March 9, 2010 5:20 PM PRESS RELEASE SECTION HEADLINESSnippets, odds and ends EAST TEXAN DAVID SIMPSON JOINS GOPAC-TX ADVISORY
BOARD U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT ADJUSTS TEXAS JOB GROWTH
NUMBERS LT. GOV. DAVID DEWHURST KICKS OFF TEXAS BACK TO
WORK, NEW JOB CREATION PROGRAM COURT WITHDRAWS RULING IN DEATH PENALTY CASE STATE REPRESENTATIVE ALLEN VAUGHT TO SHARE THE
SCREEN WITH MATT DAMON IN GREEN ZONE, REP. VAUGHT AWARDED BY TEXAS PTA STEPHEN CASEY ENDORSES LARRY GONZALES FOR STATE
REP. DIST. 52
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March 9, 2010 4:41 PM PERRY CHALLENGES WHITE TO DIVULGE INCOME TAX RETURNS |
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White says will provide details and returns At a Texas Tribune
forum in Austin this morning, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White
refused to take a position on raising taxes in the future. When asked whether he was
worried that he gave the Perry Campaign some ammo for future
attacks, White said, “They’ll mislead people anyway. Shortly afterward, Perry
spokesman Mark Miner said, “Bill White has a tax problem – he won’t rule
out raising taxes for Texans and refuses to release his own tax returns. His
opposition to transparency raises questions about what he is afraid of and what
he is hiding regarding his own personal fortune and how he may have profited
during his six years as Houston’s mayor.” White spokesperson Katy Bacon responded, “Bill White
made detailed financial disclosures of all sources of income every year as
mayor. Like Governor Perry, Bill White will release income tax returns
for the years he's running for statewide office. Let the games begin.
By Harvey Kronberg |
Bill White |
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March 9, 2010 4:36 PM HARRIS COUNTY DA CLOSES INVESTIGATION OF HUBERTY CITING NO WRONGDOINGCurling Campaign says Huberty story keeps changing The hits keep on coming in the HD 127 battle between anesthesiologist Susan Curling and Humble ISD board president Dan Huberty. In the weeks leading up to the March 2 primary, Curling hammered Huberty for what she alleged to be a conflict of interest in the awarding of a school bus advertising contract to a company for which Huberty’s wife subsequently worked. Huberty’s campaign said that his wife was never paid for work on that specific project. But with both candidates qualifying for a runoff to fill the House seat being vacated by Joe Crabb (R-Atascocita), the running battle between the two camps over the issue continues. The latest development came yesterday when Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos said no criminal wrongdoing occurred and closed the investigation Curling. She looked into the matter after a constituent in HD 127 filed a complaint alleging that Huberty broke the law.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 9, 2010 4:34 PM SUEHS TELLS COMMITTEE FULL TIERS ROLLOUT IN DECEMBER 2011Started in central Texas but state continues using SAVERR software Executive
Commissioner Tom Suehs has set a new
date of December 2011 for the full rollout of the much-delayed and
often-beleaguered Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System, he told the House
Appropriations Committee this week. The promise was
part of a larger discussion of a program passed last session: the expansion of
the children’s
Medicaid buy-in program. Delays in implementation – due to ongoing
federal negotiations – is expected to give HHSC some revenue savings going into
the new biennium, but Suehs insisted it was not his preference. “If we can get
everything done and implemented in September, we’ll implement it in September,”
Suehs told the committee. “So it’s not a delay that we’re causing.”
The rest of the story, subscribers only |
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March 9, 2010 4:18 PM HK: GLENN BECK AND ABBIE HOFFMAN, TWO PEAS IN A POD SAYS CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST DAVID BROOKSA provocative view of the similarities between today's Tea Party and 60's New Left radicals Check out conservative columnist David Brooks piece. We replay this because the link was broken when we originally posted it last Friday.
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March 9, 2010 12:39 PM WHITE WILL NOT COMMIT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER ON TAXESSays of the Perry Campaign, “They’ll mislead people anyway.” Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White said this morning that he would not commit to taking tax increases off the table as a way to balance a big budget shortfall if he is elected Governor. In a morning conversation with Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune, White said that he made no commitments to either raise or lower taxes as Houston mayor and that he would not do so as a candidate for Governor. He noted, though, that despite his non-promise on taxes, he managed to cut the city’s tax rate five times anyway.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 9, 2010 7:07 AM SIBLEY BREAKS HIS SILENCE AFTER AVERITT ANNOUNCEMENTAs we reported on February 4, former Senator David Sibley in the hunt to return to the Senate As we reported back on February 4, former State Senator David Sibley is considering an effort to return to the Texas Senate. At the time he would not return calls seeking comment. With incumbent Kip Averitt's announced resignation next week, Governor Rick Perry will be able to call a special election for the May uniform election date. The winner of that election would likely be the choice of the GOP county chairs to be placed on the November ballot. Last night Sibley issued a statement saying,"“Kip Averitt has been an outstanding State Senator and he remains a friend. I understand his health concerns and support him in making the changes he needs over the coming months and years.” “Many in the District have asked about my interest in the position and I am honored they would consider me. In my discussions with supporters and Republican county chairs I have heard a lot about the need for conservative, effective, common-sense government and look forward to continuing these conversations in the coming days.” Last night, Sibl
By Harvey Kronberg |
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March 8, 2010 5:36 PM NEW SALES TAX FIGURES OFFER A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR RECOVERYHouse appropriators get a bit of good news with the latest updates on the state of the economy; LBB says that agencies will be responsible for implementing their 5 percent cuts this fiscal year Here’s another indicator as to how tough things have been in the economy as of late. The state’s chief revenue estimator John Heleman told House appropriators this morning that February sales tax numbers would show a decrease of 8.8 percent over the same period a year ago. And that was the good news. To be honest, that disclosure was indeed welcome as it breaks a string of double digit declines in the sales tax collections that began in June. But the accumulation of so many bad months in a row on sales tax collections has led some to question whether the Comptroller’s revenue estimates will hold.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 8, 2010 4:51 PM SIMPSON EXPLAINS HOW HE BEAT MERRITT |
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No big money, no high-powered consultants One of the true shockers from this week’s primary election, as measured by how often it was referenced afterward in the traditional election post-mortems around town, was Tommy Merritt’s loss in the Longview-anchored HD 7. While there were other big upsets, this one got folks’ attention mainly because how unexpected it was. Merritt has enormous name ID in his district and had survived a well-funded challenger in 2006 who was backed by Austin power players intent on taking the incumbent down. The man who actually took down Merritt was somebody entirely different. David Simpson was modestly funded (of the $50,000 or so he raised for the race, $30,000 came from his father). His only political experience was as mayor of Avinger (situated well northeast of HD 7) in the mid 1990s. And in a region where your congregation of choice is just about as important as your choice of political party, he worships with a church located out of the district. And there’s one more factor – Simpson wasn’t really looking to run for office. He told QR this week that while he had his eyes on a run for office a couple of election cycles down the road, he wasn’t focused on running this year. He filed papers to run at the close of November and his campaign, in essence, was active for only about two months. So how did this David slay the giant? QR spoke with Simpson in an extended interview this week as well as a couple of members of his campaign team.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
State Rep-elect David Simpson |
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March 8, 2010 4:41 PM KIP AVERITT WILL RELINQUISH HIS SENATE SEAT ON MARCH 17In statement, the Waco Republican says he chose resignation date to allow the Governor to call for a special election on May 8 This afternoon, Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) released a statement, saying that he would resign his Senate seat March 17 in order for the Governor to call a special election on May 8. Averitt won his party primary last week even though he had stopped campaigning due to health reasons. We reprint below his statement: "Your vote of confidence last Tuesday, election day, was most gratifying. I am humbled by your support. "Now, the time has come for me to step down. I will resign my senate seat as of noon on March 17th. This will allow the Governor to call a special election on May the 8th. My immediate priority now is to see that the voters in central Texas get to pick their next senator. "Serving you, our friends, and our neighbors has been my highest honor and greatest privilege. I thank you for your continued support of my decision to step away from public office after 17 years of service. I will now work on maintaining a healthy lifestyle and spending time with my children."
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March 5, 2010 5:15 PM PRESS RELEASE SECTION HEADLINESSalvos, endorsements and staff TLR PAC: TEXANS FOR PUBLIC JUSTICE REPORT REVEALS BIG TRIAL LAWYER CONTRIBUTIONS FINAL SETTLEMENT WITH UBS PROVIDES $200 MILLION FOR
INVESTORS IN AUCTION RATE SECURITIES NOT COVERED BY INITIAL AGREEMENT WAYNE RICHARD ENDORSES FELLOW CONSERVATIVE VAN TAYLOR IN
TX-66 RUNOFF TEXANS FOR LAWSUIT REFORM SUSTAINS PRICEY PRIMARY HITS SENATOR VAN DE PUTTE WELCOMES A NEW LEGISLATIVE AIDE DUNNAM CONGRATULATES NEW DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVES-ELECT
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March 5, 2010 4:53 PM HOUSE PASSES SECLUSION AND RESTRAINT LEGISLATIONResponding to surveys of neglect including death of Texas child The House of Representatives finally passed a bill this week to apply federal standards to seclusion and restraint of schoolchildren, over the strenuous opposition of some Republicans who defended local control. House Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller, D-California, made an impassioned closing argument on the floor this afternoon in support of House Resolution 4247, urging his colleagues to apply consistent standards to how children acting out – who are often mentally or physically challenged – are restrained. Miller said seclusion and restraint often is dramatically misused. “We
cannot have children being taped to their chairs, children having duct tape put
around their mouths, children being locked into dark closets or even smaller
spaces for multiple hours of the day,” Miller said, his voice rising as he
exhorted his colleagues. “None of us would stand for this with our children or
grandchildren. Who the hell is going to step in and protect these children?” Video
from Miller’s closing speech is included below.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves |
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March 5, 2010 10:38 AM GOV. PERRY BLASTS JUDGE'S DEATH PENALTY MOTION AS LEGISLATING FROM THE BENCHReacts to a Houston district judge's granting of a motion yesterday that ruled the death penalty unconstitutional Reaction is
streaming in this morning from Republican statewide officials in response to a
Houston judge’s decision to grant a motion declaring the death penalty
unconstitutional because of his belief that innocent people have been executed
(click here
for the Houston Chronicle story). Both Gov. Rick
Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott label the action by District
Judge Kevin Fine as judicial activism and commit their respective
offices to supporting the Harris County District Attorney’s Office,
which, according to the Chronicle story, plans to “pursue all
remedies.” Gov. Rick
Perry’s statement: “Today’s ruling
is an example of an activist judge legislating from the bench in blatant
disregard of opinions issued based on both the Texas and U.S.
Constitutions. Like the vast majority of Texans, I support the death
penalty as a fitting and constitutional punishment for the most heinous crimes.
This is a clear violation of public trust and I fully support the Harris Co.
District Attorney’s decision to pursue all remedies.”
The rest of the story, subscribers only |
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March 4, 2010 5:48 PM DOGGETT JOINS WITH REPUBLICANS IN VOTE AGAINST JOBS BILLCosts too much, does to little says central Texas Dem Austin’s liberal Congressman Lloyd Doggett actually was in the odd position of siding with Republicans today during the passage of the new jobs bill. Doggett was one of 35 Democrats who voted down the $15 billion jobs bill that passed the House floor on a vote of 217-201. The jobs bill package, known as the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, focused on employer tax credits. Doggett, in comments on the floor of the House this afternoon, rejected the bill, saying it did little to create jobs and a lot to add to national debt. In his speech, Doggett said jobless benefits should not be traded for corporate write-offs. “Today, we have another tax break that is weak on policy, strong on politics,”
Doggett said in his floor speech today on the jobs bill. “It's a retread
proposal that this Congress rejected last year, and it doesn't smell any better
this year. Indeed, one former Treasury Department economist has described a
general consensus among tax experts that the credit is a real ‘stinker’ because
it simply encourages conduct that would occur anyway.” Doggett scoffed at comments he heard from a top leader at the Treasury
Department, who said the jobs bill had a 10 percent chance of being
effective. “And being ineffective does not mean that it is harmless, since it disadvantages
some businesses in the marketplace versus their competitors,” Doggett said on
the floor. “Those small businesses in Central Texas who have hung on to their
employees even though it hurt, even though it was painful to do so, get
absolutely no benefit from this jobs tax credit, although they certainly could
use it.” A more extensive jobs bill passed the House in December. It was scaled
back in the Senate. A more robust House version, which would have included jobs
training and summer jobs programs, was expected to cost upwards of $50 billion.
By Kimberly Reeves |
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March 4, 2010 5:02 PM A FEW ODDS AND ENDSA couple of hires of note Bill Miller at Hillco Partners tells QR that Texas Municipal League head honcho Frank Sturzl will be coming on board after he leaves his current gig. Also worth note, veteran Republican fundraiser Susan Lilly has been retained by Judge Debra Lehrmann to help out with her run off in Texas Supreme Court, Place 3.
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March 4, 2010 5:01 PM PRESS RELEASE SECTION HEADLINESA few odds and ends LT. GOV DAVID DEWHURST AND SPEAKER JOE STRAUS
ANNOUNCE APPOINTMENTS TO THE ADVISORY PANEL ON RECREATIONAL BOATING SAFETY CURLING: THANK YOU TO FRIENDS WHO HELPED MAKE IT
A RUNOFF TEXAS PTA NAMES REPRESENTATIVE DONNA HOWARD TO
PTA LEGISLATIVE HONOR ROLL
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March 4, 2010 3:54 PM CITIZEN LEADER PAC WOULD LIKE TO CORRECT THE RECORD, ISSUES A STATEMENTSays, among other things, that reporters confused Citizen Leader board member Leo Linbeck III with his father, Leo Linbeck Jr. The Citizen Leader PAC gained attention this primary cycle for the people who funded it (Dick Weekley, Harlan Crow and Leo Linbeck III) and for the single race in which it sunk resources (the HD 92 primary contest backing the challenger to incumbent Todd Smith). Today, the group released a statement saying that it wanted to correct a number of inaccurate stories written about the PAC. The group said that reporters did not contact the group when writing stories about it. It should be noted that QR did link to the Citizen Leader website and did subsequently correct our original error of confusing Leo Linbeck and Leo Linbeck III. However, even as of this posting there are no contact names or phone numbers on the website. Only an email template which follows from a link at the bottom left. Frankly, we did not even see the "contact us" link the first time we looked at the site. We will hold further comment. Citzen Leader PAC gets to have its say. “We plan to get involved in many races, and our criteria will remain the same,” according to the group’s statement. “We are not an anti-RINO group. We are not interested in Speaker politics. We have never taken a positions on individual bills. We do like elected officials who remember that they work for the voters, and not vice-versa.” For the complete statement from Citizen Leader PAC, click here.
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March 4, 2010 12:05 PM DUNCAN ANNOUNCES 16 STATES AS RACE TO THE TOP FINALISTSFlorida, Ohio, Massachusetts, Louisiana, DC and even New York make the cut.
