Democrats believe they have a shot at making gains this year in Republican-dominated Texas, including winning control of one house of the Legislature for the first time in nearly two decades. Persuading voters isn’t their only challenge. Voting and registration rules crafted by Republicans in recent years also could prove to be a big obstacle. In a state that’s...

A 50-state review of sports gambling legislation by The Associated Press reveals that legalization efforts are nonexistent or very unlikely to happen anytime soon in the nation’s three most populous states — Texas, California and Florida — which together hold more than a quarter of the U.S. population.

The family behind OxyContin raked in billions of dollars as it pushed to keep patients on the powerful painkiller longer despite evidence that the drug was helping to fuel the nation’s deadly opioid crisis, Massachusetts authorities allege in newly public court documents. While aggressively marketing OxyContin, the Sackler family also sought to profit off the drug abuse crisis its company...