Texas

From Austin to Lubbock to Houston, we asked Texans what's motivating them to vote early in Texas' 2026 party primaries — plus the biggest issues on their minds this election year.

A group of parents whose children died in the July 4 floods claim in a federal lawsuit that Camp Mystic's emergency instructions directed kids to stay in cabins even though state law requires evacuation plans for camps.

A damaged Xcel pole owned sparked the Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest in state history.

Students who took English and math college prep courses were less likely to complete college than their peers who were not considered college ready at all.

Texans from Waco to Harlingen are raising concerns over how much energy and water data centers are poised to use. Local officials, some enticed by a tax boon, say they have little power to stop the rush.

The agreement, confirmed by the U.S. State and Agriculture departments, comes after months of negotiation and threats from President Donald Trump to impose higher tariffs on Mexican imports unless Mexico met its water delivery obligations.

Voters in the Republican primary are tasked with parsing through 12 candidate profiles on issues ranging from water and the border to loyalty to President Trump. Democrats have three candidates to decide between.

Texas has the largest number of rural hospitals in the country. In the past decade, 14 of the state's rural hospitals have closed and another 82 are at risk of closure, according to a recent report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Despite funding challenges, some rural hospitals are continuing and even expanding services through community support.

Opponents warned the policy’s vagueness could push professors to self-censor and leave students less prepared for the workplace.

Last year was the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Nearly a quarter of those deaths occurred in Texas.