U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz argued Wednesday that the "Washington establishment" has dumped Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in favor of real estate mogul Donald Trump as he continues to dominate the GOP presidential race.

Cruz decided to take a risk on his time this week by visiting New Hampshire in hopes of lifting his chances in the early primary state. During his four-day tour of New Hampshire, the senator said that John F. Kennedy would be a Republican today and that the New England Patriots are good at football. Cruz, like his fellow GOP presidential hopefuls, trails billionaire Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has hired its first paid Texas staff, and is launching a series of supporter meet-ups across the state to coalesce her support as the March 1 primary approaches.

Members of the Wilks family in Cisco, already heavily invested in Ted Cruz's presidential campaign, are also vying to play a larger role in several key Texas House races, according to the latest campaign finance data.

Braden Joplin, a Texas Tech student who was in Iowa volunteering for Ben Carson's presidential campaign, died Tuesday following a car accident.

As the battle between White House hopefuls Ted Cruz and Donald Trump grows increasingly bitter, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin stepped into the fray on Tuesday by endorsing Trump over Cruz, a former ally.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said he hopes U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz loses the state's caucuses. This is a departure from neutrality for Branstad, who can be influential in the race for the White House.

In a nonbinding opinion released on Tuesday, Attorney General Ken Paxton said that fantasy sports may involve an element of chance, which in Texas would equate it with illegal gambling.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided that it will consider the Obama administration's controversial immigration program, which has been on hold for nearly a year after being blocked by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville.

A super PAC supporting Ted Cruz is reserving $2.5 million of airtime in Iowa and South Carolina with less than two weeks until the first nominating contests begin. 

Former state Sen. Wendy Davis is trying to assure New Hampshire voters that early losses in the state or Iowa won't doom Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House

Gov. Greg Abbott flew to Israel Sunday on a plane belonging to Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino owner and megadonor active in Republican national politics.

On Monday, Abbott met with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to discuss the Texas-Israel relationship and reiterate Abbott's opposition to Iran.

The tension between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump was more palpable than ever in South Carolina Saturday as their once-symbiotic relationship takes center stage in the GOP presidential race.

With pretty much every major public Texas university looking to expand, some heavyweight turf battles are about to begin. This week, university officials explained their ambitious — and expensive — proposals before two key higher education policy boards.

UT System Chancellor Bill McRaven told the state's higher education oversight board Thursday that he should have consulted with them before buying 100 acres for a new southwest Houston campus.

At two separate public appearances this week, University of Texas Chancellor Bill McRaven said that Texas should consider scrapping its top 10 percent automatic admissions rule for universities, which he says hurts the prestige of UT-Austin.

A federal appeals court on Thursday denied a request from Texas and other states to block President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, leaving the climate change rules in place as a legal challenge winds through the courts.

Ten federal agencies are being sued by a coalition of attorneys and immigration rights groups over withholding documents related to how the Obama administration is dealing with deporting criminal immigrants.

Comptroller Glenn Hegar told state lawmakers on Wednesday that because of crashing oil prices Texas will send far less of its money in the coming years on transportation than it originally expected. The Republican had an overarching message: don't panic.

Despite a major victory in federal court last month, advocates for reforms to Texas' long-term foster care system are preparing themselves for a lengthy battle to force Texas officials to follow through on changes ordered by a federal judge.

Richard Masterson, who was convicted and sentenced to death for a 2001 strangulation and murder in Harris County, was executed Wednesday, becoming Texas' first execution of 2016.

Shelia Latting, who is black, filed a lawsuit in state district court in Travis County Tuesday, claiming she lost her job a year ago as deputy chief financial officer at the Agriculture Commission due to racial discrimination at the agency. 

In an interview with the Tribune, new Education Commissioner Mike Morath said he wants to better support teachers, develop a fair school accountability system and help struggling schools.

Long reluctant to directly criticize Donald Trump, Ted Cruz threw caution to the wind as he ripped his Republican presidential opponent as a fake conservative.

Texas Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw said Tuesday that Trooper Brian Encinia acted unprofessional and violated protocol when he stopped Sandra Bland.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.