Politex

Burnam busts Craddick, ghost scandal

Fort Worth State Rep. Lon Burnam has fired off a letter to the head of the committee investigating the creepily titled ghost workers scandal.

In the letter sent yesterday to Sherman State Rep. Larry Phillips, Burnam alleges Speaker Tom Craddick is the one who leaked the original story to the Austin American-Statesman, which highlighted a few Texas House members who have hired so-called ghost workers (employees who received state benefits but worked part-time hours...SPOOOOKY!).

"Speaker Craddick once again abused the levers of government by using non-partisan, non-political government entities to research, create and leak a politically motivated story," Burnam wrote. "The story curiously targeted only three members of the Texas House, all of whom are outspoken foes of the Speaker."

Burnam also said he and other House members were ticked off to discover they were ALL under investigation in the growing scandal by the Austin-based Quorum Report, instead of from the committee itself.

"I can assure you that many fellow members share my anger. No member of this body, regardless of political affiliation, should have to learn that he or she is under investigation by your Committee by way of the press," Burnam wrote.

To read the rest of the letter, which also brings up Craddick's House Parlimentarian Terry Keel, click here.

-Aman Batheja

Dallas pastor expected to hear today if he's new head of NAACP

Fans of Dallas pastor Rev. Frederick Haynes are anxiously waiting today to find out if he'll be the new head of the NAACP.

Haynes sat down for a three-hour interview with the NAACP board in Baltimore yesterday.

Haynes has an extensive background in civil rights work through his church, but if he's picked, expect plenty of national pundits to focus on how the storied civil rights group picked a new leader who has called Jeremiah Wright his spiritual mentor.

-Aman Batheja

Perry, US Ambassador to Spain, tout trade in Dallas

Gov. Rick Perry tied Texas history with trade talk at a Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce reception today along with Eduardo Aguirre, ambassador of the United States to Spain.

"Both our friends from France and Spain and Mexico all can claim they owned us at one time so we do have a very common heritage from that standpoint," Perry said. "Although we do have a blended culture, we have a singular future."

The governor touted Spanish investment in Texas and vice versa as key to the growth of both countries, singling out banking and biotech as two key Spanish industries.

"The best government program is the one that gets out of the way and lets the private sector work," Perry said. "I'm encouraged by the increasing amount of Spanish investment in the state of Texas."

Perry name-dropped a few Spanish companies setting up offices in Texas including biotech firm Grifols.

The company that notably didn't get a mention: Cintra, the controversial highway firm that he signed a $1.3 billion deal with for the Trans-Texas Corridor.

-Aman Batheja

Is Rick Perry blogging?

No, but he did just post a press release on his web site that's nothing but a reprint of an article from the mainstream media (very blogger-like Governor. Next you should put up a photo of yourself and ask voters to caption it. We recommend this one.)

The National Review write-up touts Texas' tort reform measures, calling them "the  cornerstone of Governor Perry’s legacy" and raving about all the new doctors that have moved into the state.

Of course, critics see things differently.

-Aman Batheja

Carrollton mayor loses after late-breaking scandal

Becky Miller was defeated by Ron Branson.

Although he trailed in early voting, Branson ultimately got 54 percent of the vote, ot 2,764 votes.

Miller nabbed 46 percent, or 2,306 votes.

This is one of those unique situations where there's pretty much no question as to why the incumbent lost.

-Aman Batheja

Carrollton mayor in fight for her political life

Mayor Becky Miller was coasting to victory in early voting.

No more.

The Election Day results are trickling in and it's clear the cloud over her character has taken its toll.

With 16 of 33 precincts reporting, Miller is now leading by only 30 votes. Dig deeper and things look even worse. While she led her challenger Ron Branson by over 200 votes in early voting, in Election Day returns Branson is leading 540 to Miller's 360.

It's a complete flip-flop.

-Aman Batheja

Patterson to Star-Telegram: "I couldn't care less."

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has a few choice words for your hometown newspaper.

In an editorial Thursday, the Star-Telegram called the Republican land commissioner's position on the Christmas Mountains untenable, and said that "his obstinate invocation of the gun issue in the discussion borders on obsession."

In a response Thursday, Patterson cites the oath he took years ago as an officer of the United States Marine Corps. He also notes in his 400-plus word letter that  the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram may consider my position 'untenable' and my zeal for the Bill of Rights 'obstinate' and an 'obsession,'  but I couldn't care less."

