The May 28 runoff promises to be an expensive, high-profile contest that will help reshape the political dynamics of the Texas House.
Zach Despart
Zach Despart is an enterprise and investigative reporter focusing on state government. His work on a team investigating the flawed police response to the Uvalde school shooting was awarded the 2024 Collier Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. He led the Tribune’s effort to become the first news organization to map the fragmented 50-mile Texas border wall, a project that also found the state struggled with holdout landowners along the route. After it was published, the Legislature stopped funding the wall. He previously covered Harris County for the Houston Chronicle, where he reported on corruption, elections, disaster preparedness and the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. His investigation on how Texas diverted Harvey aid away from areas most at risk for storms sparked a federal investigation. An upstate New York native, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and film from the University of Vermont.
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2024 Texas Elections
Rep. Shawn Thierry, who split with Democrats on LGBTQ+ votes, forced into primary runoff
Thierry angered fellow Democrats because of a speech she gave on the House floor in support of banning gender-transitioning care for minors.
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2024 Texas Elections
Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton declare victory in attack on House GOP defectors
The two state leaders and other prominent Republicans, like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former president Donald Trump, endorsed challengers in dozens of races citing the incumbents’ disloyalty to the party.
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2024 Texas Elections
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan heading to runoff against hardline conservative challenger
Phelan was neck and neck with GOP challenger David Covey with votes still being counted.
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2024 Texas Elections
It’s primary election day. Here are six things to watch.
Divisions among Republicans are in stark display, some of Texas’ most senior members of Congress are retiring and Democrats are hoping to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz.
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Economy
As Biden and Trump visit the border, many Texas residents feel ignored
When the two presidents used the Texas-Mexico boundary as a backdrop for the national immigration fight, residents felt they were left out of the conversation.
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2024 Texas Elections
At odds with Abbott and Paxton, Rep. Stan Lambert is under fire and getting outraised in his GOP primary
District 71 is one of three-dozen Texas House races where statewide Republicans are trying to oust incumbents from their own party. Lambert says he knows his constituents better than they do.
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2024 Texas Elections
In her reelection bid, Rep. Shawn Thierry tests whether Democrats will tolerate anti-LGBTQ votes
The Houston Democrat voted for three anti-LGBTQ bills last year, which could make her more vulnerable as she fights for reelection.
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2024 Texas Elections
House Speaker Dade Phelan, enemy of the far-right, faces toughest reelection yet
Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and former President Donald Trump are accusing Phelan of being a “RINO,” even as Phelan has overseen the passage of some of the most conservative bills in recent history.
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2024 Texas Elections
Donald Trump endorses challenger to Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan
Phelan’s reelection campaign has become a referendum on the power of the far-right faction of the state Republican Party.