This week on The Ticket: Jay Root and Ben Philpott give their takes on the March 1st Super Tuesday elections. And we talk about Chris Christie’s endorsement of Donald Trump with WNYC’s Matt Katz.
Jay Root
Jay Root is an award-winning journalist who reported for the Tribune from 2011 to 2020. He covered the dramatic collapse of Gov. Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign and went on to write an ebook about it called “Oops! A Diary from the 2012 Campaign Trail.” Root also broke the story that put the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, on the path toward criminal indictment, co-wrote an exposé that brought an end to privately funded prosecutions in Travis County, and authored a series of watchdog articles that prompted a wave of firings and resignations at two major state agencies.
In 2017, Root co-directed “Beyond The Wall,” a film exploring border politics in the age of Trump, which won a national Edward R. Murrow award for best news documentary. Root’s latest film, “Border Hustle,” was released in early 2019 and reveals how desperate migrants have become cash cows on both sides of the border.
Previously, for a dozen years, Root was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he chronicled the rise of then-Gov. George W. Bush, wrote about cartel violence in Mexico and covered Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. During a three-year stint at the Associated Press, Root was twice named AP Staff Reporter of the Year for his watchdog reporting, including a story that sparked felony charges against a sitting state representative.
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The Ticket
The Ticket: As Trump Dominates, What Do Hispanic Republicans Do Now?
This week on The Ticket podcast, we check in with conservative Hispanic activist Temo Muniz to see how he feels about the Republican primaries. And pollster Jim Henson tells us what’s brewing ahead of Super Tuesday.
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Politics
Turnout for Texas Primaries Expected to Be Highest Since 2008
Thanks to fierce competition in the GOP presidential contest and the ongoing showdown between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, experts are predicting unusually high turnout in this year’s Texas primaries.
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The Ticket
The Ticket LIVE: The Palmetto Primary
This week on The Ticket: KUT’s Ben Philpott and the Tribune’s Jay Root look to South Carolina by explaining who’s voting, who’s still running and what could happen on Primary night for both parties.
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Bordering on Insecurity
After Deportation, Killer Returned Easily to U.S.
Deported to his native Mexico for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, Juan Leonardo Quintero returned to Houston and easily resumed his life. When he killed a police officer in 2006, Quintero became a poster child for loose border enforcement.
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Bordering on Insecurity
“Criminal Aliens” Flashpoint of Border Security Debate
How to deal with, or talk about, foreigners who commit crimes in the United States — the government’s term for them is the politically incorrect “criminal aliens” — has prompted heated calls for vastly different solutions.
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Bordering on Insecurity
ICE Chief a Bipartisan Punching Bag in Immigration Debates
When she was a federal prosecutor in Texas, Sarah Saldaña was seen as hard-nosed and nonpartisan. Since President Obama appointed her to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she’s learned to take hits from the left and right.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Houston Sheriff Still Shielding Killer’s Record
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has decided to keep secret its investigative files on a Mexican national whose 2015 shooting spree in Houston left two people dead and three injured.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Indicted Border Patrol Agent has Two Birth Certificates
In an unusual twist to an already unusual case, federal immigration authorities are questioning the nationality of a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of capital murder and drug cartel ties in deep South Texas.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Houston Slayings Fueled Border Security Debate
One year ago today, Spencer Golvach waited for the green light at a Houston intersection. An undocumented Mexican national pulled up next to him, pointed a pistol at Golvach’s head and pulled the trigger. The killing ignited a political firestorm.
