Democrats’ strong showings in blue-state elections may seem irrelevant to Texas, but political experts say these results offer an early snapshot of voter sentiment heading into 2026. With affordability emerging as a top concern and uncertainty surrounding national policy, these outcomes could influence strategies for both parties in the coming election year.

The government is almost back in business. The Senate passed legislation Monday in a 60-40 vote to reopen the government and end the historic government shutdown.

Flanigan hopes events such as “Popcorn and Politics” will help educate students about current events, better informing them about what’s happening in the world around them and the role their representatives play in these issues.

During the Q&A, the District-17 U.S. representative gave some background on his 24 years as a congressman, family insights and motivation to continue civil discourse among students and citizens.

“Parents have a significant impact on the value system and the ideological system that children develop over time. We’re all impacted by the messages that we hear growing up in our parents’ home,” McAninch said.

Texas voters face new voting districts as Texas congress approves new congressional voting maps for the 2026 election cycle.

Targeted for their rulings on recent abortion cases, the three Republican Texas Supreme Court justices up for reelection successfully fended off Democratic opposition, retaining all nine seats.

Tuesday night, Republican Donis “D.L.” Wilson won McLennan County Commissioner in a head-to-head race against Democrat Jeremy Davis.

Republican incumbent Christi Craddick won the Railroad Commissioner race for a third straight term on Tuesday night. She took nearly 60% of the votes compared to the other four candidates.

“Republicans currently have a razor-thin majority in the House. That’s evidenced by difficulty wrangling routine votes, such as passing a budget, and so it’s very possible that the majority could flip after the 2024 election,” Flavin said.

The historically red Texas Supreme Court battles to maintain its conservative tradition in the ballot box next month, making this election especially important for Texas Democrats.

“If Trump loses this election, then I think it’ll prove that perhaps we’re not in a Trump era and that it may have just been a fluke,” D’Ambrosio said. “If he wins this election, though, I think that he’ll solidify himself as a very consequential figure, if not the most consequential figure of this century to date.”

Gooch said the two-party political system has been in place since the Civil War, with third parties pushing the Democratic and Republican Parties in different directions, but otherwise playing minor roles. He said he predicts third parties will never gain enough power to break the two-party system — at least not in the near future.

Too often, political discussions devolve into arguments where the main objective is to come out on top rather than to obtain a greater understanding of a different perspective or to expose someone else to your own.

The political hijacking of a theological term has caused more harm than good.

As chatter of a Democratic win in Texas alarms many Republicans, Cruz sees his home state as a sort of bastion of the red vote, and he also bears the “Come and Take it” approach to his campaign battles.

“From Waco to El Paso, from Houston to Dallas and from the Red River’s of the Rio Grande, the people of Texas live and breathe the fiercest spirit of independence,” Trump said.

“He won Texas in 2016 and 2020, and won McLennan County by over 20 percentage points,” Flavin said. “He has a lot of support here compared to, say, Austin. If he was going to come to Texas, it makes sense.”

For many Americans, the debate over student loan forgiveness is a politically polarizing one. Democrats usually argue that student loan forgiveness will help relieve the financial burden on students; Republicans usually argue that it is unfair to use everyone’s tax dollars to fund the forgiveness of student loans that were willingly taken out in the first place.

Confronting skeptical Republicans, attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch pledged a new start with Congress and independence from President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

A Texas judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a felony abuse-of-power case against former Gov. Rick Perry on constitutional grounds, ruling that criminal charges against the possible 2016 presidential candidate should stand.

Two Texans, one White House. Is the 2016 Republican campaign trail big enough?

The different political views and ideologies that students are confronted with in college can cause a division among peers.

Millionaires and billionaires are increasing their influence in federal elections, leaving political parties to play more limited roles, and raising questions about who sets the agenda in campaigns.

Though the next Texas Legislative session isn’t due for another year, the issue of higher education value continues to buzz on campuses around the state.

Typically, support for the death penalty comes among Republicans and conservatives, the groups known historically for being “tough on crime.” But a new coalition aims to give a voice to those conservatives who feel otherwise.

The U.S. government has shut down, yet the country largely continues to run as usual. The world didn’t end and the economy did not come to a crashing halt.

Americans need to realize that there is only one party that deserves the lion’s share of the blame for the shutdown: the Democrats.

This shutdown has been years in the making. Until March 23 of this year, the Democrat-controlled Senate failed to even vote on a budget for more than four years, and they have yet to send a budget to the White House as of this writing. That is gross negligence to do the job to which they were elected.

It’s the last thing most Americans care about. But still, a group of the faithful made the trek to St. Louis this weekend for a regional version of the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Compared to the three-day CPAC conference in Washington last March, the St. Louis event was notably more low-key.

There are problems in Washington, but America’s positive aspects can overcome them, Former Congressman Chet Edwards said at the W. R. Poage Legislative Library’s Spring Lecture Tuesday. The lecture was titled, “What’s Wrong with Washington and Right about America?”

Rick Santorum cleared the way for Mitt Romney to claim victory in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, giving up his “against all odds” campaign as Romney’s tenacious conservative rival.