The longtime leader of the Texas Democratic Party is stepping down.

Both major parties poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into winning the seat, a rematch between Mayra Flores and Vicente Gonzalez.

Tell us about any trouble you have trying to vote, so we can continue to report on potential challenges Texans may face at the ballot box.

Farmers say they want the water, but not if it goes against the allotment they need for the spring planting season.

Denton has renamed itself Halloween, Texas, and has planned 31 days of events to drive up tourism and family entertainment.

The South Texas city has hired a consulting firm for $200,000 to provide an interim director for the utility amid a restructuring of the department.

During a tense debate with U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, Flores attacked Gonzalez for being soft on border security, then suggested requiring residents to prove citizenship in some instances was appropriate.

In their only debate before Election Day, Gonzalez and Flores traded jabs over the economy, immigration and abortion, and regularly spoke over each other.

One group estimated more than 568,000 cats and dogs entered shelters in 2023. About 82,000 cats and dogs were euthanized.

The Texas Tribune and The Associated Press visited five locations along the 1,254-mile span to separate the facts from the political narrative during a heated election year.

The small business owner featured in the ad previously shared memes calling 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic inside jobs and mocking U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw.

This week’s ruling was the latest twist since cities and groups in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley sued to block the projects.

Luis Enrique Moctezuma-Acosta, 37 and Scarlett Fuentes-Gavarrette, 34, pleaded guilty in March to charges related to laundering $2.9 million and human smuggling and have been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

Local leaders began debating a household limit on the number of pets after two residents were arrested for having 93 dogs and a cat in their home.

Many of the solutions are costly, putting them out of reach for small towns. But the region's most populous cities are getting innovative.

After years of competing with each other for new businesses, Valley cities want to present a united front to highlight the region’s assets.

The region's two major reservoirs are at record-low levels and agriculture leaders are worried the citrus industry could be devastated this summer.

Texas is losing an estimated 1,000 acres of farm land a day, mostly to other industries. The Rio Grande Valley is losing land at a faster clip.

Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, brought decent rain to the Texas Coast.

Ground Game Texas, a group that has pushed for progressive policies in cities across the state, is working to make it easier for McAllen residents to change local laws.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg will be among the Texas mayors in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday for President Joe Biden’s announcement about the Texas border.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it rescued eight children on the Rio Grande near McAllen on Tuesday.

Texas has spent billions of dollars to drive down property taxes. Many homeowners saw a significant tax cut last year, per a Texas Tribune analysis.

National Republicans are investing heavily in Flores’ bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in South Texas.

With the hottest days still ahead, local leaders have declared emergencies. And farmers are lobbying for the U.S. government to pressure Mexico to release water.

A humanitarian organization in northeastern Mexico is saying it did not create flyers urging border-bound migrants to vote for President Joe Biden.

Four South Texas residents pled guilty this week for their roles in separate but connected illegal operations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said.

A South Texas woman sued the Starr County District Attorney's office and the county after she was wrongfully charged with murder over a self-induced abortion in 2022.

The South Texas Democrat said Latinos who support former President Donald Trump are voting against their self interest, but Republicans recoiled at the comparison.

An influx of hundreds of firefighters and more favorable weather conditions are helping authorities in the Texas Panhandle keep the largest wildfire in state history from threatening more homes and communities.

Planes have dropped fire retardant over the northern Texas Panhandle as firefighters are continuing efforts to stamp out the largest wildfire in state history.

The Justice Department is asking the Supreme Court to order Texas to stop blocking Border Patrol agents from a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border where large numbers of migrants have crossed in recent months.

The mayor of a Texas border city at the center of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s aggressive measures to curb migrant crossings says state troopers have closed a large public park along the Rio Grande.

The McAllen Police Department is looking for a missing 65-year-old woman who they say poses a credible threat to her own health and safety.

No members who voted against Abbott’s top legislative priority received the governor’s backing.

The U.S. infant mortality rate rose 3% last year, which is the largest increase in two decades.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that the Biden administration leveraged sweeping executive power to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas.

A couple in the Rio Grande Valley was arrested this week after attempting to sell a jaguar cub, federal officials said.

A former Rio Grande Valley attorney recently pleaded guilty to extorting $1,500 from a defendant’s mother after she sought him out for help, federal authorities say.

A Texas ranch that was originally part of a land script of The Republic of Texas is on sale for the first time since the 1800s.

Searchers have found 27 corpses in clandestine graves in the Mexican border city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, and many of them were hacked to pieces, volunteer searchers said Wednesday.

June was only the 16th-warmest on record in Texas, but a mid-month heatwave brought an unusually high number of 100-degree days.

Five of these meteorites are now on display at the “Welcome to Earth” exhibit at the Witte Museum. You can check them out through the summer months and even touch a 4.56 billion-year-old meteorite that was discovered in Morocco back in 2000!

