A guide to Texas’ special legislative session
Texas lawmakers start a 30-day special session July 21. They will tackle consumable THC, flood dangers, new congressional districts, abortion pills and other conservative priorities. Full Story
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![An empty House chamber, prior the start of the special session on Thursday, July 8, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton sues adult swimming organization for allowing transgender competitors at San Antonio event
The Texas attorney general said U.S. Masters Swimming violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act by allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s events. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the media during a press conference in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
Federal DEI funding cuts threaten the work of the few remaining Black farmers in East Texas
Trump’s rollback is another example of the federal government’s lackluster efforts at giving Black farmers a boost in recent years. Full Story
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![Roy Mills speaks about growing hay at J&R Mills Family Farms, on Wednesday February 26, 2025, in Nacogdoches County.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Democrat Joe Jaworski to run for Texas attorney general again
The former Galveston mayor lost his party’s nomination in a 2022 runoff but says better preparation and a different political environment will work in his favor. Full Story
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![Joe Jaworski, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, speaks with Frank Ramirez at a campaign event in San Antonio on Oct. 31, 2021.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Harlingen doctor becomes first Democrat to challenge GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz for South Texas congressional seat
The 15th Congressional District is the only Republican-held seat in Texas that Democrats are targeting under the current map. Full Story
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![Dr. Ada Cuellar.]()
Credit: Dr. Ada Cuellar for Congress Campaign -
Most Texas prisoners don’t have AC access and it’s unclear when they will get it
Despite receiving substantial state funding to air-condition prisons in the last few years, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stayed mum on when it will install cooling across the system. Full Story
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![Inmates from left, Richard Hernandez, Arnulfo Ayala, and William Baucum in the Bartlett Innovation Unit in Bartlett, TX, on Nov. 21, 2024.]()
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Judge sets Robert Roberson’s execution date for Oct. 16
Wednesday’s decision affirms Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request for an October execution date for Roberson, whose case has divided the state’s Republicans. Full Story
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![Shackled and chained, Robert Roberson is led away from his lawyers by an Anderson Co. Sheriff’s Office deputy Wednesday morning after a new execution date of Oct. 16, 2025 was set by presiding Judge Austin Jackson of Smith County at the Anderson County Courthouse in Palestine.]()
Credit: Joel Andrews for the Texas Tribune -
Big money shaping GOP primaries for Texas attorney general, comptroller
New campaign finance filings provide the first glimpse of the financial and political fault lines emerging in the open primaries for key statewide offices. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Monday, June 30, 2025, in Austin, Texas.]()
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Announcing our next round of can’t-miss speakers for November’s TribFest
John Mulaney, Eric Johnson, Amy Klobuchar, Kara Swisher and Veronica Escobar are among the influential voices joining us in November Full Story
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TribCast: Texas’ redistricting gamble
The gang is joined by Kareem Crayton, from the Brennan Center for Justice, to discuss Texas’ mid-decade redistricting effort. Full Story
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![Hands holding tweezers manipulate a puzzle's pieces that represent Texas voting districts.]()
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Ken Paxton investigating “potential noncitizens” for voting in 2020 and 2022 election cycles
Most of those voters are in Harris County, home to Houston. Noncitizen voting is illegal and documented instances are rare. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fields questions at the Frisco Gun Club during a press conference announcing his intent to sue the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on May 1, 2024. This comes after the Justice Department announced a new rule requiring all gun sellers to conduct federal background checks on buyers, closing what is known as the “gun show loophole”.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
As Trump looks to net five GOP seats through Texas redistricting, Democrats grasp for response
President Donald Trump said he thinks Republicans could flip a handful of congressional districts in Texas next year through “just a very simple redrawing." Full Story
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![From left, U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, Greg Casar, D-Austin,and Al Green, D-Houston, attend a news conference with members of the Texas congressional delegation to discuss possible redistricting in the state at the Democratic National Committee offices on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.]()
Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Sipa USA vis REUTERS -
State Rep. Steve Toth to challenge Congressman Dan Crenshaw in Republican primary
Crenshaw’s sparring with fellow prominent conservatives has invited backlash from the right, but his past primary opponents have failed to capitalize at the ballot box. Full Story
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![From left: U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, and state Rep. Steve Toth, R-Conroe.]()
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Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson announces run for attorney general
The third-term Democrat from Dallas faces long odds in a state that has only elected Republicans to statewide office for three decades. Full Story
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![Texas Senator Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, in action on the Senate floor on the second-to-the-last day of the 89th legislative session on June 1, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
How a small East Texas town turned a devastating tornado into funding for sirens
As the public scrutinizes parts of the Hill Country for a lack of sirens during the July 4 floods, Crockett turned its own tragedy into preparedness. Full Story
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![A siren alert system in Comfort on Thursday July 10, 2025. Across the state in East Texas, the city of Crockett has secured the funding and has embarked on installing its own auditory alarm system.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
Newly formed Texas disaster preparedness and flooding committee will visit Kerr County
The joint House and Senate committee will first meet in Austin next week, then in Kerrville on July 31 to hear from Hill Country residents about their concerns. Full Story
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![An excavator picks up items damaged in the flood to be discarded in Hunt on Friday July 11, 2025.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
Why Greg Abbott refuses to release his emails with Elon Musk
The governor’s office said some of the correspondence with the billionaire and his companies contains “intimate” information that isn’t of “legitimate concern to the public.” Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference.]()
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Mental health programs could bear the brunt of $600M federal cuts to Texas schools
Federal cuts and a lack of dedicated mental health funding from the state could erode programs to address chronic absenteeism, crises and more. Full Story
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![Louise ISD social/emotional counselor April Cubriel teaches students about different ways to be courageous as she visits a 2nd grade classroom at Louise Elementary School Monday, March 10, 2025.]()
Credit: Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman/ USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS -
Divorce between Ken and Angela Paxton will proceed outside public view, reports say
A Collin County judge’s reported decision could keep details of the divorce from spilling into Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate race. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses the crowd during a rally at the Tarrant County Republican Party Headquarters in Fort Worth on January 6, 2025.]()
Credit: Photo by Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Trump defends federal government’s response to Hill Country floods during Texas visit
The president met with state and local officials, who praised the White House response, and lashed out at a question on whether aid and rescue efforts occurred fast enough. Full Story
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![President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott receive a briefing from first responders as they visit a scene of devastation along the banks of the Guadalupe River, after catastrophic floods, in Kerr County on July 11, 2025.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque