Analysis: All Texas politics is national
The general election two years ago set Texas Republicans on a red-meat sprint in the 2017 legislative session. This year, the tone is quieter, and the agenda is laden with bread-and-butter issues. Full Story
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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.
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![Jokes, tears and even fights — watch the highs and lows of the 85th Texas Legislature]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman / The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Is ending a tax break easier to swallow than a tax hike?
Lawmakers looking to realign the state's public school finances while also cutting local property taxes can't do both without a lot of money. They don't want to raise taxes, but they have nearly $60 billion in annual tax exemptions that might provide a solution. Full Story
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![State Comptroller Glenn Hegar presents the Biennial Revenue Estimate to waiting legislators, state officials and the press on January 9, 2017. Hegar predicts a tight budget with falling revenue from Texas oil and gas production and sales taxes.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: For Texas politicians, the season of receiving has arrived
The elections are behind the state's politicians. The 86th legislative session is ahead. In between, it's time to raise money. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht -
Analysis: Texans who barely won in 2018 will be top targets in 2020
Winning an election by just a little bit can make a candidate a target in the next election. And this year's ballots in Texas were full of close finishes. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, reviews a list of bills while standing at the back mic of the Texas House on May 9, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: The neglected Texans responsible for 2018’s GOP wins
The Republicans at the top of the statewide ballot in Texas won their elections this year, but it was the state's least-populated and most-ignored counties that put them over the top. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz campaigns on the last weekend before the midterm elections before 300 people in Victoria, Texas]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/BDP Inc. -
They wish there were more jobs, but rural Texans are happy where they are, poll finds
Rural Texans like the places where they live — the environment, the pace, the lifestyle — but they'd like to have access to better jobs, a new poll finds. Full Story
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Analysis: If you can’t win a race for Texas speaker, you’re not ready for the job
State Rep. Dennis Bonnen appears to have secured the votes needed to become speaker. Now, the hardest political challenges begin. Full Story
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![Rep. Dennis Bonnen R-Angleton speaks during SB1, the property tax debate on August 12, 2017]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
U.S. Rep-elect Dan Crenshaw gets an apology — and a free shot — from Saturday Night Live
A week after Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson misfired a joke at Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw, SNL gave Crenshaw an on-air apology and a chance to crack some jokes about Davidson. Full Story
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![Screen shot of Saturday Night Live, Nov. 10, 2018]()
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Analysis: In Donald Trump’s midterm, Texas voters tap the brakes
Texas Republicans had a tough election this year, losing more seats than expected and winning statewide races by much thinner margins than normal. Blame the president. Full Story
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![President Donald J. Trump at a MAGA rally at the Toyota Center in Houston on Oct. 22, 2018.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: One last Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke Texas election headline
It was a tighter race than the Republicans or the Democrats initially expected, but in the end, Ted Cruz won another six years in the U.S. Senate over Democrat Beto O'Rourke. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.]()
Credit: Rodolfo Gonzalez: O'Rourke/Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Cruz