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March 4, 2010 11:59 AM STATE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE REMAINS AT 8.2 PERCENT FOR THIRD STRAIGHT MONTHThe labor force continues to grow as the number of Texans without work and those with work hit historic highs The seasonally adjusted unemployment figure pushed but did not top the 1 million mark in January. According to figures released today by the Texas Workforce Commission, 996,900 Texans were out of work in January. That is a historic high, and reflects an increase of 9,700 in the number of the unemployed since December. The increase in the number of Texans without work, though, occurs at a time when the size of the civilian labor force as well as the number of Texans with jobs are also at record highs. The state reports 11,094,500 employed Texans, up 35,300 from last month. The total seasonally adjusted civilian labor force is 12,091,400.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 3, 2010 5:29 PM DAVID PORTER SAYS RRC WIN WAS EXPECTED, BUT THE BIG MARGIN WASN’T |
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Full story in Texas Energy Report
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GOP RRC nominee David Porter |
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March 3, 2010 5:13 PM PRESS RELEASE SECTION HEADLINESA little this and that GOPAC-TX ENDORSES CANDIDATES FOR NOVEMBER
ELECTION GOPAC-TX DELIVERS PROMISED CAMPAIGN SUCCESSES DNC'S RICHIE: OUR DEMOCRATIC NOMINEES WILL
RESTORE REAL LEADERSHIP TO TEXAS STATE SENATOR WENDY DAVIS JOINS CANTEY HANGER AS
“OF COUNSEL” DAVID PORTER NAMES BARRY WILLIAMSON AS CAMPAIGN
CHAIRMAN TFN PRESIDENT: VOTERS ON TUESDAY REJECTED
‘CULTURE WAR’ BATTLES ON EDUCATION BOARD LEHRMANN LOOKS FORWARD TO SUPREME COURT RUNOFF VETERAN REPUBLICANS ERWIN AND CASTEEL JOIN
FORCES
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March 3, 2010 4:53 PM IN LETTER TO SUPPORTERS, VICTOR CARILLO ON HISPANIC SURNAME IN GOP PRIMARY"...Given the choice between “Porter” and “Carrillo” -- unfortunately, the Hispanic-surname was a serious setback from which I could never recover" "As you now surely know, last night I was defeated (61% / 39%) in my statewide Republican Primary by my opponent, David Porter. Porter, an unknown, no-campaign, no-qualification CPA from Midland residing in Giddings filed on the last day that he could file while I was waiting in Abilene to bury my dad. He has never held any elected office, has no geoscience, industry, or legal experience other than doing tax returns for oil and gas companies." The rest of Commissioner Victor Carillo's letter to his supporters can be found here.
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March 3, 2010 3:56 PM BALANCE OF POWERS SHIFTS SLIGHTLY ON SBOE |
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Ratliff beats McElroy, Miller defeated in upset The label of “conservative” – despite all the media hype leading up to election day – appeared to play almost no role in Thomas Ratliff’s unseating of Don McLeroy in a down-to-the-wire Republican primary for a seat on the State Board of Education. An early review of voting numbers would indicate that name recognition was probably the key factor in Ratliff-McLeroy race. Ratliff picked up 17 of the 29 rural counties in the north, many of them once represented by his father long-time lawmaker Bill Ratliff. McLeroy picked up the counties to the south and won big in his home county of Brazos. And Collin County was almost a toss up, with McLeroy finally pulling ahead by about 400 votes. The final margin of victory was about 860 votes out of a turnout of almost 116,000. The last time McLeroy had an opponent, in 2002, the turnout was closer to 40,000. Ratliff said he took some pride is seeing the big numbers at the polls, in a race that was driven by clear differences on issues rather than divisive rhetoric. “I knew it would be close, but I had no idea it would be this close. Still, it’s a win,” said Ratliff this morning. “The thing that’s most important to me, and I said it all along, was that we both ran clean campaigns. We were respectful of each other, and I think we showed that politics doesn’t have to be ugly.”
The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves |
George Clayton defeats Tincy Miller |
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March 3, 2010 12:09 PM SO HOW DID PERRY WIN A BIG TURNOUT PRIMARY? MIKE BASELICE HAS AN EXPLANATIONSays that only 55 percent of early voters had GOP primary history. For months, the book on the Texas GOP gubernatorial primary was that the incumbent Rick Perry had the advantage if turnout remained relatively low because he had a lock on the hard core conservative wing of the party which tended to be better at coming out to vote in primaries. Consequently, the corollary was that U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison had to expand the primary to bring in non-traditional primary voters in order to pull off a win. Here’s how the numbers broke down. Nearly 1.5 million votes were cast in the GOP gubernatorial primary. That’s a big number. It’s 120,000 more than turned out for the GOP presidential primary in 2008. And Rick Perry won 51 percent of the vote. So, why were we so wrong?
