Texas alternates election years with governing years, with legislative sessions set in the odd-numbered years after voters choose their leaders. There are variations, but it’s got a rhythm: Choose them, watch them govern, choose, watch. The elections behind us, it’s time to see what this particular bunch will do.
redistricting
Posted in
State Government
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Galbraith on why the Lege meets only every two years, Hu picks the year’s best political moments on video, Ramsey on the personalities who mattered in 2010, Stiles on lobbyists with conflicts of interest and what the census means for redistricting, yours truly on the new Cameron Todd Willingham documentary, Grissom on cockfighting and Trillin on Sissy Farenthold: The best of our best from Dec. 23 to 27, 2010.
Posted in
Demographics
Congressional Clout
For the seventh consecutive decade, Texas will gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the decennial apportionment process, which means extra clout after the 2012 elections. With Republicans in control of redrawing the state’s congressional districts — and adding the four new seats — they stand to benefit the most.
Posted in
Politics
Equal, But Not the Same
Lawmakers will spend the next six months drawing political maps for Texas, doing their decennial readjustment to make sure each district has the same number of people. But when they’re done, some parts of the state will still get more political attention than others, and the voters have only themselves to blame.
Posted in
Demographics
Now the Fun Begins
Texas won big Tuesday with the release of 2010 census data. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune takes a look at the numbers, which will have legislators redrawing state maps to add four new congressional seats.
Posted in
Demographics
Now the Fun Begins
Texas won big Tuesday with the release of 2010 census data. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune takes a look at the numbers, which will have legislators redrawing state maps to add four congressional seats.
Posted in
State Government
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 58
In this week’s TribCast, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben discuss the difficult budget votes ahead, the weakened House Democratic Caucus and what redistricting means for 2012.
Posted in
State Government
Who’s It Gonna Be?
John Frullo, Jim Landtroop, Charles Perry and Four Price each won election to the Texas House last month, representing districts in a part of the state where the population is dwindling. At least one of them should leave the car running at the curb.
Posted in
State Government
Debbie Irvine: The TT Interview
The newly christened executive director of the Texas Legislative Council on how the upcoming session is going to be “really, really difficult,” how technology has changed her job, whether redistricting maps can get drawn and agreed upon by June and how she keeps politics from impacting her work.
Posted in
Health care
Tom DeLay Wins!
Yes, a jury convicted the former U.S. House majority leader of money laundering. But his maps — the ones that upended the careers of Democrats and helped the GOP take over Congress — are still in place. No amount of jail time can change that.
