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Patrick Svitek was the primary political correspondent for The Texas Tribune. Patrick covered elections, state leaders, the Legislature and political trends across the state from 2015 until 2024. He previously worked for the Houston Chronicle's Austin bureau. Patrick graduated in 2014 from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He is originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
During potentially their only primary debate, Gutierrez suggested Allred was pandering to Republicans, while Allred defended his bipartisanship as necessary to winning in GOP-dominated Texas. Full Story
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Dana Myers has been critical of the party’s ties to Defend Texas Liberty PAC, a hard-right group that’s been tied to white supremacists. Full Story
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State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who is trailing Allred in money and polls, is positioning himself as the chief progressive in the race. Full Story
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The bombshell request by retiring state Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, comes after Paxton decided to stop fighting a whistleblower lawsuit whose claims factored into his impeachment trial. Full Story
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Paxton’s securities fraud trial has been delayed for years by a number of pretrial disputes, including how much the special prosecutors should be paid. Full Story
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In the wake of a scandal tying them to white supremacists, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks started a new PAC to support far-right candidates Full Story
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While most GOP state reps stand by their votes, Reps. JM Lozano of Kingsville and Gary Gates of Richmond have publicly distanced themselves since the September impeachment trial in the state Senate. Full Story
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At the same time, the judge denied a motion by Brent Hagenbuch to dismiss the case challenging his eligibility, letting it move forward ahead of the March primary. Full Story
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Impeachment and school vouchers are animating the races as Speaker Dade Phelan tries to protect incumbents. Full Story
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Whistleblowers sued for being fired after accusing Paxton of abuses in office. Paxton says he wants to end the lawsuit. Full Story
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