And in a statement Friday that was first reported by Politico, Gonzalez said he will “very seriously” consider running in the new 34th District if those are the final boundaries. Gonzalez told The Texas Tribune this week that all options were on the table with regard to his political future. Under the proposed congressional map, Gonzalez’s 15th District would become more competitive for Republicans, while the open 34th District would become safer for Democrats. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, is retiring. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, will stick with a reelection bid in the 15th District, which he currently represents, or switch to the neighboring 34th District, where U.S. While the proposed maps hold some good news for Republicans targeting South Texas, they also introduced a number of uncertainties.Ĭhief among them is whether U.S. Greg Abbott predicted “a very red future for the border communities in the state of Texas.”

The initial redistricting maps released this week are raising fresh questions about Texas Republicans’ hopes of flipping seats in South Texas.Īfter President Joe Biden underperformed there last year, national and state Republicans charged into the 2022 election cycle determined to show they can make inroads in the predominantly Hispanic region. Eleanor Klibanoff of the Texas Tribune tells us more.Īll this and Texas News Roundup, plus Michael Marks with the talk of Texas.Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. But two advocacy groups are now bringing a new lawsuit forward to attack the law. Court challenges to the law have failed so far. Pat Sharpe, executive editor and food writer at Texas Monthly, breaks down her annual list of the best new places to eat out in Texas.Ībortion rights activists haven’t had much success trying to defeat Senate Bill 8, the law which bans abortions in Texas after about six weeks of pregnancy. Mose Buchele of KUT reports on the results of one study that starts to answer the question: why did the birds seem louder? But for people who research sound, the lockdown was also an opportunity to study what happens when humankind takes a break. For many, the relative silence was frightening and surreal. COVID-19 had arrived in Texas, and as stay at home mandates took hold, downtown areas went quiet and traffic largely disappeared from most major arteries. It was about two years ago when things seemed to suddenly go silent. Edward LeBrun, a research scientist based at UT-Austin’s Brackenridge Field Laboratory, tells us more. In fact, they’re calling it “kryptonite” for crazy ants. There’s not usually a quick and easy answer to dealing with an invasive species - but University of Texas at Austin researchers may have found one.

And since then, they’ve been driving a lot of Texans – well, a bit crazy.They not only drive out local ant species but can also get into electrical equipment and cause major damage. The ‘tawny’ or ‘raspberry’ crazy ant first showed up in Texas a little over 20 years ago. KERA’s Alejandra Martinez reports on the message from Vitalii Tarasiuk.

Ukraine’s consul general has a very simple request for Texas elected officials: stop investing in Russia. Molly Smith, reporter for El Paso Matters, spoke to some of the long-time voters whose ballots weren’t counted. In the March 1 primary elections, 15% of the absentee ballots cast in El Paso County were rejected, thanks to new voting restrictions in Texas. Juan Carlos Huerta, professor of political science at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, speaks to us about the forthcoming special election to fill Vela’s seat. But last week, he said he would resign early so that he could take a position with the prominent law and lobbying firm Akin Gump. Filemón Vela, a longtime Democratic congressman, had already announced he would not be seeking reelection in the 34th Congressional District which runs from San Antonio to Brownsville. Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

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