Wheeler’s first big science test shows alignment with Pruitt agenda on EPA board appointments

Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler speaks to staff at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters on July 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. CREDIT: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Acting Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler appears to be continuing in the vein of his predecessor Scott Pruitt, after the official largely opted out of appointing scientists to an advisory panel on air pollution.

Police take Central Texas woman’s anti-GOP yard sign after complaints

At some point during Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's testimony last week, Marion Stanford grabbed a piece of wooden paneling, some paint and the $5 brushes she had purchased awhile back. She brought the items back to her living room, where she had been glued to the television watching the drama unfold in the Senate that day.

Beto O’Rourke twice as wealthy as Ted Cruz, with net worth of $9 million

With an unassuming air and a black Toyota Tundra he says was "the first new vehicle I've ever purchased," Beto O'Rourke has campaigned thousands of miles across Texas and risen to national prominence on a workaday image that aligns with his politics, but not his personal finances. The son of a onetime Republican county judge and a longtime furniture store owner, the Democratic congressman from El Paso married into the family of one of his hometown's most prominent developers and has assembled real estate investments worth millions.

Texas pecan growers monitor tariffs, markets during harvest

The Austin American-Statesman reports the 2018 harvest is gearing up amid widespread anxiety over the price of the official Texas state nut. China - the top buyer of U.S. pecans - slapped a 47 percent tariff on them this summer as part of its broad effort to fight back against what it views as the Trump administration's hardball "America First" trade policies.

A Texas yard sign depicted a GOP elephant with its trunk up a girl’s skirt. Police seized it.

At some point during Judge Brett Kavanaugh's testimony last week, Marion Stanford grabbed a piece of wooden paneling, some paint and the $5 brushes she had purchased a while back. She brought the items back to her living room, where she had been glued to the television watching the drama unfold in the Senate that day.

Former Hassan staffer, accused of doxxing, was caught using computer…

Former Hassan staffer, accused of doxxing, was caught using computer without permission in Hassan's D.C. office, according to affidavit A former staffer for Sen. Maggie Hassan, arrested on Wednesday for allegedly posting private information about Republican senators on Wikipedia, was caught in the Senator's Washington office on Tuesday night, ... (more)

Suspected ricin detected in mail sent to Trump, Pentagon

Previous edition: Former FBI atty Lisa Page admits agency couldn't prove collusion between Trump and Russia before Mueller appointment - testimony An envelope addressed to President Donald Trump contained a substance suspected to be ricin and appeared to be connected to similar envelopes sent to the Pentagon, a law enforcement source told CNN. Two pieces of mail delivered to the Pentagon mail facility on Monday have initially tested positive for ricin, according to a US defense official.

Analysis: Crossing the (other) Texas borders, as elections near

Donald Trump has said he's planning a trip to "the biggest stadium in Texas we can find" on Ted Cruz's behalf. And then there's Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court, a political dustup in the final weeks before the election that seems sure to drive either Republicans or Democrats - or both - to the polls.

Trump’s new trade deal with Canada and Mexico is winning early…

The US, Canada, and Mexico agreed on Sunday to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, rebranding the deal as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. The deal would make edits to NAFTA's auto, labor, and dispute-resolution rules and open up access to various protected industries like dairy and wine.

Beto O’Rourke rallies with Willie Nelson, as Democrats keep eyes on Texas

Add Midterm Elections as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Midterm Elections news, video, and analysis from ABC News. In many ways Austin, Texas, was the last place Beto O'Rourke should have been with just over a month left until a pivotal U.S. Senate election .

To Beto O’Rourke’s chagrin, Republicans sticking to base in midterm elections

Perhaps it would have been better for Texas Democrats like Beto O'Rourke and Lupe Valdez not to debate their Republican opponents in a state dominated by such a conservative electorate. Then again, some other political storm, like the fight in Washington over Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, would have caused Republicans to make their way home instead of fancying a crossover vote for O'Rourke or another new-breed Democrat.

Here’s Why This Year’s Election Could Finally Be Different in Texas

Throughout 2017 and 2018, your good friends here at the Observer have strained to make sense, any sort of sense, out of the Senate race between Sen. Ted Cruz and El Paso U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke. We've talked with O'Rourke about Cruz's plan to have notorious drug lord Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzman pay for President Donald Trump's wall on the Texas-Mexico border, been there as the representative barnstormed all 254 Texas counties and tried to figure out just what the Texas GOP was attempting to do when it scolded O'Rourke for being in a band and skateboarding through a Whataburger parking lot.

Obama endorses 9 more Texas candidates in midterm races

Former President Barack Obama has backed nine more Democratic candidates in Texas as part of his second round of midterm endorsements. The nine candidates include challengers in two of Texas' most competitive congressional races: Lizzie Fletcher, who is running against U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, and Gina Ortiz Jones, who is taking on U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes.

O’Rourke offers blue vision for red Texas during Nelson show

Democratic Texas Senate candidate Beto O'Rouke rallied thousands with Willie Nelson on Saturday night, offering an openly liberal vision for the country's largest conservative state and vowing that his campaign that has shunned outside political support can topple Republican Ted Cruz in November. Taking an open-air stage in Texas' progressive-minded capital city, O'Rourke said he wanted to appeal to voters from both parties and independents but called for universal health care and gay rights, warned of the ills of climate change and switched to his fluent Spanish to denounce President Donald Trump's calls to wall off the U.S.-Mexico border.

Abbott plays it cool in only debate against Democratic rival Valdez

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott presented himself as a successful steward of a thriving state at the only debate of the Texas gubernatorial campaign Friday night, eschewing any sharp attacks on long-shot Democratic rival Lupe Valdez. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott presented himself as a successful steward of a thriving state at the only debate of the Texas gubernatorial campaign Friday night, eschewing any sharp attacks on long-shot Democratic rival Lupe Valdez, who portrayed Abbott as unwilling to provide adequate funding for public education and too ready to appeal to racial fears with what she called the state's show-me-your-papers law.