If all registered voters in Texas — or even most of them — actually voted, a new poll on this year's U.S. Senate race would be a lot more interesting. As is, it's just a look at what might happen in an election held today, if 15.2 million Texans turned out to vote.

The November general elections are still ahead, but they won't by themselves determine all of the important spots in the Texas Legislature. Watch the empty chairs — they can be almost as important as the occupied ones.

It's not enough to know that a political seat will be empty — you need to know when it will be empty. That's often up to the current officeholders, and the timing that works for them doesn't always match what works for others. 

Read some of the former first lady's most memorable sayings, or share your own.

Bush was the second American who was both the wife and mother of presidents. She did practically everything in politics short of running herself. 

With Speaker Joe Straus leaving the Texas House and Speaker Paul Ryan leaving the U.S. House, things are going to change in government. But most of us don't get a say in their replacements.

Kids and parents and teachers have spent the week struggling through another round of standardized testing in Texas public schools. Voters hate it, so politicians hate it. But the test results are a key ingredient of the state's education policy.

With its vote to deny the Log Cabin Republicans a booth at the GOP state convention, the State Republican Executive Committee might be drawing a line with the younger voters it hopes to attract.

Democrats in Texas and the U.S. could have a really good election year and still not win enough seats to win a majority in the U.S. House. It's not the voters — it's the maps.

If Texas oil and gas and self-driving cars don't command voters' attention, what will? Andrew White, a Democrat running for governor, is trying to find out.

The deck is stacked. Texas is a Republican state. Ted Cruz is an incumbent U.S. senator seeking re-election. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat, has never run statewide. But the underdog is raising more money. That's news, right?

With all these candidates lining up, you might think there are going to be special elections for the Texas Senate in Houston and San Antonio. Eventually, you're probably going to be right.

Efforts to close loopholes in the state's open information laws fell short at the end of last year's legislative session. An interim committee intended to get a head start before the 2019 session hasn't met. Its members haven't even been named.

A census question on citizenship could undercount populations in states with large numbers of poor and/or Hispanic residents — states like Texas. And an undercount would cut into the state's representation, and its federal services.

Texas Republicans busted through a Democratic wall in 1990, but only because their candidate in the big race that year came close enough to make other victories possible. Texas Democrats haven't been able to get that close.