By Abby Livingston and Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune LAREDO —U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, the last anti-abortion Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, boldly declared victory just before midnight in his nail-biter primary runoff race. But his progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros, refused to concede, as the race was separated by less than 200 votes with all counties reporting their votes.

By Patrick Svitek,  Republican John Lujan has won the special election runoff for Texas House District 118, flipping the Democratic-friendly seat in San Antonio. The victory by Lujan gives Republicans an early win in their drive to make new inroads in South Texas after President Joe Biden underperformed there last year.

In theory, the 2021 cycle of redistricting is about revising district boundaries to evenly distribute Texas’ fast-growing population and ensure voters have fair representation. But with the mapmaking in the hands of politicians, and their individual electoral survival at stake, redistricting has also become an exercise in political rigging. The state Senate released its first proposed map on Saturday and the special legislative session in which redistricting will be featured formally begins Monday.

Scroll down to replay full video: Leaders from COPS/Metro, a coalition of churches, schools and unions, asked candidates for Congress and the Texas Legislature to support the coalition’s agenda on issues from public school funding and predatory lending to immigration and workforce development during its General Election Accountability Session Oct. 16, 2018 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in the San Antonio suburb of Helotes.

by Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune Ruth Jones McClendon, the former longtime state representative from San Antonio, has died. She was 74. State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, McClendon's successor, said she died this morning at her home in San Antonio.

  by Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune March 17, 2017 For weeks, it’s been clear that the Texas “bathroom bill” would face a less-than-friendly reception in the Texas House.