Abbott says if a school voucher bill isn’t expanded to include more students, a special legislative session will be the result.

Dutton and Wrenlee are on the rise but they’re no match for champs Liam and Olivia as the top baby names in the U.S. last year.

Leaders of nonprofits that provides aid to migrants say they’re expecting the end of Title 42 to have a huge impact. In fact, they say they are already seeing an increase in migrants seeking asylum.

A highly unusual bee attack claimed the lives of two pet dogs at a South Texas home late last week, according to a report from Valley Central.

Experts believe the meteor measured about two feet in diameter and weighed about one-thousand pounds.

A flash of light reported in the skies near McAllen on Wednesday night is thought to be a meteorite, according to speculation on social media.

Tensions are rising among the growing numbers of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of upcoming changes to U.S. asylum policies.

After finally flipping the Democratic district, Monica De La Cruz vowed to “represent all of South Texas” and likely will be influential on border issues.

De La Cruz defeated Democrat Michelle Vallejo, a political newcomer who ran on a platform of progressive social policy and close family ties to the region.

Whole Woman’s Health, which owned the building for nearly two decades, said they were “duped” after the doctors who bought the building sold it to the McAllen Pregnancy Center.

The two-time Democratic presidential candidate visited Central Texas and South Texas amid concerns that young and working-class voters are not mobilized enough for the midterm election.

A Texas woman got ready for Halloween with some Harry Potter decor, but her neighbor’s reaction triggered a now-viral TikTok.

Six men have pleaded guilty after a search in Rio Grande Valley yielded 15 kilograms of cocaine and more than $325,000 in cash.

Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, San Antonio seek advice from director of Catholic Charities RGV for migrant response.

Three people have been arrested and accused of trying to transport smuggled migrants into interior of the United States by air, bypassing Border Patrol checkpoints.

A delegation of Republican senators led by Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas will pay a visit to the Rio Grande Valley on Thursday and Friday to survey the current state of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Texans on both sides of the abortion debate marched, rallied and chanted after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

A South Texas mayor has been arrested after a federal indictment accused him of committing bribery and fraud.

Olivia and Liam are once again America’s most common baby names.

Cheap regulated and unregulated medication is available over the counter at Mexican pharmacies, including abortion-inducing drugs that are strictly regulated in the U.S.

Texas has led the legal fight against the Biden administration’s immigration policies, filing numerous lawsuits that have led to judges overturning or altering those policies.

The delays caused by the state’s inspections are the latest blow to farmers and produce businesses in the Rio Grande Valley recovering from the pandemic and losses from last year’s winter storm.

Commercial traffic at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge stopped Monday and a similar protest affected traffic into and out of El Paso. The blockades could impact the flow of produce to restaurants and grocery stores.

The governor is pushing for more border security measures, some of which he acknowledges will slow traffic across the Texas-Mexico border.

The Republican governor officially announced his reelection campaign Saturday in McAllen, while likely Democratic opponent Beto O'Rourke campaigned in El Paso.

O’Rourke has ground to make up after his own underwhelming performance with voters there in 2018 when he ran for U.S. Senate — and turning out more Latino voters has long been key to Democratic hopes statewide.

Update:

The U.S. Justice Department is in talks to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to each child and parent who was separated under a Trump-era practice of splitting families at the border.

Texas lawmakers made Gonzalez’s current 15th Congressional District more competitive for Republicans. The representative now plans to run in the 34th District, which is safer for Democrats.

Designed more than a century ago, the Rio Grande Valley’s canal system in South Texas was built to irrigate the booming agricultural industry that once dominated the local economy.

Gov. Greg Abbott will sign Senate Bill 576 into law and meet with local officials on Wednesday in McAllen.

Amid the heated rhetoric around an increase in migrants, people on opposite ends of the Texas-Mexico border see the problems — and solutions — differently.

A lot of the news from the last few days — about the Legislature, about COVID-19 and about immigration — has a real déjà vu quality to it. And there’s a good reason for that.

A commando of men dressed in military-style gear and carrying rifles burst into a jail in the Mexican border city of Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas, and freed the local leader of the Gulf cartel.

A U.S. Border Patrol Agent was arrested Friday on charges that allege the 22-year-old was helping smuggle cocaine through a checkpoint in Falfurrias.

The top prosecutor in Mexico's border state of Tamaulipas says infighting between rival factions of the Gulf drug cartel was the apparent motive behind weekend shooting that killed 19 people, 15 of them apparently innocent bystanders.

The top prosecutor in Mexico's border state of Tamaulipas says infighting between rival factions of the Gulf drug cartel was the apparent motive behind weekend shooting that killed 19 people, 15 of them apparently innocent bystanders.

