Christian Menefee’s district sat vacant for 11 months. His first bill in Congress would set a deadline for special elections.

James Talarico returns to campaign trail at ACL festival after illness spurred GOP calls for "proof of life"

Republican Ken Paxton made hay over the Democrat’s nine-day spell between public appearances, while right-wing commentators ran with unverified theories and dismissed that Talarico's recovery could have been hindered by his Type I diabetes.

Mayes Middleton, running for Texas attorney general, wants to “put God back in government”

Middleton, a Republican, has long pushed for injecting Christianity into the public sphere. His Democratic opponent, Nathan Johnson, said those views make him unfit for office.

Ken Paxton took nearly 1,000 trips with state-funded security detail costing millions of dollars

The Texas attorney general’s use of a taxpayer-funded travel security detail stands out when compared with his predecessor and other state officials, our analysis found.

Houston Democrats push for guardrails on school takeovers

A squad of Democratic lawmakers is pushing to limit the power of state-appointed officials who step in and take over struggling school districts, ousting locally elected trustees. A commission out of Houston, where the public school district is facing the largest school takeover in Texas history, recommended raising the bar for when the education commissioner […]

Firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed, Pentagon says

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people and injured 32 others, will take place at the military base on Dec. 3.