Crenshaw, fighting to remain in his Houston-area congressional seat, has drawn criticism from right-wing media and a challenge from Toth, among the most conservative members of the Texas House.
Our newsroom is trying new things to help Texans vote with confidence this spring. We want to demystify the process, the candidates and the offices of this year’s Texas primaries.
Aaron Reitz, who is running for Texas attorney general, issued the threat after an interview of Wu was shared online of him discussing non-white voting strength.
With Texas’ hardline conservative megadonors largely staying on the sidelines, a handful of House primaries have become battlegrounds for the state’s civil justice debate.
The majority of the Democratic caucus’ haul came when the party broke quorum over the summer to delay the GOP-controlled Legislature from redrawing the state’s congressional map.
Texas Majority PAC and the Texas Democratic Party recruited 104 candidates to fill uncontested races. Gov. Greg Abbott’s strategist said it amounts to a gimmick “if they don’t back it up with serious resources.”
Rep. Christina Morales, the new chair of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, said she wants to initially target five GOP-controlled districts, with a broader list to come later.
VanDeaver, who represents northeast Texas, was one of two House Republicans to oppose a school voucher program this year after he narrowly beat a pro-voucher primary challenger in 2024.
Speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, Democratic Rep. Donna Howard acknowledged that Republicans have unified around Speaker Dustin Burrows to the point that he “may not need us” to retain the gavel.
Smithee has represented the Panhandle in the Texas House for 40 years. He ran for speaker last year and most recently served as chair of the criminal jurisprudence committee.
The state party’s governing board will meet Saturday to decide whether 10 Texas House Republicans tried to thwart GOP priorities during this year’s legislative session.
The statewide survey found that more voters disapprove of the mid-decade redraw than support it, fueled by overwhelming opposition from independent and Democratic voters.
Democrats in the Texas House began the year by elevating a new speaker and left Austin relegated to the sidelines in the one chamber that had granted them at least scraps from the table.
House Bill 8 scraps the unpopular exam for three shorter tests at the beginning, middle and end of the year starting in the 2027-28 school year.
The House refused Senate changes allowing exports to continue while the state studies its underground water supply. Lawmakers left the Capitol without reaching a compromise.
House members who freeze future legislation by fleeing Texas will face steeper fines, loss of seniority and committee posts, and limits on political fundraising.
The new law is one of the toughest in the country regarding vaping, essentially eliminating the disposable vape category until it’s from U.S. manufacturers.
High priority bills that propose banning THC have not moved through the Texas House, as the current overtime session could conclude in the coming days.
HB 256 would prevent camps from correcting violations on the spot to avoid state penalties and reduce the number of camps serving on a state panel to a maximum of two.
Senate Bill 8, which goes into effect on Dec. 4, restricts bathroom use in government buildings and schools to the sex assigned at birth.
With just days left in the special legislative session, a bill to ban hemp-derived THC products in Texas hasn’t moved in the Texas House leaving parents, addiction recovery advocates, and some school leaders increasingly frustrated.
House Bill 26 advanced out of the Texas Legislature on Aug. 27, two days after being added to the second special session’s agenda.
Democrats say recent changes to the bill give too much power to the TEA and fall short of meaningfully easing the pressures of standardized testing.
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.
Democrats said the walkout inspired a national protest against GOP redistricting. But it also greased the path for other bills they oppose and unified Texas Republicans.
One lawsuit, filed by LULAC on behalf of 13 Texas residents, states that the redrawn districts in the new map are racially discriminatory and violate voter protection laws.
Senate Bill 8, which now heads to the House floor, would restrict which bathrooms in government buildings transgender people would be allowed to use.
A Texas Senate panel has advanced a controversial new congressional map, moving it one step closer to Governor Greg Abbott’s approval — and one step further from what Democrats call fair representation.
Republican lawmakers are pursuing the unusual mid-decade redistricting plan amid pressure from President Donald Trump to protect the GOP’s slim majority in the U.S. House.
Texas Democrats have ended a two-week walkout that stalled efforts to redraw congressional districts as part of a national partisan brawl over President Donald Trump’s desire to reshape U.S. House maps to his advantage.
Senators moved fast on Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda for the second special session. With House Democrats back in Texas, bills can now move through that chamber.
After a two-week walkout, enough Texas House Democrats have returned to the Capitol to restore a quorum, allowing the second special session to begin. The return follows intense protest over Republicans’ mid-decade congressional redistricting effort.
Democratic lawmakers who walked out will now be subject to an around-the-clock escort by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Burrows said
After two weeks out of state, Democratic lawmakers returned to Austin, paving the way for Republicans to pass their proposed congressional map.
The second session is set to consider the same agenda that stalled in the first, with redistricting and disaster response at the top of the governor’s priorities.
With Democrats’ walkout over redistricting bringing the House to a standstill, both parties are accusing each other of abandoning Central Texas flood victims.
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 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.
Gov. Greg Abbott previously asked the court to expel Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic leader. Paxton disputed the governor’s authority to make the request.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have appeared shoulder-to-shoulder with Texas Democratic lawmakers in a show of support for their nearly weeklong walkout.
In response to Texas Democrats blocking the quorum needed for redistricting, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, House Speaker Dustin Burrows, and Attorney General Ken Paxton are turning up the heat—threatening legal action and seeking federal help to bring the lawmakers back.
“Is Gene Wu back in China?” state Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican, posted on X on Monday — the first day the House did not reach a quorum due to the absent Democrats.
While the Democrats could technically derail the GOP’s redistricting map, such efforts have been largely symbolic and had limited success blocking past legislation, experts say.
While the Democrats could technically derail the GOP’s redistricting map, such efforts have been largely symbolic and had limited success blocking past legislation, experts say.
