Tag Archives: Todd Staples

The opening bid on power outage response

Not bad, but there’s a long way to go and not a lot of detail just yet. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan on Monday announced seven priority bills responding to the winter weather crisis last month that left millions of … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

No love for Dan

Here’s one vote he won’t get. Whether incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst can make up for a big primary night loss to challenger Dan Patrick in a May runoff may depend on if he can successfully court the supporters of … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What will The Dew do this time?

Go negative or go home is the strategy the pundits have selected for him. Political experts have a bit of advice for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s re-election campaign: go negative or go home. The incumbent Senate president was crushed in … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Texas Farm Bureau unhappy with anti-immigrant Republicans

It’s an opportunity for Democrats, assuming they actually mean what they’re saying. When Republican agriculture commissioner candidate Eric Opiela appeared on television sets across Texas recently to declare “No amnesty under any circumstances,” he was no doubt attempting to appeal … Continue reading

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Next steps in the Texas same sex marriage lawsuit

In case you were wondering, Attorney General and candidate for Governor Greg Abbott will appeal Wednesday’s historic ruling striking down Texas’ constitutional amendment barring same sex marriage. The state of Texas has officially given notice that it is appealing a … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How extreme is too extreme?

The GOP candidates for Lite Guv are doing their best to test the hypothesis that having an R next to your name is all you need to get elected statewide in Texas, regardless of your stated positions on issues. The … Continue reading

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Once again with Wendy and the odds

Ross Ramsey in The Trib has his turn with the “what office should Sen. Wendy Davis run for?” question. Abbott, the Republican attorney general, is his party’s favored candidate at the moment, in spite of the presence of Tom Pauken, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How about Wendy for Lite Guv?

Robert Miller makes a pretty good case. Governor General Abbott appears unbeatable by Democrat or Republican. Sen. Davis, as a Harvard-trained lawyer, could run for the open office of Texas Attorney General. However, that does not appear to be a … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Patrick and Williams keep squabbling

Just as a reminder that Senate Republicans don’t need Democrats to stir up trouble, here’s a flare-up of an earlier kerfuffle. Fire one. In a recent interview with The Texas Tribune, my colleague, state Sen. Dan Patrick, chairman of the … Continue reading

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Dewhurst says he’s running for re-election in 2014

Peggy Fikac was first to report that David Dewhurst is not planning to fade away just yet. The last time we asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst what he plans to do in 2014, it was soon after he lost the … Continue reading

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What will The Dew do next?

So Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst isn’t going anywhere next January. I’m going to put aside the questions of what happened for now and ask instead what happens in 2014? As we know, there are three people running for what they … Continue reading

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Waiting for Rick (and Greg, and David)

Ross Ramsey breaks out his crystal ball and looks ahead to the 2014 election. Remember this: In his long history in state politics — closing in on three decades — [Rick] Perry has run for everything he said he was … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Rick Perry bailout

I don’t think I’d ever heard about this before. Over his eight years as Texas’ [Agriculture Commissioner], [Rick] Perry oversaw a loan guarantee program with so many defaults that the state had to stop guaranteeing bank loans to startups in … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What if they all lose?

Now that Rick Perry and David Dewhurst have decided they really want to be in that place they profess to hate so much, Washington, DC, there are a bunch of politicians behind them hoping to move up. Ross Ramsey wonders, … Continue reading

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Patterson to run for Lite Guv

With Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst running for the Senate, everyone else in state government that’s been waiting for a chance to move up is undoubtedly making plans to do so. At the front of the line is Lanc Commissioner Jerry … Continue reading

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Feral hogs: Still a problem

I’ve always been glad to live in the city because of stuff like this, but maybe it’s not enough any more. Arlington and Dallas are among cities along the Trinity River that also have reported problems with wild hogs that … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Thibaut versus Murphy, third time around

We know that the story of HD133, which has now been won twice by Jim Murphy and once by Kristi Thibaut, is one of turnout. With sufficient turnout in the Democratic part of the district – that is, the precincts … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

UT/TT poll: Perry 39, White 33

Another poll result. Republican Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, Bill White, by 6 percentage points — 39 percent to 33 percent — in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Libertarian Kathie Glass has the support of 5 … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on UT/TT poll: Perry 39, White 33

More on the broadband map of Texas

Shouldn’t a map that purports to document broadband availability in Texas do a better job than this of actually including broadband providers? At an unveiling last month, the Texas Department of Agriculture touted its map of broadband Internet availability as … Continue reading

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Fundraising: Other statewides

Bill White kicked butt in the fundraising department, but how did the other statewide candidates do? Not nearly as good, unfortunately. Here’s a look: http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/php/summary.php?rn=458383&form=COH Totals From Report For Linda Chavez-Thompson Filed on: July 15 2010 Covering the Period February … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Was there no one in Texas that could tell us about our broadband situation?

I’m a little late in picking this up, so bear with me. Last week, the Texas Department of Agriculture published a map detailing where broadband access exists and doesn’t exist in Texas. Democratic candidate for Ag Commish Hank Gilbert, after … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment