'Cockroaches and bulls': The best and worst Texas state legislators in 2019, per Texas Monthly

Angela Paxton (left), Greg Abbott (center) and Dan Patrick (right) all made Texas Monthly's 2019 list of the best and worst legislators in the state. >> Click through the following gallery to see the full list. (All of the text quoted in the following captions comes directly from the article '2019: The Best and Worst Legislators' on TexasMonthly.com ) less Angela Paxton (left), Greg Abbott (center) and Dan Patrick (right) all made Texas Monthly's 2019 list of the best and worst legislators in the state. >> Click through the following gallery to see the ... more Photo: Houston Chronicle Photo: Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close 'Cockroaches and bulls': The best and worst Texas state legislators in 2019, per Texas Monthly 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

How do you grade the 86th Texas Legislature?

The state's two chambers (31 senators and 150 representatives) only convene for a 140-day regular legislative session every two years. Thus, the stakes are high for longtime lawmakers and those serving their first year in office.

The best way, though certainly not the only way, might just be to analyze parts of the whole.

So, Texas Monthly decided to partially answer that question by shining their own light on the aftermath in a Tuesday article titled '2019: The Best and Worst Legislators.'

New Texas laws: Read all the bills Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed into law, including those signed before last Sunday's veto deadline

Overall, just a few weeks after the session concluded, Texas Monthly described the 86th Legislature as "less juicy brisket and more rice cake—dull, tasteless, and allegedly good for you."



In that story, the authors examined the debate surrounding bills that touched on hot-button issues.

In some cases those discussions, and the ultimate successes or failures of over 1,000 bills was decided through traditional methods. At other points of the session, unique divisions, relationships and arguments produced unexpected results.

So, now that some of the proverbial dust has settled following Governor Abbott's June 16 deadline to veto bills, the Texas Monthly article really gets down to it.

Who are the best legislators in the state and who are the worst? The publication even created a special awards section which got...pretty creative in showering praise and disdain.

Above, you can where some of the prominent Texas state legislators from both parties landed on those lists, and why.

Note: All of the text quoted in the captions above comes directly from the article '2019: The Best and Worst Legislators' on TexasMonthly.com.

The order of the photos within each topic is not a ranking, but as it appears in the article.

Peter Dawson is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | Peter.Dawson@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.