The seven top contenders for the GOP presidential nomination met Thursday night for their sixth debate of the election cycle near Charleston, S.C. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz clashed often with his rival at the top of the polls, Donald Trump, in the most confrontational debate yet that included an extended exchange on Cruz's Canadian birth.

Cruz on Wednesday found himself in the position of having to explain a loan from Goldman Sachs during his 2012 Senate campaign. The New York Times reported that Cruz had not disclosed to the Federal Election Commission the loan that was worth as much as $500,000 and went toward the race. Speaking with reporters in South Carolina, Cruz called the issue a “technical and inadvertent filing error” that he would resolve if necessary.

It was revealed this week that former Gov. Rick Perry has a new gig working for MCNA Dental, the largest privately held dental insurance company in the country, that was also the top donor to his 2016 presidential campaign. Confirmation of Perry's new job came as news broke the longest-serving governor in Texas history was meeting in Florida with Gov. Rick Scott.

The head of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Corbin Casteel, this week left his post with less than two months until the Texas primary on March 1. Casteel declined to comment about the reasoning behind his departure. 

President Barack Obama's words in his final State of the Union address on Tuesday largely fell on deaf ears among Texas Republicans. Their reactions illustrated the deep partisan divide that remains as Obama's final term nears its end.

The number of private colleges in Texas that have chosen to opt out of the state's new campus carry law is now at 20 following the decision this week by Trinity University in San Antonio to refuse guns on campus. So far, no private universities have chosen opt in to the law.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday announced a new unit in his office dedicated to combating human trafficking. The unit was created by language included in a border security bill passed last year by the Legislature. The head of the unit is a prosecutor who has been working on human trafficking cases since 2009, first with the Bexar County district attorney's office and, for the past year, with the attorney general's office.

Three days after Gov. Greg Abbott called for a convention of states to dramatically amend the U.S. Constitution, few high-ranking Republicans in Texas have backed his proposal. Several GOP state leaders, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus, had yet to weigh in on the proposal.

U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Richardson, is throwing his support behind Ted Cruz for president, giving the senator the seventh congressional endorsement from his home state. In a statement, Johnson said that the country needs a "real conservative in the White House" that can help get the country back on track. Roughly a quarter of Congressional Republicans from Texas have backed Cruz.

Top officials at Oncor, Texas' largest electric utility, aired concerns on Monday with Dallas billionaire Ray L. Hunt's $18 billion proposal to take over and reshape their company. Oncor CEO Bob Shapard suggested that Hunt's plan to transform the company into a "real estate investment trust" could leave the utility without the flexibility to handle unplanned events. 

An investigation commissioned by the University of Texas at Austin has found "no evidence" of academic cheating by its basketball players. The NCAA has also decided not to pursue any punishment. The review was prompted by a June article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that alleged academic cheating by men's basketball players under former UT coach Rick Barnes.

With Mexico seemingly more willing to consider extraditing Sinaloa drug cartel head Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán after his recent recapture, questions are surging on whether he would face charges in Texas and the impact of his recapture on the region's drug trade.

A Tribune analysis of Cruz's travel schedule during his campaigning for president confirm that he has spent a perhaps historically unprecedented amount of time in southern states in a bid to make the round of primaries on March 1 bend the course of the nominating contest to his favor.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. Oncor was a corporate sponsors of The Texas Tribune in 2012. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.