Running Out: Texas’ water crisis — and the path forward
A growing population, leaking pipes and changing climate threaten the state’s water supply. Texas lawmakers hope a $20 billion investment will help. Full Story
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Carla Astudillo is a senior data visuals developer with a focus on elections and political data. Before joining the Tribune in 2019, she was a data and interactive visuals journalist at NJ.com and The Star-Ledger in New Jersey, where she helped build a database of police use of force in the state as part of a 16-month investigative project. She earned a master’s degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. Carla was born in Antofagasta, Chile and moved to the United States when she was 7 years old. After brief stints in Texas and New Mexico, her family settled in Lakeland, Florida, where she grew up. She is based in Austin and speaks Spanish fluently.
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![Jay Ornelas, El Paso County Water Improvement District Manager (left) and Ramon Tirres (right) in Clint, Texas on march 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
The cost of owning a home in Texas is on the rise, census shows
Despite efforts by Texas lawmakers to ease property tax bills, increases in expenses like insurance and utilities ate into that tax relief. Full Story
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![Homes in an East Austin neighborhood on Aug. 24, 2025.]()
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How Democrats pressured U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett to step aside for the next generation
Doggett’s shocking decision to retire signals U.S. Rep. Greg Casar’s growing strength among Democrats in Austin politics and in Congress. Full Story
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![U.S. Reps Lloyd Doggett and Rep. Greg Casar, both of Austin, at a press conference with Texas Democratic leaders at the state Capitol on July 31, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers redrew Texas’ congressional districts. See how yours changed.
The new maps, which aim to flip five Democratic seats to favor Republicans, will go into effect for the 2026 midterms, barring court intervention. Full Story
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![Shapes of the new Congressional districts with the red Republicans on the left and the blue Democrat ones on the right.]()
Credit: Illustration by Carla Astudillo -
In rapidly diversifying Tarrant County, a summer of GOP redistricting hits Black and Latino representation
Despite explosive growth turning Tarrant into a racially diverse swing county, two new political maps will leave it with whiter, more Republican representation. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, outside the Eastside YMCA he helped bring about with federal funding, on Aug. 22, 2025. Under the newly-approved redistricting map passed by the Texas Legislature, his congressional district will become majority-white with a majority-Republican electorate.]()
Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott signs new Texas congressional map designed to give GOP five more seats
The governor was expected to sign off on the new district lines, which passed the Legislature last week and aim to flip five Democratic seats in the 2026 midterms. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol seen on Monday June 30, 2025 in Austin, Texas.]()
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From Fort Worth to McAllen, Texans could lose clout in Washington if GOP changes political lines
The GOP push to redraw the state’s congressional maps isn’t just a partisan move but one that deeply affects how Texans are represented in Congress. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, testifies during a redistricting committee hearing held at the University of Texas at Arlington on July 28, 2025.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
Texas redistricting map: How the GOP could increase its stronghold
Texas lawmakers redrew congressional districts in a partisan bid to give Republicans five additional U.S. House seats. The move set off a bipartisan war across the U.S. Full Story
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![Three rectangles made up of smaller red and blue rectangles that show how cracking and packing in gerrymandering works.]()
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In draft congressional map, Texas Republicans bet big that gains with Latino voters will persist
The plan increases the share of Hispanic voters in three of the five districts targeted by the GOP, banking that enough will turn out and vote for Republicans without Donald Trump on the ballot. Full Story
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![An attendee holds a Trump hat during a prayer at a GOP event in McAllen to motivate Republicans to vote for U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, running for re-election and congressional candidates Monica De La Cruz, TX-15, and Cassy Garcia, TX-28, on Nov. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ proposed congressional map dismantles districts flagged by DOJ
The Department of Justice said four districts unconstitutionally combined Black and Hispanic voters, a charge the state disputes. If the proposed map passes, two will still be multiracial. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, walks to a Congressional Redistricting meeting at the University of Houston campus in Houston, Texas, on July 26, 2025.]()
Credit: Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune