Politics
Texas’ Presidential Candidates Break Out Briefly During the Democratic Debate
Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez Enters the U.S. Senate Race
In taking on Senator John Cornyn, Tzintzún Ramirez, a progressive organizer, hopes to build on Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 campaign, mobilize Latinx voters, and finally prove that Texas progressives can win a statewide election.
Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, a longtime organizer of immigrant, worker, and Latinx communities, has pressured Texas politicians to enact progressive policies fro...Read More
Texas Is at the Center of Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Facebook Ad Campaign
His reelection campaign has spent big money in Texas on a digital advertising effort, which includes more than 2,000 Facebook ads warning about an “invasion”—language used by the El Paso shooter.
President Donald Trump has doubled down on the use of Facebook advertising to promote his political message—one that is largely centered on fear-mongering abo...Read More
Dan Patrick’s Long History of Toxic Immigrant-Bashing
You know, the kind that might encourage violence in a place like El Paso.
On Saturday morning, a 21-year-old white man allegedly opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle in a Walmart just a few miles from the Bridge of the Americas con...Read More
Molly Ivins on Universal Health Care
Politicians have been debating and dancing around universal health care for 25 years.
Editor’s Note: This month, we’re reprinting some of our favorite Molly Ivins columns in celebration of her birth month and the upcoming wide release...Read More
John Cornyn’s Democratic Challengers Feel a Little Familiar
There’s a robust field of Democrats lining up to take on the state’s senior senator. The last time that happened was in 2002, when Cornyn first won the open seat.
When U.S. Senator John Cornyn was last up for re-election in 2014, the Texas Democratic Party was in a bad way. Just a month before the March primary, the party...Read More
White Terror on the Border
After an anti-immigrant shooting in El Paso, Texas’ GOP leaders blamed mental health and video games rather than gun laws and white supremacy.
On Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after a white gunman killed 20 people and injured two dozen more at an El Paso Walmart, Fox News called on Texas Lieutenan...Read More
Remembering Sister Christine Stephens, the Organizers’ Organizer
Stephens began her career as a community organizer in San Antonio, Houston, the Valley, and Dallas and later supervised IAF organizing across Texas and the Southwest.
On the evening of July 25, about 400 people packed a large chapel at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio for the wake for Sister Christine Stephens. ...Read More
‘A Watershed Moment’ for Bail Reform in Harris County
Advocates for criminal justice reform say this week’s settlement in Harris County’s bail lawsuit could reverberate far beyond Texas.
Bail reform isn’t a particularly controversial plank of the broader movement to end mass incarceration. In fact, it was a Republican jurist, Texas Supreme Cou...Read More
Finger-Wagging, but No Oversight, for Texas Redistricting
A federal court delivers a stern warning but no relief despite Texas’ long history of deliberately discriminatory voting laws.
Even though Texas lawmakers deliberately discriminated against minority voters the last time they drew congressional and state district lines, the Texas Legisla...Read More
