Breaking: Trump endorses Brandon Herrera for #TX23 days after Rep. Tony Gonzales, whom Trump previously endorsed, admitted to an affair with a staffer and subsequently dropped his reelection bid.

i'm sorry this story from @taygoldenstein.bsky.social is one of the funniest things i've ever read. guy gets towed at SXSW, can't pay his debt to the towing company so he gets a job there, stays for a decade, runs for office, spends no money, wins primary: www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politic...

Joined my colleagues in San Antonio at the @expressnews.com to discuss (you guessed it!) the fall of Rep. Tony Gonzales and the race between newly-anointed GOP nominee 'The AK Guy' and Dem opponent @katy4congress.bsky.social: www.youtube.com/watch?v=to5v...

NEW: "The AK Guy" Brandon Herrera could soon be a Texas Congressman after Rep. Tony Gonzales abruptly dropped his reelection bid. @expressnews.com has been covering him since 2024. Here's everything we know about him, plus info on the Dem he'll face in November: www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

BREAKING: Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, is abandoning his bid for reelection to Congress under pressure from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson & and amid an ethics investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

Months after he said rumors that he was sleeping with his staffer were false, and 2 weeks after we first reported evidence that it happened, Rep. Tony Gonzales admits to the affair: “I made a mistake” www.expressnews.com/news/article...

Had the privilege of going over the results of last night’s primary elections & what they mean for November with @texasstandard.bsky.social. Take a listen: www.texasstandard.org/stories/toda...

BREAKING: House Ethics panel to investigate Rep. Tony Gonzales over allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a staffer and unfairly "dispens(ed) special favors or privileges." Comes as Gonzales heads into a tight GOP runoff. @expressnews.com www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

Just now: Texas Democratic Party says “hundreds of Dallas County voters are being turned away from the polls” because of new Republican-led requirements that they vote only in their precinct, rather than anywhere in the county #txlege

Inbox: Rep. @jasmineforus.bsky.social, who’s running in the competitive #TXSEN Dem primary, says she’s considering requesting an extension of poll times today in Williamson & Dallas Counties due to confusion over precinct voting requirements. Urges voters: “Do not give up & do not give in”

Had a great time talking about Texas primaries and the Rep. Tony Gonzales scandal with @slate.com’s What Next podcast this morning. Take a listen: “Can Democrats mess with Texas?” open.spotify.com/episode/6tLw...

NEW from me: Did @RepTonyGonzales give preferential pay to staffer Regina Santos-Aviles the year they engaged in an affair? @ExpressNews crunched the numbers⬇️

Tune in to @texasstandard.bsky.social at 10:50 a.m. (in 2 minutes) to hear my @expressnews.com colleague Nancy & me break down everything that has happened re: Rep. Tony Gonzales over the past week!

New: A growing number of Republicans are publicly condemning Rep. @TonyGonzales4TX for soliciting explicit pictures from a staffer, escalating pressure before his March 3 primary & complicating his path to political survival. On the political fallout: www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

NEW from my colleague Nancy Preyor-Johnson: Moments after setting herself on fire, Regina Santos-Aviles told police she did it because she had discovered her estranged husband was romantically involved with her best friend, per police report. via @expressnews.com www.expressnews.com/news/article...

NEW: Texts from the husband of Regina Santos-Aviles show Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, repeatedly pressed his aide for a "sexy pic" and in-person meetups. Twice, the staffer told Gonzales he was going “too far.” Via @expressnews.com: www.expressnews.com/news/article...

NEW: Months before immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis and triggered nationwide protests, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a San Antonio man, according to newly released records. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

NEW: U.S. Rep. @JoaquinCastrotx, D-San Antonio, is calling for a DOJ investigation into an ICE agent's killing of a U.S. citizen from San Antonio in March 2025. This is the 3rd known ICE shooting of a citizen since Trump took office. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

Inbox: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign arm declares that “Democrats are more energized, organized, and funded than I’ve ever seen” in fundraising email Email also features Donald Trump Jr. saying “Democrats are flooding Texas with money” #txlege

BREAKING: Adrian Aviles broke months of silence on his wife's affair w/ Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, today after we reported on a text message acknowledging the affair. In an exclusive interview w/ @expressnews.com, he said his wife showed him graphic texts w/ the rep 🧵

NEW: GOP U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales resists calls to resign after @expressnews.com reported staffer Regina Santos-Aviles acknowledged they had an affair in 2024 His opponent has cited House ethics rules barring lawmakers from having sexual relationships with staffers. expressnews.com/politics/art...

BREAKING: I obtained text messages in which an aide to U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, acknowledged she "had an affair with our boss." 2 sources said the affair was an "open secret" in the office. The staffer died by suicide last year. @expressnews.com: www.expressnews.com/news/article...

New: Cuellar breaks with Democrats to back DHS funding and Trump-backed voter ID bill www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

EXCLUSIVE: A whistleblower tells @thebarbedwire.com he spent years burying radioactive fracking waste, which melted the bones in his neck and jaw. Then a residential community — and an elementary school — was built on top. 🧵 thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/11/a...

