A week after becoming the first major candidate to announce he's running for president, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has risen to the "top tier" of Republican White House hopefuls, according to a poll released Wednesday. 

State regulations are unnecessarily holding up funds for shelters and programs that help victims of family violence, state Sen. Jane Nelson says. She wants to loosen the rules, even as she leads the charge to tighten other state contracting procedures. 

A bill that would enact a statewide texting-while-driving ban is advancing in the Texas Legislature, and it could affect some local ordinances already in place. Here's a look at which municipalities currently have restrictions.

Minorities are largely underrepresented among the state's health care professionals. Use these interactives to explore the demographics of some health professions by race/ethnicity, gender and age.

It took more than 17 hours, but the House gave preliminary OK to a budget. Anticipated fights over vouchers and in-state tuition for undocumented students failed to materialize.

House Democrats tried – and mostly failed – to divert funds  allotted for border security and the Texas Department of Public Safety to other departments during Tuesday’s budget debate.

The Texas House was poised to take a vote banning private school vouchers as it adopted the state budget Tuesday. But about nine hours into the debate, the lawmaker carrying the measure withdrew it from consideration.

Two Democrats are advancing to a second round in the race to replace former state Rep. José Menéndez, likely adding a few more weeks to the last in a series of special elections.