Congress

On the Records: Digging Through Disclosure

by Matt Stiles

Writing about congressional travel required days of tedious work because the information isn't easily accessible. Full Story 

Frequent Flyers

by Andrew Kreighbaum

Members of the Texas congressional delegation took more than 200 privately funded trips, at a cost of more than $350,000, in 2008 and 2009. Full Story 

Never Can Say Goodbye

by Ross Ramsey

Texas voters won't be offered a real chance at change in the Legislature and Congress next year. Four out of five state and federal lawmakers face no real competition in their primary or general elections. Full Story 

TribBlog: Please, Hammer, Don't Hurt Them

by Evan Smith

Tom DeLay, the former Houston congressman and U.S. House majority leader and ertswhile booty-shaker, is Texas Monthly's 2010 Bum Steer of the Year. Full Story 

2010: The Re-Entrance of Bill White

by Elise Hu

Bill White's expected to announce for governor today. We'll get you caught up to speed on what led to this day, help flesh out what it all means, and take a quick look ahead. Full Story 

2010: Is it Safe?

by Evan Smith

How many Texas congressional seats are competitive enough to merit a mention? Three, according to sayer of sooth Charlie Cook. Full Story 

RINO Hunters

by Ben Philpott, KUT News

Today is the first day for people wanting to run in the Democratic or Republican primary to file their candidacy. The month-long period is often a mix of the expected — like Governor Perry filing to run for re-election — and the unexpected. Houston Mayor Bill White running for governor could set off a chain reaction among Democrats to enter other statewide races, for instance. But one of the most interesting phenomena this year is the number of so called Tea Party Republicans entering the primaries. Ben Philpott, covering the Texas governor's race for KUT News and The Texas Tribune, has this report. Full Story 

Ads Infinitum: KBH Releases New TV Ad

by Elise Hu

KBH is out with her second television ad of the campaign cycle. "Texas Tough", as it's called, highlights the KBH record with the help of a tough-talkin' male voiceover. Full Story 

2010: CQ's Take on Texas

by Ross Ramsey

Congressional Quarterly's latest rankings of congressional races has only three Texas contests in the "likely" category, two on the Democratic side and one on the Republican side. Full Story 

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

by Ross Ramsey

Multi-part stories from Ramshaw and Grissom and Stiles on mental health services for detained immigrants and on payday lenders who provide exorbitantly priced credit to people with nowhere else to turn... Twitter, word clouds and the race for governor — a Stiles joint... Farouk Shami is in and Hu was there to watch... Philpott went to Bastrop for a gather of Republican governors... Rapoport finds a State Board of Education that's trying to control itself... and we have the skinny on legislative races that are likely to be competitive (only about 5 percent of the races on the ballot). It's the best of The Texas Tribune from November 14 to 20, 2009. Full Story 

KBH won't resign to run

by Reeve Hamilton, Elise Hu, Ross Ramsey, Abby Rapoport and Matt Stiles, The Texas Tribune and Ben Philpott, KUT News

Kay Bailey Hutchison won't resign from the Senate to run for governor. Hutchison and her aides began calling other Republicans Friday afternoon to tell them to make other plans. Full Story 

HuTube: Hutchison Speaks, Says Little

by Elise Hu

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison talks the Texas economy, the latest Rasmussen poll and her resignation timetable. Watch the full exchange with reporters Friday morning. Full Story 

The Brief: November 12, 2009

by Reeve Hamilton

One little speech and everybody’s all atwitter. Full Story 

T-Squared: Twit and Wisdom

by Evan Smith

We've set up our first Twitter list, aggregating the feeds of 58 tweeting Texas elected officials Full Story 

Mixed impressions inside the poll numbers

by Ross Ramsey

Texans say immigration tops their list of state concerns. Nearly half of them say illegal immigrants should be deported, as against 41 percent who think the immigrants should be allowed to keep their jobs, assimilate, and eventually be allowed to apply for legal status. Full Story