Once hesitant, Texas Republicans have united behind Donald Trump again
While polls once showed Trump and DeSantis tied in Texas, they now suggest the primary is all but over here. Trump leads Nikki Haley by a landslide. Full Story
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![Former president Donald Trump holds his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas on Mar. 25, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
School voucher opponents are unpopular with Texas GOP primary voters, poll finds
In a University of Houston poll, nearly half also signaled they didn’t support Republican incumbents who voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. Full Story
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![Bonham Middle School students eat lunch in the school’s cafeteria Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
House Speaker Dade Phelan, enemy of the far-right, faces toughest reelection yet
Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and former President Donald Trump are accusing Phelan of being a “RINO,” even as Phelan has overseen the passage of some of the most conservative bills in recent history. Full Story
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![Beaumont, Texas: Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan poses for a portrait at his office in Beaumont on Friday, Jan 26, 2024. Mark Felix/The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
In Texas House special election, big endorsements weren’t enough for Brent Money
Money fell short in the runoff for House District 2, despite winning the support of a who’s who of Texas Republican leaders. Full Story
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![From left: Jill Dutton and Brent Money. Dutton won the race to replace Bryan Slaton in HD-2, the state House district east of Dallas, but they'll face off again in the March primary.]()
Credit: Facebook campaign accounts -
Texas Republicans who defied Gov. Greg Abbott on school vouchers face mounting primary attacks
As promised, the governor is going after members of his own party after some of them tanked his top legislative priority. Full Story
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![A protester, left, pauses to leave a boot at the steps of the Governor's Mansion during a rally to "boot vouchers" on Oct. 7, 2023. Hundreds gathered to protest two days before a special session was slated to begin on Oct. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Under Ken Paxton, Texas’ civil Medicaid fraud unit is falling apart
After the chief of the attorney general’s Civil Medicaid Fraud Division was forced out last year, two-thirds of attorneys have quit the unit, leaving it at its smallest size since Paxton took office. Full Story
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![Nearly two-thirds of the lawyers for Texas’ Civil Medicaid Fraud Division have quit under Attorney General Ken Paxton, which former staffers say will leave the elite unit less equipped to weed out fraud and abuse in the Medicaid system.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
“Hold the line”: Republicans rally to Abbott’s defense in border standoff with Biden
From the Texas House to former President Donald Trump, Republicans around the country defended Gov. Greg Abbott’s challenges to the Biden administration's border policies. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott, displays SB 1900, one of six bills he signed during a border security bill signing session at the state capitol in Austin on June 8, 2023. The bills signed include SB 423, SB 602, SB 1133, SB 1403, SB 1484, and SB 1900. “Washington D.C. has failed to do its job to secure the border,” Abbott said. “As a result, Texas has had to take unprecedented steps in responding to the crisis caused by the Biden administration on the border, and in response the Texas legislature has stepped up to make sure that we will be able to more robustly respond.”]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ border standoff with feds continues, despite U.S. Supreme Court order
Texas officers are still erecting border wire and some Republicans are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to defy the high court. Full Story
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![A Texas National Guard member walks past a line of buoys in Eagle Pass on Jan. 17, 2024. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court, stated that U.S. Border Patrol agents have been blocked off of a section of the border, accessible through Shelby Park.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court says Texas can’t block federal agents from the border
The high court’s order effectively maintains long-running precedent that the federal government — not individual states — has authority to enforce border security. Full Story
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![A Texas National Guard member at the bank of the Rio Grand at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, on Jan. 16, 2024. Texas has closed off Shelby Park, cutting access to federal agents to part of the Texas-Mexico border and escalating tensions between the Biden administration and Gov. Greg Abbott.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Appeals court rules lawsuit seeking Jan. 6 emails from Texas governor, attorney general can move forward
On Jan. 6, 2021, Ken Paxton spoke at a rally that preceded a mob of Donald Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol. Full Story
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![Opening Day action of the 88th Texas Legislature at the Texas Capitol showing Attorney General Ken Paxton conferring with Gov. Greg Abbott outside the Senate chamber before his swearing in ceremony in Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Uvalde victims’ families get official acknowledgement of botched shooting response — but some want criminal charges
