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Matt Stiles

Matt Stiles’s staff photo

Matt Stiles covered government and politics for the Tribune, with a focus on data journalism, from 2009 to 2011. He oversaw and developed the Tribune’s library of web applications and interactive graphics. Previously, he was a government reporter at the Houston Chronicle. While there, he won the newspaper’s Jesse Award for service journalism and beat reporting and was its reporter of the year in 2007. Before joining the Chronicle, Stiles worked as a reporter for nearly four years at The Dallas Morning News.

Past Contributions

  • D is for Democratic

    By Emily Ramshaw and Matt Stiles

    Texas may be reddening, but Dallas County’s turning a darker shade of blue. While the GOP picked up hotly contested Dallas-area state House seats in November, the county voted for challenger Bill White over incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry by a margin of 12 percentage points. Straight-ticket voters also helped Democratic District Attorney Craig Watkins cling to his office in a squeaker and gave the County Commissioners Court its first Democratic majority in nearly 30 years. Full Story 

    Dallas County has grown increasingly Democratic in the last decade. In the map, darker precincts represent support for Democrats Tony Sanchez and Bill White, who ran in 2002 and 2010, respectively.
    Credit: Graphic by Ben Hasson/Matt Stiles

  • Interactive: Texas House Travel Expenses

    By Matt Stiles

    Members of the Texas House on average spent about $11,000 on travel expenses in the last fiscal year, which ended August 31. This table details those records by member. Click the column headers to sort the table and compare their spending in the various categories Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Interactive: U.S. Population Change

    By Matt Stiles

    Later this month, the U.S. Census Bureau will announce apportionment based on the 2010 decennial population count, and Texas could gain an extra four seats in the U.S. Congress. Explore historical population growth, density and apportionment data since 1910 with interactive maps and charts released today by the bureau. Full Story 

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    Credit: U.S. Census Bureau

  • Interactive: House Travel

    By Matt Stiles

    Retiring state Rep. Joe Crabb, R-Atascocita, led all Texas House members in government-funded travel expenses in the last fiscal year, according to a Texas Tribune review of expense reports obtained from the state comptroller. Crabb spent $48,400, versus a per-member average of about $11,000. In all, 14 members spent more than $30,000. View a sortable table of travel totals by member. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Debbie Irvine: The TT Interview

    By Matt Stiles

    The newly christened executive director of the Texas Legislative Council on how the upcoming session is going to be "really, really difficult," how technology has changed her job, whether redistricting maps can get drawn and agreed upon by June and how she keeps politics from impacting her work. Full Story 

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  • Debbie Irvine on Role as Lege Council Boss

    By Matt Stiles

    The newly christened executive director of the Texas Legislative Council on how the upcoming legislative session is going to be difficult, how technology has changed her job, whether redistricting maps can get drawn and agreed upon by June and how she keep politics from impacting her job. Full Story 

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  • Interactive: Congressional Riches

    By Matt Stiles

    U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, is the fifth-wealthiest member of Congress, while U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, is the fourth-poorest, according to an analysis of personal financial statements by the Center for Responsive Politics. Use our interactive tables to see how the state's members rank. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • On the Records: How White Fared at Home

    By Matt Stiles

    A few days ago, we noted the geographic similarities in the statewide performance of Democrats Bill White and Barack Obama in their respective (and losing) Texas campaigns. The same patterns held true in Harris County, where the former Houston mayor narrowly defeated incumbent Gov. Rick Perry, according to precinct-by-precinct maps. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Matt Stiles