If the decadeslong Republican hold on Texas politics loosens, it might not be at the top of the ticket. Watch the federal and state legislative races, and where the money’s going in those.
Ross Ramsey
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.
Posted in
Texas 2020 Elections
Analysis: Voting in Texas is different from other places. It’s a hassle.
Lots of states make it as easy as possible to register and vote, whether there’s a pandemic or not. Texas is not one of those states.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Shopping for students without schoolrooms, Texas is spending $250 million to narrow the digital divide
In a state where an estimated 30% of the state’s 5.5 million public school students don’t have the right technology for online learning, switching to virtual classrooms is daunting. And expensive.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: The election won’t humble the coronavirus. It’s the other way around.
When general election voting starts in two months, Texas voters will know some things they don’t know today to help them make decisions, like what actually happens when you open public schools or allow college football to proceed.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: The opening line in every Texas political debate
School openings, government hearings, going to bars, voting, shopping, even the doings at the Texas Capitol hinge on the same issues: whether it’s safe to gather, and how to go about it.
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Texas 2020 Elections
Analysis: Opening Texas schools is 2020’s top election issue
During a pandemic, an economic recession and public protests against racial injustice and police violence, it’s hard to say what Texas voters will be thinking about in this year’s election. Here’s a candidate: Reopening schools.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: The Texas Legislature can meet for up to 140 days. The pandemic raises a question: Should it?
The Legislature starts its next regular session in January and can meet for up to 140 days. That gives lawmakers time to consider more than 6,000 bills. During a pandemic, they might want to do a lot less.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: August agenda for local government includes schools, police spending, property taxes and a pandemic
Local governments in Texas finish their spending plans and set their tax rates in August, an annual exercise that includes some hot topics in this pandemic year, like police spending, public schools and property taxes.
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Texas 2020 Elections
Analysis: President Trump’s attempt to rock the vote sends a shudder through the political world
President Donald Trump tweeted about delaying the November election, and in the process, launched an attack on whether anyone should trust the results when the votes are tallied.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Funding for rural broadband in Texas is in trouble. The pandemic might save it.
Rural Texans have been clamoring for high-speed internet services for years, and the requirements of a pandemic — work, schools and medicine — have raised the stakes. But a state fund that helps provide those services is in financial trouble.
