Politex

The Tarrant primary ballot (so far)

After the jump is a full list of the candidates who filed in local races yesterday. The Texas Democratic Party has a list of candidates who have filed in statewide races here. The Texas Republican Party's statewide list is here.

Candidates have until Jan. 4 to get their name on the ballot.

Today's filing news will likely be focused on the Democrats running for governor. Houston Mayor Bill White is expected to jump into the governor's race and East Texas Rancher Hank Gilbert will "discuss his status in the race for Governor of Texas" at noon, according to his campaign.

Here's the local ballot so far:

Tarrant House races shaping up

The Tarrant County delegation to the Texas State House may stick with the status quo as nine out of ten incumbents have filed for another term. The one holdout, Fort Worth Democrat Marc Veasey, has said he plans to file.

Two state representatives from Northeast Tarrant County will contend with  primary challenges. State Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless will face former Bedford City Councilman Jeff Cason. Former North Richland Hills Mayor Charles Scoma will try to unseat State Rep. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills.

Two Democratic members of the House, Chris Turner and Paula Pierson, both of Arlington, have Republican challengers.

Here's the latest lists from the two Tarrant County political parties ("i" identifies incumbents):

REPUBLICANS:

Texas House of Representatives:

District 91: Kelly Hancock (i), Charles Scoma

District 92: Todd Smith (i), Jeff Cason

District 93: Barbara Nash

District 94: Diane Patrick (i)

District 96: Bill Zedler

District 97: Mark Shelton (i)

District 98: Vicki Truitt (i)

District 99: Charlie Geren (i)

County Clerk: Mary Louise Garcia, Jim Truitt

District Attorney: Joe Shannon (i)

District Clerk: Tom Wilder (i)

236th District Court Judge: Tom Lowe (i)

DEMOCRATS:

Texas House of Representatives:

District 90: Lon Burnam (i)

District 93: Paula Pierson (i)

District 96: Chris Turner (i)

Justice of the Peace, Precinct 8: Lisa Woodard

-Aman Batheja

Schieffer: I couldn't build support outside of Dallas-Fort Worth

Getting support for his run for governor on his home turf wasn't the problem, says Fort Worth Attorney Tom Schieffer.

In an interview with local blogger Todd Hill on the liberal Burnt Orange Report blog, Schieffer gave more details behind his decision last week to end his statewide campaign for the Democratic nomination.

"The problem I had more than anything else was convincing people outside the Dallas/Fort Worth area that I could win," Schieffer said. "That really hurt me with fundraising.  There was a continual drumbeat to try and get somebody else to run and every time that would happen it would hurt me when I was trying to raise money."

Schieffer recently told Politex that he was certain he wouldn't run for public office again. 

Beyond that, he said, he’ll explore a range of moneymaking possibilities. He could return to law practice or go into business. After eight years as an ambassador in the George W. Bush administration, he still harbors an interest in foreign affairs. He also likes the sports business. Schieffer was president of the Texas Rangers in the early 1990s and oversaw construction of The Ballpark in Arlington.

"Something always turns up," he said. "One door closes, and another one opens."

-Aman Batheja

Tarrant Republican primary ballot will be packed

Candidates can officially start filing for the March primary next week but there have been enough early announcements to show where the action will be.

Republican races up and down the ballot are expected to draw multiple candidates, making for a busy primary season for the GOP. Look for primary fights targeting local members of Congress, the state House and a few county-wide races.

This week, former Bedford City Councilman Jeff Cason revealed plans to challenge Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless. That's the fourth incumbent state house member from the county to attract a primary challenger. The others are Republicans Vicki Truitt of Southlake, Charlie Geren of Fort Worth and Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills.

Further down the ballot, Republican County Judge Glen Whitley has drawn at least one primary challenger. Also, the death of longtime District Attorney Tim Curry and the retirement of County Clerk Suzanne Henderson have drawn several Republican candidates to those county-wide seats.

On the Democratic side, local party leaders say they will have candidates in several races but few if any primary fights are expected.

-Aman Batheja

Geren critic launches primary campaign on Facebook and Twitter

Lawyer Matthew Krause told us back in September he was seriously considering a run for Charlie Geren's seat in the Texas House.

Earlier this month, Krause quietly launched the campaign in earnest on Facebook and Twitter. He plans to hold an official campaign launch early next month.

Krause, 29, is a litigation attorney with Liberty Counsel, an Orlando-based law firm affiliated with the Rev. Jerry Falwell. 

Krause said Geren invited him to lunch a few weeks ago to talk about the primary.

“He was very nice to me,” Krause said. “I let him know this is something I felt called to do or felt led to do.”

Krause plans to run on a platform of no tax increases and limited government. He cited Geren’s decision in 2006 to support an expansion of the franchise tax on businesses to help fund schools and reduce local property taxes as a mistake.

“Philosophically we’re different and I think in a lot of ways the ideals and values I bring to the table would be better for Texas,” Krause said.

Geren emerged this year as a key ally of newly elected House Speaker Joe Straus. In previous years, he was one of former House Speaker Tom Craddick’s most vocal critics.

