Influential conservative PAC targets Phelan, other House Republicans
Club for Growth announced it will spend $4 million on a TV ad targeting five anti-school voucher Texas House Republicans. Full Story
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Zach Despart
Enterprise and Investigative Reporter
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Zach Despart is an enterprise and investigative reporter focusing on state government. His work on a team investigating the flawed police response to the Uvalde school shooting was awarded the 2024 Collier Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. He led the Tribune’s effort to become the first news organization to map the fragmented 50-mile Texas border wall, a project that also found the state struggled with holdout landowners along the route. After it was published, the Legislature stopped funding the wall. He previously covered Harris County for the Houston Chronicle, where he reported on corruption, elections, disaster preparedness and the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. His investigation on how Texas diverted Harvey aid away from areas most at risk for storms sparked a federal investigation. An upstate New York native, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and film from the University of Vermont.
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan in his office in Beaumont on Jan 26, 2024.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Tom Oliverson announces he is challenging Dade Phelan for Texas House speakership
Oliverson, one of Phelan’s committee chairmen, said the speaker has lost the confidence of the Republican caucus. Full Story
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![State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, announces his candidacy for Texas House speakership during a press conference Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Austin.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott appears with embattled House Speaker Dade Phelan for first time in heated primary season
Abbott has so far been silent as Phelan battles for political survival in a tough primary runoff. Full Story
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![Newly-elected House Speaker Dade Phelan greets Gov. Greg Abbott before speaking to the Texas House during opening ceremonies as the 2021 Texas Legislature gets down to work in Austin on Jan. 12, 2021.]()
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House Speaker Dade Phelan took a risk on Paxton’s impeachment. It may end his career.
The May 28 runoff promises to be an expensive, high-profile contest that will help reshape the political dynamics of the Texas House. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan gavels out the 88th session Sine Die on May 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Rep. Shawn Thierry, who split with Democrats on LGBTQ+ votes, forced into primary runoff
Thierry angered fellow Democrats because of a speech she gave on the House floor in support of banning gender-transitioning care for minors. Full Story
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![Shawn Thierry and Lauren Ashley Simmons.]()
Credit: Thomas Meredith for The Texas Tribune and Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton declare victory in attack on House GOP defectors
The two state leaders and other prominent Republicans, like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former president Donald Trump, endorsed challengers in dozens of races citing the incumbents’ disloyalty to the party. Full Story
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![The House voting board in the Texas Capitol in Austin on May 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan heading to runoff against hardline conservative challenger
Phelan was neck and neck with GOP challenger David Covey with votes still being counted. Full Story
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![Beaumont, Texas: Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan poses for a portrait at his office in Beaumont on Friday, Jan 26, 2024.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
It’s primary election day. Here are six things to watch.
Divisions among Republicans are in stark display, some of Texas’ most senior members of Congress are retiring and Democrats are hoping to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz. Full Story
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![Election signs on March 5, 2024, outside of the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
As Biden and Trump visit the border, many Texas residents feel ignored
When the two presidents used the Texas-Mexico boundary as a backdrop for the national immigration fight, residents felt they were left out of the conversation. Full Story
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![Pedestrians walk through downtown Brownsville early Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. President Joe Biden visited Brownsville on Thursday, receiving briefings from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, USCIS, and ICE along the border before giving remarks at the Brownsville Border Patrol Station.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
At odds with Abbott and Paxton, Rep. Stan Lambert is under fire and getting outraised in his GOP primary
District 71 is one of three-dozen Texas House races where statewide Republicans are trying to oust incumbents from their own party. Lambert says he knows his constituents better than they do. Full Story
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![Texas House District 71 Rep. Stan Lambert gestures during an interview at Monk’s Coffee shop in Abilene Thursday Feb. 8, 2024.]()
Credit: Ronald W. Erdrich for The Texas Tribune