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 3, 2010 8:48 AM SUMMARY OF PRIMARY NIGHT RESULTSOmits upset defeat of Tincy Miller at SBOE The summary
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March 3, 2010 6:59 AM TOPSY TURVY PRIMARY NIGHT YIELDS SEVERAL BIG UPSETSTopping the list -- Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo, Rep. Betty Brown and Rep. Tommy Merritt. As many as five House Democratic incumbents could be defeated. At the very top of the ticket, Rick Perry and Bill White avoided drama, wrapping up their respective party’s nominations for Governor without the need for a runoff. For the record, Perry finished the evening with a bit more than 51 percent of the Republican primary vote while White won more than 76 percent of the Democratic primary vote. But farther down the ballot, things got very interesting in several races. --- Several incumbents lost last night, the highest profile being Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo and SBOE lightning rod Don McLeroy. Carrillo could only muster 39.3 percent support in his bid for re-election against an opponent he badly outspent. And McLeroy lost by 839 votes to Thomas Ratliff, son of former state Sen. Bill Ratliff. --- Some high profile House incumbents went down last night as well. People will be buzzing this morning about Betty Brown who appears to have lost by 108 votes to her former staffer Lance Gooden. Expect a recount here. Tommy Merritt, meanwhile, lost his seat to challenger David Simpson by a larger margin – 856 votes.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 2, 2010 10:58 PM BOTH LUBBOCK HOUSE GOP RACES GO TO RUNOFFSOn the other side of the state, Betty Brown could be out; she's losing by 121 votes with nearly all the votes counted. A few House races are over with all or most of the precincts reporting. The two Lubbock House GOP contests are going to a runoff. HD 83 incumbent Delwin Jones received 39.2 percent of the vote and will face accountant Charles Perry who received 32 percent of the vote. Finishing third was Zach Brady with 28.8 percent. In HD 84, former Texas Tech regent Mark Griffin took 48.7 percent of the vote and will square off against John Frullo in a runoff. Frullo, who had the backing of outgoing incumbent Carl Isett, garnered 43 percent of the vote. In the other Panhandle GOP primary of note, attorney Four Price has decisively defeated restaurateur Victor Leal, in the HD 87 contest. Leal had the backing of outgoing incumbent David Swinford but Leal ran into problems because of his last minute move into the district. He ended up losing by more than 10 percentage points to Price.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 2, 2010 10:02 PM AP: CHARLES SCHWERTNER WINS HD 20Avoids a runoff in what had been forecast as a tight race with former Lege Council ED Milton Rister and former Cedar Park City Councilman Stephen Thomas
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March 2, 2010 9:37 PM AP REPORTING THAT KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON HAS CONCEDED IN GOP GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARYIt's now official: Perry, White will meet in the fall.
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March 2, 2010 9:30 PM DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS OLIVO AND RIOS YBARRA IN TROUBLE EARLYNorma Chavez locked in an extremely close battle with Naomi Gonzalez; 47 votes separate them and a runoff is looking more and more likely On the Democratic side of the ledger tonight, Bill White brought his no drama approach to tonight, winning the gubernatorial primary with ease. Beneath him, though, interesting storylines abound. Here are some: --- For those who were looking forward to the quipfest of a general election for Land Commissioner, these are anxious times. Former state Sen. Hector Uribe is leading Ben Burton with about 25 percent of the precincts reporting. But it is close, with about 1,017 votes separating the men with more than 277,000 votes counted so far. --- Kinky appears to be coming up snake eyes again. The former independent candidate for Governor is losing in his bid to be the Democratic nominee for Ag Commissioner. He trails Hank Gilbert by a solid 24,000 votes with 25 percent of precincts counted.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 2, 2010 9:00 PM SURPRISES ABOUND EARLY ON ELECTION NIGHTHopson appears to be doing OK but other incumbents are facing surprisingly tough sledding An hour and a half after the polls have closed in most of the state and the numbers are starting to come in fast and furious. Some quick observations: --- Some interesting results are showing up in some of the high profile GOP races. State Sen. Kip Averitt, who is not officially running for re-election, has 62.3 percent of the vote with nearly one-fifths of the precincts reported. If Averitt’s advantage holds, that will set up some interesting maneuvering in the weeks and months to come. Incumbents Tommy Merritt and Betty Brown look to be in trouble early. Merritt is losing to challenger David Simpson in early returns, 54 to 46 percent. And Brown is losing to her former staffer Lance Gooden but by the slimmest of margins – only 68 votes separates the contenders. Chuck Hopson appears to be encountering surprisingly little problems in his maiden appearance as a Republican in HD 11. With nearly one-fourth of precincts reporting, he has 62.5 percent of the vote.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds |
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March 2, 2010 8:27 PM AP CALLS DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY FOR BILL WHITEYou think GOP was paying attention? RGA sends out statement on White's victory: “Once Texans get a clear picture of Bill White’s liberal record, I think they will collectively say, ‘Houston, we have a problem.’”
