Here’s your Texas 2024 May runoff ballot
The Texas 2024 primary runoffs will take place May 28. See the full list of candidates statewide and see who’s on your ballot. Full Story
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Former Texas House speaker says GOP megadonor Tim Dunn told him only Christians should hold leadership positions
Straus, who is Jewish, publicly confirmed the conversation for the first time Thursday. It had previously been reported by Texas Monthly. Full Story
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![Sandi Villarreal, deputy editor for digital at Texas Monthly, moderates a panel with US Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and former speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 24, 2022 in Austin, TX.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Public blasts Texas agencies, regulators for poor communication and oversight at wildfire hearings
Thursday’s hearing marked the end of the Legislature’s three-day marathon of public hearings. Full Story
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![Craig Cowden gives testimony to the house committee investigating the Panhandle wildfires Thursday, April 4, 2024 in Pampa.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas counties facing surprise surcharge from voter registration software vendor
Votec, one of only three companies certified to manage voter registration data in Texas, is facing a financial squeeze and asking counties for a 35% surcharge. Full Story
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![Voter registration forms at a registration event in Austin, on Sept. 27, 2020.]()
Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune -
Influential conservative PAC targets Phelan, other House Republicans
Club for Growth announced it will spend $4 million on a TV ad targeting five anti-school voucher Texas House Republicans. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan in his office in Beaumont on Jan 26, 2024.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
UT-Austin announces round of firings in latest step to comply with Texas’ DEI ban
The firings come after state leaders criticized universities for not doing enough to enforce the ban. Students say UT-Austin has already overcorrected. Full Story
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![Students pass in front of the Jackson School of Geosciences and Gates-Dell Complex at the University of Texas at Austin on Feb. 22, 2024.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred voted for TikTok ban despite continuing to use the app
Allred is the delegation’s most prolific user of the app. He said he voted for the legislation because of national security concerns. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, attends the first U.S. Senate debate in Austin on Jan. 28, 2024. The Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention hosts this 75-minute debate ahead of the March 5 primary elections.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Years ago, Texas hustled to get kids on state health care. Now it’s kicking them off.
Texas’ recent unwinding of Medicaid and CHIP has been criticized, dropping more than a million people eligible for the health insurance programs. Decades ago, Texas officials got kids health insurance in record time. Full Story
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![August Johansen looks through the glass door of the birthday venue while cradling a balloon on Dec. 9, 2023. He had inoperable brain cancer and depended on Medicaid to pay for full-time home nursing care from a private agency to help his mother take care of him throughout years of health crises. But in December, he became one of 810,000 children dropped from Texas’ Medicaid program in the previous five months, but was reinstated through his mother's efforts.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
House Speaker Dade Phelan’s immigration record central in bid to oust him
The Beaumont Republican’s foes are trying to paint him as soft on the border, even after last year’s passage of far-reaching laws and record border funding. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, announces he has the votes to be elected the next speaker of the Texas House at a press conference at the Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas woman charged with murder for self-induced abortion sues Starr County district attorney
The Starr County district attorney dropped the improper charges, but the fallout “forever changed the Plaintiff’s life,” a new federal lawsuit says. Full Story
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![The Starr County Jail in Rio Grande City on Saturday. The District Attorney is dropping the charges against Lizelle Herrera, a woman who was indicted with murder for a "self-induced abortion."]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
In El Paso, apathy, alienation and discontent with candidates drives low voter turnout
Across this border city, which sees some of the state’s lowest voter turnout, many residents either didn’t know there was an election in March or had reasons for avoiding the polls. Full Story
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![Jorge Trujillo outside of the Memorial Park Senior Citizen Center vote center in El Paso on March 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas appeals court overturns Crystal Mason’s conviction, 5-year sentence for illegal voting
Mason gained national attention after she was convicted for voting while under supervised release for felony tax fraud. She said she didn’t know she was ineligible to vote. Full Story
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![Crystal Mason in Fort Worth on Sept. 9, 2019.]()
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Texas could require social media influencers to disclose paid political posts
The Tribune reported last year that a company called Influenceable LLC was paid to recruit influencers to defend Attorney General Ken Paxton over his impeachment. Full Story
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![The Texas Ethics Commission took the first step in adopting rules that would require social media influencers to include political advertising disclosures when they are paid to post political advertising online.]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Kylie Cooper/The Texas Tribune -
Once the Texas GOP’s “weak link,” Attorney General Ken Paxton is growing more popular and powerful
With his impeachment and securities fraud case behind him, Paxton’s political stock is on the rise. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton endorses David Covey at an event in Beaumont on Monday, Jan 15, 2024. Covey is running against House Speaker Dade Phelan in the Republican primary.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Republicans’ budding interest in Texas’ housing crisis could create strange political bedfellows
Republican lawmakers may try to force Texas cities to allow greater housing density as the state faces a housing crunch. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
As Texas students clash over Israel-Hamas war, Gov. Greg Abbott orders colleges to revise free speech policies
The governor singled out pro-Palestine groups and said they should be subject to discipline. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abbott condemns the recent attacks on Israel during a community gathering in support of Israel at the Congregation Agudas Achim in Austin on Oct. 9, 2023. Abbott also announced efforts for Texas to support Israel, which included funding for increased security at Jewish and Israel-related locations such as synagogues and schools and an Executive Order directing all Texas state agencies to refrain from purchasing goods produced in or exported from the Gaza Strip.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Race to succeed Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi has become referendum on his tenure
Some Republicans and candidates are calling for a serious change, warning that the party could be vulnerable in future elections because of the ongoing disunity that has defined Rinaldi’s two terms. Full Story
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![Texas Republican Party Chair candidates Dana Myers, left, and Abraham George.]()
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Montgomery County directs citizen board to review, and potentially remove, library books
The county north of Houston adopted the guidelines amid a growing number of book bans in school districts and a new state law that supporters claim protects children from inappropriate material. Full Story
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![Books at Vandegrift High School's library on March 2, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Legal experts say it’s rare to pursue jail time in securities fraud cases like Paxton’s
In 2015, Attorney General Ken Paxton was indicted on three securities fraud felony charges. Experts in securities fraud say those charges are rarely pursued. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton talks with his team in the 185th Criminal District court at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center before his pretrial hearing March 26, 2024, in Houston.]()
Credit: Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton agrees to community service, paying restitution to avoid trial in securities fraud case
Paxton, who will not have to enter a plea under the terms of the agreement, faced the prospect of decades in prison if he had been convicted of fraud. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton enters the 185th Criminal District court at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center for his pretrial hearing March 26, 2024, in Houston.]()
Credit: Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune