TribCast: Is the Texas Legislature finished for 2021?
On this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Alexa, James and Patrick about the end of the Texas Legislature’s third special session and whether there will be a fourth. Full Story
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![Hose Speaker Dade Phelan talks with several House members after gaveling in on a late night session at the Capitol on Oct. 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas legislators set the table for the 2022 elections
The controversial issues you’ve heard Texas lawmakers debate for most of the year aren’t going away; many of them will be argued all over again during the 2022 elections. Full Story
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![State Representatives on the House floor debate over amendments to HB 1 on Oct. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Republicans say Texas’ new political maps are “race blind.” To some voters of color, that translates as political invisibility.
With partisan fervor, Republicans drew new maps for Congress and the Legislature that dilute the power of voters of color. Now the lawsuits begin, as groups that feel marginalized battle for representation in the halls of power. Full Story
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![House members converge to discuss a point of order during a late-night session at the Capitol on Oct. 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Five takeaways from Texas’ third special legislative session
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office says there’s no plan for a fourth special session at this time. If this was the final special session of the year, what did we learn from it? Full Story
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![The north side of the Capitol building on Oct. 6, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans send Gov. Greg Abbott a new congressional map that protects GOP power, reduces influence of voters of color
After a few last-minute alterations, the state's new congressional districts are drawn and await the scrutiny of federal courts. Already, one lawsuit has been filed claiming the new maps intentionally discriminate against Latino voters. Full Story
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![A map of Tarrant County shows Hispanics' voting age population on the House floor on Oct. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
First lawsuit filed challenging new Texas political maps as intentionally discriminatory
Before they’re even signed into law, the state’s new maps for congressional and statehouse districts have been challenged in federal court by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Full Story
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![Texas House of Representatives.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Longtime U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett will run in the Austin area's new congressional district
The Austin Democrat, who has served in Congress since 1995, currently represents the 35th District, which stretches down to San Antonio. He will run in the newly created 37th District located in Travis County. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett D-Texas, at a press conference at Foundation Communities in Austin on Sept. 2, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: An election slogan you won’t hear in Texas in 2022
“Turn Texas Blue” was the Democratic rally cry in the 2020 elections. It didn’t happen, and with the maps the Texas Legislature is drawing, it’s not in the cards for 2022, either. Full Story
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![A map of Tarrant County shows Hispanics' voting age population on the House floor on Oct. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Texas congressional map heads into last-minute negotiations as Democrats decry shortage of Hispanic representation
Though people of color drove nearly all of Texas’ population gains in the last decade, the proposed map gives white voters control of both of the two new congressional districts the state earned. Full Story
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![People look at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers send to Gov. Greg Abbott new political maps that would further solidify the GOP’s grip on the Texas Legislature
The redistricting plans for the House, Senate and State Board of Education were approved Friday. Full Story
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![The Senate floor on Jan. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans pave way for new battleground state House district in Rio Grande Valley over local lawmakers’ objections
The likely new district comes as Texas Republicans continue to try to make new inroads in South Texas after the 2020 election. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Aug. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
With surgical precision, Republicans draw two congressional districts that dilute power of Hispanic and Asian voters
The GOP is losing its hold on suburbs of Dallas and Fort Worth as they grow more diverse. Two new districts show how far the party is reaching to entrench rural, white electoral power. Full Story
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![Census data from 2020 and redistricting maps at The Texas Tribune office in Austin on Oct. 7, 2021. The state population grew by nearly 4 million and was driven mainly by people of color.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House passes proposed new map for chamber’s 150 districts, aiming to protect Republicans’ majority for the next decade
Members considered more than 50 amendments to the proposed map during debate that began Tuesday and ended early Wednesday. Some of the biggest changes focused on Dallas and Harris counties. Full Story
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![The House floor at the Capitol on Sept. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
How a doughnut-shaped district breaks up voters of color near Fort Hood and helps House Republicans
The doughnut district would be in Bell County, a traditionally red area that has trended blue in recent years as the diverse community around the nation’s biggest military installation grows. Full Story
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![Killeen City Hall on Oct. 11, 2021, in Killeen.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: A federal judge temporarily blocks Texas’ near-total abortion ban
In this week’s TribCast, Matthew speaks with Alexa and Reese about the ongoing court fights over Texas’ new abortion law and the redistricting process in Texas. Full Story
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![Dyan Lee and Judy Kajander hold and wear signs as they listen to speakers during the Women's March ATX at the Texas Capitol in Austin, on Oct. 2, 2021. Thousands of people attended the rally in support of women's reproductive health and access to safe abortions.]()
Credit: Chelsea Purgahn for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves congressional map that draws no new Black or Hispanic districts even as people of color fueled population growth
Texas gained two new seats in Congress based on population growth fueled by people of color. But the Senate’s proposal provides no new majority-Black or majority-Hispanic districts to reflect that growth. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: When Texas legislators admit they don’t know what they’re doing
When lawmakers find something in the law that they don’t like — or that their voters don’t like — they can always say they didn’t know what they were voting on. It happens more than you’d think. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol grounds are covered in snow on Feb. 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House committee advances proposed map for lower chamber
The draft, which will need a stamp of approval from the full chamber before it can head to the Senate for consideration, is likely to continue to change before the Legislature sends it to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for a signature. Full Story
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Senate approves map cementing GOP dominance in upper chamber, dividing up Tarrant county’s voters of color
Democrats criticized Republicans for “targeting” a North Texas district that had been trending Democratic and for not drawing any new districts where people of color would represent a majority of eligible voters. Full Story
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![State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, speaks to state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, on his resolution to declare an emergency on the Texas-Mexico border on April 2, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Two Black Houston members of Congress decry redistricting map that pits them against each other as discriminatory
Despite the objections of U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, the Senate committee voted out the redrawn congressional map Monday without addressing the district overlap. The map heads next to the full Senate for a vote. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, speaks as the House Judiciary Committee meets on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 8, 2019.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Leah Mills
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