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March 2, 2010 8:26 PM CARRILLO RUNNING BEHIND IN BID FOR SECOND TERM ON RRCChallenger David Porter ran a low-key campaign in the down-ballot race. Railroad Commission Chairman Victor Carrillo appears to be in trouble in his re-election bid with early returns showing him running about 60-40 behind low-key challenger David Porter of Giddings. Carrillo, appointed to the three-member panel that oversees the energy sector in 2003, is seeking his second full six-year term. Porter has stayed pretty much below the radar during most of the campaign. During the 2006 cycle, he was treasurer for the Texas Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, which was funded largely by conservative activist James Leininger.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Moritz |
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March 2, 2010 7:49 PM EARLY VOTING IN LUBBOCK COUNTY -- HD 84: MARK GRIFFIN 51.3 PERCENT, JOHN FRULLO 40.7 PERCENT AND YSIDRO GUTIERREZ 8 PERCENTGriffin, a former Lubbock ISD school board president and Tech regent, just above the 50 percent threshold to avoid runoff
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March 2, 2010 7:45 PM EARLY VOTING IN LUBBOCK COUNTY -- HD 83: DELWIN JONES 37.7, CHARLES PERRY 35.4 PERCENT AND ZACH BRADY 26.9 PERCENTLubbock County makes up about two-thirds of the votes in HD 83
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March 2, 2010 7:42 PM RIO GRANDE GUARDIAN REPORTING THAT SERGIO MUNOZ HAS 61 PERCENT OF EARLY VOTE IN HD 36Sandra Rodriguez will need to get heavy Election Day support to pull off the win
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March 2, 2010 5:18 PM TURNOUT APPEARS LIGHT AS VOTING HEADS TO FINAL HOURSAlso, Dallas County Democratic Party Chair predicts Terri Hodge will win in HD 100 despite her abandoning of re-election bid post-plea deal A couple of things are catching our eye as we pass the two-hour mark for polls to close: --- Anecdotal evidence has been rolling in for much of the afternoon via newspaper blog posts, Twitter posts and Facebook that turnout today has been light. It’s way too early to tell what that might mean for anti-establishment campaigns that might have been hoping for big Election Day surges. One thing would appear to be evident: the trend of Texans toward voting early continues. --- When HD 100 candidate Eric Johnson made the rounds in Austin a couple of weeks ago, he assured press types that he was out there hustling to round up every vote. But the political newcomer has yet to convince everyone that he can close the deal against Terri Hodge, who even if she wins tonight could not serve because of her federal plea deal. Among those doubters we can count Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Darlene Ewing who told the Dallas Observer today that Hodge would win.
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March 2, 2010 4:04 PM REPORT ACKNOWLEDGES TEXAS IS AHEAD OF THE CURVE IN COLLEGE READINESS CURRICULUMBut reality is state is not close to reaching those standards Somewhere, down
there in the fine print, the report out of Washington DC-based Achieve
today does say that Texas has gone further than any other state to equate a high
school diploma with actual college- and career-readiness standards. “Texas has worked strategically and
comprehensively to adopt college and career readiness curriculum standards,
increase graduation standards, develop end-of-course exams, enhance our data
collection systems and expand our accountability system to report college
preparation information,” Commissioner Robert
Scott said in Texas Education Agency news release this afternoon. By aligning
all of these elements, Texas is clearly leading the race to prepare its
students for a successful life after high school graduation.” Texas was one of
13 states that joined the America Diploma Project when it
launched 5 years ago, with the goal of increasing high school rigor. Texas,
however, has not participated in the Common Core Standards Initiative, a
national state-led drive supported by President
Barack Obama to align math and English curriculum standards around the
country to post-secondary readiness.
The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves |
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Copyright March 09, 2010, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved 