While Texans wait for the courts to determine most of the state's political races, the candidates for U.S. Senate have begun a campaign blitz in the run-up to this spring’s primary. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.

The four best-known Republicans running for U.S. Senate mostly agreed with one another at a Texas Association of Business forum this afternoon in Austin: They're all running against President Obama.

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.

You might come to believe that Ted Cruz, the former state solicitor general, is the reason the stone monument to the Ten Commandments is still standing near the northwest corner of the Texas Capitol. It's not so.

The major Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate got together for a spirited debate Thursday night. We bring you highlights from the play-by-play.

Saying he wants to help get the country "out of the pickle box that we're in," Craig James this afternoon announced his run for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Evan, Reeve, Brandi and Jim attempt to wrap their heads around the future of Rick Perry's presidential campaign, the state of the U.S. Senate race, and what lies ahead in 2012.

The bellwether conservative group is running ads attacking the lieutenant governor, who hopes to succeed Kay Bailey Hutchison in the U.S. Senate.

Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, won't seek an 11th term in the Texas House, and other news from the campaigns. Madden is the 22nd House member to give up his seat this season.

Some of the Republican U.S. Senate candidates fight to appeal to the right, and a domestic partner becomes the centerpiece in a race for the State Board of Education.

Expect to see some heavy artillery in the state Senate race in Central Texas.

Railroad Commission Chairwoman Elizabeth Ames Jones will end her campaign for the U.S. Senate to run instead for the Texas Senate against incumbent Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio.

Dwarfed by presidential politics, the race for U.S. Senate in Texas remains fluid, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.

State campaign news, candidate announcements, retirements and rumors from the past week.

Start this week's list by scratching off some names.

Republican U.S. Senate candidates David Dewhurst and Tom Leppert are neck and neck in cash-on-hand totals, according to third-quarter FEC filings, outpacing next-closest candidate and fellow Republican Ted Cruz.

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.

David Dewhurst is the Mitt Romney of the U.S. Senate race. He's the candidate who has climbed the ladder in an orderly way. If you go for this sort of thing — and the Republican party often does — it’s his turn.