Analysis: For Texas politicians, the season of receiving has arrived
The elections are behind the state's politicians. The 86th legislative session is ahead. In between, it's time to raise money. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht -
Democrats in the Texas House ponder life with Dennis Bonnen as speaker
Nearly half of the Democrats who will serve in the House next year signed on to support state Rep. Dennis Bonnen's speaker bid. Other members are left wondering what a House with Bonnen at the helm could mean for them — and whether they could get behind it. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, announces at a Capitol press conference that he's accumulated enough votes to be elected speaker of the Texas House in January.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/BDP Inc. -
Section 8 vouchers are supposed to help the poor reach better neighborhoods. Texas law gets in the way.
Under Texas law, landlords cannot be punished for discriminating against families with federal housing vouchers. The impact is clear in Houston, where one in four families who receive housing assistance never gets to use it. Full Story
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![Denise Taylor-McCullough, right, who has a Section 8 housing voucher but has been unsuccessful finding a place to live, continues to search at her realtor Pamela Bank's (left) office in Houston on April 19, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers punt on setting a spending cap for 2019 session
House Speaker Joe Straus said the unusual decision was meant to ensure lawmakers didn't rush to a decision they might "regret." Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton (left), and outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, at a Legislative Budget Board meeting in Austin on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Straight-ticket voting ends in 2020. For some down-ballot Republicans, that wasn't soon enough.
The Legislature voted last year to end straight-party voting for the 2020 elections. After a tough night for some down-ballot Republicans, some are wishing they'd done it sooner. Full Story
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![Voting inside a Fiesta grocery story in Houston on Tuesday Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: What does a Dennis Bonnen speakership look like?
On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Matthew and Cassi about the likely next speaker of the Texas House, the start of bill filing for the 2019 legislative session and an incoming Texas congressman's stint on Saturday Night Live. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, just before a press conference to announce he has the necessary support to be the next speaker of the Texas House of representatives, on Monday, Nov. 12, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Electricity complaints filed by Texans reach three-year high, report says
Despite showing an uptick in electricity complaints this year, a report released by the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power also shows that complaints and inquiries have generally decreased over the past decade. Full Story
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![Electricity transmission lines in Houston.]()
Credit: Dave Fehling NPR StateImpact / KUHF Houston Public Radio -
Amazon picks Crystal City and New York for HQ2, snubbing Texas
The long-awaited decision comes more than a year after Amazon announced the public bidding war in September 2017. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
After a tough election night, “a wakeup call” for the Texas GOP’s hard right
Some favorite candidates of hardline conservatives lost their seats, while others won closer-than-expected races. Full Story
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![Texas Tax Day Tea Party Rally at the Texas Capitol on April 15th, 2015]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
How election night may have shifted the Texas House speaker's race
Democrats, who picked up 12 state House seats, are more confident they’ll have a stronger hand in electing the next leader — an outlook that even some Republicans privately agree with. Full Story
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![The House Chamber at the Texas Capitol on August 16, 2017, the morning after the end of the special session.]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court Justice Phil Johnson to retire effective Dec. 31
The timing allows Gov. Greg Abbott to appoint a replacement for the remainder of his term. Full Story
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![Texas Supreme Court Justice Phil Johnson on Jan. 10, 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Democrats’ biggest win on election night may have been the courts
Democrats flipped four major state appeals courts, toppling 19 incumbent Republican appellate judges. Full Story
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![The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin on Oct. 17, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
2018 was the year of the woman in Texas. Candidates say it's "not a one-time deal."
Texas women were poised for potential wins after multiple upsets in March primaries. On Tuesday, in race after race, Texas women won up and down the ballot including races for Congress and the Texas House. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus: "He's not much of a Republican."
In a wide-ranging interview Wednesday night, Patrick sounded off about Straus, the midterm elections and U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke: "It scares me what he stands for." Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks at a get-out-the-vote rally held by the NE Tarrant Tea Party in Grapevine on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2018.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
In Texas, the "rainbow wave" outpaces the blue one
Fourteen of 35 LGBTQ candidates won their races Tuesday night, and activists say the 2018 election will carve a path for a future "rainbow wave" in Texas. Full Story
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![Left to right: State Reps.-elect Erin Zwiener, HD-45, Jessica González, HD-104, and Julie Johnson, HD-115.]()
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Gerrymandering backfired for Texas Republicans in Dallas County in 2018
Republicans hoped to keep a majority Texas House seats from Dallas County when they redrew district boundaries in 2011. Seven years later, they've only held onto two of 14. Full Story
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![Downtown Dallas in January 2018.]()
Credit: Brandon Formby / The Texas Tribune -
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus: Texas and the Republican Party are “moving in opposite directions”
In a wide-ranging conversation with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith, Straus launched jabs at two fellow Republicans: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and President Donald Trump. He declined to weigh in on who should succeed him as the leader of the lower chamber. Full Story
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![Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith records an interview for a Texas Tribune podcast with Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, in the Speaker's office at the State Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018.]()
Credit: Rodolfo Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Point of Order: Joe Straus on the midterms, Donald Trump’s tweets and the next speaker of the Texas House
In the pilot episode of his new podcast, Point of Order, Evan Smith sits down with Speaker Straus the morning after the midterms to talk everything from the balance of power in the Texas House to President Trump's tweets. Full Story
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Four top takeaways from the 2018 Texas midterm elections
Historic turnout, unusually tight races and a "blue wave" that didn't quite break. Full Story
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![Voters cast their ballots in midterm elections in Houston, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Democrats were aiming for historic wins in 2018. What they got instead was hope for 2020.
Republicans won every statewide office in Texas, as they have in every election for the past 20 years. But Democrats are taking heart in their narrow losing margins. Full Story
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![Beto O'Rourke speaks to his supporters after losing to Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterm elections, in El Paso on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune