1/ Today is #NationalVoterRegistrationDay, and in Texas the deadline to register to vote is just 13 days away on Oct. 5.
The pandemic has made it much harder to register voters. bit.ly/3iSoY1u
2/ In the first 7 months of 2020, new registrations in Texas were down nearly 24% compared with 2016.
In April alone, registrations dropped 70%. And while there has been an increase over the summer, it will likely not compensate for the earlier decrease. bit.ly/3iSoY1u
3/ "I think it’s fair to say the pandemic had a huge impact on new voter registration activity. You can’t go door to door and get people to register right now."
Democratic and Republican groups have had to abandon traditional in-person methods. bit.ly/3iSoY1u
4/ While forty-one states have passed legislation to allow residents to register to vote online, Texas is not one of them. The state’s Republican leadership has long fought efforts to allow for an online voter registration process. bit.ly/3iSoY1u
5/ Currently, Texans trying to register using the state’s online portal must fill out a blank registration form, print it and send it to their county registrar, a method that disproportionately affects lower-income residents who do not own printers. bit.ly/3iSoY1u
6/ Still, many groups are working to reach potential voters online. Some websites, like Register2Vote.org, help voters fill out the application online, and then mail the filled out form with a stamped return envelope to them. bit.ly/3iSoY1u
7/7 Read this thread for everything you need to know about voting in Texas this year.
In Texas’ biggest purple county Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare is creating a playbook for local governing. From cutting social services to changing election rules, the far-right republican has pushed his agenda with an uncompromising approach.
Over the past two decades, O’Hare methodically amassed power in North Texas as he pushed incendiary policies such as banning undocumented immigrants from renting homes and vilifying school curriculum that encouraged students to embrace diversity.
He rode a wave of conservative resentment, leaping from City Council member of Farmers Branch, a suburb north of Dallas, in 2005 to its mayor to the leader of the Tarrant County Republican Party.
1/ Overnight, House managers published nearly 4,000 pages of evidence ahead of next month’s impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.
2/ Included in the 3,760 pages are 150 exhibits. These documents give granular details of how Paxton allegedly abused his office to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.
3/ 📃In an interview, Paxton’s former personal aid said he ferried documents to Paul on Paxton’s behalf and witnessed conversations about the renovations to Paxton’s home that suggested Paul had paid for it.
1/ Over the past quarter century, a war machine was constructed inside the Texas Office of Attorney General, designed to push conservative legal doctrine through the courts.
Here’s how Texas got here — and what it means for the country's future. bit.ly/3KjCMC1
2/ Under three attorneys general, John Cornyn, Greg Abbott, and Ken Paxton, the office began assembling an all-star team to barrage the federal courts with state-funded lawsuits born of increasingly overt right-wing activism. bit.ly/3KjCMC1
3/ In 1998, John Cornyn became the first Republican attorney general in Texas since Reconstruction.
One of his first acts was creating the Office of the Solicitor General to handle state and federal appeals, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. bit.ly/3KjCMC1
1/On May 24, 2022, 19 children and two teachers were killed in the Robb Elementary shooting.
The shooting also caused emotional and psychological damage to a generation of children in Uvalde. The Treviños are one of many families adapting to a new reality.texastribune.org/2023/05/22/tex…
2/ Three of the Treviños’ kids — Austin, Illiaña and David James — have been diagnosed with PTSD.
The kids attended Robb Elementary and were on campus on May 24 for an awards ceremony. Their mom, Jessica, picked them up from school shortly before the shooting began.
3/ Illiaña’s best friend was killed during the shooting. While visiting her friend’s memorial, Illiaña suffered cardiac arrest from acute stress.
“Nana was born with a heart of gold. So when it breaks, that’s how she reacts,” her mom Jessica says.
1/ Officers responding to the Uvalde shooting said they were afraid to immediately engage the gunman because he was using an AR-15, a Texas Tribune investigation has revealed.
This drove their decision to wait over an hour for a Border Patrol SWAT team. bit.ly/40lOYHX
2/ In never before released body camera footage and post-action interviews, officers described realizing the gunman had an AR-15 style rifle and concluding that confronting him would be too dangerous because of its firepower. bit.ly/40lOYHX
3/ Even though some officers were armed with the same rifle, they waited for a Border Patrol SWAT team that had more protective armor, stronger shields and more tactical training.
Bullets from AR-15s can penetrate standard body armor worn by police. bit.ly/40lOYHX
Many of the beloved trees across Texas’ Hill Country snapped under the weight of heavy ice that accumulated during multiple days of freezing rain this week.
They frequently damaged power lines, homes, and property on their way down.
While the historic drought last summer may have caused trees to have more dead limbs than usual, experts say it probably had less of an impact than the sheer amount of ice.