Sign up for the free Texas Take newsletter before 6:30 p.m. tonight for this week's look at the data behind the political landscape in Texas! I'll have new details on massive spending from Texans for Lawsuit Reform & trial lawyers in GOP primaries: #txlege www.houstonchronicle.com/newsletters/...

"Asked by Hearst Newspapers whether he believes all minors harmed by medical malpractice should be given a longer timeline to do so, Oliverson said he’s focused narrowly on gender transition. He asserted the medical industry perpetrated a “systemic failure” in that area."

NEW: In 2003, Texas Republicans backed strict limits on medical malpractice lawsuits. Now, 2 decades later, many are urging the TX Supreme Court to reinterpret that statute in cases transgender care. And the court appears very open to doing so. #txlege www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

NEW: Nate Sheets has accused Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller of using taxpayer dollars to boost his struggling reelection bid. Miller's Department of Agriculture spent >$6,000 on Facebook & Instagram ads touting his work for the agency. #txlege www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

Maria is one of hundreds of children, who — like Liam Ramos — have been held at a Texas detention facility where parents say children languish as they’re served contaminated food, receive little education and struggle to obtain basic medical care. Here's our attempt at telling their stories. 2/

NEW: A TX House GOP primary has turned into a ferocious power struggle between trial attorneys and Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the corporate lobbying juggernaut that has for decades tried to take them down. I found spending has topped $3 MILLION already: #txlege www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

ICE raids are sparking labor shortages in South Texas, business leaders say www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

New: my dispatch from a "barn hall" hosted by Bobby Pulido, the Tejano singer and Dem candidate for #TX15, who is hoping music & his "conservative Democrat" views approach can help him unseat GOP U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

New: U.S. Rep. @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social, D-San Antonio, has filed legislation to block Trump from taking military action in Mexico w/o Congressional approval. Comes after Trump last week told Fox his admin would be "hitting land" soon to fight cartels. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

Scoop: Texas has quietly pushed 6,400 truckers with asylum, refugee or DACA status out of work in response to demands from the Trump administration that the state revoke commercial driver's licenses whose expiration dates don't match work permits. Many truckers had no warning.🧵

JUST IN: A federal judge ordered Texas to pay $1.2 million in atty’s fees the plaintiffs in a successful challenge to Texas’ HB 900/ the READER Act. #txlege Background: www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

Inbox: Dem U.S. House leadership closes ranks behind Rep. @juliejohnsontx.bsky.social of Dallas, endorsing her in her primary reelection bid against @colinallredtx.bsky.social The endorsement from @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social & others portends an uphill battle for Allred, to say the least

NEW: Afghans in Texas who worked with U.S. forces are facing prolonged job loss & uncertainty amid Trump's recent crackdown on Afghan immigration. In San Antonio, they told me their stories. "If this situation continues, we'll all be homeless," one said. 🧵 www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

Whew, this archival clipping about Greg Bovino’s father

The whole piece is worthwhile—and talks about Bovino’s family’s immigrant roots. Bravo, @chicago.suntimes.com

A spokesperson for Rep. Henry Cuellar confirmed to me that the Laredo Democrat has regained his post as the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee after a private vote. Comes 1 week after he was pardoned of federal corruption charges. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

New: @housedemocrats.bsky.social national campaign arm says it’ll invest in #TX35, @gregcasar.bsky.social’s district that the GOP redrew to be R+10. The GOP is also targeting in the district, setting the open seat up as a battleground in the 2026 midterms. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

NEW: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up a lawsuit over public library books in the Texas Hill Country, leaving in place a ruling that gives local governments & elected officials wide latitude to ban books & ideas from their shelves. #txlege www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has allowed Texas to use its redistricting map in the 2026 midterms, overturning a lower court ruling and guaranteeing Republicans will have favorable margins in five more seats than in 2024. #txlege

BREAKING: Pres. Trump has pardoned South Texas U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar from federal corruption charges, saying the Dem was targeted for speaking out against Biden’s “Border Catastrophe.” “Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight,” he wrote www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

NEW: Texas quietly tightened car registration & renewal ID requirements after Rep. @brianeharrison blasted the DMV. The major policy shift targets unauthorized immigrants, but it will affect everyone, county tax offices & title & insurance specialists told me. #txlege

BREAKING: SCOTUS has *temporarily* restored Texas Republicans’ new congressional map after a lower court struck them down. Justice Alito asks for plaintiffs to file a response on Monday by 5; full decision coming after that #txlege Background: www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

NEW: The ruling against Texas' redistricting map cited quotes from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the House speaker, and 3 other lawmakers as proof that the Texas GOP adopted the racial framing of the DOJ letter. A look at the judges' reasoning, which will be appealed: www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

BREAKING: A Trump-appointed federal judge just ruled that Texas *CANNOT* use its new redistricting map in the 2026 Congressional election. They have to use the 2021 map instead, he ruled. If this is upheld on appeal, it would crater Trump's plan to win 5 new Republican seats in the House. #txlege

NEW: As Texas school districts scramble to comply with a new state law banning "indecent" and "profane" library books, one startup is cashing in. I dug into tens of thousands of dollars in contracts between the company and Texas public schools. Here's what I learned: 🧵