Chair Rep. Gene Wu and his colleagues reassure their supporters: "We are safe, we are secure, and we are undeterred."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has asked the state Supreme Court on Tuesday to remove from office a top state lawmaker he called the “ringleader” of Democrats who left the state to block a vote on a new congressional voting map pushed by President Donald Trump.
The former El Paso congressman also contributed to House Democrats’ 2021 quorum break. A PAC backed by Democratic donor George Soros is also involved in this year’s effort.
As a political chess match wages on against Texas lawmakers and an attempt to block a vote on a “rigged” congressional redistricting map, officials with the Democratic National Convention are joining the effort in Illinois.
Texas and California are at the center of a national political power struggle that could reshape Trump's second presidency.
Texas Republicans are trying to redraw congressional districts to pick up five additional U.S. House seats. Democrats face financial and political risk in their bid to block the GOP plan.
Democrats fled the state to stop Republicans’ attempt to redraw congressional districts, but bills aimed at everything from a THC product ban to bolstering flood response are now in doubt.
The warrants apply only within state lines, making them largely symbolic as most of the legislators in question decamped to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts.
Dozens of Democratic state lawmakers in Texas have scattered across the country in a last-ditch effort to prevent Republicans from adopting U.S. House maps that President Donald Trump wants in place before the 2026 midterm elections.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have left Texas in an attempt to block the adoption of redrawn U.S. House maps sought by President Donald Trump.
Sunday night, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a heated statement warning of legal consequences for Democratic members of the Texas House who chose to leave the state to break quorum and block Republican-backed legislation earlier in the day.
As Texas House Democrats once again deny quorum over Republican-led redistricting efforts, marking the first Democratic walkout in more than four years.
In a dramatic escalation of opposition to redistricting efforts led by Republicans in Texas, the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus have expressed strong support for their House counterparts, who have denied quorum in protest of a proposed congressional map they call “rigged” and disenfranchising.
Texas Democrats have left the state in an attempt to prevent the state House from holding a vote Monday on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will net them several additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
The lawmakers’ absence means the lower chamber won’t have enough members present to function, stalling passage of a draft map Democrats have condemned as a political power grab.
Democrats are arguing that a Republican plan for redrawing districts in Texas to create more winnable U.S. House seats for the GOP is an attack on Black and Hispanic voters.
Texas Republicans have proposed a new congressional map that creates five additional GOP-leaning districts as they brace for a challenging midterm election in 2026.
With several candidates lined up to represent the district, which has remained unseated since March, the results from the survey further demonstrate how heated the race has become.
Hundreds of Texas residents gathered at the University of Houston today to speak directly to lawmakers about a controversial redistricting proposal that could reshape the state’s political map.
At the same time, some Democrats acknowledged the Lubbock Republican let them leave their mark on some of the GOP bills they disagreed with.
Jones, a Democrat elected to the Texas House in 2022 and previously served on the Houston City Council, joins a slate of candidates running to fill the solidly blue seat.
Research shows cellphones interfere with students' ability to focus in class. Texas would join at least nine other states that ban students from using their phones during the school day.
Gov. Greg Abbott has already said he intends to sign the bill, which will give schools funding for salary increases, special education, teacher preparation and operational costs.
Supporters said the proposal, which sought to amend the state constitution, would improve safety. Critics said it would violate due process and unfairly target minority groups.
The Texas Senate has passed House Bill 4 with a 23-8 vote, citing Houston ISD's academic improvements under Superintendent Mike Miles as an example of effective accountability.
Senate Bill 1362 would prevent officials from taking someone’s firearms if they haven’t been charged with a crime or aren’t subject to a protective order under the Texas Family Code.
Senate Bill 15, a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is part of a broad push by lawmakers to put a dent in the state’s high home prices.
The House made changes to the proposal that leave open ways for victims to be compensated beyond medical bills.
Senate Bill 13 would require school boards or advisory councils to approve new books and review complaints. In most cases only 50 parents’ approval would be needed to create the oversight councils.
A top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the legislation would make it easier to construct homes on smaller lots. A House Democrat briefly killed the bill.
A 2024 war among Republicans tilted the House to the right. Now more closely aligned with the Senate, Speaker Dustin Burrows has accelerated action on bail, school vouchers and social issues.
The chambers differ on how much power districts should have to push back in courts over their accountability ratings. They risk keeping STAAR by default if they don’t reach an agreement.
The bill, which is poised to become law, creates up to a $250,000 fine for medical professionals who change a patients’ listed sex outside of certain exemptions.
The House approved the ban after previously considering proposals to preserve the industry by tightening regulations.
The deal appears to strike a face-saving compromise for both chambers over how to increase funds for the state’s public schools, with money earmarked for teacher pay and overhead costs.
The bill is part of a suite of GOP proposals aimed at curbing the state’s high housing costs — chiefly by allowing more homes to be built.
The House passage of the measure asking voters to amend the state Constitution to tighten the state’s bail laws hands a major policy win to Gov. Greg Abbott.
As the state grapples with a threatened water supply, industry and lawmakers have invested millions in research to clean the toxic backwash for use in for agriculture.
Some measures that made it through before midnight dealt with jail bonds, an unconstitutional ban on gay sex, and the liability of vaccine manufacturers.
The bill would cap out-of-state political donations to a candidate or lawmaker to $5,000 for a statewide election, $2,500 for a district office and $1,000 for a county office.
The Texas House must approve changes to the proposal that were brokered by party leaders. It’s part of a package of bills to bring down property taxes statewide.
Senators will hold a hearing Thursday on their counterproposal to the House's school funding bill. House Democrats and public education advocates have criticized the upper chamber for not moving faster to advance the legislation.
It is unclear whether the House bill could come back as an amendment to another measure before the legislative session ends June 2.