In a controversial move, the Texas Legislature voted to change quorum rules and pass a new congressional map creating five additional safe Republican seats without Democratic members present. The legislature modified procedural rules to allow passage despite the absence of Democratic lawmakers, who …
Texas LegislatureTexas RepublicansGreg AbbottTexas House DemocratsTodd Hunterredistrictinggerrymanderingquorum-violationconstitutional-crisiselectoral-manipulation+2 more
52 Texas House Democrats fled to Illinois to break quorum and prevent a vote on unprecedented mid-cycle redistricting that would create 5 new safe Republican congressional seats, echoing 2003 and 2021 walkouts but this time leaving state to avoid federal law enforcement. At least 51 Democratic …
Texas House DemocratsTexas LegislatureIllinois Governor JB PritzkerGene WuJosh Rush Nisenson+1 moreredistrictingdemocratic-resistancequorum-breakinterstate-politicsconstitutional-crisis+1 more
Elon Musk deployed a sophisticated lobbying operation in Texas, hiring 12 lobbyists across SpaceX, Tesla, and X Corp. The team, including former advisors to Governor Greg Abbott, successfully influenced multiple legislative actions. They secured laws benefiting Musk’s companies, including …
Texas Governor Abbott called special session in July 2025 at former President Trump’s request to eliminate Democratic urban seats through mid-cycle redistricting. Most brazen attempt at mid-decade gerrymandering would have created five additional Republican districts. House Democrats broke …
Greg Abbott (Governor)Donald TrumpTexas House DemocratsTexas Legislaturegerrymanderingmid-cycle-redistrictingquorum-breaktexasdemocratic-resistance+2 more
A federal judge rules that Texas’s voter ID law, widely considered the strictest in the nation, was intentionally designed to discriminate against Black and Latino voters. The ruling finds “a pattern of conduct unexplainable on grounds other than the race factor” and marks the …
A federal court rules that the Texas Legislature’s 2011 redistricting plan for congressional districts discriminated against Latino voters in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. The decision finds that Texas deliberately carved up Latino communities and …
Jack Abramoff orchestrated a complex lobbying scheme involving the Tigua tribe’s Speaking Rock Casino, first helping to lobby for its closure through Texas legislation, and then charging the tribe $4.2 million to allegedly reopen the casino. The case exemplifies Abramoff’s fraudulent …
Jack AbramoffMichael ScanlonTigua TribeRalph ReedTexas Legislatureabramofftigua-tribetexas-gamblingdouble-dealingfraud+1 more