Patterson has expressed an unwillingness to transfer the 14.5-square-mile tract to the National Park Service if the agency insists on enforcing its regular firearms restrictions on the land. The park service has offered to add the land to Big Bend National Park.

Patterson, who as a House lawmaker also authored the state's concealed handgun law, also has suggested he would not honor an expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling if it contradicts his views on the Second Amendment.

"I guess you can just call me an old-fashioned believer in the wisdom of those who penned the Bill of Rights and not much of a believer in the wisdom of editorial boards," Patterson wrote.

You can click on the comments section below for a full text of the letter.

--R.A. Dyer

Brimer goes green?

State Sen. Kim Brimer, who's running for re-election, has sent a letter to the senate finance committee chairman asking whether more money can be found so that the Texas Railroad Commission can inspect more gas wells in the Barnett Shale.

Read all about it on our Barnett Shale blog, including background stories about the Railroad Commission's inspection rate: http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/

-- Mike Lee

Name that tune: Enter the first ever Politex contest

It's been six months since the District 97 special election.

Six months since Election Day voters in southwest Tarrant County received an anonymous campaign robocall slamming one Republican candidate and implicating another. The call boldly violated state rules and may have changed the course of an election.

Last week, the campaign behind an anonymous robocall in an Austin city council race was identified within a few days.

Six months later, neither local nor state officials have held anyone responsible for the District 97 call.

So we here at Politex are issuing a challenge. Below is the audio from the call. Listen to it. Send it to your friends. Play it at dinner parties. Loop it over a drum beat and pass it out to local DJs.

Do whatever you think might help in determining who was behind this.

Send an email to abatheja@star-telegram.com with your tip. Help us identify the voice on the call or the organization or candidate responsible.

The winner will receive full credit or complete anonymity - their choice. And, as this was S-T biz reporter Barry Schlacter's idea, he's throwing in a free copy of his Beer Guide to the winner.

Happy hunting.

Download Dist97.mp3

(Note: Many assume that Mark Shelton ordered the call because he beat out five other Republicans that day and listed an out-of-state robocall firm in his financial report. Both Shelton and the company's president say it wasn't them. If you still think Shelton is behind it, we're going to need some new evidence.)

-Aman Batheja

The Senate race is competitive, poll shows

A new poll shows Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in an uncomfortably tight race for a second term.

Rassmussen Reports, which is monitoring most of the contested Senate races along with the presidential contest in advance of the November elections, puts the Senate race in Texas at Cornyn 47 percent and Democratic state Rick Noriega of Houston (top photo) at 43 percent.

"Any incumbent who polls below 50 percent is considered potentially vulnerable," Rasmussen says on its Web site. "That is especially true when a little known challenger is so competitive in an early general election match-up."

Cornyn (bottom photo), a former Texas attorney general and state Supreme Court Justice, had about $8.7 million in campaign cash during the most recent reporting period in April. Noriega, in his first statewide race, had but $330,000.

The poll surveyed of 500 Likely Voters on May 1. The margin of error was listed at plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The Rasmussen poll also suggests a fairly competitive presidential race in red-state Texas with Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee leading Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois by 5 perentage points and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton by 6.

Check out Rasmussen's full post here:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_senate_elections/texas/election_2008_texas_senate

-- John Moritz

House lawmaker busted for drunk driving

State Rep. Mike Krusee, a Republican from Round Rock, got busted late Wednesday for drunk driving, according to an on-line report from the Austin American-Statesman.

The newspaper reported that Krusee, who has authored legislation to increase fines for driving while intoxicated, was booked into the Williamson County jail at about 11:15 p.m.. The newspaper reported that he was released about eight hours later after posting a $1,000 bail, and that he could not be immediately reached for comment.

A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety reportedly said Krusee was pulled over for driving erratically and because he had an expired registration sticker. She said that the lawmaker failed a field sobriety test and refused a Breathalyzer test.

Krusee, who is not running for re-election this year, is chair of the House Committee on Transportation.

-- R.A. Dyer

Immigration crackdown at workplace a growing trend

It's too early for members of the Texas Legislature to start filing bills ahead of the 2009 session of the Texas Legislature. But PoliTex is going to go out on a limb and predict that somebody will propose legislation that would require Texas employers to use the federal "E-Verify" system to ensure folks have valid work papers.

The idea is catching on across the country, and the government estimates that 1,000 employers a week are signing up for E-Verify -- prompting Homeland Security to request more funding to keep up.

It was conceived as a voluntary program, whereby personnel managers can electronically verify whether a prospective employee has a valid social security number and authorization to work in the United States. But now several legislatures have passed bills requiring companies doing business in their states to make use of it.

Critics say the system is too error-prone. But at least a dozen states have some version of the requirement, and Rhode Island is poised to jump on board, according to an AP story out today.

-- Jay Root

P.S. The photo, by Tom Pennington, shows illegal immigrants being processed at a federal detention center in Nogales, Arizona.

Bill Meadows, ex-Perry aide tapped for transportation jobs

Gov. Rick Perry tapped a former top aide and Fort Worth's own Bill Meadows to serve on the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees Texas road funding and policy matters.

Deirdre Delisi (pictured left), Perry's former chief of staff, will replace outgoing Hope Andrade of Boerne on the powerful commission.

And former Fort Worth City Councilman Bill Meadows, chairman of Hub International Rigg and vice-chairman of the North Texas Tollway Authority, will replace the late Ric Williamson of Weatherford.

Their terms expire on Feb. 1, 2013.

"Both Deirdre and Bill have the integrity and expertise to ensure that these needs are met efficiently and responsibly,'' Perry said in a written news release. "I am confident their contribution to the commission will maintain the momentum of the late Commissioner Ric Williamson’s pioneering vision, and secure comprehensive transportation solutions that will reduce traffic congestion, improve safety and keep our state’s doors open to economic growth and success.”

-- Jay Root

Congressman threatens to move border Texas city to Mexico

If U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo ever decides to run for president again, he can probably skip stumping near the border.

Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado, attended a congressional hearing on the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Brownsville, the southern most city in Texas, yesterday.

Tancredo had little patience for those who opposed the fence, according to the Brownsville Herald.

"If you don't like the idea (of a fence), maybe you should consider building the fence around the northern part of your city," Tancredo said amid jeers from the audience.

-Aman Batheja

Former Railroad Commissioner Lena Guerrero dies

Former Texas Railroad Commissioner Lena Guerrero — a woman once seen as a rising star among Texas Democrats, but who resigned under a political cloud — has died.

Guerrero, 50, had been diagnosed with cancer eight years earlier, and previously received treatment in California for malignant brain tumors.

A family member reported Thursday that Guerrero died in here sleep overnight.

Guerrero served 20 months on the Texas Railroad Commission after having been appointed to the post by the Gov. Ann Richards in 1991. Guerrero was the first woman and first Mexican-American to serve on the panel.

Guerrero was also known for her hard-ball political style and her quick intellect, but her political career unraveled after revelations that she lacked a University of Texas diploma that she had been claiming for a dozen years.

She asked for the public’s forgiveness and resigned, and then campaigned to re-take her seat. She lost the statewide election in November, 1992.

The Gov. Rick Perry ordered flags at half-staff at all state facilities.

Mayor Bobblehead

Folks at Fort Worth City Hall are already lining up to go to the Fort Worth Cats game on May 30th. Why, you ask - because it's not only City of Fort Worth night but the team is also honoring Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief by passing out a bobblehead made to look like him to the fans.

The mayor and his wife, Rosie, are season ticketholders at LaGrave Field, which is located on the city's near northside. There also will be fireworks after the game.

One city staffer joked that maybe Moncrief will attach the bobblehead to the dashboard of his Cadillac Escalade. Someone else joked that there were will probably be some headless bobbleheads later around City Hall.

But when former Fort Worth City Councilman Jim Lane, an avid supporter of the team, was asked why they haven't had a Jim Lane Bobblehead Night, he didn't appear to be to awfully jealous.

"I'm silly enough looking. They don't need to make me into a bobblehead," Lane said.

Max B. Baker

Governor's water breaks in Texas, gives birth in Alaska

Despite being very, very pregnant, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was in Grapevine Thursday for a forum held by the Republican Governor's Association.

We were kind of preoccupied by our own governor's announcement that he plans to run for re-election, so we missed the other big news of the conference.

From Alaskan NBC affiliate KTUU:

Just yesterday, Palin was in Texas at a forum on energy with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and executives from four other states.

The governor's water broke during the energy conference but she stayed and gave a 30-minute speech before boarding an Alaska Airlines plane home to deliver the baby.

Palin gave birth to Trig Paxson Van Palin Friday at 6:30 a.m.

No word on why Palin was so determined to make sure young Trig wasn't born a Texan.

(Photo coutesy of www.ktuu.com)

-Aman Batheja

Perry riles talk show host with re-election chatter

Conservative talk show host Adam McManus, who has strongly criticized Gov. Rick Perry for taking positions that have rattled many rank-and-file Republicans, is weighing in on the guv's intention to stay in office for a total of 14 years. In comments sent to the Star-Telegram, McManus said he was "pretty shocked" to hear the governor plans to run for re-election.

"In my view, he’s been acting like a lame duck liberal recently in light of his foolish endorsement of pro-abort (Rudy) Giuliani for President and mandating Gardasil (HPV vaccine) for young girls over the objection of Texas parents.  Those aren’t the actions of a man who really wants to get re-elected,'' he wrote. "Lt. Governor (David) Dewhurst ... is a solid pro-lifer who has not poked his finger in the eye of the very constituency he needs most.  I’d vote for Dewhurst." But if it's Perry vs. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, McManus says his money is on Perry.

Despite angering conservatives on some issues, Perry "has, to his credit, endorsed and signed into law parental consent for abortion and the Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage between one man and one woman,'' he said, noting that Hutchison has "prided herself" on supporting abortion rights.

"Frankly, the only reason I can imagine why Perry is seeking re-election, is to maintain his political visibility as he looks toward a presidential run in 2012 –- no doubt after assuring the Texas voters that he will serve a full term if re-elected,'' McManus said.

-- Jay Root

Rick Perry, Uncut

OK, it's cut a little.

But below is the audio of most of the conversation Gov. Rick Perry had with myself and S-T columnist Bud Kennedy at the TCU Barnes & Noble last night while waiting for a hailstorm to pass.

Paul Burka says some Perry staffers are now suggesting their boss's comment yesterday was a goof and that he may decide not to run. If that's true, his chat with us last night is even more intriguing because he offered no hint that he might back off.

-Aman Batheja

 

Perry suggests only death would keep him from running again

With a hailstorm raging outside the TCU Barnes & Noble in southwest Fort Worth, Gov. Rick Perry and his staff sat tight inside.

Since the last of the admirers asking for him to sign a copy of his book had left, Perry whiled the 20 minutes away chatting about the political hailstorm he had sparked earlier that day with his comments. He didn't seem to see the big deal.

"I just got asked," Perry said. "After a while, as people keep asking, I just answered their question."

Hutchison responds to Perry re-elect announcement

Gov. Rick Perry has set Austin on fire with the sudden announcement that he's running again in 2010.

And now his potential Republican primary rival, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, has released a written statement in response. Here's what she said:

“I am encouraged by the growing number of Texans asking me to return home to run for Governor to provide leadership for our state.  It is too early to make an announcement about the 2010 race.  Right now I remain committed to serving the people of Texas in the United States Senate and helping our Republican candidates win crucial elections this fall.”

-- Jay Root

Perry backs Craddick, says he's stronger than ever

Other musings from Gov. Rick Perry today at the Gaylord Texan:

"I think Speaker Craddick is probably stronger than he's been since he's taken office. You look at the elections and the results of those elections and Tom Craddick will be the speaker, and he will probably have as strong a hold of the speakership as he ever has," Perry said.

"I'm a great supporter of the speaker," Perry added. "He is a wonderful conservative, both fiscal conservative and otherwise and a great partner."

-Aman Batheja

Perry announces he's not giving up governor's mansion

Speaking after a press conference today at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Gov. Rick Perry told reporters he was going to run for re-election in 2010.

When Perry was asked if he could foresee himself, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Huchison all on the ballot in 2010, Perry said he knew that he would be on the ballot.

"I don't know about the other two. You need to ask them."

When asked specifically if he was going to run for re-election, Perry said, "Yes."

Read the full story here and check back for updates.

-Aman Batheja

Texas Republicans may take on Scientology

Yeah, yeah, all the talk about this year's state political conventions has been about delegates.

But keep an eye out for the resolutions too. Some will attract debate and outrage AND they'll determine each party's platform going into the November election.

Case in point: a Republican senate district convention in Galveston apparently approved a resolution to get the Church of Scientology’s status as a religion revoked.

No word on whether any Hollywood stars like Tom Cruise or Jason "My Name Is Earl" Lee plan on making a visit to Houston in June to defend their faith.

-Aman Batheja

Cornyn boasts $8.7 million in the kitty

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is riding into in the general election campaign on a cushion of cash.

