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Chris Essig is the data visuals editor at The Texas Tribune. Based in Austin, he leads a team of developers who build charts, maintain public databases and analyze data to help reporters hold elected officials accountable. Chris has been a newsroom developer for 10 years and has worked in several local newsrooms. As a native of the Midwest, Chris received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and spent six years in Iowa working at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids and at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in Waterloo.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz won re-election in 2018 against Democrat Beto O'Rourke by about 2.6 percentage points. Here's a look at the margins of victory for every U.S. Senate election in Texas since 1961. Full Story
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Early voter turnout in the 2018 midterms surpassed turnout from the 2012 presidential election in the 30 Texas counties where most registered voters in the state — 78 percent — live. Full Story
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Demographics, income and location all play roles in the difficulties Texans face finding an affordable home in a neighborhood they like. Full Story
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We analyzed housing data in hundreds of Texas ZIP codes to create a searchable tool so readers can see how affordable their neighborhood is. Full Story
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Despite all the focus on November, many in Texas politics are keeping a close eye on January. That's when the 150-member Texas House will pick its new House speaker. Just last week, two more candidates entered the race. Full Story
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Several new facilities have already opened this summer, and the federal government has requested up to 15,500 beds at two Texas military bases. Full Story
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How exactly are families being separated at the border? Here's where parents and children go after they're apprehended. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a Texas redistricting case that has flagged two congressional districts and nine Texas House districts. Here's a closer look at one of the districts in question: U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's curiously shaped 35th Congressional District. Full Story
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Two congressional districts are part of a Texas redistricting case the U.S. Supreme Court will take up Tuesday. Here's a detailed look at what's at issue in one of them: the 27th Congressional District. Full Story
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Last year, federal judges ruled that when Texas lawmakers redrew the 27th Congressional District in 2011, they did so in a way that diminished the political clout of Hispanic voters. As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in a redistricting case that includes CD-27, take a closer look at what's at issue in the district. Full Story