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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.
Democrat Nick Lampson started his general election TV campaign Monday with an ad laughing at "whining and crying in Congress" and suggesting he's part of the solution. The campaign said the ad is running in Houston and Beaumont. Full Story
No candidate wants to be in trouble at election time. But they don't want their supporters to think they're shoo-ins, either. Full Story
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Many of the measures designed to make the ballot box more secure — like asking people to affirm that they are, in fact, alive — create hurdles for a public that isn't terribly motivated to vote in the first place. Full Story
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For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in state government and politics, we asked about the November race for U.S. Senate, whether Democrats will recover faster if Romney or Obama wins, about the GOP's weak spots and about whether the voters are as conservative as the people they've elected. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco, R-San Antonio, and his challenger in Texas' 23rd Congressional District, state Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, will debate on Sept. 25 — in Spanish. Full Story
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Booming oil and gas production in the Eagle Ford Shale play has made property values soar — a sudden, surprising and sometimes stressful boon to some of the state's poorest school districts. Full Story
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Ramshaw on Texas Democrats’ efforts to keep some political money from leaving the state, Root on lessons learned at the GOP convention, Aaronson profiles an insurance regulator some say is too cozy with insurers, Aguilar on the next round in a the voter ID fight, Batheja on the most congested roads in Texas, Galbraith finds a rising tide of property-rights cases, Grissom on the latest reform in juvenile justice, Hamilton on computers that teach algebra, Ryan and Galbraith map struggling public water systems and M. Smith on the state’s request to waive some federal education standards: The best of our best from Sept. 3 to 7, 2012. Full Story
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One of the House's most conservative members said Friday he is "pretty dismayed" about redistricting conversations revealed in a stern letter to House Speaker Joe Straus from a top Democratic legislator. Full Story
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Writing the state budget might not be as difficult next year as it was two years ago, but things haven't improved enough to make it easy. Full Story
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The conventions start next week, with Republicans going first, in Tampa, and Democrats following, in Charlotte. Both parties are going South, but they're interested in swing states. Texas isn't one. Full Story
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