Bum Steers
December 11, 2023
2024 Bum Steer of the Year: Dan Patrick
The lieutenant governor has made himself the state’s most commanding politician. But with great power has come great irresponsibility.
Dan Patrick
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1-50 of 202 Articles
Politics & Policy
November 22, 2023
Why Bumble Is Joining a Lawsuit That Challenges Texas Abortion Laws
This week, the women-focused dating app joined dozens of other Texas companies that say ambiguity around life-saving medical care is bad for business.
Politics & Policy
October 16, 2023
What’s Behind the Fact-Challenged Freak-out Over Colony Ridge?
The Houston exurb offers cheap land to hardworking families. But some in the GOP see the benefit in demonizing the migrants who’ve moved there.
Politics & Policy
October 12, 2023
First They Came for Those Who Met With Nazis
After right-wing activist Jonathan Stickland hosted Nick Fuentes in his office, many in the GOP have attacked Stickland’s critics.
Politics & Policy
September 22, 2023
Winners and Losers in the Ken Paxton Impeachment Saga
The attorney general’s acquittal affects an upcoming legislative session on school vouchers—and the civil war within the Texas GOP.
Border & Immigration
September 12, 2023
Who Wore It Best? We Rate Politicians on Their Border Photo Ops
Rick Perry rides a gunboat. Ted Cruz goes militiaman. Ron DeSantis and George P. Bush try their best.
Politics & Policy
September 7, 2023
Here’s What Happened on Day Three of the Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial
Through anger, calm, and even some tears, former aides testified about the attorney general's alleged corruption.
Politics & Policy
September 6, 2023
What We Learned on Day Two of the Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial
We heard testimony on Paxton's affair and watched the defense make one of the prosecution's key witnesses squirm.
Politics & Policy
September 5, 2023
Highlights From the First Day of the Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial
The Texas Senate did not dismiss any charges, Paxton will not have to testify, and more we learned from day one.
Politics & Policy
August 31, 2023
Your Cheat Sheet for Ken Paxton’s Impeachment Trial
Everything you need to know about the alleged adultery, bribery, and abuse of office. Plus: Big-time lawyers! Billionaire donors! And burner phones!
Politics & Policy
August 8, 2023
Is There Any Chance Ken Paxton Will Be Convicted?
Threats from the AG’s supporters loom over the Republican state senators who will serve as the jurors in the impeachment trial.
Politics & Policy
August 4, 2023
Dan Patrick Defended Himself Against Free Speech Critics. Does His Case Hold Up?
We analyzed the Texas lieutenant governor’s argument about why he was right to have A&M investigate a professor who’d allegedly made critical comments about him.
Politics & Policy
July 11, 2023
Could Texas Really Eliminate Property Taxes?
The Legislature took a big step Monday, but further efforts could come with great costs: a sky-high sales tax, decimated public schools, and defunding the police.
Politics & Policy
July 6, 2023
How to Lose Friends and Alienate the Legislature
The governor has long suffered from the reputation that he’s a policy lightweight. He’s turning it around this year in five easy steps.
Best and Worst Legislators
June 13, 2023
2023: The Best and Worst Legislators
Our scorecard of the Eighty-eighth Texas Legislature’s noisy scoundrels and quiet heroes.
Politics & Policy
May 12, 2023
The Texas House Voted to Advance Sports Gambling. It’s Still Unlikely to Become Law.
Legal sports gambling in the state still faces a long and complicated path that would require a constitutional amendment.
Politics & Policy
May 11, 2023
Since the Lege Has Been in Session, There’ve Been Eighteen Mass Shootings in Texas
The gun bills most likely to pass aren’t restrictions but those that further protect firearm ownership.
Politics & Policy
April 25, 2023
Dan Patrick Tries Out a Trumpy Nickname for Texas Speaker Dade Phelan
Amid a debate over competing property tax–relief plans, the lieutenant governor isn’t holding back. But is “California Dade” a good insult?
Politics & Policy
March 27, 2023
In Waco, Donald Trump Parties Like It’s 1993
The rhetoric at the former president’s rally hearkened back to the fringe, anti-government messaging of the nineties Texas right wing.
Politics & Policy
March 14, 2023
How Dan Patrick Made the Texas Senate in His Image
The lieutenant governor has consolidated power in the Legislature and exercises near-total control of his chamber. Will anyone challenge him?
Politics & Policy
March 13, 2023
Tracking All the Ways Texas Republicans Are Trying to Further Restrict Abortion
After banning almost all abortions in the state post-Roe, GOP lawmakers have proposed eighteen new ways of limiting access to the procedure.
Politics & Policy
February 16, 2023
What’s Driving the Texas Right’s Campaign Against Transgender Youth and Their Parents
A handful of bills target gender-affirming medical care. Some families have fled the state and others are ready to follow.
Politics & Policy
January 26, 2023
How to Survive the Texas Legislature
The ways of the Texas Legislature are confoundingly weird. Here’s a guide to the madness.
Politics & Policy
January 18, 2023
Opinion: Texas Should Accept Medicaid Expansion
By not doing so, the state is jeopardizing the health of its most vulnerable populations and leaving billions of savings on the table a year.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Comparing Two of the Most Powerful Lieutenant Governors in Texas History
Like Bill Hobby, Dan Patrick has made the most of an inherently powerful position.
Politics & Policy
January 11, 2023
Texas Lawmakers Want to Make It Harder to Know What They’re Doing
State leaders used to invite coverage of their activity. Now the Texas Legislature is making reporting more difficult than ever.
