Complaint filed over Texas AG Ken Paxton's tactics to limit mail-in voting
In a series of tweets and a public statement, Paxton said eligibility for absentee voting has not been expanded. But a state judge's order says otherwise. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton walked across the Supreme Court plaza to hold a press conference in 2016.]()
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Watch: Texas Senate candidate Eddie Rodriguez discusses his 2020 bid to succeed Kirk Watson during a pandemic
We sat down for a live interview with Rodriguez, D-Austin, to discuss his campaign to succeed former Sen. Kirk Watson and get his take on how the coronavirus pandemic has reshaped his campaign. Full Story
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Senator Kirk Watson talks reopening the Texas economy and his impending retirement from politics
We sat down for a live virtual event with Watson, D-Austin, to discuss the path to reopen the Texas economy during the coronavirus pandemic and to look back at his time in the Senate. Full Story
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Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt pushes back resignation to focus on coronavirus response
Eckhardt had been planning to resign to run for state Senate. Now she says she'll stay on until mid-May. Full Story
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![Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt speaks at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 29, 2018.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott postpones special Texas Senate election due to coronavirus pandemic
The special election is now set for July 14. Full Story
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![Super Tuesday voting lines at the Metropolitan Multi Service Center near downtown Houston on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.]()
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Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt resigns to run for Texas Senate
Eckhardt was elected Travis County's first female county judge in 2015. Full Story
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State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez becomes first to enter race for Senate District 14
Rodriguez, a longtime House Democrat from Austin, announced his candidacy Saturday for the seat being vacated by state Sen. Kirk Watson. Full Story
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![State Representative Eddie Rodriguez during the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and House Elections Commitee press conference regarding the statements released about the alleged 95,000 non-citizens on the voter rolls in Austin on Jan. 30, 2019.]()
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In Texas, a chaotic primary yields status quo results
As Democrats and Republicans gear up for a competitive general election in Texas, there seems to be less appetite for intraparty warfare. Full Story
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![Presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to supporters at a campaign event at Texas Southern University in Houston on Monday, March 2, 2020.]()
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Longtime Texas state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. heads to a runoff
The Brownsville Democrat has served in the Senate for nearly three decades. With all polling locations reporting Wednesday morning, he was just shy of the 50% vote mark needed to win outright. Full Story
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![Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, spoke during during a Senate State Affairs committee hearing on July 23, 2017.]()
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Analysis: Culling the Texas ballots, round one
Tuesday's elections will trim dozens and dozens of would-be officeholders from the ballots, setting the table for a number of consequential runoffs and for a highly contested and anticipated general election in Texas. Full Story
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![People in line to cast their vote at a South Austin early voting location on Nov. 2, 2018.]()
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State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. bets on experience, seniority as he confronts two Democratic primary challengers
The longtime state senator from Brownsville is hoping his upper-chamber clout can ward off two intraparty opponents questioning his Democratic credentials. Full Story
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![State Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville, on the Senate floor on May 6, 2019.]()
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Analysis: Why would a Texas Democrat want a seat in the Republican state Senate?
On paper, Texas senators have it better than their counterparts in the Texas House, but why would a Democrat want to work in a place where Republicans are fully and completely in control? Full Story
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![State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, chairman of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee, meets with fellow members on the Senate floor on May 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: A Texas Senate retirement and Bernie Sanders' new lead in the state
On this week's TribCast, Alexa talks to Emma, Cassi and Alex about what state Sen. Kirk Watson's retirement could mean for the Senate, Bernie Sanders' new lead in presidential polling in Texas and a Democratic judicial candidate's sexist comments about his opponent. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, at a press conference at the Capitol on Feb. 18, 2020. Watson spoke about his retirement from the Texas Senate and his new upcoming position as the Founding Dean of the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs.]()
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State Sen. Kirk Watson to retire from Texas Senate
Watson has represented Austin in the Texas Senate since 2007. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, on the Senate floor on April 11, 2019.]()
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Royce West helped flip Dallas County for Democrats in 2006. Could he flip Texas in 2020?
In a crowded Democratic field to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the longtime state senator is betting on his decades of experience as a consensus builder. Full Story
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![State Sen. and Democratic candidate. for U.S. Senate Royce West in the lobby at 919 Congress Ave. on Feb. 4, 2020.]()
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Conservative activists helped elect Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Now some say there’s a disconnect.
A group of hardline grassroots activists has called on Patrick to be more outspoken on party priorities and worries that lines of communication appear to no longer be there. Full Story
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![JoAnn Fleming, executive director of Grassroots America, sits for a portrait in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Tyler Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020.]()
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Analysis: The Texas Senate could become more democratic — for partisan reasons
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he might adjust Senate rules if the GOP majority shrinks — the better to bring Republican legislation up for debate when Democrats object. What's so surprising about that? Full Story
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With GOP supermajority at risk in 2020, Dan Patrick says Texas Senate may lower threshold to bring bills to the floor
The lieutenant governor said Thursday he may decrease the threshold to a simple majority if Republicans lose one or two seats in November. Full Story
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![Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Senate Parliamentarian Karina Davis on the senate floor. Jan. 9, 2019.]()
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Joe Biden sells himself as the Democrat to beat Trump — and turn Texas blue — during San Antonio campaign stop
“You’ll be seeing a lot of me before now and November, God willing," the former vice president said at a rally in the hometown of fellow Democratic candidate Julián Castro. Full Story
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![Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a community event in San Antonio on Dec. 13, 2019.]()
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Analysis: The Texas Senate will be a quiet zone in a noisy, important election year
In what promises to be a tumultuous and competitive election year, races for the Texas House are going to be a lot more interesting than those for the Texas Senate. Full Story
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![State Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, on the Senate floor on April 9, 2019.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribune
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