Texas redistricting
Texas Republicans have continued drawing up district maps during this third special legislative session. It officially ends this week.
The party has carved up voting maps that drew the Democrat who represents Round Rock out of his district.
However, it's what's happening in Houston that has a lot of people watching and talking. The Republican-controlled Texas legislature has also drawn Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee out of her district. The congresswoman has represented the 18th district since 1994. That includes downtown Houston, Texas Southern University, and the University of Houston.
Will she move? Will she run again? Inside Texas Politics' Jason Whitely talked to her about her next move.
Another special session?
There's already chatter that the governor might call a fourth special session. Lawmakers have been in Austin since January. How likely is a fourth special session? And what else do Republicans want to do?
COVID and vaccines in Texas
Last year, the panhandle was managing COVID better than anywhere else in the state. This year, it is way behind the rest of Texas when it comes to the vaccine. What happened? Republican Nancy Tanner is the county judge there in Amarillo.
Meanwhile, businesses are pushing back against Gov. Greg Abbott's latest executive order, which prohibits businesses from requiring workers to get COVID vaccines. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is pushing back - even Texans for Lawsuit Reform said the current bill is bad for business. Are employers going to win this one? Is Abbott vying for a VP job – if former President Trump wins again?
Down by the border, President Biden announced that the border crossings - with Mexico and Canada - will reopen for the first time since the pandemic began. What does that suggest?
Texas governor's race
Gov. Greg Abbott's campaign pushed out a cartoon-looking video against former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, hitting Beto on the wall, his comment about AR-15s, and other quotes.
Is Abbott trying to move attention off his primary opponents? Is this matchup set for next year? Will O'Rourke respond?
Holiday shoppers ... start your engines?
We've already seen the warnings to buy holiday gifts early because of all the problems with the worldwide supply chain. But Gina M. Raimondo with the U.S. Department of Commerce predicted the situation will start improving over the next 60 days.
