After successfully fending off another challenge to his speakership, Joe Straus faces a tough task in the session. He will have to tackle issues that have been thorny for Republicans in the past, without further alienating the far right.

The state Legislature is diverse in some ways and homogenous in others. Here's a look at Texas' 83rd class of lawmakers, from their employment and higher education to their age, gender and demographics.  

Saying he wasn’t certain of victory and didn’t want to put other members at risk by forcing a vote, Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, withdrew from the race for House speaker on Tuesday. Watch his full comments from the House floor.

The Legislature is back for the 83rd time, and we've refreshed our directory of statewide officials and legislators. Many of the old names are here, and so are the names of the numerous freshmen.

Third parties — outsiders — can't vote in the race for Speaker of the House. But the lawmakers who will actually elect the speaker next month are listening, and acting, on what's going on outside.

A successful challenge to House Speaker Joe Straus would be a serious show of strength for outside activists. A big defeat, however, could undermine their influence just as the 2013 session begins.

House Speaker Joe Straus has the votes to win reelection, according to his loyalists. But he's got a declared opponent and another in the wings, and they've got a month to work with.

Despite organized efforts to unseat him, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said Wednesday he is confident his colleagues will re-elect him to the post so he can focus the 2013 legislative session on “serious issues” for a fast-growing state.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has at least one opponent in his bid for a third term in that job, but the circumstances that undid his predecessors in the post don't exist now.

Two bills filed by lawmakers recently seek to restrict the actions of federal agencies in Texas. Lawmakers say the bills are meant to stand up for Texans' freedom, but federal agencies say practices targeted by the bills keep people safe.

Full video of my 11/19 TribLive conversation with three incoming state representatives: Republicans Cecil Bell Jr. and Giovanni Capriglione and Democrat Mary Gonzalez.

Larson: The conservative House has a conservative speaker, and there's no reason to change leaders.

Speaker Joe Straus defended the House's redistricting work and said they'll continue their legal fight after a second Republican — Bill Zedler of Arlington — joined Democratic inquiries about how Straus' staff handled those political maps in 2011.

The new state representative for the Rio Grande Valley's House District 41 on his unusual path to office, what he hopes to accomplish before his re-election bid in November and how he's approaching the general election.

At our Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas at Tyler, state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, and state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, discussed the 82nd Legislative Session and looked ahead to the 83rd.

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.

House Speaker Joe Straus has appointed two top aides, one from his current staff and another from outside.

For this week's nonscientific survey of government and political insiders, we asked about a dozen open House races on the July 31 ballot and found the insiders mostly in agreement, wrong or right.