Politics & Policy
October 24, 2022
Wherever Donald Trump Goes, There You Are
The former president’s rally in Robstown was just like all his others in Texas, but he still commands state leaders’ attention.
Politics & Policy
October 3, 2022
Is Dan Patrick Campaigning—Or Auditioning to Be a Travel Influencer?
The lieutenant governor’s rural bus tour looks more like an extended vacation than a reelection bid.
Politics & Policy
September 8, 2022
Dan Patrick Demanded That Texas Retirement Funds Divest From BlackRock. But He Kept His Shares in the Firm.
The lieutenant governor said the company was “discriminating against the oil and gas industry." He didn’t mention his own holdings in the firm.
Energy
August 18, 2022
Texas Leaders Shut Renewables Out in Planning the Power Grid’s Future
On a state advisory committee, only one member has experience developing wind or solar power. And he’s voiced some eyebrow-raising ideas.
Politics & Policy
August 12, 2022
The Trump Raid’s Newest Victim: The Texas GOP
After the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, state Republicans near-unanimously lined up behind the former president—before details of the investigation left them silent.
Politics & Policy
August 5, 2022
In Dallas, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Got a Standing Ovation From the Trump Faithful
“The globalists can all go to hell,” the authoritarian populist said at CPAC. “I have come to Texas.”
Politics & Policy
June 20, 2022
Yes, the 2022 Texas GOP Platform Is Extreme. But Little of It Is New.
Observers cite the party’s convention as evidence that state Republicans have gone “full MAGA.” But if anything, MAGA folks are following Texas.
Politics & Policy
June 14, 2022
What Does the Senate’s Gun Safety Deal Mean for Texas?
John Cornyn helped wrangle other senators from both parties to advance a spate of provisions. But will the Texas Legislature follow his lead?
Politics & Policy
June 7, 2022
Greg Abbott Once Promised to End School Shootings, but After Uvalde His Tone Has Changed
After ten Texans were murdered at Santa Fe High School in 2018, the Legislature passed seventeen school safety bills. They didn’t work.
Politics & Policy
May 27, 2022
“It Will Happen Again”: Texas Leaders Have No Plans to Prevent the Next Uvalde
Defenders of limitless guns are out of ideas but full of excuses.
Politics & Policy
May 20, 2022
Texas Republicans Suddenly Want to Tell CEOs What They Can and Can’t Do
The state GOP long opposed new regulations on corporations. Then Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick launched a crusade against “woke” businesses.
Politics & Policy
May 17, 2022
Mike Collier’s Excellent Political Adventure
The Houston accountant has lost two statewide elections and knows the challenge of being a Texas Democrat. Why is he running a third time?
Politics & Policy
April 13, 2022
Is Our Children Learning Too Much?
There’s a long tradition in Texas of moral panics over what schools are teaching kids. The newest iteration is particularly quaint.
Politics & Policy
March 7, 2022
Is It Illegal to Have a Transgender Child in Texas?
Answers to your questions about the state's new rules targeting transgender kids.
Politics & Policy
February 9, 2022
Retiring Kel Seliger Hopes Someone Else in the Texas GOP Will Stand Up To Dan Patrick
The old-school conservative spoke with us about partisan gerrymandering, Patrick’s hold on the state Senate, and Donald Trump.
Politics & Policy
October 4, 2021
Mike Collier Thinks Republican Legislators Would Be Relieved If He Beat Dan Patrick
The certified public accountant is running for lieutenant governor again and hopes Beto O’Rourke will top the ticket.
Politics & Policy
August 24, 2021
Matthew Dowd Says He Won’t Run Against “Craven” Greg Abbott, but “Cruel” Dan Patrick? Wait and See.
The former Bush adviser pledges to help Texas Democrats win in 2022—including, possibly, by putting his hat in the ring.
Best and Worst Legislators
June 15, 2021
2021: The Best and Worst Legislators
A wild year begat an even wilder legislative session. Lawmakers faced blackouts, a pandemic, and their own worst impulses. Amid the chaos, we plucked out the leaders—and the losers.
Politics & Policy
April 28, 2021
Why Dan Patrick Is in a Quandary Over a Bill to Allow Texans to Carry a Gun Without a Permit
The lieutenant governor is no stranger to forcing votes on controversial issues, but a new gun bill the House passed has concerned some members of his Senate caucus.
Politics & Policy
April 7, 2021
The GOP’s Voter Restriction Bill Would Be a Do-over of the Attempted Voter Purge of 2019
Provisions of Senate Bill 7 would require some naturalized citizens to prove their right to vote.
Politics & Policy
March 19, 2021
Why Is Dan Patrick All in on Repricing Electricity Overcharges?
The lieutenant governor has long responded to crises with more talk than legislation. But is something different this time as he deals with the aftermath of the blackout?
Politics & Policy
March 17, 2021
Dan Patrick Declares War on “Green” Wall Street Investors
The lieutenant governor wants to require state pension and education funds to divest from financial giants that are trimming their investments in oil and gas—but he hasn’t thought through the potential consequences.
Politics & Policy
January 11, 2021
The Texas GOP Returns to Its Favorite Pastime: Infighting
With state government more firmly in Republican hands, the next year will feature a return of the Republican civil war. Here are the skirmishes to watch for.
Politics & Policy
June 13, 2020
Texas Has Shifted to an “It’s Your Responsibility” Pandemic Plan
As new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations reach their highest levels yet, the state is relying less on restrictions and more on individual decisions.