Gonzales, 43, faces Brandon Herrera in the May primary runoff election for South Texas District 23.
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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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.
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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.
Posted in
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.
