In the state’s most competitive districts, Democrats are building their case around lapsed insurance subsidies and Republican-backed Medicaid cuts.
Samanta Habashy
Sam Habashy is a Washington, D.C.-based reporting fellow covering Texas’ delegation from Capitol Hill. Sam is from Dallas and is a recent graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and international relations. She served as the founder of Northwestern’s Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists’ Association Chapter, edited for The Daily Northwestern and wrote for the Indianapolis Star, STAT News, Medill News Service, and Dallas’ Advocate Magazine.
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2026 Texas Elections
Paxton promises to ban Chinese technology and chatbots that endanger children in data center platform
He also backed the DATA Act, a bill by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, that would let data centers build off-the-grid power systems exempt from federal regulation.
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Health care
Despite federal efforts to drop some children’s vaccine recommendations, Texas requirements unchanged
Public health officials said some parents are confused about what vaccines are required to attend Texas schools amid efforts to change recommendations.
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Congress
Ted Cruz’s college sports bill left in limbo as U.S. Senate takes August recess
The Protect College Sports Act gained a burst of momentum with last week’s support from the SEC and Big Ten, but the clocking is ticking as the Senate prepares to leave town.
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Congress
Former U.S. Rep. Kay Granger dies at 83
Granger was the first GOP woman from Texas to be elected to Congress, where she served for nearly three decades.
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2026 Texas Elections
Texas could send a record four GOP women to Congress — if they make it through November
Despite sending more Republicans to Congress than any other state, Texas has elected only five GOP women to the U.S. House in its history. Redistricting and retirements could change things.
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Houston ICE Shooting
After the Houston ICE shooting, Sylvia Garcia demanded answers. Alex Mealer urges patience.
Mealer, the GOP nominee in Texas’ 9th Congressional District, would represent Houston’s Magnolia Park, where an ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, under the GOP’s new redistricting map.
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Politics
Cornyn votes for Trump diplomatic nominees after securing funds for global HIV/AIDS initiative
The Republican senator from Texas had threatened to withhold his vote on Trump’s ambassador nominees unless the White House unlocked the freeze on a fund meant for HIV/AIDS prevention.
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Congress
Texas Republicans unite behind Iran war funding as U.S. House passes $95 billion spending package
With support from Democrats Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, the House also passed a bill Wednesday that would ban members of Congress from trading stocks and implement new voter ID requirements.
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2026 Texas Elections
Billionaire Reid Hoffman gives $10 million to super PAC backing Talarico’s Senate bid in Texas
The LinkedIn co-founder’s donation was nearly 80% of the pro-Talarico super PAC’s second-quarter haul. It comes as the Austin Democrat wages a campaign focused on keeping big money out of politics.
