Last year, Texas Republicans drew new districts aimed at picking up five more U.S. House seats. This tool compares previous and new districts.
Chris Essig
Chris Essig is the data visuals editor at The Texas Tribune. Based in Austin, he leads a team of developers who build charts, maintain public databases and analyze data to help reporters hold elected officials accountable. Chris has been a newsroom developer for 10 years and has worked in several local newsrooms. As a native of the Midwest, Chris received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and spent six years in Iowa working at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids and at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in Waterloo.
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Graphics and data reporting
Here are the most important stories from our data visuals team in 2025
The Tribune’s team of data journalists produced a congressional redistricting tool, covered several education data releases, visualized the measles outbreak and more.
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Energy
Residents protest high-voltage power lines that could skirt Dinosaur Valley State Park
One of three possible routes would border the North Texas park. The project is part of a statewide effort to keep pace with Texas’ rapidly growing energy needs.
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Immigration
Immigrant families in Texas have gone into hiding after latest Trump administration policy
Last month the Trump administration made people from 19 nations ineligible to obtain legal status. “Fear won,” said one woman who came from Venezuela nearly a decade ago.
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Public Education
Texas Education Agency taking over Lake Worth, Connally and Beaumont school districts
The three interventions come after the state’s education agency announced plans to take over Fort Worth ISD in October.
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Hill Country floods
These graphics show the scope of Texas’ Hill Country floods
These maps and charts show the scale and intensity of the Hill Country floods and highlight Camp Mystic’s proximity to high-risk flood zones.
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Hill Country floods
Central Texas flooding death toll rises to at least 100 as search continues for survivors
About two dozen people were still missing. Many more people could still be unaccounted for, officials warned, noting that visitors to the area for the July 4th weekend make it difficult to assess an exact number.
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Graphics and data reporting
Texas lawmakers have gotten used to state budget surpluses. That era may be ending.
As federal pandemic aid ends and sales tax revenues cool, analysts say it could constrain the Texas Legislature in coming years. But they don’t see an immediate budget crisis on the horizon.
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Texas Legislature 2025
How couriers changed the playing field of the Texas Lottery
Lottery couriers have gained newfound scrutiny in Texas after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick raised questions about the use of a courier to sell an $83.5 million jackpot ticket.
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Demographics
These four Texas counties are among the fastest growing in the country
Texas’ population growth has slowed, but the state’s major urban areas are still adding hundreds of thousands of residents.