Molly Ivins on Ann Richards’ Legacy
Tue, 10 Nov 2026 13:45:00 +0000
Editor’s Note: In light of the forthcoming entrance of another Democrat into the governor’s mansion—and because exactly two decades have lapsed since Ann Richards’ passing—we’re resharing our October 6, 2006, cover story. It is Molly Ivins’ touching and candid obituary for her friend, the last Dem to hold the state’s top office—until Gina Hinojosa, that […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/molly-ivins-on-ann-richards-legacy-archives/
Texans Are Losing Their Democracy, School by School
Tue, 10 Nov 2026 13:00:00 +0000
My son is 3 now. So in just one or two vanishingly short years, he’ll enter Austin’s public school system. That doesn’t make me special—there are 70,000 kids in the Austin Independent School District (ISD)—but it does make me, well, nervous. Because public schools in the capital city and around Texas today are being roiled […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/texans-are-losing-their-democracy-school-by-school/
In Texas, the Glass Ceiling Shattered in a Gas-and-Groceries Cycle
Mon, 09 Nov 2026 17:24:15 +0000
You’ve probably heard by now that, in two months’ time, Texas will have the first Hispanic governor—one by the name of Gina Hinojosa—in its history as a U.S. state. And you might have heard, too, that we’re set to have, in Senfronia Thompson, both our first woman and first Black House Speaker as well. But […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-glass-ceiling-shattered-gas-and-groceries-cycle/
The AI Boom Goes Nuclear
Mon, 09 Nov 2026 11:00:00 +0000
In September, tech industry executives in freshly pressed suits watched as about 50 locals protested outside the downtown Austin Marriott hotel, where the suits had gathered for an annual conference focused on the artificial intelligence data center build-out. With chants of “We need clean water, data centers make us hotter,” the protest was emblematic of […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/ai-boom-nuclear-energy-climate-change-texas-data-centers/
The Texas Ocelot in a World ‘Propelled Toward Algorithms and Bottom Lines’
Fri, 06 Nov 2026 13:00:00 +0000
Neither tacos, nor bluebonnets, nor crooked politicians are unique to Texas. However, ocelots—spotted wild felines—just about are. Although they can be found south of the border, Texas is the only state in the country (except for very rare individuals found in Arizona) that is home to ocelots, and here only in the state’s far southern […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/new-novel-texas-ocelot-review-dear-thorns/
Bobby Pulido, the New Scion of South Texas Democrats
Wed, 04 Nov 2026 19:31:18 +0000
Tejano star Bobby Pulido crushed the incumbent Republican Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz by 24 points last night in a fierce blue backlash against gerrymandering, immigration crackdowns, and the high cost of living in South Texas’ Congressional District 15. With 30 years of touring and two Latin Grammys under his belt, Pulido was a formidable […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/bobby-pulido-south-texas-congress-blue-dog/
And Poof. There Goes Red Texas.
Wed, 04 Nov 2026 16:16:07 +0000
I’m not one to typically employ the writerly first person, but after last night please allow me the indulgence. Eight years ago, having moved to Texas to cover the 2018 midterms for the Texas Observer, I traveled across the state tracking what would be a blue wave of historic proportions. On Election Night, I watched […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/down-goes-red-texas-democratic-rout-2026/
Holy Shit, Texas Democrats Are Gonna Govern
Wed, 04 Nov 2026 15:42:16 +0000
To paraphrase a fake quote from Vladimir Lenin—who, had he been a statewide Democratic candidate here last night, would have won by at least five points—there are decades when nothing happens, and there are nights when the Republican men who’ve held this state in their collective deathgrip for the past 12 years are thrown like […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/holy-shit-texas-democrats-are-gonna-govern/
‘We Just Took Back Texas’: Watching the Blue Tsunami from Talarico’s Victory Party
Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:52:54 +0000
Cumbia thumped through the dark, and drinks flowed as the crowd grew in the pavilion of the Long Center. The dazzling Austin skyline stood at their backs, but all eyes turned in the opposite direction to the massive projector screen. MS NOW was displaying the election results as votes came in from around the nation. […]
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https://www.texasobserver.org/talarico-senate-victory-party/
Far From Abbott’s Promised ‘Dark Red,’ Harris County Drives Democrats to Victory Up and Down Ballot
Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:49:24 +0000
Lest we forget, the outgoing (yes, outgoing) Governor Greg Abbott promised a throng of supporters in Harris County last year that he would spend big to turn the region “dark red.” That didn’t happen, to say the least. But at Cactus Cove, the West Houston bar where Letitia Plummer, the Democratic candidate for Harris County […]
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