Moving local elections because of the pandemic might seem unremarkable. But it gives voters a rare chance to instantly grade elected officials’ handling of a pandemic and a bad economy, as well as their response to cases of police brutality.
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: Events — and their own words — put Texas Republicans in an election year bind
Texas Democrats convened last week. But it was the state’s Republicans giving them the most hope about the coming November elections.
Posted in
Police brutality in Texas
Analysis: Coronavirus is not the only affliction preying on community
The protests of the last week are about an affliction that’s bigger than the pandemic — and important enough for people to forget about social distancing.
Posted in
State Government
Analysis: For a state in pain, a little empathy is only a start
Gov. Greg Abbott has avoided the president’s militaristic tenor and has expressed empathy with nonviolent demonstrators protesting George Floyd’s death. But the conversations about what’s next haven’t started.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: The coronavirus forces face-to-face politics online
Campaigning during a pandemic is a lot like normal, without the people. Just put the word “virtual” in front of the normal activities: fundraising, town hall meetings and even block walking.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Judges deal Texans more confusion about voting by mail
If you were looking for voting-by-mail advice from the Texas Supreme Court, you’re out of luck. The court ruled that the pandemic is no reason to expand voting by mail, but also that election officials don’t have to check voter claims of disability.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Rising property values — and taxes — during an economic slump
Many Texas property owners are sweating potential increases in their taxes, which are based on property values that don’t reflect a pandemic, an oil price collapse or a slumping economy.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Politics and a pandemic jumble Texas elections
The partisan differences about voting by mail in Texas — Democrats want to expand it, Republicans believe it’s insecure — were in place long before COVID-19 came along. But the pandemic has escalated the debate.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: In spite of it all, a Texas government that’s running full-steam ahead
The pandemic has devastated the Texas economy. The state comptroller says that will mean billions of dollars less than expected for the current budget. But state agencies haven’t received any orders to cut their spending.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Texas tiptoes down the road to normal
As some pandemic doors are slowly opened, others are getting kicked in. Either way, individual choices are quickly replacing the weeks of government instructions about what and what not to do.
