Local officials, demographers and advocates are worried the census could be particularly tough to carry out in Texas in 2020. They are bracing for challenges both practical and political that could make the state, which is already hard to count, even tougher to enumerate.
Chris Essig
Chris Essig is the data visuals editor at The Texas Tribune. Based in Austin, he leads a team of developers who build charts, maintain public databases and analyze data to help reporters hold elected officials accountable. Chris has been a newsroom developer for 10 years and has worked in several local newsrooms. As a native of the Midwest, Chris received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and spent six years in Iowa working at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids and at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in Waterloo.
Posted inPolitics
Here’s who’s running for Texas House Speaker and who may soon join the race
The Texas House is in the midst of a months-long scramble for control. Here’s an updated look at who is running to lead the chamber after Speaker Joe Straus steps down in January as well as who may soon throw their hats in the ring.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Here’s a look at who’s interested in replacing Straus as House speaker
Despite all the focus on November, many in Texas politics are keeping a close eye on January. That’s when the 150-member Texas House will pick its new House speaker.
Posted in
Dangerous Deliveries
Dangerous deliveries: Are Texas lawmakers doing enough to reduce maternal deaths?
After a months-long investigation, the Tribune found that the state’s data on maternal mortality is a moving target, that the number of women dying during or after pregnancy is still rising and that the state has missed opportunities to improve women’s health programs.
Posted inCongress, Demographics
Puzzling shapes: Travel across one gerrymandered Texas congressional district
Revisit our animated tour of Texas Congressional District 35, which wiggles its way from Austin to San Antonio, swallowing specific neighborhoods while avoiding — or splitting — others, all in the name of partisan political advantage.
Posted in
Congress
Congress just sent a massive tax cut bill to Trump. Here’s how Texans voted.
The U.S. House and Senate voted for a major overhaul of the American tax code on Tuesday and Wednesday, sending the measure to President Donald Trump’s desk. Here’s how all 38 Texans in Congress voted on the bill.
Posted inState Government
Data for University of Texas employees updated in Salaries Explorer
We’ve updated compensation data for employees of the University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and UT Southwestern Medical Center in our Government Salaries Explorer. This update reflects state agency payrolls for 2017.
Posted in
Congress
We asked every Texan in Congress about banning “bump stocks” used by Vegas shooter
The Texas Tribune asked all 38 members of the state’s congressional delegation whether they would consider a ban on “bump stocks,” the type of gun attachment used by the Las Vegas mass shooter.
Posted in
Congress
See where Texas’ congressional delegation stands on Trump’s DACA decision
Texas Republicans in Congress applauded the Trump administration’s DACA decision — but none of them advocated for the deportation of those currently in the program.
Posted in
Lock the Vote
Puzzling shapes: Travel across this gerrymandered Texas district
As part of our Lock The Vote series, we examine a key piece of Republicans’ 2011 redistricting strategy, which courts said discriminated against minorities: U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s curiously-shaped 35th Congressional District.
