The U.S. Justice Department said Monday that new political maps for the Texas House and the state’s congressional delegation don’t protect the electoral power of the state’s minority populations as required by the federal Voting Right Act.
Politics
Stay informed with The Texas Tribune’s in-depth political coverage, including Texas elections, state government, policy debates, and the leaders shaping the future of the state.
Posted in
Politics
The Texas Weekly Index
Lots of things affect election outcomes. Candidates. Money. Issues. Surprises. But some of the results are wired into district maps, through redistricting. Here’s our charting of the political atmosphere — Republican or Democratic — in each of the House, Senate and congressional districts drawn by the Legislature this year.
Posted in
Inside Intelligence
Inside Intelligence: Parched
Amidst a record-setting drought and neighborhood-devouring wildfires, we asked the insiders this week about water and fire policy.
Posted in
Higher Education
UT President Bill Powers: “We Are a House Divided”
University of Texas President Bill Powers isn’t mincing words in his State of the University address. He takes head-on the controversy that has dogged the state’s higher education community for several months.
Posted in
Politics
Mexico Mandates HPV Vaccine; Other U.S. States Consider It
Gov. Rick Perry may be taking heat for his failed plan to require young girls in Texas to get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted disease human pappilomavirus, but the Mexican government has decided it’s a good idea, and many other states have considered similar plans.
Posted in
Politics
Jose Aliseda: The TT Interview
The freshman Republican state representative on what he liked about the legislative session, what’s wrong with the process, the press, politics and why he’d be coming back for more if a local job hadn’t opened up.
Posted in
Guides
Texplainer: Can Texas Use the Rainy Day Fund to Fight Wildfires?
Gov. Rick Perry has said the Rainy Day Fund should be preserved as an insurance policy against natural disasters, but Texas can’t actually dip into it until the next legislative session — in 2013.
Posted in
Politics
Court Cartography
Don’t expect a redistricting ruling out of San Antonio quickly. Some of the lawyers — and this requires more lawyers than a Hollywood divorce — say the Texas judges might hold their ruling until the DC courts are finished. That could be November, or even December.
Posted in
Politics
Challenge to Texas Redistricting Opens in Federal Court
The state’s new political maps are now in the hands of the federal government. An army of lawyers lined up before the start of federal hearings on Tuesday, lugging boxes of papers and briefcases bulging with the scribbled notes and other arguments they’ll present over the next two weeks.
Posted in
Politics
Why the Redistricting Lawsuit Matters
Because — as both Democrats and Republicans know well — the drawing of congressional, legislative and State Board of Education district lines determines, to a large extent, the outcomes of future elections.