Warren Chisum has been a busy man the past few days. So when he called us this morning to respond to our Friday story about an omission on his 2007 ethics form, we couldn’t help but ask about the most pressing issue in state politics.
“Well, you know, as a Republican, I have a little problem [...]
The list of people who were running for Tom Craddick’s job as speaker seemed like it was a mile long just the other day. Now, it’s dwindling as more and more candidates get behind relative newcomer Joe Straus, a Republican from San Antonio.
We’re continuing to update our interactive Google Map looking at the candidates [...]
Looks like Texas will have a new state House speaker soon. Incumbent Speaker Tom Craddick is dropping his bid for re-election to the speaker’s post. More at Dallas Morning News, El Paso Times, Star-Telegram. And don’t forget to keep checking our (ever-updating) Google Map for the House speaker’s race.
Keep up with all the latest [...]
One of the many Texas political blogs we read — can’t remember which one (e-mail me if you do) — recently observed that it would just be easier to list the state House members who AREN’T running for House speaker, rather than list the ones who ARE running.
The same could be said for our interactive [...]
State Rep. Charlie Geren is supposed to be meeting sometime — maybe even right about now — with his “ABC” Republicans in the state as they try to craft their strategy for the House speaker’s race, the Star-Telegram’s Dave Montgomery reports:
Geren, R-Fort Worth, is one of the leaders — some say the leader — of [...]
Confused by the race for House speaker? Our map lifts the veil on the candidates jostling for the job as well as other key players. We highlight one of those players — Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum — who failed to disclose salary information, according to the documents we showcase via our map.
Republican Joan Huffman was leading with 56 percent of the vote and only two precincts not yet reported, The Chronicle’s Alan Bernstein is reporting tonight.
Click here to find information on voting today in the state Senate District 17 runoff election between Democrat Chris Bell and Republican Joan Huffman.
The Dallas Morning News has a report that looks at our October investigation into the listing of people on the Dallas County voter rolls who may be deceased.
We reviewed four years of data and found thousands of voters whose names and birthdates matched those of folks in a federal list of deceased Texans. We also found some [...]
A judicial candidate who lost his race by 230 votes wants a court to name him the winner, the Chronicle reports, based on the allegations of improper vote count and voter registration practices surrounding the November election.
The suit is being brought by Democrat J. Goodwille Pierre, who lost against Republican civil court Judge Joseph “Tad” [...]
Vince at Capitol Annex is taking on Texas’ least appropriately named state agency, the Texas Railroad Commission, and Sen. Jeff Wentworth’s proposal to rename it as the Texas Energy Commission:
In its day, the Railroad Commission was created to do what its name says it should do: regulate railroads. Today, it has nothing whatsoever to do [...]
Texas Watchdog has original mp3 audio clips of candidates Bell and Huffman on some of the key issues and what’s important to them in the Dec. 16 election. Listen and see what they they have to say on campaign finance, education, transportation and other topics.
The Houston Chronicle’s R.G. Ratcliffe takes a deeper look at the advocacy groups on Capitol Hill that will work to shape legislation in the coming legislative session:
AUSTIN — Advocacy groups on the left and the right rarely get the attention of major political committees and business associations, but these issue-based organizations are spending millions of [...]
Just a month after he was re-elected for a third term, Harris County’s tax-assessor-collector — who is also in charge of voter registration — is stepping down from office.
Houston’s Fox26 television reported shortly before 10 p.m. Friday that Paul Bettencourt had turned in his resignation. The station attributed it to unnamed sources. The Chronicle had [...]
The Dallas Observer has a substantive profile and interview with Dallas County Republican Party chairman Jonathan Neerman, the man who wants to try to turn around the county’s headlong slide into Democratic control. A securities litigation lawyer described as “Jewish, a quarter Chinese, a quarter Indian and all Aggie,” he’s got his work cut out [...]
State House Speaker Tom Craddick has paid his 30-something lawyer daughter $625,000 in salary from his campaign account over 6 years and has her on his state insurance plan. A Democratic attorney from Houston says that’s against the law — and we’ve got a copy of the complaint.
Harris County elections officials plan a review of the more than 4,000 voters Texas Watchdog found may be deceased, but the review will be after the first of next year, an official said Tuesday.
The former district attorney of Harris County who left office earlier this year after pornographic and racist e-mails were found on his computer will not be prosecuted criminally for those and other forms of misconduct, Harris County’s current DA announced this afternoon.
Interim DA Kenneth Magidson says there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Chuck Rosenthal.
Magidson [...]
We’re awfully grateful for the shout out from the editorial board at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram — and they’re right: lawmakers’ personal financial disclosure forms should be available in a searchable database.
The campaign for speaker of the state House is in full swing, and it’ll soon be coming to a mailbox and answering machine near you, Bud Kennedy writes in the Star-Telegram:
Armed with a recent court ruling allowing a bombardment of campaign advertising, the Midland Republican’s friends are about to start calling and mailing us, [...]
Nov. 4 is long gone. So, does it really matter if the voter rolls are all up to date?
Twenty votes are in doubt and not much is at stake — oh, you know, just the control of the Texas legislature and a good chunk of the direction of the entire state for the next two years — in the court case going on in Dallas County over House District 105.
Video: Texas Watchdog’s inaugural investigative piece detailed top Bush money-man Stephen Payne’s close relationship with the White House — a relationship the White House took pains to distance itself from. Here is the video of The Times of London sting, featuring Stephen Payne.
