ELECTIONS

Want to win a statewide political race in Texas that's not at the very top of the ballot? It helps a lot if your party's top candidate wins — or at least runs a close second.

Sunday's presidential election reflects an intense political fight in a country U.S. prosecutors call a "narco-state."

A new state law requires the secretary of state's office to audit results in four randomly selected counties every two years.

Next year’s primary elections start a year after a winter storm knocked out power across Texas — and the government response to that disaster could be on voters’ minds.

The lawmaker has represented parts of central and southeast Houston in state House District 147 since 1991.

The GOP slate for statewide office includes two high-profile Latinos and two Black candidates who have previously held state or federal office. Republicans are making a play to be more competitive with voters of color as the state’s electorate grows more diverse.

For those who enjoyed a break from political ads for a little while, get used to them ramping up again after the holiday season, if not sooner.

The Carrollton Democrat hopes Beto O’Rourke’s run for governor will help down-ballot Democrats next year.

They didn't make a majority of Texas voters happy on a single issue, but the Republican majority in the Legislature made most of their own voters happy — and then drew maps that minimize political threats to them in the November general election.

In this edition of TribCast, Ross talks to pollsters Joshua Blank, James Henson and Daron Shaw about the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, focused on the 2022 elections and this year’s legislative issues.

Republican incumbents enter their reelection campaigns well ahead of their Republican challengers and with most voters unacquainted with the Democratic challengers in the field, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Mustafa al-Kadhimi said he was unhurt in the attack on his house, said to be by an armed drone.

The October poll found that the percentage of Democrats who said voting rules should be less strict increased significantly, with 64% of voters taking that position compared to the 51% in August.

The poll also found that potential candidate Matthew McConaughey is not universally beloved by Texans. About a quarter of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of the movie star who has flirted with running for governor.

The elderly, voters with disabilities and voters with limited English proficiency risk disenfranchisement under sweeping legislation Texas Republicans pushed through earlier this year, the justice department argues in its legal challenge to Senate Bill 1.

Many Harris County voters are wondering how the county could see such a massive delay in results on Tuesday, even with a power glitch.

The Mexican American Legislative Caucus is arguing that the new state House map violates the Texas Constitution. The lawsuit follows two legal challenges to the state’s new maps previously filed in federal court.

Unofficial results show that Texas voters approved eight amendments to the state Constitution.

Election in 2021 might not be getting the fanfare of last year or what 2022 will bring, but there is one important race many political observers are watching that could set a tone for what’s to come in 2022.

Republicans saw flipping the seat as a way to make headway into South Texas, where Democrat Joe Biden underperformed last year.

Texas voters will decide on eight proposed changes to the state’s Constitution. Voters in the San Antonio area will pick a new Texas House member. And Austin voters will decide whether to require more police officers.

The race pits Republican John Lujan against Democrat Frank Ramirez for the Democratic-leaning seat that former state Rep. Leo Pacheco, D-San Antonio, vacated earlier this year.

Critics say state Rep. Matt Krause's inquiry targets books about women, people of color and LGBTQ people. The lawmaker says providing specifics about his inquiry "could compromise a potential investigation."

John Scott briefly represented Donald Trump's legal effort to challenge the election results in Pennsylvania. In an interview, he said there’s no question that Joe Biden is the president and he has “not seen anything” to suggest the election was stolen.

After conservative complaints about the national results in the 2020 election, Texas Republicans have tried to anticipate everything that might play against them in 2022, right down to who’ll be at the helm.

As secretary of state, Fort Worth attorney John Scott would oversee election administration in Texas.

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.

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.

Lawmakers approved new political maps and decided how to spend COVID-19 relief money. But they didn’t pass bills about vaccine mandates or the criminal penalty for illegal voting.

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.

“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.

Two proposed amendments — one regarding religious services and another related to nursing home visitors — stem from restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Early voting begins Oct. 18.

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.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has dissolved the lower house of parliament for Japan’s first elections of the pandemic.

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.

After high-profile clashes with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a fellow Republican, Seliger suspects members of his own party are trying to oust him.

The bills reflect GOP efforts to further tighten voting laws, and pressure from former President Donald Trump on Texas Republicans to help advance his baseless election fraud claims. They are not expected to go far in the House.

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.

The Texas Legislature is in the midst of its third special session, which is dedicated to redrawing political maps based on the latest census data that showed people of color fueled 95% of Texas’ population growth over the past decade.

The state agency last week announced a “full forensic audit” in Harris, Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties. But based on details released Tuesday, it appears the scope of the effort may be more limited than what the term may suggest.

How to vote in Texas is a hot topic of conversation, especially since the 2020 election.

Lujan is a Republican who previously held the seat and is hoping to help his party make inroads in South Texas. Ramirez is a former San Antonio City Council staffer.

More than 200 volunteers from the League of Women Voters - Houston are out in the community today for National Voter Registration Day.

The initial drafts of both maps have so far attempted to strengthen Republican majorities by protecting incumbents and creating more GOP-friendly districts.

