At least a third of landowners approached by state officials have refused to let wall be built on their properties. That’s forced the state to largely build on ranchland in remote areas, or erect sections that are full of gaps.
Graphics and data reporting
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2024 Texas Elections
See final results from Texas for the November 2024 election
Texans voted in several races, including for the President, a U.S. Senator, U.S. House members and more.
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Graphics and data reporting
Texas’ uneven population boom is creating ghost towns in many rural counties
Local leaders and rural revitalization experts say Texas’ smallest towns can survive — despite a shift to urban and suburban counties — but it will take investments.
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2024 Texas Elections
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz scored big wins in Texas, but the president-elect outperformed the senator on his own turf
Cruz beat his challenger by 9 points, while Trump prevailed over his by 14 points. Still, Cruz performed better this year than he did in 2018
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2024 Texas Elections
Trump’s near sweep of Texas border counties shows a shift to the right for Latino voters
The former president captured 55% of Latino voters in the state, according to exit polls. He also won 14 out of the 18 counties within 20 miles of the border, a number that doubled his 2020 performance in the Latino-majority region.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas Legislature will approve school vouchers and boost public education funds next year, Abbott says
Last year, Abbott refused to give public schools a major raise without passing a voucher program. His tone was more conciliatory after Election Day.
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2024 Texas Elections
Texas voter turnout falls in 2024 election despite record registration numbers
A historic 18.6 million Texans were registered to vote in the 2024 election, and 61% cast ballots, a nearly 6% drop from the 2020 presidential race.
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2024 Texas Elections
9 million Texans voted early in 2024. Here’s how that compares to previous years.
The turnout rate dropped more than 8 percentage points compared to four years ago — a high-water mark for the Lone Star State.
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Investigations
A pro-gun, anti-abortion border sheriff appealed to both parties. Then he was painted as soft on immigration.
Immigration is not part of Joe Frank Martinez’s job. But in Del Rio, like in other majority Latino communities across the country, the issue is high on voters’ minds and is disrupting long-standing political allegiances.
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Texas’ housing crisis
Texas’ high housing costs sparked a movement to bring them down. The fight could shape the state for years to come.
A new breed of activists wants Texas to tame costs by building more housing. But longstanding opposition to such policies remains strong.