July 7, 2011 6:14 pm by: KUT Staff
It's hard to see the lines from this angle, but Travis County will split five ways for Congressional representation in next year's election. Photo by Nathan Bernier for KUT News
Travis County is growing. In addition to adding population at a breathtaking rate, there will be five different members of the U.S. House of Representatives who will have Travis County in their district.
The boundary lines are being challenged in the courts. A trial date has been set for September 6 to argue the lines. But that's not stopping candidates from lining up for a chance to sit in the 113th Congress. State Representative Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) has already thrown his hat into the ring for the nomination in the 35th Congressional District, which currently stretches from Southeast Austin to San Antonio. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) has seen a significant change in his District 25, which now stretches westward through Lakeway and Bee Cave and into the Hill Country. There is speculation that he could jump into the race for the 35th District, but Doggett hasn't announced his intentions yet.
In this week's "Texas Political Parlor," KUT's Ian Crawford and Tim...
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A relative hush has descended on the State Capitol, after 169 days of hustle and bustle during the 82nd Texas Legislature. It really won't be that long (18 months, to be precise) till the 83rd Legislature convenes.
This session left a bad taste in the mouths of many lawmakers, largely because of cuts to the 2012-2013 budget. But the legislators who return to Austin in January 2013 may get a worse taste in their mouths, if speculation by House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, comes to pass.
Then again, 18 months is a long, long time in politics. There's a major election cycle ahead, with newly-drawn districts for representatives and senators. There's also speculation about where the state's top office holders might be when the 83rd Legislature gavels to order. KUT's Ian Crawford...
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It always comes as something of a shock to political junkies this time of year that not everyone's a political junkie! (You may actually know people like this, yourself.)...
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It seems like only yesterday that throngs of young people were parading up and down The Drag,
celebrating Barack Obama's election as President of the United States....
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The Democratic gubernatorial nominee hits the trail to gain support in the Rio Grande Valley....
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If two candidates show up for a debate, it's a debate. If more show up, it can become a free-for-all. But if only one candidate shows up for a debate, what would that be?...
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Control of the 2011 Legislature may be more enticing to the major political parties than in other years....
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Distilling facts from the campaign trail....
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The same week Texas gets a number-one ranking from CNBC for overall business climate, one of the funds to help lure and keep some businesses in Texas runs pretty low....
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Advanced polling for the November election starts Monday, October 18....
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Many political opinion polls over the past three decades have shown women more likely to favor one party over another. Many...but not all....
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Once upon a time (just this past May, to be exact), the State of Texas was forecast to be facing
an $18 billion shortfall for its next two-year budget cycle. But that was then. This is now....
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Labor Day, the traditional opening bell of the fall political campaign, is still over a week away....
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More than $830 million is headed from Washington to Texas to help fund education jobs....
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Wednesday's ruling by a U.S. district judge in Arizona may have put parts of that state's immigration law on hold, but it probably won't slow attempts to bring a similar proposal to the Texas Legislature next year....
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Sticks and stones may break one's bones, but words will seldom harm one...unless that person is running for elective office....
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