The Texas Tribune’s politics team has compiled five of the top stories we're watching this year, when voters will have their first chance to make their opinions known on the events of 2025.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is pushing back against a lawsuit filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), arguing the group’s legal challenge over being labeled a terrorist organization is built on speculation and political disagreement, not law.
Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock suggested schools that hosted events for the Council on American-Islamic Relations or are linked to China could be disqualified from the new program.
Texans will elect a new attorney general next year for the first time in over a decade. The office handles legal matters impacting everyday life and, currently, plays a leading role in the conservative movement.
Court documents detailing the divorce of Republican U.S. Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife have been made public following a judge's order.
The agreement comes after a judge put the Paxtons’ records under seal, prompting The Texas Tribune and other outlets to challenge the order.
The attorney general's complaint form is the latest effort to enforce new state restrictions on which restrooms transgender people can use in public buildings.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against five major television manufacturers, accusing them of secretly spying on Texans by tracking what they watch inside their homes.
The lawsuit alleges Minnesota-based Xcel Energy failed to maintain utility poles that started the 2024 Panhandle fire that killed three people and thousands of livestock.
Some Democrats dismissed the Dallas congresswoman as too polarizing to capture the swing voters needed to win. Others said her turnout-over-persuasion approach is the recipe to break through.
While Ken Paxton did not allege any wrongdoing, his move is intended to enforce a new law that prevents cities from raising property taxes if they fail to follow transparency requirements.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched a sweeping review into the financial practices of nearly 1,000 cities across the state, including major metros such as Houston, Galveston, Dallas and San Antonio, to determine whether local governments are complying with state audit and transparency laws.
Courts have said that the attorney general can use a 100-year-old law to demand entities’ internal records and sue to shut them down if he believes they’re violating the law.
Crockett, a second-term congresswoman, has skyrocketed to fame through viral spats with Republicans, becoming one of her party’s most prolific fundraisers.
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett has launched a campaign for the U.S. Senate in Texas.
The U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to expand presidential control over independent federal agencies, signaling support for President Donald Trump’s firing of board members.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into global fast-fashion giant Shein, examining whether the company violated state laws involving labor practices, product safety and consumer privacy.
Prominent Houston Attorney Tony Buzbee confirmed his firm is representing an unidentified female victim in a case involving alleged sexual misconduct.
Paxton, who is running to unseat fellow Republican John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate, has vowed to strike down Texas laws that “undermine religious liberty.”
Prominent Houston Attorney Tony Buzbee confirmed his firm is representing an unidentified female victim in a case involving alleged sexual misconduct.
The administrative ruling is a first step before the court decides whether to pause the use of the 2025 map, drawn to increase GOP seats in the U.S. House, for the rest of the legal battle.
Two Islamic civil rights organizations have filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Two Islamic civil rights organizations have filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
A new Texas law says every public school classroom must display a poster listing the Ten Commandments.
Texas Attorney General says Fort Bend County commissioners can hire an outside law firm for redistricting, resolving a dispute with the county attorney over who controls the process.
According to court documents, a federal judge in San Antonio ruled that Senate Bill 10 (SB 10) likely violates a clause of the First Amendment and temporarily ordered 14 Texas Independent School Districts (ISDs) not to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed new lawsuits against two school districts in the Austin area for refusing to comply with new state laws requiring public schools to display the Biblical Ten Commandments in classrooms.
At the Texas Tribune Festival, Republican and Democratic candidates made their case for why they should be the state’s top lawyer.
Sen. John Cornyn’s campaign launched a parody dating site, “Sinr,” mocking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s scandals and recent divorce with a Tinder-style game called FindPaxtonsMatch.com.
The county allocated $1.3 million to groups that provide immigration legal services amid an uptick in federal enforcement. Paxton called the program “evil and wicked.”
Citing a new state law, Attorney General Ken Paxton told four cities to cancel planned tax hikes. But La Marque leaders say their tax increase is critical to keeping the city afloat financially.
The nonprofit Jolt, which was targeted by Paxton in 2024, said it is again asking the court to dismiss the "meritless" lawsuit.
The suits against Galveston, Round Rock and Leander ISDs come after Texas passed a law requiring the commandments be posted in classrooms. The law is being challenged in federal court.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Galveston Independent School District after the district refused to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, as required by a new state law.
Texas is the third state to sue the platform, alongside dozens of private plaintiffs who say Roblox didn’t do enough to protect their kids from sexually explicit content.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a motion to block Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, from issuing a scheduled dividend payment on Nov. 26.
The president has sharpened his calls for Senate Republicans to kill the longstanding legislative maneuver, saying the GOP’s electoral success could hinge on it.
The Texas attorney general wanted a New York court to enforce a civil judgment against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills. The suit was a test of New York’s “shield law.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is accusing the companies behind Tylenol of deceptively marketing the pain reliever to pregnant mothers.
This lawsuit comes a month after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. updated guidance discouraging pregnant women from taking acetaminophen, citing it as a possible cause of autism.
Critics accuse Cornyn of capitulating to Democrats’ gun control demands — even though the bill largely did not restrict gun owner’s existing rights.
After Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued last year, Dr. May Lau said she is moving to Oregon and doesn't need a Texas license anymore.
Hawkins spent two years as Texas’ top appellate attorney, but resigned soon after not signing onto Attorney General Ken Paxton’s 2020 election challenge.
Phillip Surls, a local businessman who owns much of the property around the Cutoff, has argued he blocked access to the stream to protect his cattle and that the waterway is not public.
