Analysis: Pleased to meet you, you wonderful/terrible candidate
The political advertisements are starting, and candidates are racing to introduce themselves (positively) and their opponents (negatively) to Texas voters. 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.
The political advertisements are starting, and candidates are racing to introduce themselves (positively) and their opponents (negatively) to Texas voters. Full Story
Texas judicial races are way down the November ballot, and the victors often depend on straight-ticket voting to get them by. That's a big worry for candidates whose party is out of power. Full Story
Texas political eyes are watching for Republican weaknesses and Democratic chances in two or three state Senate districts. But the tables could be turned in a fourth, where Democrats have ruled for ages. Full Story
Getting mentioned in a news story isn't the same thing as getting a vote. But it sure seems important to candidates who are having trouble getting voters to pay attention. Full Story
The debate over Texas political debates, which blossoms every two years, is now fully underway. Some of it's going just as you might expect. But there are some surprises this season. Full Story
There's a big difference between what policy is supposed to do and what it actually does. The family separation fiasco on the U.S.-Mexico border is a perfect example. Full Story
A pack of Texas Democratic challengers out-raised Republican incumbents in Congress. Now they've got to figure out how to wrestle away districts where, in most cases, Republicans win with ease. Full Story
Democrats challenging Republican incumbents are doing pretty well this year on the campaign finance front. It's very hard to win a big political race without that kind of success. But money alone is not the key to victory. Full Story
Citing "a somewhat complicated and novel fundraising operation not explicitly contemplated by Texas law," the Texas Ethics Commission fined Battleground Texas and Wendy Davis' gubernatorial campaign $3,000 each for late disclosures in 2014. Full Story
A government chart — part of a federal court brief — lays out what happens to immigrant children separated from the adults who brought them to the U.S. It shows three outcomes. Only one ends in reunification. Full Story