Politex

Palin event in Austin draws 1,500

Approximately 1,500 people gathered at the Austin Convention Center tonight to hear former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is emerging as a leader of the Tea Party movement and is often touted as a potential presidential contender in 2012.

"I think she's a big crowd draw, a neat lady and a real asset for the Republican Party," said State Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, as he arrived at the downtown convention center.

Gov. Rick Perry, whom Palin endorsed in his re-election bid, was slated to introduce the former vice presidential nominee.

The Austin event was sponsored by Heroic Media, which was founded in 2004 to promote alternatives to abortion.

About a dozen pro-choice demonstrators rallied outside chanting, "My body, my choice!"

"I can't stand her," said social worker Terri Lindgren. "I can't believe that people actually pay to listen to her."

Ticket prices ranged from $50 to $10,000 for a package of 10 tickets as well as attendance to a reception and a chance to meet Palin.

-- Dave Montgomery

Photo of Perry in Fort Worth fits his coyote-killing image

This April 15 photo of Gov. Rick Perry firing off a six-shooter in the middle of downtown Fort Worth instantly struck some people as fitting a certain image of the governor -- virile or half-cocked depending on your point of view.

Today's story from AP reporter Jim Vertuno of Perry killing a coyote while jogging apparently fits in with that image because the photo from Star-Telegram photographer Rodger Mallison has been paired with the story by news outlets around the country.

R.G. Ratcliffe notes in his blog for the Houston Chronicle that Perry may have violated both city of Austin ordinances and state law. It's illegal to discharge a firearm within city limits, with exceptions. "Perry's discharge also may have violated his concealed gun permit" under state law, Ratcliffe says.

In response, Perry spokesman Mark Miner cited a section of the Health and Safety Code that says a coyote that is about to attack a domestic animal may be killed by anyone witnessing the attack.

Colorado's WildEarth Guardians, a group that advocates for wild animals, got wind of the kill. "With all due respect to his manhood, 90-pound women in tennis shoes effectively scare 30-pound coyotes away with a sharp shout," said spokeswoman Wendy Keefover-Ring.

Meanwhile, Washington Post blogger David Weigel believes that the Perry/coyote episode is the kind of tale that will have "grassroots conservatives daydreaming about a Perry run for president in 2012, despite his many statements to the contrary."

 

-Aman Batheja

Lehrmann hit with ethics complaints over mother-in-law's loan

 An Austin-based watchdog group filed an ethics complaint Tuesday against veteran Tarrant County family court judge Debra Lehrmann of Colleyville.

Lehrmann, the Republican nominee for Place 3 on the Texas Supreme Court, reported receiving a $20,000 loan from Norma J. Talley of Fort Worth during the primary, according to the complaint filed by Texans for Public Justice.

Talley is reportedly Lehrmann’s mother-in-law.

TPJ says that loan violates the law barring judicial candidates from contributions of more than $5,000 from an individual donor. The law has an exception for immediate family (called the second degree of consanguinity) but in-laws don’t make the cut, according to TPJ.

We're waiting on a call back from Lehrmann but her campaign consultant, Susan Lilly, told the Associated Press that the loan was legal.

Lehrmann faces Demcorat Jim Sharp, a justice on Houston's 1st Court of Appeals, in November.

Sharp criticized Lehrmann for not following campaign finance laws.

“Those reporting requirements truly are onerous but I should think that one who sits on a family court bench in Texas should know the lines of consanguinity and that immediate family is not mother-in-law,” Sharp said.

-Aman Batheja

Former state Rep. Hodge sentenced to year in jail

 A federal judge sentenced former state Rep. Terri Hodge to 12 months in jail this afternoon.

U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn sentenced Hodge to a year in prison for fraud and making false statements on an income tax return in connection with a bribery scheme involving Dallas city officials and developers, according to the US Attorneys office.

Hodge, a Dallas Democrat, pled guilty to the charges in February. As part of a plea agreement, Hodge agreed to resign as representative of District 100, a position she had held since 1996. She also agreed to never again seek public office.

Hodge faced up to three years in federal prison, a $100,000 fine and restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

Hodge was one of 14 public officials charged with various offenses related to bribery and extortion schemes involving affordable housing developments in the Dallas area.

According to the U.S. Attorneys office in Dallas, Hodge asked developer Brian Potashnik in 2002 for help finding housing because she was having financial problems. In April 2002, the Potashniks arranged for an apartment for $200 per month. The market rate for the apartment was $899 and the Potashniks paid the difference as well as utility bills, according to federal documents.

The Potashniks paid $32,541 in rent, utility bills and carpeting for Hodge between 2002 and 2005. Hodge didn't properly report it on her tax returns.

Hodge's primary challenger, Eric Johnson, was sworn in as her replacement earlier this month.

Hodge must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on June 22.

-Aman Batheja

Rick Perry and Glenn Beck: Live in Concert [UPDATED]

 Gov. Rick Perry will be in Tyler this Saturday to appear on stage with conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Perry's office confirmed.

Beck is holding a town hall-style event in Tyler's Oil Palace this Saturday. Ticket prices range from $25 to $85.

The event will be preceded by a "call to action meeting" by the Tyler group, Grassroots America - We The People. Attendees at the meeting will learn how to become citizen plaintiffs against the federal health reform plan, according to the group's website.

Beck played a special role in this year's Republican gubernatorial primary. He first criticized Perry for not governing as a conservative.

Then he had candidate Debra Medina on his radio show and asked her if she was a "9/11 truther." When he didn't like Medina's answer, Beck said, "Rick, I think you and I could french kiss right now." Medina's campaign never recovered.

This is just the latest in a string of Perry appearances this year alongside high-profile conservatives. In February, he held a campaign rally in Houston with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Earlier this month, he was a speaker at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference which also featured Palin, activist Andrew Breitbart and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

UPDATE: Katy Bacon, campaign spokesman for Bill White, had this to say about Perry's upcoming Beck appearance: "Every single day we see that Rick Perry is auditioning on the national stage, trying to advance his political career...while Bill White is focused on Texas and Texas' future."

 -Aman Batheja

Patrick's group tweaks its rules, adds 19 "founding members"

After receiving criticism that he was personally deciding which members of the state legislature aren't true conservatives, state Sen. Dan Patrick announced a new round of members to his organization, the Independent Conservative Republicans of Texas.

Patrick, a Houston Republican, launched the group earlier this month with 14 of the state senate's 19 Republicans and 44 of the 77 Republican State House members. In a press release posted on the organization's website today, he announced the addition of 19 more "founding members."

Patrick also appears to have tweaked the requirements for getting into his invitation-only club.

"Some have asked ‘who are invited’ to join our group," said Patrick in the statement. "Everyone was invited. I am not concerned how members voted in the past. I'm only interested in how they vote in the future, their commitment to our contract with Texas, and their pledge to put people before party."

That's a different story from when the group was first launched and members were touted as having been invited "based on their conservative record and their willingness to honor the principles of our organization." (That language is still here on the group's website.)

The Houston Chronicle's Peggy Fikac reported earlier this week that several Republican elected officials declined invitations to join Patrick's group.

From Tarrant County, Patrick added three state house representatives: Todd Smith of Euless, Diane Patrick of Arlington and Vicki Truitt of Keller.

That leaves just one local Republican not in the group: state Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth.

While technically a political action committee, Patrick has said the group won't raise money or get heavily involved in elections. Instead, Patrick said he hopes the group's membership will serve as a guide to voters of who they can trust will follow conservative principles such as fighting for free markets and protecting life.

-Aman Batheja

Special events ordinance, round 2

A city committee has been working for about a year to come up with a way to settle a dispute between downtown business owners and the organizers of festivals, street fairs and running events who use downtown streets.

The first proposal, unveiled in the fall, got the thums-down from the event organizers because of proposed street-use fees. At $75 per block, it got pretty expensive to stage a 5k run like the Cowtown (at right). 

The second version came out today during the City Council's morning work session. No word on the fees, but the downtown business owners would have a lot of control over when and how events get scheduled.

See the power point here

-- Mike Lee

 

 

Rancher's anti-Perry campaign leads to fine

Billy Mitchell likes to air his grievances publicly.

The Aledo rancher has paid for billboards and newspaper ads to highlight his concerns about Gov. Rick Perry and the use of eminent domain in Texas.

Mitchell's most recent campaign -- a series of newspaper ads mocking Perry -- caught the attention of the Texas Ethics Commission, according to the Fort Worth Weekly.

The Commission told Mitchell his efforts qualified as political ads and required him to file with the Ethics Commission, the Weekly reported. When Mitchell missed the deadline, he received a letter telling him he owes $1,300.

“I wasn’t aware you had to fill out a form to exercise your freedom of speech,” Mitchell told Weekly reporter Jeff Prince.

-Aman Batheja

Texas candidate for Congress to become reality TV star

In her effort to unseat long-standing US Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, Dr. Donna Campbell is going to get some exposure from an unusual source.

Campbell is one of six Republican candidates around the country who will be featured in an upcoming reality show series called "Running."

The show is the work of RIGHTNETWORK, a conservative cable network in the works. The network's early promos feature actor Kelsey Grammer.

The station is scheduled to launch this summer though it's unclear who in Texas will have access to it.

Campbell won her Republican primary with 70 percent support.

In this trailer for the show, Campbell can be seen criticizing "polished politicians" and struggling to balance her work as a doctor while maintaining a congressional campaign.

-Aman Batheja

Newsweek takes a look at Texas and Rick Perry

   A spread on Texas and Gov. Rick Perry in the latest issue of Newsweek is sure to stoke talk about Perry as a contender in the 2012 presidential race, coming on the heels of Perry’s well-received red-meat speech to the Southern  Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans earlier this month.  Take , for example, this passage from Newsweek’s on-line edition::

“Could Perry be the second coming of Ronald Reagan, the plain-spoken man from the West who presided over a new "Morning in America" by cutting taxes, reducing government (well, promising to), and standing tall against the nation's enemies? As the tea-party movement gains momentum, as more Americans are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, Perry is their kind of hero, an avatar of a lost age that could come again, if only Washington politicians and other undesirables were put in their place.”

The article gives former Houston Mayor Bill White, Perry’s Democratic challenger in the governor’s race, an opportunity to weigh in his opinion of the Republican incumbent: 

 "Perry is likely to appeal to those who think Texas's best days are behind us," White said. "I'll get the support of Texans who think our best days are ahead of us."

White, however, may not be thrilled about the magazine’s comparison of the two men’s physical attributes.  Perry, says the magzine, is: “Ruggedly handsome in a Marlboro Man sort of way, with a rich mane of brown hair, slightly tinged with silver gray. “  

Of Perry’s Harvard-educated challenger, Newsweek writes:  “He's pasty white, with a bald pate and big ears. He talks in an even, slow monotone and refrains from gunslinging rhetoric. He's kind of like President Obama without the good looks and charisma—a cerebral man who craves consensus and relishes tackling problems by gathering a roomful of smart people with diverse views to hash things out.”

  The magazine also includes Perry’s oft-repeated assertion that he has no interest in presidential politics.   "I don't care about going to Washington, D.C.," he told  Evan Smith, editor of The Texas Tribune and a Newsweek contributor.    "The reason I agree to do interviews with national publications is so that people will pay attention to what is going on in Texas.”

-- Dave Montgomery