News from the Texas Democratic Party

It looks like a ho-hum political year in most parts of Texas, with Republican incumbents favored to hold the governorship, a Senate seat and most U.S. House seats. But the Supreme Court could change all that.

The Democratic attorneys challenging Texas' congressional districts filed a reply brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday, one week before arguments are set to begin in the high-stakes case.

The majority of Texans, despite being tax leery and skeptical of government spending, are willing to open their wallets to provide more money for public education, according to a new statewide survey.

The burgeoning Jack Abramoff corruption scandal has made it all but certain that Rep. Tom DeLay will not return as House majority leader, aides to the Republican House leadership said Wednesday.

The prosecutor in the Texas money laundering case against Rep. Tom DeLay issued subpoenas Tuesday looking for links between lobbyist Jack Abramoff and fundraising by the former majority leader.

Today is the deadline for candidates to file for either the Republican or Democratic primaries; the Texas Libertarian Party, whose nominees are chosen at a June convention; or as an independent candidate for office.

Early voting starts Tuesday in parts of West Austin and western Travis County to determine who will be ranked 150th in seniority in the Texas House.

Texas is sure to be the epicenter of this year's congressional races, thanks to some unique factors, especially the trial of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Democrats' efforts to leverage his ethics problems into a national wave.

Media reports that U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay had persuaded the state's highest appellate court to hear his criminal appeal were as widely circulated as they were, well, wrong.

Soon the younger Abramoff developed a key alliance with Rep. Tom DeLay, a conservative Republican from Texas who was working his way up in the House leadership.

The state's highest criminal court Tuesday gave prosecutors a week to respond to U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's request for a speedy trial, again crunching the time he has to clear his name in hopes of regaining his position as U.S. House...

Diminishing winds and higher humidity mean that no red flag warning will be issued Wednesday, but conditions are still favorable for grass fires like the ones that raged across Tarrant County on Tuesday.

Time may have run out on U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's quest to be tried on money-laundering charges before Congress begins a new term in late January.

A new state law intended to help Texas consumers buy less expensive prescription drugs from Canada was struck down Wednesday by Attorney General Greg Abbott, who ruled that it violated federal law.

A behind-the-scenes bureaucratic rift between Texas and Bush administration officials could deny some of the state's neediest residents weeks' worth of food-stamp benefits.

As Texas Congressman Tom DeLay became a king of campaign fund-raising -- he sometimes lived like one, too.

Case in point: the Supreme Court's decision last week to hear a suit challenging the map Texas Republicans drew for the state's congressional districts. This case could spur a landmark decision.

If the Supreme Court throws out the current Texas congressional map, the state could revert to lines used in 2002. But so much has happened since then that the mere thought gives heartburn to GOP strategists and politicians.

Groups listed as beneficiaries of more than $330,000 in gifts say they never got them

Texas cases give high court chance to set limits on redistricting