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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.
Revisit our animated tour of Texas Congressional District 35, which wiggles its way from Austin to San Antonio, swallowing specific neighborhoods while avoiding — or splitting — others, all in the name of partisan political advantage. Full Story
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The U.S. House and Senate voted for a major overhaul of the American tax code on Tuesday and Wednesday, sending the measure to President Donald Trump's desk. Here's how all 38 Texans in Congress voted on the bill. Full Story
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We've updated compensation data for employees of the University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and UT Southwestern Medical Center in our Government Salaries Explorer. This update reflects state agency payrolls for 2017. Full Story
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Despite all the focus on November, many in Texas politics are keeping a close eye on January. That's when the 150-member Texas House will pick its new House speaker. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune asked all 38 members of the state's congressional delegation whether they would consider a ban on "bump stocks," the type of gun attachment used by the Las Vegas mass shooter. Full Story
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Texas Republicans in Congress applauded the Trump administration's DACA decision — but none of them advocated for the deportation of those currently in the program. Full Story
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As part of our Lock The Vote series, we examine a key piece of Republicans’ 2011 redistricting strategy, which courts said discriminated against minorities: U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s curiously-shaped 35th Congressional District. Full Story
The Texas Tribune surveyed all 38 Texans in Congress Wednesday, asking if they believed Trump's response to Charlottesville has encouraged the white nationalist movement. Full Story
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President Trump set off even more confusion than usual at the U.S. Capitol this week by announcing he would ban transgender people from the military. Take a look at where Texans in Congress stand on the issue. Full Story
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House Bill 3287, which Gov. Greg Abbott didn't veto, will force larger breweries to pay a distributor to deliver their beer — even if they're delivering it to on-site taprooms just yards away from where it's produced. Full Story
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