The first-term Republican just announced that he's raised $1.6 million since winning the March 4 primary in a walk. And that give's him $8.7 million in the bank in his upcoming race against state Rep. Rick Noriega, the Democratic nominee.

“Such fundraising shows Texans strongly appreciate Sen. Cornyn's leadership and are responding to his hopeful, optimistic vision for the future of Texas and America," said campaign manager Rob Jesmer.

Cornyn received 7,121 individual contributions in the first quarter of 2008, 87 percent of which came from Texans, Jesmer said.

Noriega's camp said the Houston Democrat raised $478,547.90 for tbe first quarter of 2008, and has $329,293.59. The candidate offered an upbeat assessment of his underdog status.

"In the primary we were running an insurgent grassroots- and netroots-focused campaign and we accomplished our goal of securing the nomination," said Noriega. "Since our primary victory, we have seen increasing support for our general election bid and have put in to place the fundraising team needed win in November."

-- John Moritz

Classic Texas political novel could find a whole new audience

Fodder for this blog can come up where you least expect it.

I was in a Fort Worth Borders over the weekend looking for a book by a local author. My guess was the book would be in the gay/lesbian fiction section.

Imagine my surprise when I reached that section and saw Billy Lee Brammer's The Gay Place prominently displayed near other titles which, if I were to publish on this blog, I would soon be out of work.

Brammer's 1961 book set in Austin is often hailed as the classic Texas politics novel. Some would say it is the best novel about politics, period. And unless some underlying subtext flew clear past my head, homosexuality is not a major theme in the book.

I alerted a Borders employee who, for a moment, couldn't seem to get past the fact that a novel titled "The Gay Place" was not at home in the gay and lesbian fiction section of the store. He promised he would move the book to the general fiction section, where the store's database indicated it should be.

For more on Brammer's tome, check out this 2001 feature from Texas Monthly.

(In case you were wondering, the title is a reference to an F. Scott Fitzgerald poem "I know a gay place / Nobody knows.")

-Aman Batheja

Christmas Mountains: No Country for Old Men

Thanks to a decision this month by Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, the 9,269-acre Christmas Mountains will be open to the public for the first time in at least 17 years.

But as novelist Cormac McCarthy might say, it's no country for old men.

To get there, the curious hiker will have to come in through Big Bend National Park and then cross over miles of tough back country. That part alone might take four hours. And then once a hiker arrives at the boundary of the mountain range, it gets even tougher.

"You'll come to a steep, rugged mountain side," Big Bend superintendent William Wellman said Friday. "To legally access the mountains, you have to go hand-over-hand and scramble up the mountainside."

Wellman encourages anyone making it to check with park officials first -- "in case something goes wrong."

Unlike the situation at Big Bend, the National Park Service has no authority over the Christmas Mountains. However, the National Park Service has a mutual-aid agreement with Brewster County -- which does have jurisdiction -- and so the park service would send out search and rescue teams if called upon, said Wellman.

-- R.A. Dyer

Who's the top Texas Democrat, Part II

It used to be that the Travis County district attorney, in charge of investigating official wrongdoing and corruption in the state capital, struck fear in the hearts of Texas lawmakers.

Former House Speaker Gib Lewis, D-Fort Worth, once warned incoming legislators that the DA “was the most powerful official they’d deal with because he could end their careers’’ the Austin American Statesman reported. 

But now that HE is about to become a SHE -- i.e., now that current DA Ronnie Earle will soon be replaced by his longtime First Assistant DA Rosemary Lehmberg -- the power is apparently going to seep out of that office like air from a blown-out tire.

Or at least that's the way Texas Monthly Editor Evan Smith seems to view it.

In 2005, Texas Monthly named Earle (that's him in the picture!) the second-most powerful Texan, behind Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick. Since Earle is a Democrat, that made him the most powerful member of a party that, let’s face it, has seen better days in Texas. Now, three years later, Smith writes that Earle’s successor-elect would be lucky to call herself the most powerful Democrat in Travis County, much less the state of Texas.

My phone isn’t exactly ringing off the hook with powerful Texas Democrats wondering why I didn’t mention them, but did I overlook someone? If it ain’t Ronnie Earle-and-soon-to-be-Rosemary-Lehmberg, who could it be?

Please send your nominations for “Most Powerful Democrat in Texas” to my email address (click below), and tell me why your pick has some serious stroke. 

-- Jay Root

Emergency funds needed in Eldorado case: leaders

Top state leaders are asking for emergency spending measures in order to help local authorities cope with the logistics and the legal aftermath of the raid on the polygamist compound in Eldorado.