District 99 covers Northwest Tarrant County, including north and west Fort Worth, River Oaks, Azle, White Settlement, Lake Worth and Saginaw.

-Aman Batheja

Local-option transportation bill could make a comeback

The El Paso lawmaker that heads the House Transportation Committee was in Arlington to speak to the Regional Transportation Council Thursday.

Democratic State Rep. Joe Pickett told them he would work during the next year on a bill to increase the gasoline tax to improve Texas highways. He also said he would work with North Texas officials to include a local option that allows metro areas to hold elections and raise gas taxes, car registration fees and other revenue sources for public transportation.

Pickett was a key negotiator in a failed effort during this year's legislative session to pass a bill allowing local entities to ask voters to approve raising local taxes and fees to fund transportation projects.

Pickett caught the ire of some lawmakers supporting the local-option plan when he refused to include the measure in the House version of a massive bill overhauling the Texas Department of Transportation, sparking a threatened filibuster from Republican State Sen. John Carona of Dallas.

Pickett told council members that he and Carona, who heads the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, intend to hold joint House-Senate meetings in 2010 to work on a transportation bill that can pass muster in the Legislature.

More news from yesterday's RTC meeting here.

-Gordon Dickson and Aman Batheja

Senate endorsements

 Nine Tarrant County officials came out in support of local man, former Texas secretary of state Roger Williams, who is among those running for the U.S. Senate seat that may open up if Kay Bailey Hutchison does resign to pursue her bid for Texas governor.

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson, Tarrant County Tax Collector-Assessor Betsy Price, Tarrant County District Clerk Tom Wilder, Tarrant County Commissioners Gary Fickes  and JD Johnson, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, Fort Worth Councilman Jungus Jordan and North Richland Hills Mayor Oscar Trevino all endorsed Williams, a Weatherford car dealer.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Bush, Giuliani and Powell coming to Fort Worth Monday

Former President George W. Bush is scheduled to speak at the Fort Worth Convention Center Monday as part of the Get Motivated seminar.

The seminar is known for bringing a group of high-profile names to a single location to deliver motivational speeches.

The lineup for this Monday includes Bush, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani,and Christian motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. It appears to be Bush's first appearance in the series.

A spokeswoman for Get Motivated Seminars, Inc. said 15,000 people are expected for the Fort Worth event.

Bush joins a long line of presidents who have spoken at the Get Motivated events. Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford have all made appearances at the seminars in the past, according to news reports. Other Texans who have been apart of the series include Laura Bush and former Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

Star-T Transportation Reporter Gordon Dickson reports that the TRE is warning commuters this week that Monday could be a mess due to the thousands of extra passengers expected to be traveling to the event.

-Aman Batheja

Chances are you haven't voted yet

Early voting started yesterday for the Nov. 3 election.

In Tarrant County, 807 people voted. In a county of more than 800,000, registered voters, that's less than 0.1 percent.

At several early voting locations, less than 10 people used the voting machines. In the Everman Independent School District, where voters are being asked to decide on a property tax increase, one person voted yesterday.

So if you're reading this and you're a registered voter in Tarrant County (and not one of those 807 who did their civic duty yesterday), consider taking a look at this list of early voting locations and times.

Don't know what's on the ballot? Here's our primer on the 11 statewide constitutional amendments. Several local entities have issues on the ballot too. Fort Worth voters will decide whether the crime control tax is renewed. And the Arlington school district is holding a $197.5 million bond election.

Early voting continues through Oct. 30.

-Aman Batheja

Shapleigh stepping down, Nelson and Orr hope to keep seats

Three members of the Texas Legislature revealed their plans for next year's election season this morning.

The big surprise: El Paso Democratic Sen. Eliot Shapleigh said he will not run for another term. He's held the post since 1996.

"While other public service may lie ahead, I will not run for the Texas Senate in 2010," Shapleigh said in a press release.

Locally, Sen. Jane Nelson of Flower Mound and Rep. Rob Orr of Burleson, both Republicans, officially announced plans to run for re-election.

Orr already has a primary opponent in Cleburne Mayor Ted Reynolds, who has been working to make the construction of Texas 121 an issue in the race. Orr has served in the House since 2005. District 62 covers Johnson and Bosque Counties.

"I am proud of my conservative, business-friendly, pro-life and pro-family voting record that has not changed since I entered the legislature in 2005," Orr said in a press release. "I am also extremely proud to have co-sponsored legislation that added God into the pledge to the Texas flag."

Nelson who has been in  the Senate since 1992, represents District 12 which includes portions of Tarrant and Denton Counties.

"Aside from addressing our transportation, education and health service needs, one of my top goals next session will be to protect North Texas in the redistricting process," Nelson said. "During the past decade we became the state's largest population center, and that needs to be reflected when the political maps are redrawn."

Nelson has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Lieutenant Governor if David Dewhurst ends up running for Kay Bailey Hutchison's vacated US Senate.

-Aman Batheja