A Fort Hood soldier and a Pennsylvania National Guardsman stationed at the Central Texas installation have been charged with smuggling two migrants into Texas from Mexico.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales will tour the Texas-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday to get an update on the migrant surge in the region. The congressional delegation from Texas will be joined by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

MCALLEN, Texas – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that he’s hoping to increase the number of Texans getting COVID-19 vaccines after seeing a drop in people showing up for the shot. “We’re beginning to see a decrease in demand for vaccinations,” Abbott said at a news conference Thursday in border city of McAllen. “Seniors who contract COVID are the people who are most likely to either be hospitalized or lose their life because of COVID,” Abbott said. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3.3 million Texans have completed their vaccinations.

Texas Gov Greg Abbott speaks during a news conferenced about migrant children detentions Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)SAN ANTONIO – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a press conference on the statewide “Save Our Seniors” COVID-19 vaccination initiative on Thursday in McAllen. The governor first announced the program in February during a stop in Corpus Christi. Through this program, Texas Department of Emergency Management and the Texas Military Department work alongside local jurisdictions to set up a central drive-through vaccine clinic in each community or administer directly to homebound seniors.

MCALLEN, Texas – Some asylum seekers have spent more than a year and a half living in tent cities in Matamoros, Mexico, during the Trump administration. The Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico Policy forced asylum seekers to wait in distressed conditions for months at a time. The Biden administration has ended the policy, allowing thousands of asylum seekers to enter the country and move forward. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials report an increase in illegal border crossingsKSAT’s Jonathan Cotto is in Mcallen, Texas talking to activist groups about the situation as it unfolds. Read also:Biden lifts Trump-era ban blocking legal immigration to USChild migrant facility reopened by Biden administration in South Texas draws criticism from immigration advocatesAdDemocrats consider piecemeal approach to immigration reform

Erika Calderon, 48, tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 29 and was hospitalized on Jan. 4, 2021. Calderon, a single mother to son Emilian Sosa, needs extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO therapy, which relieves the stress of the lungs and heart. Emilian quickly acted after learning his mother could be taken off life support, so he wrote a letter to Gov. With the help of Nim Kidd, the Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management & Dr. Zerwas, the equipment his mother needs was located. @TDEM https://t.co/dzgRby52ms — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 27, 2021Doctors are waiting for Calderon’s status to stabilize before transferring her to a Houston hospital.

AUSTIN, Texas – Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, is in Texas Friday with visits scheduled in Fort Worth, Houston and McAllen. Just four days before Election Day, it’s precious campaign time on a crucial state far later than any major national Democrat in decades. Her 12:45 p.m. remarks at a voter mobilization event in Fort Worth will be livestreamed in this article. Delays are possible; if there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time. A livestream of the 4:25 p.m. event in McAllen and the 7:35 p.m. event in Houston will also be livestreamed in this article.

Kamala Harris’ trip to Texas on Friday will include three stops across the state, including in the Rio Grande Valley, according to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign. Biden’s running mate is set to visit to Fort Worth, Houston and McAllen. Fort Worth’s Tarrant County was the state’s most populous county that Republican President Donald Trump won in 2016. Further details on her stops were not immediately available, but they are expected to mirror events she has done recently in other states to mobilize early voters. Harris’ visit is not the only notable activity by the Biden campaign this week in Texas.

A COVID-19 testing site at the Nomad Shrine Club in McAllen. July 2, 2020. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune(Audio unavailable. Click here to listen on texastribune.org.) In this week's TribCast, Matthew speaks with Ross, Emma and Shannon about another change in how Texas reports its coronavirus data and the legal fights related to voting that have reached the state Supreme Court.

SAN ANTONIO – A new hard seltzer brand is joining the mix; however, this one in particular has quite a flavor twist! Heineken US will bring its signature hard seltzer, Canijilla, originally created in Mexico, to the U.S. in select areas for a limited time. One of those areas will be McAllen, Texas, according to an article by the Brownsville Herald. The hard seltzer is inspired by classic Mexican flavors. To see where you can purchase the hard seltzer, log on to us.canijilla.com/.

Greg Abbott will be in McAllen Tuesday afternoon to receive a briefing on the convention center, which was recently converted into a healthcare facility amid a COVID-19 surge in the Rio Grande Valley. The McAllen Convention Center was turned into makeshift hospital that can treat up to 250 patients at one time. Weeks ago, Hurricane Hanna made landfall near the region, leading to widespread damage in the area. As we work to slow the spread of COVID-19, it is vital that we take the necessary action to ensure abundant hospital capacity in the Rio Grande Valley. Abbott assured the public that there is enough PPE to meet schools demands as some plan to open up as early as August.

