Keyword: Will Hurd
Tracking Congressional Change in Texas as the Republican Retirement Rush Continues
Republican Congressman Bill Flores' (CD-17) announcement that he won't seek re-election brings the number of GOP retirements to five, further fueling speculation about the extent and implications of increasing partisan competition in Texas. These graphics look at congressional turnover in the last several sessions overall, by cause of exit, and by party. The Texas Politics Project will keep these current, so bookmark the page.
No, That Really is Rain You Feel on Your Back: Texas Data Points from the Week in Politics, March 17, 2017
The House raised the bet in the budget poker game as the House and Senate also displayed differences on sanctuary cities legislation, one of the Governor's emergency items. On the other hand, rejecting Governor Abbotts' lead on pre-k funding is an area of increasingly rare agreement between the House and the Senate. Still pending is how the Senate will respond to the statewide texting-while-driving ban passed this week by the House after a pretty lively debate. SB 6 passed the Senate this week, even as Chairman Cook confirmed the general sense that the House leadership, like the public, per UT/Texas Tribune Polling, is much less interested in the legislature regulating bathroom access than the Senate leadership. Looking toward 2018, Congressmen Will Hurd and Beto O'Rourke took a roadtrip and live streamed the whole thing, much to the delight of the national media and Jonathan Tilove – but probably not Texas' Junior Senator.