Texas is a great state, but there’s a lot of work to do, and it starts with the public — and what Texans really want. The political class isn’t going to do this on its own.

Politicians are always listening to voters — but the ones who actually select the state’s elected officials have a lot more clout than those who stay home. You can see it in the way lawmakers govern.

The results of the state’s $3 billion border security effort don’t match the up-front promises, and Gov. Greg Abbott is flipping the political script with loud opposition to a change in federal border policy.

Texas lawmakers tried to lower property tax bills during their 2019 session, and a new report says they put a dent in the problem: Taxes aren’t rising as quickly as they would have. But they didn’t solve it: Property taxes are still rising.

Nobody wants storms or fires. But for Texas politicians, responding to disasters can be a welcome change of subject from political fights in an election year.

Nearly 23,000 Texans voted in this month’s party primaries and saw their mail ballots rejected by election officials, evidently an aftershock from new state laws that were supposed to make voting easier and more secure.

Lucky for them, Texas officials probably can’t be prosecuted for bullying under the state’s education laws. The gist of those laws, however, is crystal clear, and so is the effect of their actions and rhetoric about gender-affirming health care.

Ken Paxton and George P. Bush are in a May runoff for attorney general — the top race on that GOP ballot. But a name that’s not on the ballot might be the biggest name in that race.

Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke have had their eyes on November from the start, attacking and critiquing each other and, in the process, previewing some of the themes other candidates in their parties will probably adopt for the general election.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to revoke tenure for professors teaching lessons about race that he disagrees with. It’s a new chapter of an old fight between academics and populist politicians.