A statewide election on Nov. 2 will feature eight constitutional amendments that address topics ranging from religious freedom to taxes to judicial eligibility. Here’s what you need to know to vote.

The Texas attorney general is being investigated for professional misconduct for his filing of a lawsuit challenging the 2020 presidential elections in battleground states. Fellow Republicans say the probe encroaches on Paxton’s executive branch authority.

Officials in some counties targeted by audits accuse Republican Texas leaders of pandering to conspiracy theorists and undermining faith in elections. They also say the secretary of state’s office hasn’t provided details on what the audits entail.

After upsets in previous special elections and President Joe Biden’s underperformance in South Texas last year, Democrats running for an open Texas House seat are taking the GOP threat seriously.

Candidates for the 2022 elections are still popping up, but many of that election’s major issues are already being debated.

The news comes less than a month after Paddie, who has represented House District 9 since 2013, announced he would run for reelection.

The threat was apparently made on Reddit and included the names of House and Senate members who voted for Senate Bill 8 during the regular legislative session.

The Republican-dominated, 15-member board determines what millions of public school students in the state are taught in classrooms.

Marine Le Pen's National Rally had hoped to win a regional powerbase ahead of next year's election.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party, La République en Marche, garnered only 10.9 % of the vote in Sunday's regional elections, which saw bigger wins for mainstream left-and-right wing parties, according to an exit poll by Elabe. Why it matters: Sunday's regional elections are seen as a barometer for next year's national elections, which are only 10 months away, Politico reports.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeThe g

Nepal’s president dissolved Parliament and announced fresh elections on Saturday after the prime minister, who was heading a minority government and was unlikely to secure a vote of confidence in the chamber, recommended the move. A notice issued by President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s office set the elections for Nov. 12 and 19. Nepal has been grappling with a political crisis at the same time it's struggling with a coronavirus surge and record numbers of daily infections and deaths, amid acute shortages of hospital beds, medication and oxygen.

Local and national contests - many delayed by Covid - are taking place in England, Scotland and Wales.

Cobb County officials reduce early voting locations ahead of Georgia Senate runoff elections Elections officials in Cobb County, Georgia, is reducing the number of early voting locations for the January Senate runoff elections. President-elect Joe Biden won Cobb County, in suburban Atlanta, 56% to 42%. Chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party Jason Shepherd joins CBSN's "Red & Blue" anchor Elaine Quijano to discuss the decision and the upcoming elections.

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened social media companies with new regulation or even shuttering after Twitter moved a day earlier to add fact checks to two of his tweets. Trump and his campaign angrily lashed out Tuesday after Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots fraudulent and predicted that mail boxes will be robbed, among other things. Trump did not explain his threat Wednesday, and the call to expand regulation appeared to fly in the face of long-held conservative principles on deregulation. The protections have been credited with allowing the unfettered growth of the internet for more than two decades, but now some Trump allies are advocating that social media companies face more scrutiny. Why are they getting subsidized by federal taxpayers to censor conservatives, to censor people critical of China.

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during an event on protecting seniors with diabetes in the Rose Garden White House, Tuesday, May 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump threatened social media companies with new regulation or even shuttering on Wednesday after Twitter added fact checks to two of his tweets. Trump, the historically prolific tweeter of political barbs and blasts, claimed on Twitter early Wednesday that tech giants silence conservative voices." Trump and his campaign had lashed out Tuesday after Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots fraudulent and predicted that mail boxes will be robbed, among other things. The protections have been credited with allowing the unfettered growth of the internet for more than two decades, but now some Trump allies are advocating that social media companies face more scrutiny.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has a new pitch to voters for this fall: Trust me. Its a transition to greatness, Trump says over and over, predicting a burgeoning economy come the fall. Now, Trump is making the case to voters that if he helped bolster the economy once, he can do it again. "Ill do it a second time.It's not just next year that will be a mystery to voters on Election Day. "The president is placing a bet by reopening the economy before public health officials believe it is safe.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has a new pitch to voters for this fall: Trust me. Its a transition to greatness, Trump says over and over, predicting a burgeoning economy come the fall. Now, Trump is making the case to voters that if he helped bolster the economy once, he can do it again. "Ill do it a second time.It's not just next year that will be a mystery to voters on Election Day. "The president is placing a bet by reopening the economy before public health officials believe it is safe.

$145M from midterm elections came from anonymous donors The 2014 midterm elections were the most expensive in history. And, as Nancy Cordes reports, an estimated $145 million in campaign funding came from anonymous sources.

Midterm elections: Tough struggle for incumbent Landrieu in La. If elections were held today, Republicans would pick up six seats in the Senate giving them the majority. But control of the Senate might hang in the balance until December, when the entire political world could descend on Louisiana. Nancy Cordes reports.

Midterm elections Anthony Salvanto, CBS News Elections Director, discusses how the races are shaping up two weeks before the midterm elections.