State Rep. Jim Murphy, R-Houston, is facing a challenge from Ann Witt, a former schoolteacher and developer. With House District 133 now solidly Republican, the primary is where the attention will be.

Rivals in the Democratic primary battle to replace state Rep. Inocente “Chente” Quintanilla, 69, D-Tornillo, have spent much of the campaign debating who is too liberal or conservative for the rural West Texas district. 

Rice University political scientist Mark P. Jones looks at the legislative voting records of candidates in a half-dozen GOP primaries, finding some significant differences in House races and negligible differences in two Senate contests.

Aguilar on the House District 77 primary, Batheja on the HD-101 and SD-9 primaries, Galbraith on the GOP candidates for two Railroad Commission slots, Grissom on the latest in the Kerry Max Cook case, Hamilton on Texas A&M's new accountability website, Murphy and M. Smith on how much superintendents make, Ramsey interviews a would-be Democratic Party chair, Root on that nice Ted Nugent, M. Smith on the resignation of the state's education commissioner and Tan on the continuing court fight over Planned Parenthood: The best of our best content from April 30 to May 4, 2012.

How to pay for the state's transportation needs has emerged as a key issue in the open state Senate District 9 primary race between Republican state Reps. Kelly Hancock and Todd Smith.

Wendy Davis isn't the only reason for the political stirrings in Senate District 10. It's because she serves as a security vote that props up the Democrats and trips up the Republicans.

State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, filed ethics complaints on Wednesday against his opponent, former railroad commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, and her husband, Will Jones.

A three-person HD-101 Democratic primary in Tarrant County features two former state representatives who can't stop swiping at each other and a fake string of emails that have been called "Machiavellian."

For this week's nonscientific survey of political and government insiders, we asked about 10 of the hottest primary races involving incumbents in the Texas House. 

Central Texas got a new GOP-friendly state House district in the redistricting process. And as is the case in all newly created districts, candidates don’t just have to campaign — they also have to educate voters about the change. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.

Former President Bill Clinton will visit El Paso later this month to endorse U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes.

State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, is battling GOP rivals Elizabeth Ames Jones and Donna Campbell, who are both coming at him from his right flank.

GOP leaders from East Texas see a tight race in the HD-7 primary rematch between state Rep. David Simpson and Tommy Merritt, a former seven-term House member.

Changes in Texas' legislative maps have created opportunities for those hoping to knock off incumbent lawmakers — like in HD-47 in western Travis County. Ben Philpott reports for KUT News and the Tribune.

For this week's nonscientific survey of political and government insiders, we turned to the elections, predictions about how many and what kind of Republicans will get elected, most important and expensive races, and what to ask a candidate if you could only ask one question.

At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, explained why she won't sign the governor's budget compact — and why tax exemptions should be on the table.

Endorsements are flying, with notable nods from statewide candidates who aren't on the ballot — but might be in two years.

At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, talked about why she thinks she can get re-elected in a GOP district — and why the liberal label doesn't fit.