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  • A Brief History of Fratricide

    By Morgan Smith

    Ask a Republican who’s not on Gov. Rick Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s payroll about the 2010 governor’s primary, and you’ll get a response about a well-timed trip to Palm Springs in early March, when the two candidates square off. Party faithful want to stay above the fray: Primary challenges to longstanding incumbents tend to get rough quick. Full Story 

    Jim Mattox and Ann Richards
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Trouble in the big tent

    By Abby Rapoport

    Those watching the Perry-Hutchison brawl for hints of the GOP's future may be looking in the wrong place. A small race for the State Board of Education gives a glimpse into the party's inner-turmoil. Full Story 

    Republicans Thomas Ratliff (left) and Don McLeroy prepare to square off for a State Board of Education primary.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich and Elise Hu

  • Ads Infinitum: A Message to All Our Campaign Consultant Pals

    By Evan Smith

    This blog is designed to be a repository for your best work: the ads you create for your clients in legislative, congressional, and statewide races. We'd love it if you'd send us audio, video, campaign mailers, and the like that we can post here for the next year—and you can be sure we'll be asking the same of your counterparts at rival campaigns. Full Story 

  • The Polling Center: Our Inaugural Election Survey

    By Jim Henson and Daron Shaw

    The results of the first UT/Texas Tribune poll, which was in the field from October 20-27 and sampled 800 Texans who identified themselves as registered voters, shows Texas slowly turning their attention to the 2010 elections. Perhaps more to the point, they have become extremely skeptical about the direction of the federal government. Today we’ll focus on the election match ups and what they tell us about the state of play a little less than six months out from the March primaries. Full Story 

  • Perry leads KBH by 12

    By Ross Ramsey

    In the inaugural University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, Rick Perry has the support of 42 percent of self-identified GOP gubernatorial primary voters to Kay Bailey Hutchison's 30 percent — but Debra Medina could be a spoiler in March. On the Democratic side, Undecided and Kinky Friedman lead the pack. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • T-Squared: Day One

    By Evan Smith

    For those of us who willingly quit good jobs with big media companies to join an untried journalism start-up with an untested business model, this site, this thing, is the expression of our ideals, the realization of our dreams, and the validation of our faith. We're enormously proud, every one of us, of what we're doing and why. We're awed and cowed by what we've been able to produce so quickly and on a relative shoestring (relative, that is, compared to the budgets we lived within and among just a few months ago). And we've barely gotten started. Full Story 

  • Disabled students restrained, injured in public schools

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Texas educators routinely pin down students with disabilities to control them, according to state data. Disability rights advocates say the restraints point to a crisis in special education, and that teachers are resorting to physical violence because they aren't properly trained. Full Story 

    Jennifer Howson was restrained dozens of times in her Kemp public school, often sustaining injuries like these.
    Credit: Photo courtesy of the Howson family

  • Shuffling the deck

    By Brandi Grissom

    State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh's decision not to run for reelection creates many opportunities for El Paso politicians, but in this Democrat-dominated city, the cards are stacked against Republicans. Full Story 

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    Credit: Photo illustration by Jacob Villanueva

  • TribBlog: Permanent School Fund Rebounds. But Will Schools Benefit?

    By Brian Thevenot

    The state’s permanent school fund, which spins off money for textbooks and the like each year, has recaptured billions of dollars after a frightening downward spiral this spring. Trouble is, the increase in the fund may produce no increase at all in education spending. The real beneficiaries of the fund often are the state legislature and its priorities outside education. Full Story 

  • Welcome to The Texas Tribune

    By Evan Smith

    What we intend to accomplish with the Trib — what we mean to do on an ongoing basis — is right there in our stated mission: to promote civic engagement and discourse on public policy, politics, government, and other matters of statewide concern. Full Story 

  • Hu Tube: 3-2-1...

    By Elise Hu

    In the spirit of multi-platform journalism, the posts here at Hu Tube will be highly visual. If I don't have a new video for ya each day, I'll throw up photos and do some live photoblogging during the election cycle and legislative sessions. Stay tuned. Full Story 

  • Rick vs. Kay: Battle of the Titans

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    Today is Election Day for 11 propositions on the constitutional ballot in Texas, but most of the state’s political attention is focused on next November’s gubernatorial election—and the brightest light is squarely on the Republican primary battle between incumbent Governor Rick Perry and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Ben Philpott, who's covering the governor’s race for Austin public radio station KUT-FM and the Tribune, reports on the battle of the titans taking place in the GOP and what its aftermath could mean for the party in power ... and the Democrats' chances next fall. Full Story