Texas Senate votes to take up redistricting again
The redistricting process this year is mostly procedural and is not expected to produce very different results from the most recent process completed in 2021. Full Story
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![A woman waits for the Senate to gavel in from the Senate gallery on Aug. 10, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Why all eyes are now on the often ignored Texas Board of Education races
All 15 seats of the State Board of Education are up for grabs in November, and one race in District 7 highlights how critical race theory has become a key issue. Full Story
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![The State Board of Education meeting on January 29, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Federal trial over new Texas political maps is delayed by evidence disputes
The Republican-drawn maps largely serve to bolster the party’s dominance. The maps are being challenged based on various claims, including intentional discrimination, vote dilution and racial gerrymandering. 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 -
A GOP power grab shatters 30 years of political progress for Black voters in Galveston County
Republicans dismantled the only Galveston County commissioners precinct in which voters of color held political clout. It’s a major blow for Black and Hispanic voters who had been building political momentum. Full Story
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![Roxy D Hall Williamson poses outside of a new mural commemorating Juneteenth in Galveston on April 4, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Gerrymandering has left Texas voters with few options
Texans who don’t vote in primaries and primary runoffs are missing a chance to choose who goes to Congress and the Texas Legislature. Thanks to the political maps drawn by lawmakers last year, only a handful of those contests will be competitive in November. Full Story
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![People wait in line to cast their votes in the primary election at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Dallas on March 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Here’s your ballot for the May 24 Texas primary runoff election
See the full list of candidates in the Democratic and Republican primary runoffs, and find out who’s on your ballot based on where you live. Full Story
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“Unwinnable race”: State Sen. Beverly Powell of Burleson ends reelection bid, citing redrawn political map
Powell, a Democrat, had won Senate District 10 by winning over a coalition of diverse voters in Tarrant County. The GOP redrew the district to branch out to counties to the south and west that made it more rural and more white. Full Story
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![State Sen. Beverly Powell, D-Burleson, waits for the Senate to gavel in on Aug. 10, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas is quietly using redistricting lawsuits to launch a broader war against federal voting rights law
As Texas defends against accusations that its new political maps are discriminatory, it’s laying the groundwork to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out longstanding Voting Rights Act protections. Full Story
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![The newest drafts of the statewide congressional districts in Texas outside the Senate Chamber in the Texas Capitol in Austin on Sept. 30 2021.]()
Credit: Dimitri Staszewski for The Texas Tribune -
Nearly 18% of registered Texas voters cast 2022 primary ballots
Texas has a history of a dismal turnout rate in primary elections. This year’s turnout was higher than the last six midterm primaries. Still, less than 1 in 5 registered voters participated. Full Story
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![2022 primary election turnout]()
Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht -
Federal judges won’t halt Texas primary in state Senate district being challenged for alleged discrimination
The redrawn state Senate District 10 splits Black and Hispanic voters in Tarrant County. A full trial on whether GOP lawmakers intentionally discriminated against voters of color is expected later this year. 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 -
Early voting in Texas’ March 1 primary election starts Feb. 14
Texans will head back to the polls — from Feb. 14-25 for early voting and on election day, March 1 — for the 2022 primary election. Here’s an overview of what Texans need to know about casting a ballot. Full Story
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![Graphic that reads, "Primary Voter Guide" above a collection of voting stickers.]()
Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht -
Texas violated voting rights law during redistricting, retiring state GOP senator says in sworn court statement
A three-judge federal panel is hearing arguments in a lawsuit claiming that Texas Republicans violated the Voting Rights Act when they redrew state Senate District 10 in Tarrant County to lessen Black and Hispanic voting power. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, on the Senate floor on May 6, 2019.]()
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Frontrunners for Texas’ new congressional seats look to send message with decisive primary wins
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, is the favorite to return to Congress via Texas’ 37th District, while Republican Wesley Hunt is the leading contender in the 38th District. Full Story
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![Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Wesley Hunt, a Republican candidate for U.S. House Texas District 38, wave to a crowd at a rally in Houston on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022.]()
Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Running a Texas election while voters are distracted — by politics
With less than five weeks left in the primary election season, there is no shortage of political issues to debate. But most of the political conversation isn’t about the election. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol in Austin on Oct. 19, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: A Texas election in the shade of government’s third branch
Challenges to new Texas laws on voting, political districts and abortion are all pending in court, as is the state’s challenge to federal vaccine mandates. But until the courts rule, those laws remain in place — and they provide political fodder for the incumbents who support them. Full Story
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![The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 1, 2021. Today, the Supreme Court will hear cases regarding abortion in Texas.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Here’s your Texas 2022 March primary ballot
The Texas 2022 primary will take place March 1. See the full list of candidates statewide and find out who's on your ballot based on where you live. Full Story
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![Voting stickers for the 2022 primary ballot page in Texas.]()
Credit: Emily Albracht/The Texas Tribune -
Top stories from our data visuals team in 2021
In 2021, the Tribune’s data visuals team helped tell the biggest stories affecting Texans. Here’s a roundup of our most impactful work. Full Story
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![Images from the Texas Tribune data visuals team's best work in 2021.]()
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Opportunity was snatched away from Dallas County Latino communities when Texas Republicans redrew congressional maps
Dallas-area Latinos hoped their growing numbers would finally translate into political clout this year through the creation of a new congressional district anchored by their communities. Instead, their neighborhoods were splintered between numerous white-majority districts. Full Story
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![Joseph Mata and Angie Pérez dance at the Ledbetter Eagle Ford Community Organization’s senior program held at the Jaycee-Zaragoza Recreation Center in West Dallas on Nov. 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas’ population has changed much faster than its political maps
Texas’ population has grown 40% this century, and 91% of the new Texans are people of color. Federal judges now have to decide whether those monumental changes are reflected in the state’s political maps. Full Story
![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.]()
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U.S. Department of Justice sues Texas over new political maps
Texas lawmakers illegally discriminated against voters of color by drawing new political districts that give white voters more political power despite rapid growth of Hispanic and Black populations, the department claims in its lawsuit. Full Story
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![The Capitol building on Oct. 6, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune