Twelve of the 15 districts on the Texas Senate ballot in 2018 are represented by Republicans. Most of those, and all of those held by Democrats, have remained firmly in the clutches of the party now in power during the last two election cycles. Most of 2018’s competition will be in March, not in November.
2017
Posted in
Public Education
Texas lawmaker questions education group’s tactics for getting out the vote
A state lawmaker is seeking a legal opinion on whether an educator group is encouraging improper use of public funds to get out the vote. Teachers say they are modeling civic engagement for their students within legal limits, and the letter is motivated by a backlash against public education.
Posted inState Government
Texas Education Agency waives some testing requirements for Harvey-affected students
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is not changing state standardized test dates for students affected by Hurricane Harvey, but he is waiving some requirements for certain students, his agency said Thursday.
Posted inState Government
Top Paxton staff member resigns after story about social media comments
A top lawyer in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has resigned following a report about a comment he made on social media belittling the recent flood of women who have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations.
Posted in
Environment
Global warming boosted Hurricane Harvey’s rainfall by at least 15 percent, studies find
Two independent research teams have reported that the deluge from Hurricane Harvey was significantly heavier than it would have been before the era of human-caused global warming.
Posted in
The Taking
How the border fence cut through one Brownsville neighborhood (video)
An investigation by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica revealed that landowners were paid unevenly for similar plots of land when the federal government began taking property to build a border fence in the Rio Grande Valley. Hear the stories of a few of those landowners.
Posted in
Congress
Former Texas Solicitor General James Ho wins confirmation for federal court
James Ho, a well-respected Dallas attorney and former state solicitor general, was confirmed Thursday to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. He joins Don Willett, a longtime Texas Supreme Court justice who was confirmed Wednesday.
Posted in
Politics
U.S. Rep. Farenthold of Texas to retire amid sexual harassment scandal
U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, announced Thursday he would retire from Congress after finishing his current term following new allegations that included former employees describing him as verbally abusive and sexually demeaning.
Posted inState Government
T-Squared: Three new hires and a breaking news editor
The Texas Tribune is a lean and mean operation. So it’s not every day you get to announce three — yes, three! — phenomenal new hires, plus one great promotion.
Posted inState Government
Explore new data about Texas’ 8,757 public schools
We’ve updated our Texas Public Schools Explorer with data from the 2016-17 school year. Explore demographic trends, graduation rates and teacher salaries for all 1,203 school districts and 8,757 campuses in the state.
