In our first TribCast recorded in front of a live studio audience, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben discuss the results of the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, Gov. Rick Perry’s new TV ad and the state’s looming budget deficit — is it even bigger than we thought?
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
Beyond the Bake Sale
With or without the controversial federal education funding that would come with Texas-specific strings attached, many of the state’s school districts are preparing for tough budgetary times ahead — and they’re getting creative about potential solutions. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.
Posted in
Economy
Mind the Gap
Texas lawmakers will have their hands full filling a budget hole in 2011 of $18 billion or more, but the projected shortfall is great political fodder for candidates of both parties in 2010. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.
Posted in
Demographics
The Polling Center: Is Rick Perry Really Vulnerable?
Make no mistake: A Democrat running in a statewide race in Texas who is not losing by double-digits is doing relatively well. But this raises the larger question: Can Bill White actually win?
Posted inPolitics
Texas Weekly’s Hot List, Vol. 2
Our latest look at the most competitive races on the Texas congressional and legislative ballots now includes five more contests, each with Democratic incumbents. If GOP exuberance turns out to be rational, these seats could be in play. Only one race changes categories this week: CD-23, which was Red last week but has been downgraded to Orange.
Posted in
Politics
Perry by 6 in Volatile Race
Gov. Rick Perry leads Bill White 39 percent to 33 percent in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, whose most interesting finding is a restless electorate dissatisfied with conventional choices up and down the ballot. In the governor’s race, 22 percent of respondents said they were undecided about which candidate to support with only seven weeks to go in the fall campaign. Third-party candidates are capturing enough of the vote to affect the outcomes of some statewide contests. And 31 percent of respondents — nearly one in three Texans — consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement.
Posted in
Higher Education
Accountability U.
Like a conglomerate auditing balance sheets, the Texas A&M University System has for six months been dissecting the financial contribution of every faculty member on its 11 campuses around the state, subtracting the salary of each from the tuition and research money he or she brings in. The resulting metrics present in stark detail exactly where the system gets the most and least bang for its payroll buck — and have raised the hackles of professors at all levels, who liken the approach to grading assembly-line workers on widget production.
Posted in
Politics
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 45
In this week’s TribCast, the regular podcast gang is back to talk about the start of campaign season, the latest polls in the race for governor, and the political effect of that $18 billion budget hole.
Posted in
Politics
2010: Poll-Land
A new political survey says Gov. Rick Perry is beating Democrat Bill White in the governor’s race, but also shows the incumbent is unpopular with half of likely Texas voters and that the same percentage of voters support a two-term limit for governors.
Posted in
Politics
Is the Governor’s Race Really Tied?
A poll released Tuesday shows the Texas governor’s race in a virtual dead heat. Conducted by the GOP firm Hill Research Consultants, it has Rick Perry leading Bill White 42 percent to 41 percent, with 14 percent undecided. Other polls this summer, however, have shown the governor with a much larger lead. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.