Some relatives of the 21 people killed in Texas’ deadliest school shooting are demanding criminal charges after federal officials say delayed police response cost lives. Full Story
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![Kimberly Mata-Rubio, mother of Alexandria Rubio, one of the children killed in the 2022 Uvalde mass shooting, speaks to media after DOJ officials detailed failures in the law enforcement response to the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde.]()
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Money flows into Texas House GOP primary battles this season
Impeachment and school vouchers are animating the races as Speaker Dade Phelan tries to protect incumbents. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan speaks with other representatives during a special legislative session at the state capitol in Austin on Nov. 17, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
School voucher supporter gave Gov. Greg Abbott $6 million in December
The contribution is the largest single campaign donation in Texas history, according to Abbott’s campaign. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott answer questions from the press after receiving the state’s eleventh consecutive Governor’s Cup, awarded to states with high job creation rates and business growth, at the Governor’s Mansion on March 1, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Texans asked to conserve energy as demand was expected to put strain on electric grid
Public Utility Commission said conservation would help lower demand during peak times and help avoid emergency conditions. Full Story
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![Reliability Coordinators monitored the state power grid during a tour of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) command center in Taylor in 2012.]()
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Abbott’s immigration rhetoric criticized again after interview response about shooting migrants
Asked how far Texas could legally go to secure the border, Gov. Greg Abbott said the state isn’t shooting people who illegally cross the border because the Biden administration would charge officials with murder. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott signs six bills relating to border security at the state Capitol in Austin on June 8, 2023. “Washington D.C. has failed to do its job to secure the border,” Abbott said “As a result, Texas has had to take unprecedented steps in responding to the crisis caused by the Biden administration on the border, and in response the Texas legislature has stepped up to make sure that we will be able to more robustly respond.”]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Greg Abbott will use $19 million he raised in 2023 to target anti-voucher Republicans
Abbott’s campaign announced the sum Wednesday, adding that he also has $38 million cash on hand across two political accounts. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott high fives a young supporter after delivering a speech at a Parent Empowerment Day event at the Capitol on March 21, 2023.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
In debate, GOP candidates for Texas House special election mirror statewide intraparty tensions
The two feuding Republicans were the top two finishers in a November special election to succeed expelled state Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, in House District 2. Full Story
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![Republicans Jill Dutton and Brent Money are running in a special election for state House District 2 seat, empty since former state Rep. Brian Slaton, R-Royse City, was expelled from the House.]()
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U.S. Department of Justice says it’ll sue if Texas enforces new law punishing illegal border crossing
The state has until Jan. 3 to say it won’t arrest people accused of unauthorized entry from Mexico. If not, the Biden administration will sue, saying immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Full Story
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![Texas National Guard and Texas DPS officers position themselves on the banks of the Rio Grande, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, in El Paso. Over 400 personnel have been sent to this border sector by Governor Abbott after El Paso city officials declared a state of emergency.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Diversity offices on college campuses will soon be illegal in Texas, as 30 new laws go into effect
Other new laws make changes to the tax code, criminal justice and health care systems. Full Story
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![Students head to class on the second day of the semester at San Jacinto College's North Campus in Houston on Aug. 26, 2014.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
How Gov. Greg Abbott lost a yearlong fight to create school vouchers
The governor projected confidence throughout 2023 that vouchers would pass. But his insistence on universal eligibility ensured his failure to convince 21 House Republican holdouts. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks on the north steps of the State Capitol to supporters at a Texas Public Policy Foundation Parent Empowerment rally on March 21, 2023. Abbott has called lawmakers to Austin for a special session Monday targeted at passing private school vouchers.]()
Credit: Ricardo Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via REUTERS