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Ross Ramsey

Ross Ramsey’s staff photo

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.

Latest Contributions

  • 2010: TAM endorses Perry

    By Ross Ramsey

    The Texas Association of Manufacturers — one of the first groups to back the 2006 rewrite of the corporate franchise tax — endorsed Gov. Rick Perry over U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 gubernatorial race. Full Story 

  • Best-Laid Plans

    By Ross Ramsey

    It's hard to believe the governor saw this coming. When Rick Perry decided to replace the a board on the eve of a hearing about the evidence that sent a Texas man to the executioner, he couldn't have been thinking the story would grow legs and stomp all around his bid for reelection. Full Story 

  • And the Winner is...

    By Ross Ramsey

    by Matt Stiles, The Texas Tribune
 Gov. Rick Perry appointed Houston appellate court justice Eva Guzman to the Texas Supreme Court, making the 48-year-old the first Latina to serve on that court. Full Story 

  • Changing the Odds

    By Ross Ramsey

    Signing anti-tax pledges — as both of the leading Republican candidates for governor have now done — warms the hearts of gambling promoters. Not because Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison suddenly become proponents of casino gambling, but because gambling often gets stuck in a threesome with program cuts and tax increases and that setup is what made it legal to bet on bingo, horses, dogs, and the lottery in Texas. Full Story 

  • Watch That Date

    By Ross Ramsey

    Monday is K-Day. If Kay Bailey Hutchison quits before then, the election to replace her can be held on November 3. If she quits after that date, the replacement race will be held later. Full Story 

  • Looking for the Levers

    By Ross Ramsey

    Kay Bailey Hutchison rebounded in the most recent poll from Rasmussen Reports, but one of Gov. Rick Perry's hottest arguments rests on the rhetoric of "I'm from Austin; she's from Washington." And while the latest polling has the two gubernatorial candidates locked in a tight race, it's a contest that initially — almost a year ago — was polling strongly in Hutchison's favor. Full Story 

  • Border Cameras: The Sequel

    By Ross Ramsey

    AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry gave Texas border sheriffs another $2 million for a virtual border wall of web cameras that in its first full year failed to meet nearly every law enforcement goal his office originally set. Full Story 

  • Political Startups

    By Ross Ramsey

    It's the Labor Day break, a traditional starting point for political adventurers (as opposed to explorers) who will face the judgment of primary voters in six months. Full Story