Texas Politics & News
The Daily Signal highlights Texas as a leader in conservative policy and governance, covering Lone Star State legislation, elections, border enforcement, and energy dominance.
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news
Texas House Considering Changes in Law Protecting Free Speech
Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that critics say would threaten freedom of speech with frivolous lawsuits, by altering the state’s so-called anti-SLAPP law. The Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee heard testimony late Wednesday evening from numerous witnesses on House Bill 2988 that would make changes to the state’s anti-SLAPP law, by allowing… -
opinion
Texas Tips the Scales: School Choice Now Covers Half of US Kids
In a historic victory for educational freedom, the Texas House of Representatives finally passed a universal school choice bill—marking not just a win for families in the Lone Star State, but a watershed moment for the entire school choice movement. Once it clears the state senate and Gov. Greg Abbott signs Senate Bill 2 into… -
news
Texas Legislature Considering Change to Law That Could Increase Lawfare
A handful of laws are making their way through the Texas Legislature that could exacerbate the use of malicious lawfare to silence unwanted speech. Texas passed the so-called Texas Citizens Participation Act in 2011. This was one of many laws in states around the country designed to curtail what’s called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or… -
news
Texas GOP Senate Primary Race Gets Ugly Early
The most contentious Senate contest of 2026 is shaping up to be between two Republicans. Since Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared his run to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, who has represented the Lone Star State since 2002, the two candidates have hammered each other with attack ads that question each other’s character and MAGA… -
news
Texas AG Paxton Announces 2026 GOP Primary Challenge Against Sen. Cornyn
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced this week his long-expected 2026 Senate primary challenge against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Both politicians cast long shadows in the Lone Star State. In his announcement, Paxton characterized the run as bolstering support for President Donald Trump in the Senate. “We have another great U.S. senator in Ted… -
news
Texas Lawmaker ‘Sneaks’ into University’s Transgender Event, Exposes Programs Funded by Taxpayers
Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison sounded the alarm after he “snuck” into a state-funded transgender conference at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday, according to a string of posts on his X account. “The Texas Government is promoting a radical, liberal agenda … with your tax dollars,” the Republican wrote on X, adding,… -
news
Texas AG Paxton Sues School District for ‘Illegally Teaching’ Critical Race Theory
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Coppell Independent School District for “illegally teaching woke and hateful critical race theory curriculum,” his office said in a Wednesday press release. The lawsuit follows an undercover video revealing Coppell school district’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction Evan Whitfield admitting to defying Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on… -
news
Woman Arrested by Attorney General in Texas for Performing Illegal Abortions
A woman was arrested in Texas for allegedly providing illegal abortions, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday. The arrest is the first of its kind under a 2022 near-total abortion ban in the state. “In Texas, life is sacred,” Paxton said in a press release. “I will always do everything in my power to… -
news
One Texas Jail Tells the Story of America’s Illegal Immigration Crisis
Mexican cartel members are “running scared” and fearful of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, according to the sheriff of Tarrant County, Texas. Like many local law enforcement officials, Sheriff Bill Waybourn has witnessed the sharp spike in illegal immigration over the past four years. He welcomed the increased enforcement from the federal government. … -
news
Too Many Drugs, Not Enough Prosecution, Texas Border Sheriff Says
HUDSPETH COUNTY, Texas—The courts are “failing” in West Texas, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West says. Law enforcement is apprehending drugs every day in his county, which borders Mexico, but West says his deputies are tired of repeatedly arresting the same people. “When I get on the deputies about, ‘Y'all need to stop this… -
news
West Texas Sheriffs: Oil Theft Is a Major Crime Issue
HUDSPETH COUNTY, Texas—Law enforcement in West Texas say they don’t have enough manpower to deal with the rise of oil theft. “Everybody's shorthanded,” Sheriff Art Granado of Reeves County told The Daily Signal at the March Big Bend Area Law Enforcement Officers Association meeting while explaining the oil theft issue in his community. “There is… -
news
Texas Bill Would Ban ‘Furry Culture’ in Public Schools
THE CENTER SQUARE—State Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Smithville, introduced the FURRIES Act, known as the Forbidden Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education, on Thursday to prohibit Texas public schools from allowing furry subculture behavior in classrooms and on campuses. The furry subculture involves individuals adopting anthropomorphic animal identities who often dress in costumes and attempt to mimic… -
news
‘He Needed to Be Censured,’ House Freedom Caucus Members Say of Texas Democrat
Americans witnessed an unprecedented display of incivility during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night when Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, had to be physically removed from the House chamber after disrupting the president’s speech. Now, the Houston-area congressman has been censured by his colleagues, on a vote of 224-to-198…. -
news
Texas Lawmaker’s Bill Would Require DHS to Report to Congress Crimes Illegal Aliens Commit
New legislation would require the Department of Homeland Security to notify Congress of crimes committed by illegal aliens that the Biden administration paroled in the country. Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, introduced the Criminal Illegal Alien Report Act on Thursday. The bill, if passed and signed into law, would require DHS to “to report to… -
news
Ethics Complaint Filed Against Texas Republican for ‘Hot Mic’ Moment
A conservative nonprofit government oversight group filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on Tuesday, arguing that his recent “hot microphone” comment about wanting to “kill” journalist Tucker Carlson violates congressional decorum rules. “[We are writing] today to request that you immediately open an investigation of Representative Dan Crenshaw for violation of the… -
news
IED Kills Texas Rancher. Cartels Expected to Be Responsible, Official Says.
An improvised explosive device killed a Texas rancher last month, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says. “This shocking act of violence highlights the growing threat posed by cartel activity along our southern border,” Miller said in a statement Tuesday. Antonio Céspedes Saldierna, 74, was killed at the end of January when his vehicle detonated an… -
news
Books Banned in Prisons, but Allowed in Schools? Texas Mom Wants Them Out
A Texas mother is looking to pass several bills through the state legislature this session after discovering what she calls “vulgar,” “profane,” and “indecent” books in public school libraries across the state. Bonnie Wallace, a member of the Llano County Library Advisory Board and mother to a former Llano County Independent School District student, began… -
news
Hidden Camera Video Shows Texas DEI Director Discussing Transgender Sports ‘Workarounds’
A Texas school district’s DEI director resigned after being recorded on hidden camera discussing ways to circumvent state law regarding transgender student athletes. In the recording from Accuracy in Media, Hutto Independent School District Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Keyawna Glaze told an undercover journalist there were “workarounds” to Texas law requiring student… -
news
Texas School Faces Fallout Over Hidden Camera Footage on Transgender Sports Ban
A day after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott demanded criminal and civil investigations into the Irving Independent School District, an administrator resigned Wednesday amid the uproar over his comments about circumventing a state law regarding transgender athletes. “This Irving ISD Administrator should be fired on the spot,” Abbott wrote on X after an undercover video appeared… -
opinion
Texas A&M’s Partisan General Counsel Puts University in Legal Jeopardy Over DEI
Texas A&M University is in legal and political trouble. It faces threats of civil rights liability, the loss of federal funding, and the firing of its president, Mark Welsh III, all because its general counsel, Ray Bonilla, gave the university legal advice that he should have known was unsound. Journalist-activist Chris Rufo revealed on X…