MCALLEN, TX – Hidalgo County health officials reported a single-day high record of 64 deaths due to complications related to COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 531. Hidalgo County Health officials reported a single day high record of 64 deaths due to complications related to COVID-19 bringing the total number of fatalities to 531. For full release: https://t.co/Vpdb1K5DO7 pic.twitter.com/l4MWYRlJvs — Hidalgo County (@HidalgoCounty) July 29, 2020“I am saddened by the passing of our Hidalgo County residents. Read the county’s full announcement below:Related: Hidalgo County judge tries slowing coronavirus, but Gov. Greg Abbott has limited his optionsRelated: Hidalgo County: New order issued Monday includes shelter at home, curfew

According to state data released Sunday, 5,038 people in Texas have died from the virus. Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas TribuneTexas reached another grim milestone Sunday when it surpassed 5,000 deaths from the new coronavirus. In doing so, the state reported 1,000 deaths in six days, four days faster than it took to hit that total the previous time. According to state health data released Sunday, 5,038 people in Texas had died from the virus. In the past week alone, state data appears to show new daily infections leveling off, albeit at nearly record highs.

MCALLEN, TX – Hidalgo County issued a new county order Monday mandating all individuals to stay at home and shelter in place as cases in Hidalgo County spike significantly. Additionally, the order mandates a curfew for all persons ages 18 and over from 10 p.m.-5 p.m., imposing essential travel limitations and requiring residents to wear facial coverings pursuant to the governor’s executive order issued July 2. The county reported 524 additional positive cases Monday and noted that 34 people died after contracting COVID-19, bringing the county’s death toll to 318. Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said he offered his deepest sympathies and asked the community to do their part to mitigate the spread of the virus. Please continue to Shelter-at-Home, wear facial coverings and limit mass gatherings.”To date, Hidalgo county has reported 12,263 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the outbreak.

As the Rio Grande Valley grapples with an onslaught of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez is pushing hard for residents to stay at home. But the emergency order he issued Monday mandating that people shelter in their residences, restricting travel and limiting gatherings remains an unenforceable recommendation, according to Gov. In the new Hidalgo emergency order, it also is “highly encouraged and recommended that all commercial businesses” cease their activities, unless they are essential, like activities related to health, safety or necessary supplies. “However, this order does not force businesses to shut down in the Rio Grande Valley.”Cortez did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. U.S. Navy teams were deployed Sunday to the Rio Grande Valley, a region that includes Hidalgo County.

MCALLEN, Texas – Two McAllen police officers were killed in the line of duty on Saturday, according to officials. The department posted on Facebook, and said they are mourning the loss of Officer I. Chavez and Officer E. Garza. Our condolences to the families of our fallen brothers and the McAllen Police Department. Posted by McAllen ISD Police Department on Saturday, July 11, 2020In a brief statement, the department said, “Our condolences to the families of our fallen brothers and the McAllen Police Department. Officials said both of the officers were rushed to area hospitals but they later succumbed to their injuries.

The Rio Grande Valley has seen a surge in coronavirus cases, and the patients arrive daily. Similar scenes are playing out in hospitals across the Rio Grande Valley. Then it’s into the infectious disease unit, where staff members who worked during the day pass patient information on to those who’ll care for them overnight. The unit has a disinfection section where protective equipment is stripped off and discarded, or set aside to be cleaned and reused, and an area where medical staff members can shower before leaving. Another patient on the wayLate Tuesday in the DHR Health coronavirus ward, medical staff members tried to put a needle into the artery of one of nurse Christian Ramirez’s patients.

And in the Rio Grande Valley, the lack of jobs is even more pronounced. In February, before the pandemic gripped Texas, the Rio Grande Valley's unemployment rate was 6.5%. Salvador Contreras, a professor of border economics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, said that in Texas, Black and Hispanic workers saw larger declines in employment than white employees. So this clearly had an impact on the number of Mexican visitors into the Rio Grande Valley, Contreras said. So we know that the retail sector is very important to the economy of the Rio Grande Valley.

SAN ANTONIO – A family business in the Rio Grande Valley has become a popular place for tamales for almost 30 years. Delia’s Tamales has locations in McAllen, Mission, Edinburg, Pharr, San Juan and now very soon in San Antonio. It’s official: Delia’s to open San Antonio locationWhile an exact opening date has not been released, the company posted on their Facebook page that they are close to opening their new location and are looking to hire. The San Antonio location will be located at 13527 Hausman Pass. Papa’s Burgers set to open new location in spide of COVID-19 pandemicIf interested in applying you can fill out an application online at deliastamales.com/jobs.

SAN ANTONIO – Physicians, faith leaders and immigrant advocates, among others, will be part of a caravan leaving Saturday for a detention center in McAllen, where immigrant families and unaccompanied minors are initially held. The caravan, which will be loaded with donated supplies, is part of Project Lifeline, a nonprofit organization that offers detainees various levels of support, especially as they face the possible prospect of being held indefinitely. After they children are released, Kahn said, they can suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Kahn said that, later in life, the children can develop heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and other chronic illnesses. Click here for the latest figures of the status of children separated at the border.