Jay Root is a native of Liberty. He never knew any reporters growing up, and he has never taken a journalism class in his life. But somehow he got hooked on the news business. It all started when Root walked into the offices of The Daily Texan, his college newspaper, during his last year at the University of Texas in 1987. He couldn't resist the draw: it was the biggest collection of misfits ever assembled. After graduating, he took a job at a Houston chemical company and soon realized it wasn't for him. Root applied for an unpaid internship at the Houston Post in 1990, and it turned into a full-time job that same year. He has been a reporter ever since. Root has covered natural disasters, live music and Texas politics — not necessarily in that order. He was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a dozen years, most of them good. He also covered politics and the Legislature for The Associated Press before joining the staff of the Tribune.Root is the author of “Oops! A Diary From The 2012 Campaign Trail,” an insider’s account of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s dramatic collapse in the 2012 presidential race. The book was released in September, 2012.
Gov. Rick Perry's failed 2012 presidential campaign is chronicled in detail in Double Down: Game Change 2012, a new book about the last presidential race.
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Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday called the ongoing impeachment investigation into University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall “extraordinary political theater.”
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In the wake of criticism from a former Texas Trial Lawyers Association president about the group's spending practices, the association has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday in Austin to address concerns.
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They haven’t even won their respective primaries yet, but the leading candidates for Texas governor — Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis — are engaged in a bitter fight in federal court. It’s not over who should be governor. It’s about money — and bragging rights.
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Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic candidate for governor, offered her harshest assessment yet of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, criticizing the Republican's role in the government shutdown. She also rejected comparisons between Cruz's actions and her June filibuster.
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After a nationwide search, the campaign of state Sen. Wendy Davis announced Sunday she was tapping veteran Democratic strategist Karin Johanson to run her race for Texas governor.
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Gubernatorial candidates Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott are throwing their support behind Proposition 6, the constitutional amendment that will fund projects designed to help the state meet its growing need for water.
Full StoryMove over, Texas Trial Lawyers Association. There's a new group in town: the Texas Association of Consumer Lawyers. Democratic mega-donor Steve Mostyn says he formed the group because he wants more cash to go straight into campaign coffers.
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While other Republicans make noise about repealing the law that lets young undocumented immigrants pay in-state tuition rates, the front-running GOP candidate for governor has been silent on the issue. Aides say he wants to reform the law — not repeal it.
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Battleground Texas says it's focused on resurrecting the moribund Texas Democratic Party over the long term. The group's focus on helping Wendy Davis in her race for governor shows how much those hopes rest on her candidacy.
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While in San Antonio on Monday, state Sen. and gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis praised the city's new ordinance offering protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents, providing a stark contrast with Attorney General Greg Abbott.
Full StoryState Sen. Wendy Davis, the newly minted Democratic candidate for governor, has released her first web ad. The spot, titled "A Texas Story," is heavy on biography and hits the highlights of her legislative career.
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State Sen. Wendy Davis, a newly minted candidate for governor, has hit the road. Davis went to Waxahachie, a traditionally Republican area south of Dallas, where she tiptoed around the issue of the ongoing government shutdown.
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State Sen. Wendy Davis, standing on the stage where she got her high school diploma more than 30 years ago, finally announced what has been anticipated, telegraphed and talked about for weeks: She is running for Texas governor.
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Republican Greg Abbott is leading Democrat Wendy Davis by 8 points in a hypothetical matchup for Texas governor, but it’s a statistical dead heat among women, according to a Texas Lyceum Poll of registered voters.
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