In a letter to state Comptroller Susan Combs, Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick say they want her to allow the Health and Human Services Commission to use money in its current budget to pay for the unanticipated costs.

"We have recently been faced with an extraordinary emergency situation which required a large scale relocation of citizens in Tom Green and Schleicher Counties. We understand that these extraordinary activities come with substantial financial and personnel costs both to state agencies and local goverments,'' the leaders wrote in a letter dated April 10.

They also talked about the possibility of an emergency spending measures, in part to help counties cope with legal costs, when the Legislature meets in session in January.

-- Jay Root 

Putting the breaks on greenhouse gas reductions

Although scientists from around the world have predicted dire consequences from global warming, the state could be making a big mistake if it mandates policies to reduce green house gases, a policy director at a conservative think tank told lawmakers this week.

"The global dynamics of climate change make it pointless, at best, and counterproductive, at worst, for the Texas Legislature to enact any mandatory (carbon dioxide) schemes," said Kathleen Hartnett White, director of the  Center for Natural Resources at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Her reasoning: United Nations scientists conclude that the problem is so massive that any response short of a comprehensive federal program would be ineffective.

Comments by Hartnett White, a former chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, did not sit well with conservationists.

Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club, said that while its probably not possible to forestall some effects of global warming, doing nothing is also a mistake.

"Most people these days are definitely of the realization about what is happening and that we we need to do something about it," he said.

Hartnett White was speaking before the Select Committee on Electric Generation Capacity and Environmental Effects, which was created last year by House Speaker Tom Craddick.

-- R.A. Dyer

Christmas Mountains now open to public

Want to go see those Christmas Mountains that have been the subject of such intense controversy?

Well, load up the wagon. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson announced today that visitors to Big Bend National Park -- assuming they can hike across some pretty rugged terrain -- are now free to head right on over to the 9,300 acre tract. That's pretty much the only way for average folks who don't own adjacent property, or know someone who does, to get into the state-owned tract.

Patterson says you can even carry guns out there if you'd like, though getting them past the federal park rangers might be tricky -- and illegal.

-- Jay Root

Kinky Friedman needs to double-check his math

Our friends at Reader's Digest (we've now exchanged two whole emails with them) have sent us an advance copy of their profile on Kinky Friedman running in their May issue.

If you knew nothing about the Kinkster, his irreverant one-liners laced throughout the piece would be a hoot. If you heard them all repeated over and over again during the 2006 campaign, then only the end of the piece will interest you. From the story:

A friend to both John McCain and the Clintons, he says of the potential nominees, “As much as I rail against the bipolar two-party system, I have no problem if it produces a John versus Hillary/Obama option.”

And he can’t take his eyes off the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election. “I’ll pick up a million votes if I run as a Democrat next time,” he says.

Just to be clear, if Friedman gained 1 million extra votes in 2006, he still would have lost to Rick Perry by 169,118 votes.

Someone get that Jewish cowboy a calculator!

-Aman Batheja

Who's the most powerful Democrat in Texas?

Democrats don't hold a single statewide office in Texas, and both houses of the state Legislature are in Republican hands. But there is one newly elected Democrat who is about to inherit some real power, and her name is Rosemary Lehmberg.

Never heard of her?

You're not alone, but chances are you will be hearing her name before long. She just won a runoff to become the next district attorney of Travis County, a post held since 1977 by Birdville native Ronnie Earle. He's perhaps best known as the guy who's been prosecuting Republican ex-Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a.k.a, "The Hammer,'' who is still tangling with Earle in court. It's probably the most powerful, fear-producing job held by a Texas Democrat, because the Travis DA is tasked with prosecuting official corruption in the state capital.

Lehmberg defeated fellow Democrat Mindy Montford in Tuesday's runoff. There's no Republican on the ballot, so she's all but elected. Contributing to Montford's defeat were numerous reports about contributions she got from lobbyists and Republicans. Just goes to show you that any hint of Republican ties in Travis County, a liberal enclave in an otherwise red state, is not helpful.

-- Jay Root

 

Latest results from around the state

Buddy West, seen here yawning, is now a former state representative. Take a look at these results. It wasn't even close!

