Democratic U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee defeated U.S. Rep. Al Green to represent a newly drawn congressional district that encompasses both of their current Houston-area districts, effectively ending the tenure of one of the state’s longest-serving congressmen and a veteran Democrat in Washington. Green, who has represented the 9th Congressional District …
Read More »Ken Paxton Defeats John Cornyn for U.S. Senate GOP Nomination
Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate Tuesday, ending over three decades of Sen. John Cornyn’s electoral dominance in what amounts to a watershed moment for GOP politics in Texas. The Associated Press called the race for Paxton shortly after 8 p.m., about an hour …
Read More »Texas Can Force Schools to Post Ten Commandments, Federal Appeals Court Rules
Texas can enforce a state law requiring public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. A majority of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Texas officials’ favor, concluding that the law does not establish an official state religion. …
Read More »Talarico Wins Democratic Primary for US Senate in Texas; Cornyn and Paxton go to GOP Runoff
In a critical 2026 battle for control of the U.S. Senate, The Associated Press early Wednesday declared James Talarico the winner of the Democratic primary in Texas, while incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton will spend weeks to come competing in a runoff election. The AP …
Read More »Midterm Elections Kick Off, with Primaries in Texas, North Carolina, Arkansas
Voting concludes Tuesday in the first primaries of the 2026 midterm elections in Arkansas,North Carolina and Texas. The results will provide a glimpse into voters’ mood as the primary season opens and give a sense of what type of candidate appeals to each party’s base. Crucially, the rapid succession of …
Read More »Texas Democrats Prepare to Decide Party’s Future after Divisive, Epic Senate Primary
For decades, statewide Democratic primaries in Texas were low-octane affairs. Then came the 2026 election cycle. In a year that Democrats see as a prime opportunity to finally flip Texas — amid flagging approval for the second Trump administration, a vicious Senate primary on the Republican side and the potential …
Read More »Trump Promotes Second-Term Record in Texas, Withholds Senate Endorsement as GOP Primary Nears
Donald Trump used a wide-ranging speech Friday at the Port of Corpus Christi to tout his second-term record, revisit themes from his recent State of the Union address and attack Democrats, but stopped short of issuing a closely watched endorsement in Texas’ heated Republican U.S. Senate primary. Trump praised what …
Read More »Democrat Taylor Rehmet wins Solidly Red Texas Senate Seat in Stunning Special Election Upset
Democrat and machinist union leader Taylor Rehmet won the special election Saturday to represent a solidly red Texas Senate district that President Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024, a stunning upset that injected a fresh and urgent sense of a panic into the GOP from the Texas Capitol …
Read More »Supreme Court allows Texas’ new congressional map for 2026 midterms
In a major win for President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted Texas’ emergency application to use a new congressional map drawn to increase GOP representation in next year’s midterm elections, pausing a lower-court ruling that had found the plan unlawfully relied on race. The …
Read More »Supreme Court Temporarily Restores Texas’ New Congressional Map
Texas is back to using its 2025 congressional map, at least temporarily, after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito granted the state’s request to pause a court ruling that would have required using the lines legislators drew in 2021. The high court has not yet decided what map Texas should use …
Read More »Federal Court Blocks Texas From Using New Congressional Gerrymander in 2026 Midterms
Texas cannot use its new congressional map for the 2026 election and will instead need to stick with the lines passed in 2021, a three-judge panel ruled Tuesday. The decision is a major blow for Republicans, in Texas and nationally, who pushed through this unusual mid-decade redistricting at the behest …
Read More »Texas AG Sues Tylenol Company over Autism Claims
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Johnson and Johnson, accusing the pharmaceutical company of failing to warn consumers about the risk of taking Tylenol while pregnant. This lawsuit, the first of its kind from a state government, comes a month after President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Health …
Read More »Gov. Greg Abbott Signs New Texas Congressional Map Designed to Give GOP Five More Seats
Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas’ new congressional map into law Friday, celebrating in a social media video that the state is “now more red in the United States Congress.” Abbott’s signature concludes the legislative portion of this unusual mid-decade redistricting effort, which started earlier this summer when President Donald Trump …
Read More »Texas Senate Passes GOP Congressional Maps
The Republican-controlled Texas Senate approved new congressional maps early Saturday, a plan designed to expand the party’s majority in Washington and reshape political power in the nation’s second-largest state. The maps, pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott and cheered on by President Donald Trump, will take effect once Abbott signs the …
Read More »Rep. Chip Roy Announces Campaign for Texas Attorney General
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, announced Thursday he is running for Texas attorney general, entering a high-stakes Republican primary to replace Ken Paxton. Paxton himself is running for United States Senate. Roy, a conservative firebrand and policy chair of the House Freedom Caucus, previously served as Paxton’s top deputy before …
Read More »
Poli Alert Politics & Civics