Republican leaders in Texas want the Legislature to take up redistricting this session. That's a bad idea, writes Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project.

For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in politics and government, we asked about one of the thorniest issues at the intersection of politics and government: redistricting.

Having each House or Senate district match the others in size masks big differences in voting age populations that greatly affect politics and elections. Use our maps to explore the numbers and see how House and Senate districts compare to statewide averages.

It’s easy to admit that those other states need some federal oversight, but here in Texas? Get out of town.

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act appears to be in danger of being overturned, according to various news outlets covering oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Overall, Texas voters — by a slight majority — believe the federal government should continue oversight of the state's changes in election laws, according to the October 2012 University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. But partisans are split.

The Texas Senate relied on chance Wednesday to determine which of them would serve for four years and which would serve for two years. For some legislators, the luck of the draw could have bigger political implications.

The U.S. Supreme Court may determine the fate of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that became an Achilles' heel for Republican lawmakers this year. That could free Texas from federal oversight in election laws. 

As expected, the state of Texas is appealing a federal court decision throwing out Legislature's redistricting maps, Attorney General Greg Abbott announced Friday. The appeal, however, won't affect the current elections.

At Thursday's TribLive conversation, I talked with Attorney General Greg Abbott about voter ID, redistricting, the cost of suing the feds 24 times and whether he's going to run for governor.

One of the House's most conservative members said Friday he is "pretty dismayed" about redistricting conversations revealed in a stern letter to House Speaker Joe Straus from a top Democratic legislator.

A top Democratic leader in the Texas House, in a letter Wednesday, accused staffers in House Speaker Joe Straus' office of leading discriminatory conduct that got the Texas redistricting maps thrown out.

This week on the Newsreel: Redistricting maps tossed, Dewhurst runs for re-election, and the Senate's committees are being reorganized.

Texas lawmakers didn’t comply with the Voting Rights Act when they drew new maps for congressional, state Senate and state House districts, a federal court in Washington, D.C., ruled Tuesday.

It's easy to forget that redistricting and the Voting Rights Act are about voters. But sometimes, the voters jump up and remind you. 

Congressional District 35 runs from Austin to San Antonio. And as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, that means candidates — including longtime U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett — must weigh the concerns of various constituencies in their bids for the seat.

In this week's special edition of the TribCast, taped live before an audience at the historic Cactus Cafe, Reeve, Emily, Julian and Ben talk about Texas primaries, the Supreme Court taking up the Arizona immigration law and The Colbert Report.

Attorney General Greg Abbott defends the lawsuits he has pending against the federal government amid criticism that he's wasting taxpayer money, reports Ted Oberg of Houston's KTRK-TV, a media partner of the Trib.