rick perry

April 30, 2015 - Five years after the BP disaster, a group of governors led by North Carolina's Pat McCrory is pushing for drilling in the Atlantic. The group has close ties to a secret-money nonprofit and energy lobbyists, a relationship that raises questions about transparency, ethics and the blurring of public and private interests.

January 28, 2015 - The Obama administration has proposed opening Atlantic waters to offshore oil and gas drilling after years of being lobbied by a coalition of coastal-state governors that had more than a little industry help. But a growing grassroots movement aims to keep the drills at bay.

September 20, 2013 - The Republican governor is traveling to states led by Democrats in an effort to lure companies to Texas -- an effort financed largely by corporations that risk alienating political allies and residents in the targeted states.

August 2, 2013 - In legislatures from North Carolina to Texas, lawmakers are targeting women's constitutional right to end unwanted pregnancies.

June 28, 2013 - The nation turned to Texas this week to watch state Sen. Wendy Davis's 11-hour filibuster against legislation restricting abortion in the state. The bill failed to pass before the special session ended at midnight -- and now Democrats say there will be a probe into Republicans' efforts to alter the timestamp.

October 9, 2012 - Congressman Paul Broun (R-Ga.) is under fire for recent remarks that evolution, embryology and the Big Bang theory are "lies straight from the pit of hell" -- especially since he's a member of the House Science Committee. But he's not the only member of that group who holds beliefs that put him at odds with mainstream science.

August 31, 2012 - A key provision of the nearly half-century-old Voting Rights Act has been instrumental in reversing new restrictions on voting in the South. But the measure's days may be numbered.