Blog Posts

James Henson and Joshua Blank look at Texas public opinion on tariffs and the economy, and how economic upheaval might upend core assumptions about the state budget for the next biennium.

With the Texas House of Representatives scheduled to debate their budget bills (SB 1 and HB 500, the supplemental appropriations bill) Thursday, April 10, the December 2024 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll asked Texas voters about their views of the state’s commitment to a dozen spending areas.

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.

However much (and how) Texas voters’ attitudes about tariffs are likely to be shaped by their direct experience of the effects, and by partisan attempts to shape those views, the widespread concern they express about prices is likely to continue to dominate their economic views.

Texas Senator John Cornyn officially announced his re-election intentions this week in a race that is expected to include a vigorous primary contest in 2026.

While pluralities of Republican voters approved of several of the specific tactics the Trump administration has threatened to use to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants, the poll revealed reservations among significant shares of the same partisans who profess to support the immediate deportation of anyone in the country illegally.

James Henson talks with Jasper Scherer, reporter and incoming politics editor at The Texas Tribune about political maneuvering at the legislature as the pace of the session picks up, and about the evolution of the Tribune's position in the media ecosystem in Texas.

Amidst all the arguments about the second Trump administration’s economic and trade policies and their consequences, Texas voters remain deeply concerned about the prices they are paying for most anything that matters.

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.

James Henson talks with veteran political reporter Gromer Jeffers, Jr., about his recent reporting on national Democrats' struggles after the 2024 election, and Texas Democrats position in the state House of Representatives.