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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.
Some of the political kids in Texas wanted a quick ruling on redistricting for Christmas, a perennial request that never seems to be granted. With just two Texas elections left in the decade, the courts are still arguing over the state's maps. Full Story
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2017 was the year when House Speaker Joe Straus found his voice, when the culture conservatives lost out to the business conservatives and when the fault lines that define today’s Texas GOP opened up for everyone to see. Full Story
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Competitiveness is the biggest difference between Texas House elections and those for Texas seats in Congress or in the state Senate. A dozen or so seats in the Texas House are still within the grasp of either of the major political parties. Full Story
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Twelve of the 15 districts on the Texas Senate ballot in 2018 are represented by Republicans. Most of those, and all of those held by Democrats, have remained firmly in the clutches of the party now in power during the last two election cycles. Most of 2018's competition will be in March, not in November. Full Story
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Past congressional elections in Texas have favored Republicans, but Texas Democrats are hopeful. Here's a look back. Full Story
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The months leading up to Monday's candidate filing deadline were full of talk about who might challenge whom, a drawn-out round of punditry. Now we know who filed for what, and some of the results were unexpected. Full Story
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Former Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has decided to challenge current Commissioner George P. Bush in next year’s Republican primary. He is expected to announce his candidacy Monday, several sources said Friday. Full Story
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It's not that Texas Democrats can't find anyone to run for governor in 2018. It's that none of the eight contenders (so far) is familiar to voters across the state. Full Story
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Between courts and scandals, football and storms, rats of the literal and figurative varieties, state leaders have lately been forced to react to outside events instead of using their offices to set their own agendas. Full Story
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One particular type of government program is hyper-sensitive to poor performance and quick to change at almost any dollar cost, which begs the question: Why doesn't everything work like college football? Full Story
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