Tag Archives: elections
Texas Republicans Poised to Make Voting ‘Harder, Scarier and More Confusing’
SB 9’s passage out of committee Friday sets the stage for a heated debate over voting rights in the waning days of the session.
A bill raising criminal penalties for certain election-related offenses and imposing new voting restrictions cleared a major hurdle Friday, setting the stage fo...Read More
One Candidate, One Destiny: Julián Castro’s Inevitable Presidential Bid
Julián Castro has plotted his political trajectory with great care and calculation. Can that work in the Trump era?
If the gods of political narrative divined the outcome of presidential primaries, Julián Castro could very well be the Democratic nominee in 2020. But narrativ...Read More
Year in Review: Loon Star State in 2018
The year in political cartoons from the strangest state in the union.
Trump’s sophomore year in the White House made for plenty of ammunition for political cartoonist Ben Sargent. In the pages of the Observer in 2018, the fo...Read More
Six Texas Political Players Who Lost Power in 2018
A diverse and bipartisan ensemble of politicians and groups were rudely awakened as they were wrested from or kept out of power in 2018.
Power is a funny thing. One minute you have it; the next it’s gone. Sometimes it’s taken forcefully; other times it’s given away. In Texas, the ruling Rep...Read More
The GOP Machine in Texas Seems to Finally Have Slipped a Gear
Over the last few years, something has been stirring in Texas. The midterm elections may signal a seismic shift in state politics.
After Beto’s near-victory, a thumpin’ in Harris County and surprisingly poor GOP performance in conservative strongholds Tarrant, Williamson and Collin coun...Read More
Loon Star: Blue Wave
Ben Sargent on the 2018 midterms.
Ben Sargent To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section, or find Observer political reporting here....Read More
The Disconnect Between Ted Cruz’s Victory Speech and What Actually Happened in Texas
When Cruz declared victory, the crowd in Houston chanted “build the wall,” and speakers on stage greatly overstated the Republican hold on Texas.
The currency of the realm for Texas Democrats is small, symbolic victories, and the currency of the realm for Texas Republicans is the overwhelming, crushing hu...Read More
The #FireStanStanart Campaign Finally Wins, Knocking Off the Much-Maligned GOP Harris County Clerk
Democrat Diane Trautman is now is in charge of administering the voting rolls for 4.7 million Texans.
The theme of the night for Texas Democrats, if there is one, might be frustration at the top of the ballot while making great strides at the bottom. It should b...Read More
Beto Tried to Win a Texas That Doesn’t Quite Exist Yet
“The people of Texas are not a small, paranoid people. We are big, bold, ambitious and focused on the future,” Beto O’Rourke said last Friday, the final d...Read More