Harold Simmons, GOP Mega-Donor, Dead at 82
Harold Simmons, a Dallas businessman and billionaire, philanthropist and Republican mega-donor, died Saturday at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. He was 82. Full Story
Ross Ramsey co-founded The Texas Tribune in 2009 and served as its executive editor until his retirement in 2022. He wrote 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.
Harold Simmons, a Dallas businessman and billionaire, philanthropist and Republican mega-donor, died Saturday at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. He was 82. Full Story
A sampling of our coverage in 2013, from our Bidness as Usual series to filibusters and fauxlibusters, water fights to death row, health care to politics, and a month full of ways the Texas Legislature changed our civic life. Full Story
Campaign advertising is all about what appeals to the audience of voters — even if that means ignoring the office the candidates are seeking. Full Story
Dec. 31 is not a political deadline voters care about — but candidates sure do. It's the last day they can bring in money for a report that will demonstrate their strength to supporters. Full Story
The best of our best for the week of Dec. 16-20, 2013. Full Story
Many of the candidates who are well known in political circles are strangers to voters. In most races — even for statewide offices — the leading candidate is "Undecided." Full Story
The primaries are on, and our biennial Hot List is back, ranking the races by risk to the incumbents and/or the level of drama for candidates and voters. We'll add, subtract and change the rankings as the races develop. Full Story
It's not yet clear who will be returning to the Legislature in 2015, but the list of people who won't be back has started to gel. Full Story
For this week’s nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics — our last one of 2013 — we asked for election predictions. Full Story
The short game in Texas politics is the year ahead — the primaries in March and the general election in November. But a loss in 2014 might lead to something bigger in a future election. Full Story