--District 81 - GOP
Tryon Lewis, GOP 5,171 - 76 percent
Buddy West, GOP (i) 1,631 - 24 percent
(100% of
precincts reporting)

 

--U.S. House District 22 GOP
Pete Olson, GOP 14,673 - 67 percent
Shelley Sekula Gibbs, GOP 7,125 - 33 percent
(131 of 216 precincts - 61 percent)

--District 112
Angie Button, GOP 2,115 - 54 percent
Randy Dunning, GOP 1,766 - 46 percent
(0 of 40 precincts - 0 percent...still!)

--District 144
Ken Legler, GOP 2,187 - 51 percent
Fred Roberts, GOP 2,078 - 49 percent
(28 of 30 precincts - 93 percent)

--Railroad Commissioner - Dem - Runoff
Mark Thompson, Dem 94,801 - 59 percent
Dale Henry, Dem 66,178 - 41 percent
(4,899 of 6,621 precincts - 74 percent)

UPDATE: For those keeping score, West was a Craddick opponent. Lewis pledged his support to Craddick.

-Aman Batheja

Parker County runoff race gets spooky

Parker County Republican voters are deeply, DEEPLY divided over who should represent them in the precinct 1 seat for the county commissioners court.

First, on the primary on March 4, with five candidates in the race, Richard Pettigrew and George Carnley each got exactly 560 votes.

Now we have the early voting returns from today's runoff.  Pettigrew and Carnley each have 156 votes.

Are we headed toward another tie? Anyone know what even happens at that point? Seriously, I have no idea. Are we going to have a runoff for the runoff? Or at this point, do we just settle it with pistols at dawn?

-Aman Batheja

Text of letter to Sen. Brimer

PoliTex has featured numerous blog items about the so-called "rent-to-own" flap, whereby state lawmakers used campaign funds to rent homes in Austin from their spouses. One of those stories mentioned a letter that a Democrat-aligned group sent to state Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth. Click on the following link to see that letter in its entirety, plus attachments: Download SenKimBrimerLetter.pdf

Lawmakers' luxurious digs still a hot button

Some news stories never die. Case in point: the "rent-to-own" flap involving lawmakers from Tarrant County and beyond.

Critics said the loophole that let legislators pay campaign "rent" to live in condos or houses owned by their spouses was a cute way for lawmakers to buy a second home in Austin. So the Legislature, responding to the controversy, shut down the loophole (see the bill language here). But that didn't end the controversy.

Former Rep. Toby Goodman, R-Arlington, was recently fined $10,000 by the Texas Ethics Commission for allegedly violating the law as it existed before the Legislature changed it. (Goodman say's he's appealing). His case centered in part on the degree to which a spouse’s property had to be separated from the lawmaker in order to qualify for the old loophole.

Now there's fresh criticism of Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, who first discovered the spousal property deal back in 1996. It subsequently became known as the "Brimer Loophole.'' Like Goodman, Brimer helped secure the loan for the property he later rented from his spouse, documents show. And Democratic operative Matt Angle is now calling on Brimer to cough up any profits he and/or his wife might have made when they sold their condo in the Westage Towers (pictured above left) in 2007.

Brimer's campaign did not respond directly to Angle's complaint Monday, saying instead he was simply pushing the story on behalf of Brimer's Democratic opponent, Wendy Davis. Angle said he doesn't work for Davis.

Despite the Legislature’s moves to shut down the spousal rent loophole, the Ethics Commission has the power to take action on past behavior, officials said.

-- Jay Root

Dems say Sen. Brimer should cough up $357,000

Democrats are calling on Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, to relinquish more than $300,000 from his campaign account after selling a luxury condo he once rented -- with donated political money -- from his wife.

Brimer for years used a legal loophole to rent the Austin property from his wife, Janna. Because it was considered her separate property, the senator said the arrangement did not run afoul of laws that bar the use of campaign funds to directly purchase real estate.  But in 2007, the Legislature shut down that loophole. (Other lawmakers, including Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville and state Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, had taken advantage of the same loophole before Truitt wrote the law closing it). Brimer sold his condo for an undisclosed sum the same year.

Now Democrats say Brimer didn’t take enough steps to separate himself from the property and should not enjoy any profits from it. They say they've got a figure based on appraisal figures and campaign records.

“We respectfully call on you to surrender from you considerable wealth funds in the amount of at least $357,000,’’ said Matt Angle, head of the Lone Star Project, a group devoted to challenging Republican politicians in Texas. Angle suggested Brimer give the money to charity.

This is a developing story, so stay tuned.

-- Jay Root

The unsinkable Jerry Patterson: read his email here

If you haven't checked out our story about the ever-colorful Jerry Patterson that ran over the weekend, you really should. Just click on that underlined link. There's also a slideshow here.

