Texas is among eight states that don’t have universal online voter registration. A DPS snafu created a backlog of at least 200,000 applications this week.
Colleen DeGuzman
Colleen DeGuzman is a general assignments reporter. In addition to covering a broad range of topics, she focuses on immigration developments in the state. Before joining the newsroom, Colleen was an enterprise reporter at Houston Public Media, Houston's NPR station. She's also reported for KFF Health News, the Austin-American Statesman, and The Monitor in McAllen. Colleen was previously a reporting fellow at the Texas Tribune, an intern at The Today Show, and NPR NextGen Radio mentee. Colleen, who studied mass communication at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, was born on one end of the border (El Paso) and proudly raised on the other (the Rio Grande Valley). She is based in Houston.
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2026 Texas Elections
Key GOP lawmaker says state should have caught error that delayed at least 178,000 Texas voter registrations
Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott, who appoints the state’s top election official and is locked in a tight race in November, hasn’t commented on the error.
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Politics
ICE shootings prompt different reactions from longtime Democrats leading Austin, Houston
Mayor Kirk Watson ordered Austin police to investigate, saying he didn’t trust the feds. Mayor John Whitmire initially said Houston lacked jurisdiction.
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Hill Country floods
Texas Rangers pursuing criminal investigation of Camp Mystic, court documents show
In an affidavit, the Rangers said they believe camp leaders committed multiple crimes including manslaughter in connection with the deaths of 27 campers and counselors in the July 2025 flood.
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Courts
Federal judge pauses Texas Republicans’ bid to close primaries
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk said in his ruling that he expects Republicans to succeed in restricting primaries to voters registered with the party during the next legislative session.
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Public Education
School librarians hesitant to discuss books, order more amid Texas battles to restrict titles, they say
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s latest push to restrict what students can access adds to Texas school librarians’ angst, the educators said.
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Environment
Corpus Christi, still in need of long-term water sources, again rejects desalination plant
Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to criticize a similar vote last year, when he said the state may need to “micromanage” the city to protect water availability in the region.
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Immigration
Migrant kids are often being held in a South Texas detention center five times longer than a court order allows
The nation’s only detention center for families is routinely holding children beyond the 20-day limit, including an Iranian-born “average American kid” who’s been locked up for 123 days and counting.
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2026 Texas Elections
James Talarico rolls out economic agenda that takes aim at “false Gospel of trickle-down economics”
Like his U.S. Senate rival, Ken Paxton, the Austin state lawmaker introduced a plan to address what he called an “affordability crisis.” But they differed on who is to blame for rising costs.
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Environment
Corpus Christi City Council rejects $60,000 community gift to benefit water desalination plant
The donation was intended to cover the cost of applying for a federal grant to build a city-owned treatment plant.
