Politics
He May Not Be a Candidate, but Beto O’Rourke is Rebuilding His Texas Organizing Machine for 2020
5 Stories About Rural Texas You May Have Missed in 2019
A view into the weird, sad, and sometimes funny world of rural Texas.
Once again, we’ve completed another excruciatingly slow journey from one December to the next, exhausted and unrewarded for our trouble. Let’s take stock of...Read More
The EPA Faces Lawsuit Over Slaughterhouse Pollution in Waterways
The Environmental Integrity Project and other advocates are suing the EPA for failing to update wastewater pollution standards for meat processing facilities for 15 years straight.
The Trump administration has taken another hard jab at protections for the nation’s rivers and lakes—and a broad coalition of advocates is swinging right ba...Read More
National Dems Back MJ Hegar, Underscoring a Deeper Debate: How to Win in Texas
More than three months before the primary, Washington Democrats caught Texas party activists off-guard by endorsing a white candidate in a crowded field that includes several black and Hispanic contenders.
On Monday, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee endorsed former U.S. House candidate MJ Hegar in her bid to run against Republican incumbent Senator John Co...Read More
Is Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner Headed for a Second Term?
The incumbent mayor largely avoided a battle royale with bombastic trial lawyer Tony Buzbee for control of the Bayou City.
Just over a month ago, Houston’s mayoral runoff looked like it was shaping up to be a political battle royale. It features two big political personalities—i...Read More
Joe Barton Resurfaces with a Blueprint for How to Bail Out the Oil Industry and Worsen Climate Change
As the former Texas congressman prepares to get into the lobbying game, the climate-change denier reflects on how he worked with industry to unleash a runaway drilling boom in the Permian Basin.
The legislation was marked with the number of the beast. Joe Barton’s staffers, perhaps sensing some irony, insisted that he reintroduce his 2015 bill that ...Read More
‘Almost Akin to a Political Coup’: Houston Teachers Fight Back Against State Takeover of HISD
In a last-ditch effort to stop a state takeover of Texas’ largest school district, the Houston teachers union is suing the state for disenfranchising voters of color.
The fight over the future of Houston’s public school system escalated this week when the local teachers union joined a federal voting rights lawsuit against t...Read More
On Rodney Reed Case, Greg Abbott Gets a Political Reprieve
A last-minute court intervention relieved political pressure on the Texas governor, who was ultimately able to keep his capital punishment bona fides intact.
As Rodney Reed’s November 20 execution date drew closer, all eyes turned to Governor Greg Abbott. When new evidence surfaced casting doubt on Reed’s convict...Read More
John Cornyn’s Weaselly Immigration Record
How to say one thing and do another.
On a June afternoon in 2007, U.S. Senator John Cornyn sounded eminently reasonable. In a floor speech, the rangy, snow-haired Texan said that of all the legisla...Read More
Texas Congressional Candidate Shannon Hutcheson Defended Corporations Against the Vulnerable. EMILY’s List Endorsed Her Anyway.
Shannon Hutcheson has billed herself as a fierce reproductive rights advocate. But the corporate lawyer has papered over a troubling record, including her defense of a prison guard who sexually abused migrant women.
After working at the prestigious corporate law firm Baker Botts for more than a decade, Shannon Hutcheson decided to hang out a shingle of her own. Along with a...Read More
