out of San Antonio quickly. Some of the lawyers — and this requires more lawyers than a Hollywood divorce — say the Texas judges might hold their ruling until the DC courts are finished. That could be November, or even December.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul's combination of personal wealth and a political straddle between the establishment and dissident factions in the GOP could make him a viable contender for the seat now held by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.