Analysis: Early omens of a very conservative GOP primary
The races at the top of the 2018 Republican primary ballot don't look very competitive. That might be good news for the party's most conservative down-ballot candidates. 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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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick praise a judge's ruling against Obama's immigration program at a Capitol press conference on Feb. 18, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Analysis: The Texas Legislature’s persistent discrimination
Texas lawmakers have now been popped by federal judges seven or eight times in recent years for intentionally discriminating against minority voters with voter ID and redistricting legislation. Think they’ve got a problem? Full Story
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![Students in line for early voting at the Willie A. Tempton Student Center at Prairie View A&M University on November 2, 2016.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: North Texas voters set to see new faces, familiar names
Families in politics are nothing new — they're all over history and, for that matter, the current Texas Legislature. But the upcoming Senate primary in Collin County offers a fresh twist on the theme. Full Story
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![Angela Paxton and Phillip Huffines]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich: Paxton/Laura Buckman: Huffines -
Analysis: Firing the opening shots in the 2018 GOP primaries
The differences between the state's top legislative leaders will inform the coming Republican primaries, because Dan Patrick and Joe Straus represent different wings of the Texas GOP. Full Story
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![House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick at a Texas Legislative Budget Board meeting on December 1, 2016.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for the Texas Tribune -
Analysis: A victory for the locals, at least for a while
The cities and counties won the latest round of the state's war on local government. But it's a temporary win, at best. Full Story
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Credit: Randall Pugh -
Analysis: The tyranny of the minority
Republican state lawmakers could decide who'll be speaker of the Texas House in January 2019 themselves — and then stick together when it goes to a vote in the full House of Representatives. That would be a significant change. Full Story
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![House Speaker Joe Straus keeps watch on the chamber during debate on Senate Bill 6 on municipal annexation on Aug. 11, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Analysis: It’s never the ending that you expect
The Texas Legislature's special session ended with a bang, but it wasn't the sound of the property tax bill the governor was hoping for. Will he call state lawmakers back for more? Full Story
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![Texas House members huddled near the dais on Aug. 15, 2017. The House adjourned sine die one day before the Legislature's special session would have been forced to conclude.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Analysis: Broken school finance system spawns wild solutions
In Austin — the poster child for property tax recapture in Texas right now — the school district is telling taxpayers they’ll be sending $2.6 billion to the state over the next five years. That's inspiring some crazy ideas. Full Story
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![Downtown Austin on June 27, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas state budget tricks are great — until you total them up
A new report says the deferrals and other fiscal tricks lawmakers used this year — and are considering in the current special session — are digging a hole legislators will have to fill when they return to write a new budget in January 2019. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Analysis: Even the losers get lucky sometimes
With a little more than a week left for this special session of the Texas Legislature, lawmakers are preparing closing arguments — and obituaries — for their pet issues. Full Story
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![State Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, speaks at a press conference held by members of the Senate Republican Caucus to discuss education and teachers' retirement, on August 8, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune