PATRICK SVITEK, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

The rally in the Houston suburbs put on full display how much of a grip former President Donald Trump still has on Texas Republican leaders.

Officials added 36 to the estimate of lives lost in the disaster, which knocked out power in much of the state. Some experts place the toll even higher.

Abbott’s office says vaccines are the best defense to the pandemic, however, the governor has rarely spoken about vaccines in recent months other than to push back against mandates. He did not respond to a question about whether he got the booster.

A Springtown man with the same name as the former governor filed Monday to run for the state's top post against Gov. Greg Abbott, raising the prospect of dirty political tricks.

The actor said in a video Sunday that “political leadership” is a “path that I’m choosing not to take at this moment.”

Gohmert is at least the fourth GOP primary opponent that Paxton will face. At least three Democrats are also running for the job.

O’Rourke’s decision to challenge Gov. Greg Abbott ends months of speculation and gives Democrats a formidable campaigner at the top of the ticket — someone who transformed Texas politics with his blockbuster campaign against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.

With proposed maps out, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, says he might switch to a neighboring district where U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, is retiring. The initial maps are also sure to impact decisions in regional legislative races.

The field for the Sept. 28 contest has attracted three Democrats and two Republicans.

Texas’ new near-total abortion ban, one of the most restrictive in the nation, punctuated a week that brought into stunning relief just how far the state’s political pendulum has swung to the right since the 2020 election.