Texas Politics Project: Blogs: Texas Politics Project

The U.S. War in Iran and the Election Climate in Texas

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:50:10 -0500

In a new Second Reading podcast, James Henson and Joshua Blank check into the latest twist the GOP run-off election for the U.S. Senate, then turn to what public opinion polling in Texas might tell us about the impact of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran given the current path of the conflict.

Second Reading Podcast: Texas Delivers a Dramatic Primary Election

Texas Politics Project — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:03:21 -0500

James Henson and Joshua Blank look at key results of the long-anticipated Texas primary elections, and talk over some of the implications moving forward and the trajectory of polling in the Democratic race.

Second Reading: A Hot Week in Texas Election Politics

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 22:21:14 -0600

James Henson and Joshua Blank look at three big stories in Texas that generated national attention as election season heats up in the state: the special election for Senate District 9, Colin Allred's surprising re-emergence in the Democratic Senate nomination race, and Donald Trump's public musings about endorsing in the Republican Senate race.

Second Reading: The Collision of Immigration, Gun Rights, and Free Speech After Another Fatal Shooting by Federal Agents

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:04:33 -0600

James Henson and Joshua Blank look at how the shooting deaths of protesters by federal immigration authorities in Minneapolis activate a complex interplay among attitudes on immigration, gun rights, and the First Amendment.

Second Reading Podcast: A Weather Report on Issues in the 2026 Primaries

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 19:48:12 -0600

In the latest Second Reading podcast, James Henson and Joshua Blank use Texas polling to compare and contrast the issues at play in the Republican and Democratic primaries in Texas. Plus, some brief discussion of the latest NYT/Sienna national poll and the coverage of polling conducted by campaigns.

Second Reading Podcast: Views on health care and immigration enforcement, plus a check in on the 2026 U.S. Senate race

Texas Politics Project — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:09:52 -0600

James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the polling results on health care, immigration, and the 2026 U.S. Senate race in the final UT/Texas Politics Poll of 2025, and what those results portend for the 2026 election year.

Second Reading Podcast: Redistricting Blows Up (Again!); the State of the Trump Coalition

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 17:49:06 -0600

James Henson & Joshua Blank consider the politics of the federal court decision throwing out the recently redrawn Texas Congressional map, and the MAGA crack-up trope in the political press.

Second Reading Podcast: Gov. Abbott Deploys the National Guard to Illinois, Hunt Finally Gets In as Shutdown Continues

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 19:57:23 -0500

After catching up on the federal shutdown, James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the political dynamics around Gov. Greg Abbott's fast deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Illinois at the order of President Trump, including a look at Texas attitudes toward Abbott's response to Operation Jade Helm a decade ago.

Second Reading: Shutdown politics and public opinion in Texas

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:34:38 -0500

James Henson and Joshua Blank dig into what UT/Texas Politics Project polling can tell us about the public opinion context for the government shutdown in Texas.

Second Reading Podcast: New Polling and Texas Voters' Views of the Legislative Agenda

Texas Politics Project — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 11:50:15 -0600

James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the latest Texas Politics Project poll results on redistricting, marijuana, property taxes, and other priorities in the recently-concluded special legislative sessions.

Second Reading Podcast: A PAAT Media Panel on the Legislative Special Session + a Polling Sneak Peak

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 18:42:35 -0500

Gromer Jeffers, Jr., Brad Johnson, Mark Jones, and Harvey Kronberg joined James Henson for a roundtable hosted by the Professional Advocacy association of Texas on the second special session of the Texas Legislature – plus a sneak peak at new Texas Politics Project polling data on the same subject.

Second Reading: Boundary management in Texas

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 18:26:34 -0500

James Henson and Joshua Blank talk over some of the political and institutional implications of the mid-decade redistricting in Texas In the wake of Texas House Democrats' return to the Capitol and the passage of the hotly contested new Congressional map by the reconvened House.

Second Reading: Timing is everything

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 19:13:25 -0500

James Henson and Joshua Blank discuss the uncertainty around Texas House Democrats' quorum break over mid-decade redistricting, and what the ensuing politics reveal about Texas politics.

