Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, when Texas and 13 other states host primary elections. The Democratic presidential primary candidates have been getting all the attention, but you’ll also find other national, state, and local candidates on the ballot. Transparency Texas can help you make informed decisions about the Texas state-level elections. Our site is your one-stop search tool for all Texas House Reps and Senators, state-wide elections like the Texas Railroad Commissioners’ race, and Texas judges. Find out who’s giving them money and how they’re spending it.

To really understand the money in Texas politics, you’ve got to understand the PACs. What are they? Who are they? And how do PACs determine which politicians get all that money?

To go beyond the typical Republic vs. Democrat narrative and understand the real story, we took a look at key votes that forced legislators to reveal their true stripes. Several political organizations publish legislative score cards which rank legislators on votes important to their cause. Texas Right to Life, for example, scores legislators on votes related to life issues. There are also non-partisan scorecards, such as the liberal-conservative index compiled by Dr. Mark Jones of Rice University. While these are instructive, often a legislator’s final vote doesn’t reveal his or her true intentions.