Blogs: Texas Politics Project

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.