The Texas Legislature is drawing new political maps to reflect the growth of the state recorded in the 2020 census. But their initial proposals don’t look like the state demographically or politically.
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.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Texas politicians are thinking what they think their voters think they should think
It’s fashionable to gripe about polls, but they can expose voter sentiment and reveal, sometimes, why elected officials act the way they do.
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Texas 2022 Elections
Analysis: The 2022 general election is a year away, but many of the issues are already evident
Candidates for the 2022 elections are still popping up, but many of that election’s major issues are already being debated.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Texas’ foster care problems are clear. The response from state leaders isn’t.
The state’s foster care system has been dangerous to children and embarrassing to the state for years. But with state officials constantly chasing other issues, it’s still suffering from neglect.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Population changes the recipe for Texas’ political soup
Not every change in the state’s political maps starts with party affiliation. Geography and population are giving Republican mapmakers new headaches.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Texas and the U.S., lawyered up and ready to go to court
It’s usually the state suing the feds, but now the federal government is suing Texas for outlawing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. There are more lawsuits between the state and federal governments to come.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Man bites dog, tries to make amends
Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed legislation designed to protect dogs earlier this year. Now he’s asking the Legislature to fix it — before next year’s elections.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Texas legislators, with an assist from the U.S. Supreme Court, open a Pandora’s box
The country just noticed what Texas was doing, and although Texans have been watching the debate over this anti-abortion law all year, even some of them were surprised at how quickly the legally protected right to abortion disappeared.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: New laws reflect Republican lawmakers’ focus on their right flank
From abortion restrictions to guns, the Texas Legislature’s regular session Republican victories were just the beginning.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: The partisan debate over voting laws is a prologue to redistricting
The summer fight over voting and election law has been fierce. It may well be a prologue to a bigger battle just ahead: redrawing the state’s political maps.