Matthew and Eleanor are joined by Tribune D.C. reporter Gabby Birenbaum and radio host Chad Hasty to unpack the three candidates vying to be the Republican nominee for Senate in 2026.
Paxton called on the university to expel the students. Free speech experts have previously criticized state leaders who laud Kirk as a free speech champion while seeking to discipline those who have celebrated his death.
Un tribunal de apelaciones de Texas autorizó al fiscal general Ken Paxton a continuar con una demanda que busca revocar la carta estatal de FIEL Houston, una organización que defiende los derechos de los inmigrantes.La decisión se emitió el mismo día en que el director ejecutivo de FIEL, Cesar Espinosa, fue retirado del Ayuntamiento de Houston tras un tenso intercambio con funcionarios de la ciudad.
A Texas appeals court has cleared Attorney General Ken Paxton to move forward with a lawsuit that could revoke FIEL Houston’s nonprofit charter.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt are finding ways onto stages in front of young conservatives galvanized by Charlie Kirk's killing.
Secretary of State Jane Nelson said in a filing that Paxton’s office gave her less than an hour’s warning that they’d be siding against her agency in court.
Robert Roberson hopes he will again avoid becoming the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
Texas Medical Association has nudged physicians to consider COVID vaccine recommendations from other medical groups.
Republican congressman Wesley Hunt is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, defying Senate GOP leadership and adding a new element to an already contentious primary campaign.
Most of the cities — Odessa, La Marque, Tom Bean and Whitesboro — said they are following the law and Ken Paxton’s office is jumping the gun on enforcing new state rules.
The latest calls to stave off the politically charged execution come after a summer where GOP leaders asked the state courts to kick Democrats out of office and throw Beto O’Rourke in jail.
A panel of three federal judges will begin considering whether Texas can use a redrawn congressional map that boosts Republicans and has launched a widening redistricting battle ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
It’s a further sign of how the Washington establishment has consolidated behind the senior Texas senator, who is being backed by the Senate GOP’s campaign arm in his primary.
The court, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, recently allowed O’Rourke to continue raising and dispersing donations, and cast doubt on Paxton’s main arguments.
While the state's strict ban on gambling hasn’t changed, fast-growing daily fantasy sports and prediction market apps are giving Texans new ways to wager without leaving home.
The survey found many Texas voters are either undecided or would support candidates who haven’t actually entered the race. It also showed GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office says one of the first doctors in the U.S. accused of illegally providing care to transgender youth under GOP-led bans was found not to have broken the law.
The Austin Democrat has made a name for himself with his viral social media presence. His entry to the race pits him against former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred in the increasingly crowded primary.
The Justice Department has issued subpoenas as part of an investigation into mortgage fraud allegations against Lisa Cook, who is fighting a Trump administration effort to remove her from her role as a Federal Reserve governor.
Texas Republicans drew new districts aimed at picking up five more seats. This tool compares previous and proposed districts.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing PowerSchool after a massive data breach compromised the sensitive information of over 880,000 students and teachers across Texas, including those in Houston ISD.
The endorsement comes as Texas elected officials push for more Christianity in public life and as Paxton’s office fights a legal challenge to religion in education.
A case that could provide the Trump administration with new and expansive power over the traditionally independent Federal Reserve got its first court hearing Friday.
Bill Pulte, the country's top housing regulator, has been using his position to target President Trump's political enemies.
The measure comes four years after the state’s highest criminal court ruled the agency could not bring election cases without an invitation from local prosecutors.
A federal judge in San Antonio issued a temporary injunction Friday blocking the enforcement of Senate Bill 10 (SB 10) in a set of Texas school districts. However, Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday that districts not listed in the order must still display the Ten Commandments once the law takes effect Sept. 1, 2025.
Aaron Reitz and Chip Roy, positioning themselves as Paxton’s ideological heirs, have served as top aides for both the attorney general and Cruz.
The push to redraw congressional maps in Texas is shifting the dynamics of the state’s 2026 Senate campaign.
It’s unclear what the announcement could entail, but Menefee's team says it will demonstrate “strong unity in the face of Republican redistricting efforts.”
The order bars Paxton from prosecuting O’Rourke’s nonprofit or otherwise bringing legal action aimed at revoking Powered by People’s charter.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked Texas from requiring nearly a dozen public school districts across the state to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
A federal appeals court has upheld a law strengthening the rights of pregnant workers, vacating a judge’s earlier order that had stripped those protections from Texas state employees.
Judge Scott Larson ruled that the Texas speaker and attorney general had “failed to present a legal basis for the court” to take up the issue.
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor ask University of Houston law professor David Froomkin to help them break down the legal cases seeking to remove 13 Democrats from the Texas House.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is escalating the partisan redistricting fight by asking a judge to hold progressive activist Beto O'Rourke in contempt.
Paxton sued O’Rourke and his political group, Powered by People, last week, arguing that the group was deceptively fundraising for and illegally supporting Texas Democrats’ walkout.
The governor and attorney general have asked the court to find that Democratic lawmakers abandoned their seats when they left Texas to delay a new congressional map.
Since Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay Republicans’ new map, state leaders have challenged the limits of traditional democratic norms to break the impasse.
Texas Republicans are trying to reconvene the state Legislature to vote on redrawing congressional maps in their party's favor.
Texas Republicans have escalated the penalties against Democrats as they enter a second week camped out in states across the country to block new U.S. House maps pushed for by President Donald Trump to win more seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.