Latest Contributions

• TribCast: Texas Democrats' Beto O'Rourke dilemma and the road to Super Tuesday

  by Alexa Ura and Michael Rey de Leon Feb. 12, 2020

  On this week's TribCast, Alexa talks to Matthew, Ross and Alex about the questions facing Texas Democrats on how much of a role they want O'Rourke to play in their elections and the setup for Super Tuesday voting in the state. Full Story 

  

   Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune

• Texas updates election reporting system to allow for tally of Super Tuesday delegates

  by Alexa Ura Feb. 11, 2020

  After Democrats raised the prospect of delays in calculating presidential delegates on election night, the secretary of state's office has updated the system counties will use to report results on March 3. Full Story 

  

   Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune

• TribCast: Forecasting a Super Tuesday delay in Texas and the upcoming primary

  by Alexa Ura and Michael Rey de Leon Feb. 5, 2020

  On this week's TribCast, Alexa talks to Matthew, Patrick and Ross about an expected delay in Super Tuesday delegate totals in Texas and what we're keeping an eye on for the upcoming primaries. Full Story 

  

   Mikala Compton for The Texas Tribune

• New Texas election process has Democrats expecting a delay in Super Tuesday delegate totals

  by Alexa Ura Updated: Feb. 5, 2020

  Democratic leaders say the Texas secretary of state's office told them that a full accounting of how many delegates each presidential contender wins won't be available on election night. But the secretary of state's office says it does plan to have the results tabulated. Full Story 

  

   Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune

• TribCast: The money fight for the Texas House and a very special election

  by Alexa Ura and Michael Rey de Leon Jan. 22, 2020

  On this week's TribCast, Alexa talks to Matthew, Cassi and Patrick about what we learned from recent campaign finance reports, a nationally targeted special election runoff for a Texas House seat, and presidential endorsements. Full Story 

  

   Juan Figueroa for The Texas Tribune

• TribCast: Refugee ban, hemp fiasco and another Planned Parenthood fight

  by Alexa Ura and Michael Rey de Leon Jan. 15, 2020

  On this week’s TribCast, Alexa talks to Matthew, Jolie and Emma about the governor’s decision to opt out of the federal refugee resettlement program, the state’s hemp legalization fiasco and the latest in the Texas vs. Planned Parenthood fight. Full Story 

  

   Erika Rich for The Texas Tribune

• Round two of fight over online voter registration for Texas drivers reaches federal court

  by Alexa Ura Jan. 14, 2020

  The state won the first round on a technicality. Now disenfranchised voters are again asking that they be allowed to complete their voter registrations through the online driver's license portal. Full Story 

  

   Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

• Texas leaves the hard work of chasing an accurate census count to communities

  by Alexa Ura Jan. 10, 2020

  Local governments, nonprofits and churches are stepping into the organizational void left after Republican Texas lawmakers shot down any significant funding for state efforts to avoid an undercount in the 2020 census. Full Story 

  

   Emily Albracht for The Texas Tribune

• TribCast: A look ahead at the 2020 political landscape in Texas

  by Alexa Ura and Michael Rey de Leon Jan. 8, 2020

  On this week's TribCast, Alexa talks to Evan, Cassi and Matthew about the political year ahead with heated battles for the Texas House and the state’s 38 electoral votes. Full Story 

  

   Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

• National Democrats jump into new lawsuit over Texas voter registration requirements

  by Alexa Ura Jan. 6, 2020

  Sensing opportunity in 2020, the Texas Democratic Party and campaign arms for Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate are ramping up legal challenges to voting restrictions, this time arguing that the state is unconstitutionally rejecting voter registration applications with digital signatures. Full Story 

  

   Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

• Translators help Korean American voters in Harris County find their electoral voice

  by Alexa Ura Nov. 26, 2019

  After years of relying on volunteer translators, Korean Americans voting in Houston last month received help from newly hired bilingual poll workers. Full Story 

  

   Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune

• Appeals court overturns mandate for Texas to implement online voter registration for drivers

  by Alexa Ura Nov. 13, 2019

  A lower court previously ruled that Texas was violating federal law by failing to register residents to vote when they updated their driver’s licenses online and ordered the state to implement its first system of online voter registration. Full Story 

  

   Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

• Election results from Texas’ largest county were delayed for hours. What happened?

  by Alexa Ura and Stacy Fernández Updated: Nov. 7, 2019

  All Harris County election results had to be driven to downtown Houston with police escorts after state election officials objected to the county's practice of uploading memory cards through an encrypted network. Full Story 

  

   Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune

• Texas Democrats are suing the state over its move to end temporary voting locations

  by Alexa Ura Updated: Oct. 31, 2019

  The lawsuit — filed with the Democratic campaign arms for the U.S. House and Senate — alleges that a change in state law that effectively ends the use of temporary or mobile early voting sites is unconstitutional because it discriminates against young voters. Full Story 

  

   Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune

• With a lame-duck speaker, Texas House confronts the work of the interim

  by Emma Platoff and Alexa Ura Oct. 22, 2019

  For the next 14 months, the powerful committee chairs who called for House Speaker Dennis Bonnen to step down will be asked to carry out his will — and every decision the speaker makes will be viewed in the shadow of demise. Full Story 

  

   Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune

• Texas considering whether to hand driver’s license, citizenship information to Census Bureau

  by Alexa Ura Oct. 18, 2019

  The Texas Department of Public Safety received a request for the information earlier this month but has taken no action. Full Story 

  

   Emily Albracht for The Texas Tribune

• “This is all confidential”: Key excerpts from secret recording of House Speaker Dennis Bonnen

  by Alexa Ura and Alex Samuels Oct. 15, 2019

  In the hourlong conversation with Michael Quinn Sullivan, the leader of the Texas House is heard offering press credentials and asking for political support for challengers in the 2020 primaries. Full Story 

  

   Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribune

• Texas ended temporary voting locations to curb abuse. Now rural and young voters are losing access.

  by Alexa Ura Oct. 10, 2019

  A newly implemented change to election law is leaving a trail of shuttered early voting polling places across the state. Full Story 

  

   Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune

• Crystal Mason's ballot was never counted. Will she still serve five years in prison for illegally voting?

  by Emma Platoff and Alexa Ura Sept. 17, 2019

  Her lawyers say if her sentence stands, it could discourage low-information voters from going to the polls at all. Full Story 

  

   Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune

• Hear how this Texas school district found itself at risk of returning to a segregated past

  by Aliyya Swaby and Alexa Ura Updated: Sept. 30, 2019

  A new audio series, a collaboration between The Texas Tribune and 1A, explores why students of color in Longview ISD still don't have the same educational opportunities as white students. Full Story