The Texas Legislature remains mostly white and male
When the 2021 legislative session begins Tuesday, three of every five lawmakers in the state House and Senate will be white and just 27% of seats will be held by women. Full Story
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When the 2021 legislative session begins Tuesday, three of every five lawmakers in the state House and Senate will be white and just 27% of seats will be held by women. Full Story
The extension comes after the conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in November sided with Texas officials who have long tried to block Planned Parenthood from participating in Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor. Full Story
Texas officials cited a need to preserve medical supplies as a reason to crack down on abortions. A new study finds that many Texans left the state during this time seeking the procedure. Full Story
The former Housing and Urban Development official will be part of the largest group of House Republican women ever elected to Congress in the same year. Van Duyne’s supporters expect she’ll bring her brand of outspoken conservative fire with her to the Capitol. Full Story
Outgoing President Donald Trump's administration wants to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count that determines how many congressional seats each state gets. Texas could lose at least one congressional district under the plan, according to a study. Full Story
At a housing unit turned health clinic in rural Brown County, the director of a family planning clinic laughs at the idea of offering tele-health visits to limit the virus' spread: “Where we are, that is just not an option for us.” Full Story
El Paso is far from the only predominantly Hispanic area that has been ravaged by the virus. Hidalgo and Cameron counties, both along the state’s southern border, have seen death tolls that rival larger and more urban parts of the state. Full Story
Officials are preparing for the massive undertaking of distributing a vaccine that may require multiple doses and subzero storage temperatures across a state that covers 270,000 square miles and some 170 rural counties. Full Story
Texas Republicans managed to avoid net losses in the state and U.S. House this election cycle in part because voters in key districts showed a willingness to vote Democratic at the top of the ballot and Republican lower down. Full Story
U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis said acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf's memo in July limiting the validity of the DACA permits from two years to one year “was not an exercise of legal authority.” Full Story
In order to turn the tide in 2020, Biden needed to take advantage of population growth in the state’s biggest cities and political shifts in the suburbs to erase Trump’s massive advantages in rural areas of the state. Full Story
In Texas, at least 66% of the 17 million registered voters cast ballots in the 2020 general election. That’s 6.6 percentage points higher than total turnout in 2016. Full Story
Democrats once again won a large number of counties along or near the Texas-Mexico border, but by narrower margins than in recent elections. That showing played a big role in disappointing results for the state’s Democrats. Full Story
The Republican incumbent was poised to win Texas’ 38 electoral votes after an unexpectedly tight statewide race for the White House. Full Story
Texas is playing host to a series of high-stakes contests up and down the ballot, from a presidential race that could be the state’s closest in a generation to the fight for the Texas House majority. Full Story
Most of the new voters registered in the state's fast-growing urban counties or suburbs. Full Story
Experts and officials say people are exhausted with coronavirus restrictions and have begged them to don face coverings, socially distance and take “personal responsibility” for keeping themselves and their neighbors safe. Full Story
Joe Biden is not faring as well among Latino voters in the polls as Hillary Clinton did in 2016. But Democrats in Texas are working to shore up Latino support. Full Story
Experts are predicting that as many as 12 million people could vote in Texas this year. Full Story
Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial or ethnic voting group in the country, according to the Pew Research Center. And in Texas, there are sizable Asian American communities in key districts. Full Story