Second Reading Podcast: Another Texas Legislative Session in the History Books

Texas Politics Project — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 09:50:28 -0500

From ESA's to property taxes to hurled hemp, James Henson and Joshua Blank take a day-after look at the the 89th Texas Legislature and what lawmakers did and didn't do over the last 140 days.

Second Reading Podcast: Unpacking Texas Views of Trump and the Economy with the Texas Politics Project Poll Team

Texas Politics Project — Wed, 07 May 2025 08:13:17 -0500

In a meeting of the Texas Politics Project poll team, Daron Shaw and Joshua Blank talk with James Henson about results in the April 2025 University of Texas / Texas Politics Project Poll.

Second Reading Podcast: Recent movement of abortion legislation and intra-party friction in the Texas Legislature with Bayliss Wagner of the Austin American-Statesman

Texas Politics Project — Fri, 02 May 2025 08:29:32 -0500

James Henson talks with political reporter Austin American-Statesman's Bayliss Wagner about her coverage of abortion and other issues in the current session of the Texas Legislation, and other subjects including intra-party conflict in the House and the place of the Statesman in the Texas media environment.

Second Reading Podcast: The State of Play in the Texas Legislature with Harvey Kronberg

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 17:13:50 -0500

James Henson talks with Harvey Kronberg, publisher and of Harvey Kronberg’s Quorum Report, about the vibes in the legislature as well as the longer trajectory of politics in the state, and the place of Quorum Report in the Texas media universe.

Second Reading Podcast: A Conversation with The Texan's Brad Johnson about Policy & Politics in the Texas Legislature, the Texas Media Environment, and More

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 16:43:35 -0500

James Henson talks with Brad Johnson, political reporter and managing editor of The Texan, about recent happenings in the Texas Legislature, including the ESA bill voted out of the House Education Committee, the failed attempt to depose Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, and Dan Patrick's presser this week. They also talk about The Texan's place in the Texas media universe, and other changes in the Texas media business.

Second Reading Podcast: "Texas went above and beyond": A Conversation with The New Yorker's Jonathan Blitzer

Texas Politics Project — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:11:51 -0500

James Henson talks with Jonathan Blitzer about the threads he pulled together in his profile of Texas Governor Greg Abbott for the March 17 issue of The New Yorker.

Second Reading Podcast: Trump Ascendant in Texas in New Statewide Poll

Texas Politics Project — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 11:32:09 -0600

Daron Shaw, Josh Blank, and James Henson discuss news highs for Donald Trump amidst persistent economic concerns along with other new findings from the just-released February 2025 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll.

Second Reading Podcast: A conversation with Greg Cox about producing a daily Texas politics newsletter & the state of play in the #TxLege

Texas Politics Project — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 19:46:15 -0600

James Henson talks with Greg Cox about his recently launched Texas politics newsletter, and the state of play in the legislature, where he finds people generally getting along better after the heated 2023-2024 sequence in Texas.

Second Reading Podcast: Taking stock of political mood in the Texas Capitol as the pace increases in the Legislature

Texas Politics Project — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 17:50:36 -0600

Jim Henson and Joshua Blank talk about how politics are shaping up as the House makes committee assignments and the current Big Three position themselves as the session shifts into a higher gear.

Second Reading Podcast: How nationalized are Texas politics?

Texas Politics Project — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 11:22:46 -0600

Jim Henson and Josh Blank talk about how to think about how national politics shape politics in Texas, and consider the feedback loops at work in sorting out the reciprocal effects of Texas and national politics.

Second Reading Podcast: Politics in the Texas House after the resolution of the Speaker race

Texas Politics Project — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 09:27:03 -0600

Jim Henson and Josh Blank consider the ascension of Dustin Burrows as Houses Speaker, and revisit UT/Texas Politics polling on Texans' attitudes toward the emerging Trump agenda as the president issues a flurry of executive orders.

Second Reading Podcast: Public opinion in Texas and the Trump agenda

Texas Politics Project — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 09:27:39 -0600

The UT/Texas Politics Project Poll Team discuss what their December polling in Texas tells us about public opinion and potential cross-currents buffeting the Trump administration & Congressional Republicans in 2025 - with James Henson, Daron Shaw, and Joshua Blank.