Politex

KBH not leaving the Senate

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is not leaving the Senate until her term ends, she announced today in San Antonio.

Although she said last year that she would resign after the March primary -- whether she won or lost her gubernatorial bid -- Hutchison said Wednesday that she wants to fight for Texas and try to prevent further expansion of the federal government.

“It is clear to me that the stakes in our nation’s capitol have never been higher," she said in a written statement. "President Obama’s victory on health care legislation has emboldened those who want an even bigger and more intrusive federal government.”

"On a personal level, this has been a most difficult decision, but after much deliberation, I have decided to complete my term," she said. "I will work alongside our great Texas congressional delegation to repeal and replace President Obama's massive health bill, to stop cap-and-trade legislation and to cut the deficit the president is building that is putting our economy in peril."

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Hutchison staying in Senate

Ending the is-she-staying-or-going speculation, Texas' senior U.S. senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, announced this morning in San Antonio that she's serving out the last two years of her current term. She had promised to vacate the seat. Hutchison challenged incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in this month's gubernatorial primary and lost big.

-- John Gravois

One already out of Senate race

UPDATE: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said this morning she has decided to stay in the U.S. senate for the remainder of her term.

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As U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison prepares to announce during a 10 a.m. news conference today in San Antonio whether she stays or goes from the Senate, one Texan who considered running for the seat has already pulled out of the race.

State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, formally withdrew her candidacy for the 2012 race to fill Hutchison's senate seat.

"The political landscape of American government has dramatically shifted since I announced my U.S. Senate candidacy almost 21 months ago," said Shapiro, who formed an exploratory committee to determine whether she should run.

She said state government is where her focus needs to be.

"To protect Texas taxpayers, I firmly believe we now need an all-hands-on-deck commitment by our state legislature," Shapiro said.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Stay or go? Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to announce plans today

After failing to unseat incumbent Rick Perry in the GOP gubernatorial primary, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is scheduled to announce today whether she will stay in the Senate.

Hutchison, of Dallas, had said that she would resign from the Senate, win or lose, after the health-care vote. But several prominent Republicans, including Perry, have urged her to stay.

The news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. in San Antonio. Texas' other senator, John Cornyn, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader, are scheduled to appear with her.

(Photo of Hutchison and her husband, Ray, by Tony Gutierrez, AP)

Tarrant County judge quits, sparks new race on November ballot (updated)

Bob McGrath, a civil district court judge in Tarrant County, was hired as the new legal adviser for the Dallas County Commissioners Court today.

McGrath, a Republican, first won election to the 342nd District Court in 1992 and has sat on the bench since 1993.

Once he officially resigns, Gov. Rick Perry will have the option of appointing someone to head that court until a new judge is elected, according to Ann Diamond with the Tarrant County district attorney's office. *(SEE CORRECTION BELOW)

McGrath wasn't up for re-election this year but his resignation will automatically add that race to the November ballot.

Since the primary is behind us, the executive committees of the local Republican and Democratic parties will get to choose candidates, Diamond said. Third party, independent and write-in candidates will also be able to run.

McGrath was among about 40 applicants to apply for the legal adviser job in Dallas County, according to Commissioners Court Administrator Darryl Martin.

Commissioners took the unusual step of creating the position because of recent situations in which they didn't see eye-to-eye with District Attorney Crag Watkins' staff, Martin said.

"They feel like at times they would like some outside, independent legal advice," Martin said.

Commissioners voted 4-1 to hire McGrath, with Kenneth Mayfield dissenting.

(*This post has been updated to reflect corrected information from Diamond. She said she erred when she said a Perry-appointed judge would serve out the rest of the year. Any judge appointed by Perry to replace McGrath would only serve until the results from the November election were canvassed, Diamond said. At that point, the winner from that race would take over as judge of the 342nd District Court.)

-Aman Batheja

Calls for Texas special session on healthcare met with crickets

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has called a special session of her state's legislature to give her the authority to join Texas and other states in a lawsuit over President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plan.

Just last month, many Republican activists were calling on Gov. Rick Perry to plan for a special session as soon as Obama signed the bill so that Texas could immediately opt out of the landmark federal legislation. Gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina made the need for a special session related to Obama's healthcare bill a central plank of her primary campaign against Perry.

In the days since the healthcare bill became law, the talk of a special session has not grown stronger.

Several state lawmakers have announced plans to draft or support measures to reject the Obama bill in the next regular session in 2011.

This analysis from Christopher Heath of San Antonio TV station KENS points to a few reasons Perry wouldn't want to call a special session this year, including the fact that he would be barred from fundraising for his reelection campaign during that period.

When asked on Friday about if Perry was considering calling a special session on healthcare, spokeswoman Allison Castle said, "We are now exploring all of our options to protect Texas families, patients and taxpayers from Washington's actions, including legal challenges to the constitutionality of the federal law."

-Aman Batheja

Tarrant leading urban counties in mailing back census forms

The local push for participating in the US Census may be having an impact. Tarrant County is well ahead of the state's other large counties in returning its census forms.

In Tarrant County, 18 percent of census forms have been returned among households that have received them, according to data released today by the Census.

Dallas County is at 11 percent. The other urban counties in the state -- Harris, Bexar, Travis and El Paso -- are at 9 percent or less.

Statewide, participation is at 12 percent. Montana is leading the country with 33 percent participation.

The full map and data is available here.

-Aman Batheja

"Citizen for Beavers" gets slapped with ethics fine

Alas, this story isn't about a group advocating for the rights of resourceful aquatic rodents.

Or anything that would get us fired for mentioning on this blog.

S-T Reporter Darren Barbee has the details at our Watchdog Bytes blog.

-Aman Batheja

White says Perry should step in on textbook standards controversy

Democratic candidate for governor Bill White is pressing Gov. Rick Perry to urge State Board of Education Chairwoman Gail Lowe to send the recent controversial amendments to Texas' social studies curriculum standards back to the committees of mostly teachers where they started.

Star-T Education Reporter Traci Shurley has the details over on our Extra Credit blog.

Brooks in D.C. for Obama bill signing

 Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks was among those in Washington D.C. Tuesday applauding President Barack Obama’s signing of a landmark healthcare reform bill.

Brooks learned Monday he was invited to attend a gathering of local, state and federal officials to celebrate the signing at an auditorium in the Department of the Interior building. He dropped everything to catch a plane later that night.

Brooks said he was invited for his work on a healthcare reform committee with the National Association of Counties.

Brooks and others watched via a TV feed as Obama signed the bill. After the White House ceremony, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden stopped by the Interior to address those in attendance.

Brooks, a Democrat, said the bill was an important first step in a larger drive to reform healthcare.

"We recognize this is only the start," Brooks said. "There will be other efforts to improve and tweak this bill once the American public gets used to the concept of healthcare reform and see that it’s not the bogeyman it’s been presented to be. Then there will be impetus to do other things in that regard."

-Aman Batheja