You've Got Mail, Mr. Speaker
The letters dribbling into House Speaker Joe Straus' mailbox raise questions about the House's redistricting last session, but that's just a way for his rivals to raise questions about his leadership. 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.
The letters dribbling into House Speaker Joe Straus' mailbox raise questions about the House's redistricting last session, but that's just a way for his rivals to raise questions about his leadership. Full Story
George P. Bush, who filed campaign papers last week, is considering a run for Texas land commissioner, but hasn't ruled out other options in the 2014 election cycle, his campaign said Wednesday. Full Story
For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders from government and politics, we made temporary assignments in punditry, asking insiders to explain the elections, whether the governor is done and how legislative leaders' clout was affected. Full Story
The state's top two legislative leaders reflect the split in the Texas and national GOP — between populist conservatives on one hand, and mainline, old-school Republicans on the other. Full Story
With 43 legislators in the freshman class and 24 more who were new after the 2010 elections, the 150-member Texas House has a lot of new blood — and a lot of inexperienced officeholders. Full Story
The Legislature will have 49 new members, but the party labels aren't changing much — Republicans will retain commanding majorities in both the Texas House and Senate. Full Story
For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders from government and politics, we asked about the state and federal governments and about how they compare. Full Story
Here's our sibling publication's entirely subjective pre-election ranking based on reports from campaigns, consultants, donors and activists. Full Story
Throughout the election year, we've tracked the progress of the candidates with our basketball tournament-inspired brackets. Now it's time for the final round, and the brackets will be full soon after the election ends. Full Story
It’s not the most exciting election season Texas has ever seen. Most legislative races are over after the primaries and what’s left, with an exception in the Texas Senate, don’t appear to involve the balance of power in the House. Full Story