Analysis: A digital divide with dire consequences for Texas
The new coronavirus has forced Texans online for education, commerce, work and entertainment. But a third of the state's residents don't have broadband in their homes. Full Story
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Ross Ramsey
Executive Editor
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Ross Ramsey is executive editor and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. He writes regular columns on politics, government and public policy. Before joining the Tribune, he was editor and co-owner of Texas Weekly. He did a 28-month stint in government with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Before that, he reported for the Houston Chronicle, the Dallas Times Herald, as a Dallas-based freelancer for regional and national magazines and newspapers, and for radio stations in Denton and Dallas.
Latest Contributions
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![A streetview of Dumas.]()
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Analysis: A Texas governor caught betwixt and between Texas attitudes
Gov. Greg Abbott has been slow to impose statewide stay-at-home orders, a reluctance mirrored in many of the state's cities and counties. But more are issuing advisories as the new coronavirus pandemic spreads in Texas. Full Story
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![A positive message is spray painted on a business on Sixth Street in Austin. Many businesses have closed their doors on th...]()
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Analysis: Coronavirus and local control in Texas
Without broader statewide orders for Texans to stay at home, local officials — and local circumstances — have made the state a patchwork of responses to the new coronavirus. Full Story
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![An empty Seventh Street during morning rush hour in Downtown Austin. The city’s streets were mostly empty as a result of t...]()
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Analysis: Coronavirus, family, economics and false choices
The threat to the economy is important, but it's also secondary. The worst of the new coronavirus has not yet been visited upon us. Full Story
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![Shuttered bars on Austin's iconic Sixth Street during the coronavirus pandemic.]()
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Analysis: Order Texans to stay home, or risk impeding the fight against COVID-19?
Health experts and local leaders want stricter state orders to keep Texans at home, but for now, Gov. Greg Abbott is leaving the decisions on "shelter-in-place" to local officials. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott is briefed on the coronavirus outbreak, in Austin on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.]()
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Texas restaurants are asking for tax relief from the state. But officials say they need those revenues during the pandemic.
Restaurant owners say that delaying sales tax payments could help them ride out the pandemic. State officials, however, say that those revenues help keep hospitals and emergency services running. Full Story
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![Caffe Medici, one of Austin's Oldest coffee shops, was forced to permanantly close one of its five locations and layoff 27...]()
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Analysis: Long lines, slow and error-filled counts. Why didn’t Tuesday night’s elections run better?
Super Tuesday in Texas exposed some problems in the state's elections. Is this any way to run a model democracy? Full Story
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![People wait in line to vote around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, 2020, at Texas Southern University in Houston.]()
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Analysis: Culling the Texas ballots, round one
Tuesday's elections will trim dozens and dozens of would-be officeholders from the ballots, setting the table for a number of consequential runoffs and for a highly contested and anticipated general election in Texas. Full Story
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![People in line to cast their vote at a South Austin early voting location on Nov. 2, 2018.]()
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Analysis: Final pitches mark the end of the 2020 Texas primaries
You can tell by the number of visits from presidential candidates that the state is getting in the next few days: Election day is almost here. Full Story
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![Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren takes questions from reporters following a town hall event in San Antonio on Feb. ...]()
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Analysis: The Texas Supreme Court and the ruling class
A well-heeled loser of a lawsuit that went to the Texas Supreme Court did a detailed analysis and concluded that the big law firms that politically support the judges get the best results. Maybe money is the reason, maybe it's not. Full Story
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![The Texas Supreme Court on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
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Analysis: Why would a Texas Democrat want a seat in the Republican state Senate?
On paper, Texas senators have it better than their counterparts in the Texas House, but why would a Democrat want to work in a place where Republicans are fully and completely in control? Full Story
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![State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, chairman of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee, meets with fellow member...]()
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Analysis: Is Texas political sentiment changing?
The 2020 elections are a test of whether Democratic hopes and Republican fears — borne of the close finishes in the 2018 elections — are justified. The UT/TT Poll results on that question offer some clues. Full Story
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![Ann Richards, left, on the campaign trail in 1988 and Clayton Williams during the campaign in 1990.]()
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TribCast, special edition: Our pollsters analyze the latest UT/TT Poll on primary races and issues in Texas
In this edition of the TribCast, Ross talks to pollsters Joshua Blank, James Henson and Daron Shaw about the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, the state’s presidential and Senate primaries, and what Texas voters said about issues facing the state. Full Story
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![From left: From left: Tribune Executive Editor and co-founder Ross Ramsey discusses the latest UT/Texas Tribune poll with ...]()
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Most Texas voters — but not most Republicans — would admit refugees from other countries, UT/TT Poll finds
While most Texas voters would welcome refugees into the state, fewer than a third of Republican voters agree, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Border issues still loom in Texas voters’ views, UT/TT Poll finds
Border security and immigration continue to dominate Texas voters' thoughts about the most important problems facing the state, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Support for background checks on all gun sales remains high, UT/TT Poll finds
Texans are divided about whether more people carrying guns would make the U.S. safer, but a large majority favors expanding mental health and criminal background checks on gun sales, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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MJ Hegar leads the Democratic U.S. Senate candidates, UT/TT Poll finds
Hegar leads a crowded field of Democrats running for the seat held by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Most Texans want lower property taxes and more school spending, UT/TT Poll finds
It's not a new contradiction, but it's persistent: Texas voters think that property taxes are too high and that school spending is too low, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Clayton Williams, oilman and colorful candidate for Texas governor, has died
Williams, a well-known oilman and entrepreneur from Midland, has died. The one-time Republican candidate for governor of Texas lost a nationally watched race against Democrat Ann Richards in 1990 after a series of public gaffes. Full Story
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![Clayton Williams during the 1990 gubernatorial campaign.]()
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Bernie Sanders leaps to first among Texas Democrats in latest UT/TT Poll
Sanders now leads the Democratic presidential candidates among Texas voters, but Donald Trump maintains a slight lead over each of the top Democrats in the race, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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