Politics

South by South Lawn, an imprint of the Austin-based festival kicks off today on the White House lawn. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama both spoke at SXSW earlier this year. Today’s event is meant to encourage innovation via a festival of "art, ideas, and action."

We don't really know what Donald Trump paid in taxes, because unlike every other major presidential candidate in the last four decades, the GOP nominee has refused to release his tax returns. But the New York Times offers a tantalizing theory that Trump could have legally escaped income tax liability on hundreds of millions of dollars, thanks to staggering losses from two decades ago.

Tonight's the night.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will meet tonight for the first of three long-awaited presidential debates. The Hofstra University-hosted debate starts at 8 p.m. CST live from Hempstead, N.Y.

Watch the YouTube live stream below courtesy of PBS Newshour. 

The 90-minute debate will be streamed commercial free and will be moderated by NBC's Lester Holt. 

A federal judge sided again today with plaintiffs in the long legal battle over Texas' voter ID law.

This time, the U.S. Department of Justice joined the group of Texas voters challenging the state’s law, arguing Texas election officials were misleading voters about court-ordered changes to the law.

Over the past few weeks, we've been compiling questions about this year's election sent to us by people across Texas. It’s part of a project we're calling "Texas Decides."

Now, it's time for you to help us decide which questions we'll investigate!

Vote for the question you find most intriguing below, and our reporters at public radio stations across the state will use the results to start digging in.

From the Texas Tribune: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is taking an official role with the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, serving as his Texas state chairman.

A new poll suggests GOP presidential nominee may not have the double-digit lead in Texas enjoyed by his predecessors heading into Election Day. 

The Texas Lyceum poll found Donald Trump leads Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by seven points among likely voters – 39 to 32 percent of respondents, respectively – in a four-way race.

Republicans have taken Texas handily in every presidential election since 2000, winning by double digits in each contest.

A forum designed to test the leading presidential candidates' capacity for military leadership Wednesday night displayed as much unpredictability as the rest of this election, as questions and answers veered off-topic and both candidates were put on the defensive several times.

As February follows January and the sun sets in the west, readers of The Dallas Morning News could rely on that newspaper to endorse the Republican candidate for president.

But not this time — not when the candidate is Donald Trump.

The Morning News editorial pulled no punches from the get-go:

"What does it mean to be a Republican?

Inspired after a visit to Austin’s South by Southwest Festival in March, President Barack Obama and White House staff are creating their own version – South by South Lawn.