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.
Houston lawyer Jeff Weems filed for the Texas Railroad Commission this morning.
He's running as a Democrat against Republican incumbent Victor Carrillo. The three elected members of the Railroad Commission oversee the oil and gas industry in Texas. The agency plays a crucial role in Fort Worth and the surrounding area because it sets and enforces the rules for natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale.
No word yet on whether Carrillo has filed for re-election.
Read below the jump for exerpts from Weems' news release.
Two people running for governor aren't filing for a spot on the ballot today.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced she will
file for a spot on the Republican ballot on Monday in Austin.
Kinky Friedman won't file for the Democratic primary until
later this month because he's too busy campaigning, according to spokeswoman
Rania Batrice.
"We’re not actually sure when we’re going
to file but we’ll definitely file before the deadline," Batrice said.
A previously planned fundraiser to be held tonight at Willie's Place Theater, Willie Nelson's theater in Hillsboro, was canceled because of "scheduling conflicts with the band," Batrice said.
The Tarrant County Republican Party is still getting settled in its new office in Northeast Tarrant County as they welcome local candidates today to sign up for next year's ballot. A large party seal hangs in the window but the name of the former tenant -- SMR Promotions, LLC -- is still visible in big white letters over the door.
As of 9 a.m., four Republican incumbents had filed -- Tarrant County District Clerk Tom Wilder, and State Reps. Charlie Geren and Mark Shelton, both of Fort Worth, and Vicki Truitt of Southlake. Three challengers had also signed in: Jim Truitt for County Clerk, Charles Scoma for State Rep., District 91 (current held by Kelly Hancock), and Jeff Cason for State Rep., District 92 (currently held by Todd Smith).
The Tarrant County Democratic Party had two filings as of 9:15 a.m.: State Rep. Lon Burnam running for another term, and Lisa Woodard for Justice of the Peace, Place 8.
State Rep. Lon Burnam filed for re-election this morning, and came out swinging on natural gas drilling in urban areas. He wants a moratorium on permits for new wells until the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality finishes its study of air pollution related to drilling.
Burnam, a Democrat, has served seven terms in the state house, representing a district that lies mostly in Fort Worth.
Read below the jump for an exerpt from his statement.
Houston Mayor Bill White will announce later this week whether he's continuing his campaign for the US Senate or switching to the governor's race.
The Texas Republican Party will be ready either way.
The party released a web ad today painting White as "too liberal for Texas." The ad goes after White's record on immigration, fiscal discipline and gun control.
The ad never makes clear which office the Republican Party believes White is too liberal to hold. Whether White sticks with his original plan or jumps to the governor's race (as many expect), the state GOP will be able to tout this ad as the start of its attack.
This appears to be the first attack ad the Texas Republican Party has released targeting a single candidate expected to run for statewide office next year.
Meanwhile, the Texas Democratic Party has alternated between excoriating Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in web videos in recent weeks.
FORT WORTH -- With just days to go before the official filing period kicks off in Texas, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman is still stumping for support.
On Tuesday, however, he handed over the microphone at a Fort Worth luncheon to someone else -- Cory Session, brother of Tim Cole, a Fort Worth man exonerated for a rape conviction years after he died in prison.
Wednesday, Session said, marks the 10 year anniversary of when Cole died in prison.
Session and his family are still seeking a pardon for Cole -- something Friedman said he supports.
"As a candidate, I'm the one who's going to mess with Texas -- really mess with Texas -- until we get it right," Friedman told a crowd of about 40 people.
The uproar over how two gatecrashers made it inside last week's White House State Dinner is bringing renewed attention to how the Secret Service handled security at an Obama rally last year in North Texas.
The Star-Telegram received hundreds of emails and phone calls last year after former S-T reporter Jack Douglas reported that members of the Secret Service abruptly stopped screening attendees at then-presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign rally at Reunion Arena in Dallas.
Days later, Secret Service let in attendees without screenings into a Hillary Clinton rally at the Fort Worth Stockyards once the former First Lady started speaking.
Ronald Kessler, Washington correspondent of NewsMax.com and writer of a new book on the Secret Service, has repeatedly cited the Dallas incident on TV in recent days (and in his book) as proof that the latest scandal is not a fluke.
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."
Gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman is working to convince Texas Democrats that he's one of them despite his previous bid for the Governor's Mansion as an Independent.
On a recent appearance on the Fox Business Network, Friedman showed he'll back certain party line proposals even if he thinks they might be terrible.
In this clip posted on Nov. 19, Neil Cavuto asks Friedman whether he is for or against the Democratic plan to reform health care. Friedman appears torn. He says he is conflicted. Cavuto pushes him for an answer.
"Well as a Democrat I would have to be for it...with great misgivings," Friedman said.
Cavuto asks him about whether he supports taxing the rich to pay for the plan. Friedman says he is against that part of the plan.
Friedman then tells a story about Henry Kissinger and Mao Zedong that Cavuto says he doesn't understand.
Friedman tries to translate: "I mean it's too soon to tell if this bill is going to be the biggest debacle that ever happened or whether it's going to be..."
"You just said you're for it," Cavuto interrupts.
"I said 'As a Democrat,'" Friedman said. "I mean, I'm not voting. I'm running for governor of Texas."
