Ted Cruz

What is the "boyfriend loophole?" Houston's police chief wants lawmakers to prevent abusive dating partners from buying guns.

by Stacy Fernández

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo made the remarks after one of his sergeants was killed while responding to a domestic violence incident.

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Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo speaks out against bathroom bills at a press conference on the steps of the state capitol on July 25, 2017.

Houston police chief calls out Texas Republicans for opposing "boyfriend loophole" law after officer dies in domestic violence call

by Stacy Fernández

Acevedo accused U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of being too afraid of the NRA to pass a provision to the Violence Against Women Act that would close the so-called boyfriend loophole.

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Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questions judicial nominees during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 4, 2019.

Ted Cruz backs debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in 2016 election

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" and advanced a debunked theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election, despite information from State Department officials calling it a "fictional narrative."

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US Sen. John Cornyn R-TX and US Sen. Ted Cruz R-TX speak to media following Texas Public Policy Foundation's annual policy orientation in Austin on January 11, 2019

Analysis: This U.S. Senate race in Texas isn’t like the last one

by Ross Ramsey

Two years ago, nobody knew who Beto O'Rourke was. It turned out not to matter in a race with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. But the current race for Senate is different.

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From left, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rodney Reed.

Ted Cruz calls efforts to halt Rodney Reed's execution "remarkable bipartisan coalition"

by Jolie McCullough and Chase Karacostas

"If there is credible evidence there’s a real chance a defendant is innocent, that evidence should be weighed carefully," Cruz tweeted Friday night.

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U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso and his wife Amy Sanders O'Rourke speaks to the local and national media at UTEP before the start of his final campaign rally before the midterm elections, Monday, November 5, 2018, in El Paso, Texas. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune

Analysis: Beto O’Rourke’s out, but he still casts a shadow on the 2020 Texas elections

by Ross Ramsey

Beto O'Rourke's bid for the presidency failed. And he lost his 2018 bid for U.S. Senate. But he upended the status quo in Texas politics in ways that will play out in the 2020 elections.

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Most Texas voters have heard nothing or little of the scandal that sunk House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, UT/TT Poll says

by Ross Ramsey

The recorded conversation that upended a first-term speaker of the Texas House was big news in state politics, but most registered voters barely noticed, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

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Chris Hayes interviews U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019.

Ted Cruz wants Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney, to testify before judiciary committee

by Brandon Formby

The Republican senator's comments on "Face the Nation" came days after two Texans became ensnared in the unfolding political scandal surrounding Trump.

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Botham Jean's younger brother Brandt Jean hugs former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger after delivering his impact statement to her following her 10-year prison sentence for murder at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Oct. 2, 2019.

Amber Guyger was hugged by her victim’s brother and a judge, igniting a debate about forgiveness and race

by Hannah Knowles, The Washington Post

Some were confused, troubled and outraged after Amber Guyger received embraces from both the victim's brother and the judge.

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A service is held for Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal of the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Dhaliwal was shot and killed while making a traffic stop on Sept. 27, 2019.

Sikh Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal remembered as “all that is good"

by Stacy Fernández

A memorial service was held for Sandeep Dhaliwal, the first observant Sikh deputy in Harris County, who was killed in a routine traffic stop Friday.

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Ted Cruz took issue with Trump's call with Ukraine's president, but he expected it to be worse

by Abby Livingston

The U.S. senator spoke at the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival in an interview with MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes.

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President Donald Trump gives a speech to a large crowd during a MAGA rally at the Toyota Center in Houston on Oct. 22, 2018.

Texas Republicans defend Trump as impeachment movement continues to roil the U.S. Capitol

by Abby Livingston and J. Edward Moreno

GOP lawmakers from Texas criticized the push to impeach, saying Democrats "hate" President Donald Trump.

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Ted Cruz speaks at the annual School Choice Week rally held on the South Steps of the Texas State Capitol on Jan. 23, 2019.

Watch Ted Cruz speak at The 2019 Texas Tribune Festival

by Texas Tribune Staff

Watch a recording of "Why is This Happening? with Chris Hayes," in which Ted Cruz talks with Chris Hayes about small government, big tech, the Senate vs. the House and his relationship with the president.

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Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke takes the stage for the start of the 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Houston on Sept. 12, 2019.

Beto O'Rourke's call for mandatory buyback of assault weapons roils Texas politics

by Patrick Svitek

The Democratic presidential candidate's proposal has upended the gun debate nationwide, but perhaps nowhere more dramatically than in Texas. It's here that both parties are facing internal divisions as they work to respond to recent shootings in El Paso and Odessa.

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Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke speaks to supporters gathered in front of the state Capitol in Austin, his last stop on his three-city tour that included El Paso and Houston.

Beto O'Rourke names Texas staff for presidential campaign

by Patrick Svitek

O'Rourke's Texas leadership team will be helmed by Delilah Agho-Otoghile, who most recently served as field director for Stacey Abrams' 2018 campaign for Georgia governor.

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President Donald Trump speaks at the third annual "Made in America Product Showcase" on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2019.

Donald Trump is spending more money on Facebook ads in Texas than in any other state

by Alex Samuels

The spending in the traditionally red state is raising questions about whether he's simply shoring up his support — or treating Texas as potentially up for grabs in 2020.

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Mary Lou Parker protests President Donald Trump's visit four days after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso.

During Trump's visit, El Paso residents criticized his divisiveness — and lawmakers' inaction on gun laws

by Julián Aguilar

Anger and frustration about gun laws — and president's racist language — is becoming more apparent in a city still dealing with grief from what police have said is a racially motivated massacre.

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From left: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

After El Paso shooting, some Texas Republican leaders decry "white" terror

by Patrick Svitek

Land Commissioner George P. Bush linked the shooting with "white terrorism," while U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz called it a "heinous act of terrorism and white supremacy."

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Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Brown listens to Philip Durst during a hearing for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice v. Maurie Levin, et al. case on Jan. 23, 2019.

U.S. Senate confirms Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Brown to the federal bench

by Emma Platoff

The nod creates a vacancy on the state's highest civil court, giving Gov. Greg Abbott his third opportunity to make an appointment.

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U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, in his Washington, D.C. office on July 15, 2019.

Chip Roy helped Ted Cruz agitate in the U.S. Senate. Now he has brought those tactics to the House.

by Adam Willis

Roy, a Republican from Austin who previously served as Cruz's chief of staff, has employed a kind of procedural troublemaking to frustrate Democrats — and some Republicans — in Congress.

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