Skip to main content
Organizations

Texas House of Representatives

The latest Texas House of Representatives news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Paxton Bows Out

    By Justin Dehn

    State Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, speaks on the opening day of the 82nd Legislative Session about his withdrawal from the race for Texas House Speaker. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail

  • TribBlog: The First Non-Vote

    By Reeve Hamilton

    After winning a rough and tumble contest for his seat, freshman state Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, got his first chance at a record vote in the Texas House of Representatives today. And when that vote finally came, what did he do? He abstained. Full Story 

    State Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribBlog: Chisum Supports Straus

    By Ross Ramsey

    State Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, is dropping his challenge to House Speaker Joe Straus and will vote for the incumbent when the House convenes later today, he said in a letter released this morning. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Decision Time

    By Ross Ramsey

    The Texas Legislature today starts its 140-day effort to puzzle out a massive budget deficit, political redistricting, immigration and a slew of other gnarly problems. The budget issues came into focus Monday with new numbers from the comptroller, who says the state is recovering, slowly, from the recession. But first, legislators will get organized, voting on new rules, a new Speaker, and getting sworn in. Full Story 

    House Speaker Joe Straus, R-Alamo Heights, in January 2011.
    Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

  • TribBlog: Paxton Still In Speaker Race

    By Ross Ramsey

    State Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, will stay in the race for speaker tomorrow though he got spanked in the Republican Caucus today. More than two-thirds of the caucus membes expressed their support for Speaker Joe Straus in a non-binding preference poll conducted behind closed doors. Full Story 

    State Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, after failing to win the endorsement of GOP caucus members for House speaker on Jan. 10, 2011.
    Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune

  • Straus: Speaker's Race "Overanalyzed"

    By Elise Hu

    Despite loud protests from Tea Party groups that pushed for a more conservative leader, the Texas House Republican Caucus endorsed incumbent Speaker Joe Straus in an afternoon vote. Straus, appearing after the meeting, said the notion of a speaker's race was "overstudied and overanalyzed." Full Story 

    Article thumbnail

  • TribBlog: Republicans for Straus

    By Ross Ramsey

    House Speaker Joe Straus has the support of the House Republican legislative caucus, which met on the afternoon before the legislative session to take the measure of the incumbent and two challengers: Warren Chisum of Pampa and Ken Paxton of McKinney. With all but one of the 101 Republicans in the House present, 70 stood up to show their support for Straus in the closed meeting, according to legisaltors who were inside. With that done, there was no reason to check the support for the other two candidates. Full Story 

    House Speaker Joe Straus entering a GOP House caucus meeting on January 10, 2011.
    Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

  • A Conversation With Three Incoming House Members

    By Evan Smith

    For our first TribLive conversation of 2011, I interviewed Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock; Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs; and Paul Workman, R-Austin, about the Speaker's race, the budget shortfall, immigration, the Tea Party and how they and other newbies will navigate the 82nd legislative session. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Counting Straws

    By Ross Ramsey

    The House Republican Caucus will meet today to debate whether it should choose a favorite in the race for speaker of the House among the three candidates: the incumbent, Joe Straus of San Antonio, and Warren Chisum of Pampa and Ken Paxton of McKinney. But the vote's not binding. So why do it? Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman/Bob Daemmrich

  • TribBlog: Medina Prefers Straus to "Iron Fist" Leaders

    By Ross Ramsey

    Republicans might not all like House Speaker Joe Straus, but he's got a better chance than his predecessor to lead the House to "fiscally responsible, limited and just government," according to Debra Medina, the conservative activist and former Republican gubernatorial candidate. Full Story 

    Governor candidate Debra Medina greets visitors at the Fort Bend County Chamber of Commerce prior to her speech in a heavily Republican area of Houston on Thursday.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribBlog: Patrick Wades Into Caucus Controversy

    By Evan Smith

    A speaker preference vote in the House Republican Caucus is "simply the right thing to do," state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said Friday night, wading into a roiling controversy that has pit Republican against Republican in the aftermath of November's election. Full Story 

    State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston.
    Credit: Candidate photo

  • Green House

    By Ross Ramsey

    The biggest caucus in the Texas House is the Republicans', now with 101 members. Next? The Democrats', at 49. And then there’s the freshman class — one of the biggest in years — with 38 members. All but six are Republicans, and many of them replaced Democrats. They face some challenges. Full Story 

    Members of the freshmen class of 2011 at their new member orientation in December 2010.
    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • TribBlog: Straus, Paxton and the Tea Party

    By Reeve Hamilton

    Hoping to see a debate between the candidates for speaker? A group of Tea Party organizations recently posed an identical set of questions to Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and contender Ken Paxton, R-McKinney. The result is not really a debate, but it might be the closest we get. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Now What?

    By Ross Ramsey

    Texas alternates election years with governing years, with legislative sessions set in the odd-numbered years after voters choose their leaders. There are variations, but it’s got a rhythm: Choose them, watch them govern, choose, watch. The elections behind us, it’s time to see what this particular bunch will do. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Face Time

    By Ross Ramsey

    2010 didn't turn out like it looked a year ago. Unexpected people showed up. The political environment bloomed red instead of blue. The Tea was strong. And big shots turned into paper tigers. Here are some of the political personalities who mattered. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Equal, But Not the Same

    By Ross Ramsey

    Lawmakers will spend the next six months drawing political maps for Texas, doing their decennial readjustment to make sure each district has the same number of people. But when they’re done, some parts of the state will still get more political attention than others, and the voters have only themselves to blame. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Interactive: Committee Chairs

    By Elise Hu and Christopher Chang

    All the schmoozing and strategizing involved in seeking the job of House Speaker is worth it come February, when the leader of the lower chamber gets to choose the chairmen of committees, who have the power to stop, slow or speed legislation through the process. Click the tabs on this interactive table to see what the chairmanships looked like in 2009 and who’s coming back to the House in 2011. Full Story