Congress

Candidates running for U.S. House and Senate races in Texas have raised millions of dollars to fund their campaigns during the 2011-12 election cycle. Use this news application to see which individual donors are helping finance those contests — or download the raw data filed by the candidates to the Federal Election Commission.

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Candidates in next year’s U.S. House and Senate elections in Texas raised more than $5 million in the first quarter from individuals. Most live in Texas. But a significant portion came from outside the Lone Star State, according to the Federal Election Commission. California led the way, followed by Virginia, Washington, D.C. and New York.

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President Barack Obama will be in Texas today for a fundraising event, and at least one Republican running for U.S. Senate, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, is eager to welcome him to the state — sort of. 

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Aaronson on the latest attack on Planned Parenthood, Aguilar previews the sanctuary cities debate, Grissom on a death row inmate's unsuccessful appeal, Hamilton on the UT System's faculty "productivity" data dump, Philpott on the prospect of lawsuits over education cuts, Ramsey on puppies and other distractions, Ramshaw on a tobacco fight, my interview with the presidents of UT-Austin and Texas A&M, M. Smith on a former State Board of Ed member who may have violated state ethics law, Stiles interactively displays the effects of House redistricting and Tan on the Senate budget end game: The best of our best content from May 2 to 6, 2011.

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Members of Congress from Texas — and potential candidates for those offices — have raised more than $9 million in the first quarter of this year in advance of the 2012 federal elections, campaign records show.

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Texas candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives have raised more than $9 million in the first quarter of this year in advance of the 2012 federal elections. This interactive map visualizes campaign finances by congressional district during the first quarter of 2011.

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While television and conservative talk radio continue to marginalize his presidential candidacy, unrest and anxiety over the nation’s economic woes festers, and a passionate and energized base of young people supporting him grows. It's long past time to take him seriously.

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On the day he announced his intention to form a 2012 presidential exploratory committee, Texas congressman Ron Paul, R-Surfside, sparred with Stephen Colbert about the Fed, the debt ceiling and whether he and his sons are the "Libertarian Kennedys."

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Three years ago I interviewed the apparent 2012 Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate — then a retired lieutenant general hawking a memoir — for Texas Monthly. You can read the nearly 2,700-word Q&A here.

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At this morning's TribLive conversation, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was unwilling to distance himself from controversial remarks about Planned Parenthood by his colleague, U.S. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona.

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To avoid government shutdown, congressional Democrats agreed to repeal an amendment that would have prohibited Texas from using federal funds to replace, rather than supplement, state funding of schools.

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Not much, unless you're one of the state's 130,000 civilian federal employees — or you’re scrambling to get your taxes done.

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Texas has the largest GOP delegation in Congress, and those members have high seniority, spots on key committees and seats at the leadership table — evidence, observers say, of the state’s sway inside the Capitol.

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These maps visualize the number of years members of the U.S. House of Representatives have served, with darker shades representing longer seniority.

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The U.S. Department of State on Tuesday said U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual has agreed to stay in Mexico City to help the two governments organize a transition.

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A Houston attorney and radio commentator is floating the idea on a Facebook page and a website. No other Democrat can win, he says.

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Last night, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, appeared on the PBS NewsHour to discuss a controversial hearing over the perceived radicalization of Islamic youth. 

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Exiting Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert has released a lengthy (as in, more than three minutes) video on YouTube explaining why the Republican is running for U.S. Senate.

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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Reps. Randy Neugebauer and Sam Johnson are among the most conservative members of Congress, according to National Journal's annual ranking of votes.

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Not even two months into his first term, U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, is the subject of an ad campaign from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

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