Texans are heading to the polls Tuesday to make their final selections for which Democrats and Republicans will run for various seats in the November election.
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
Texas’ Republican old guard mobilizes to protect Dade Phelan from the far right
Phelan’s primary has emerged as a last stand for the Republican Party’s business-minded establishment against an insurgency primarily motivated by social and cultural issues.
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UT-Austin Protests
UT-Austin’s Jay Hartzell praised by GOP leaders as university presidents nationwide take heat over protest response
Hartzell’s protest response has also resulted in condemnations from students and faculty.
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2024 Texas Elections
Gov. Greg Abbott endorses U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales amid primary runoff attacks that he’s a RINO
Gonzales, 43, faces Brandon Herrera in the May primary runoff election for South Texas District 23.
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Politics
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick lists housing affordability, fighting antisemitism on campus among 2025 priorities
Examining charitable bail organizations and banning Delta 9 were also among Patrick’s priorities in the next legislative session.
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Politics
Influential conservative PAC targets Phelan, other House Republicans
Club for Growth announced it will spend $4 million on a TV ad targeting five anti-school voucher Texas House Republicans.
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2024 Texas Elections
Tom Oliverson announces he is challenging Dade Phelan for Texas House speakership
Oliverson, one of Phelan’s committee chairmen, said the speaker has lost the confidence of the Republican caucus.
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2024 Texas Elections
Gov. Greg Abbott appears with embattled House Speaker Dade Phelan for first time in heated primary season
Abbott has so far been silent as Phelan battles for political survival in a tough primary runoff.
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2024 Texas Elections
House Speaker Dade Phelan took a risk on Paxton’s impeachment. It may end his career.
The May 28 runoff promises to be an expensive, high-profile contest that will help reshape the political dynamics of the Texas House.
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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.
