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The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.

  • 2010: Perry Compares KBH to Kinky

    By Evan Smith

    He has slammed his main rival in Tuesday's GOP primary as a creature of the tainted D.C. culture, as insufficiently conservative, as indecisive — but this may be the unkindest cut of all. Full Story 

    U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Primary Color: HD-43

    By Julián Aguilar

    Ideological purity is the big issue on March 2 in this South Texas district. Freshman state Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, touts her "moderate" approach and bipartisan tendencies, but her challenger insists, “The first thing we have to do is get rid of all the closet Republicans from the Democratic Party." Full Story 

    J.M. Lozano and Tara Rios Ybarra

  • Primary Color: The Final Five

    By Reeve Hamilton, Ross Ramsey, Brian Thevenot, Julián Aguilar and Andrew Kreighbaum

    This is the final day of early voting — a period in which many more energized and engaged Texans cast ballots for their favorite candidates than their counterparts did in 2006. During the last two weeks, we've published fifteen installments in our Primary Color series, analyzing the marquee contested party primaries for Texas House and Senate seats, for Congressional seats, and for slots on the State Board of Education and the Texas Supreme Court. Today we present the last five of our stories. Brian Thevenot reports on the face-off between very different GOP insiders to take on state Rep. Diana Maldonado, D-Round Rock, in House District 52. Julian Aguilar looks at the ideological purity test in HD-43, where incumbent Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, has been called a "closet Republican" by her Democratic challenger. Reeve Hamilton explains how Democrats have to choose between an Agriculture Commissioner candidate with ranching experience and one who's the consummate promoter. Andrew Kreighbaum weighs in on the six-way free-for-all to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Harriet O’Neill in Place 3. And Ross Ramsey contemplates the potential karmic payback of state Rep. Chuck Hopson, of Jacksonville, who quit the Democratic party and filed for reelection as a Republican, only to find two GOP primary opponents lying in wait. Full Story 

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  • Primary Color: Agriculture Commissioner

    By Reeve Hamilton

    Will the Democrats choose the most serious guy in the race, a rancher with hands-on experience? Or the consummate promoter — someone who'll sell Texas goods to America and the world with gusto and bravado, the way he sells his cigars, salsa, music, and one-liners? Full Story 

    Kinky Friedman, Hank Gilbert
    Credit: Graphic by Bob Daemmrich, Marjorie Cotera

  • Primary Color: HD-52

    By Brian Thevenot

    The GOP smackdown in this Republican-leaning district, now occupied by a freshman Democrat, is really a disagreement over focus. One leading candidate, a Capitol insider, has his sights trained on statewide concerns. The other, a Williamson County insider, focuses more on local concerns — and denigrates his opponent's experience. Full Story 

    Larry Gonzalez (left), John Gordon

  • TEF = Texas Election Fund

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    Facebook is opening up a satellite office in Austin — the first one in Texas for the California-based social media giant. The move, which will create 200 jobs, was sealed with $1.4 million from Gov. Rick Perry's Texas Enterprise Fund. The governor on Thursday also announced 100 new jobs for the small town of Cuero, thanks again to the TEF. Ben Philpott, who's covering the 2010 elections for KUT News and the Tribune and KUT News, reports on how the job-creating fund can be a pretty effective campaign tool as well. Full Story 

  • TribBlog: Judges Gone Wild [Updated]

    By Morgan Smith

    In an unexpected reversal, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has thrown out Charles Dean Hood's death sentence on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court appeal and national media attention. Full Story 

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    Credit: Supreme Court of the United States

  • Talking Back to the Feds

    By Brian Thevenot

    "Teachers should be chasing us around," the Texas high school senior told the official from the U.S. Department of Education. "We shouldn't be chasing them. But that doesn't always happen here." Full Story 

    Students Arturo Garcia and Chris Conway listen to a U.S. Department of Education representative describe a grant program targeting low-performing schools like theirs, Reagan High School in East Austin. The money is tied to major overhauls and replacement of staff.
    Credit: Brian Thevenot

  • The Buck Stops Where?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Three of the biggest social services messes of Rick Perry's ten-year tenure — the sexual abuse scandal at the Texas Youth Commission, fight clubs at state institutions for the disabled and deaths of children on Child Protective Services’ watch — have been noticeably absent from the campaign trail. Is it because Texans don't hold him accountable for these tragedies? Or because his opponents think GOP primary voters simply don't care? Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Primary Color: HD-36

    By Julián Aguilar

    Embattled state Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores is quitting, and two Democrats are vying to replace him in one of the state's poorest and least-educated districts — where old-school border politics rule, where no Republicans bothered to file for the general election. After all, this is the Rio Grande Valley. Full Story 

    Sergio Muñoz and Sandra Rodriguez
    Credit: Julian Aguilar

  • 2010: A Small Number, Doubled

    By Ross Ramsey

    Through the close of business on Monday, 119,195 Texans had voted early in the big counties, a 98 percent increase over four years ago. GOP primary voting was up 146 percent, to 86,179; Democratic primary voting was up a mere 52 percent, to 33,016. Full Story 

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  • The Brief: February 23, 2010

    By Morgan Smith

    There’s plenty for Texas-focused Supreme Court watchers to gnaw on today. Also, there’s this election going on, and people really want to vote in it. Full Story 

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    Credit: Supreme Court of the United States

  • Look Back in Anger

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    With only a week to go before the GOP primary for governor, Debra Medina is pressing forward with her insurgent candidacy — despite the controversy over 9/11 truthers that temporarily upended her campaign. Her core supporters remain strongly with her, unfazed by and miffed at the media's scrutiny. How the whole thing ends is anyone's guess. Ben Philpott, covering the 2010 elections for KUT News and the Tribune, spent Monday on the trail with Medina and her flock and filed this report. Full Story 

    February 21, 2010. Debra Medina, flanked by supporters at an event at Texas Pride BBQ in Adkins, TX.
    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • Primary Color: HD-105

    By Andrew Kreighbaum

    North Texas Democrats see GOP state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown's Irving seat as theirs for the taking in 2010 — the top target in their battle to take back the majority in the House. But first they have to settle on a candidate. Full Story 

    Limberg, a Democratic candidate for the Texas House from Irving.