And if want to take a look for yourself at some of his e-mails -- I refer to some of them in the story -- click right here for a handful of the best ones: Download PattersonEmails.pdf.

But wait, there's more.

Here's more insight about Jerry from the almost-as-colorful Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who served with Patterson in the state Senate. Might (or might not) explain some things.

"I think he gets up in the morning thinking like a Marine and goes to bed at night thinking like a Marine,’’ Whitmire said of his former colleague.

-- Jay Root

More buzz about Kay

The will-she-or-won't-she buzz surrounding a possible 2010 run for governor by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison picked up a little more thrust over the weekend after an aide was quoted as saying she was in the race for sure.

The remark by press secretary Matt Mackowiak, reported in Sunday's Corpus Christi Caller-Times, went a little further then the senator herself went on Friday when she told reporters in New Braunfels that she was "looking at it" and was "excited about the possibility." But she added that she'd have nothing definitive to say until after the 2008 election cycle.

Mackowiak on Tuesday would not comment further about what he told the Caller-Times.

If Hutchison, 64, gets in the race, it could set up an epic battle in the GOP primary because incumbent Rick Perry isn't ruling out trying to extend his stay in the Governor's Mansion.

And if all this sounds a little like deja vu all over again, well it just might be. Hutchison flirted with a run for governor in 2002 when Perry was trying to win the office in his own right after taking over for George W. Bush. And she hinted again in 2006 that she might run to deny Perry a second full term.

So it remains unclear if what's unfolding is "the third time's the charm" or "three strikes and you're out."

-- John Moritz

The best political consultants in Texas: report

Tarrant County is breeding some serious political professionals.

As we blogged earlier, Fort Worth's Bryan Eppstein won several national awards this year for his advertising handiwork. He also gets high marks for winning actual races, according to a scorecard published recently by Mike Hailey, editor of the online newsletter Capitol Inside.

Hailey's "Most Valuable Consultant" award for the 2008 primaries went to  another Tarrant County firm -- Arlington-based Murphy Turner and Associates. Hailey noted that the Craig Murphy-Chris Turner duo were “the only big-league political consultants at the state level with victories in at least three key primary races and no losses so far in 2008.’’

The top Democratic firm on the list was Campaign Strategies of Houston.

-- Jay Root

Fort Worth consultant Bryan Eppstein wins awards

Fort Worth's own Bryan Eppstein, one of the state's top Republican political consultants, has snagged a round of national awards just in time to celebrate his company's 25th anniversary.

The Eppstein group won five "Pollies'' -- sort of like Oscars for political spinmeisters -- from the American Association of Political Consultants during a recent award ceremony in Santa Monica, California.  Read all about it here.

-- Jay Root

Judge strips the strip club fee, says it's unconstitutional

AUSTIN -- The stripper club fee has been stripped from the law books -- at least for now. That's the word Friday from Austin, where Judge Scott Jenkins ruled that the state's recent imposition of a $5-a-head tax on topless club patrons violates the U.S. Constitution. The state plans to appeal the ruling, officials said.

Jenkins found that the fee, passed by the Legislature last year, had singled out a "business activity involving expression that, while politically unpopular,is nevertheless protected by the First Amendment.''  The $5 door fee was designed to pay for sexual assault prevention and health insurance programs for the poor. Jenkins said those were "laudable goals" but he ruled that the Legislature had failed to directly tie the erotic activity they wanted to tax with the social ills they hoped to remedy. In particular, the bulk of the money from the fee was destined for health insurance programs, and Jenkins said there is "no evidence that combining alcohol with nude erotic dancing causes dancers to be uninsured, or that any uninsured dancer could qualify for assistance from the fund.''

Steward Whitehead, who represented a group of topless clubs that filed the lawsuit, applauded the opinion, saying: "We think that the programs that were to be funded from this tax are worthy. But we strongly disagree with the unconstitutional way the Legislature chose to do so. The court agreed with us.’’ The fight isn't over yet, though.

Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbott, said the state would appeal the ruling. Citing reports that a Dallas strip club had illegally allowed a 12-year-old to dance, Strickland said Abbott's office would "vigorously appeal the trial court’s ruling and remains committed to sexual assault awareness and prevention."

-- Jay Root

Another Jenna Bush drinking scandal

Have we all stepped into a time warp? At 26, Jenna Bush has been able to legally drink all the margaritas she wants for five years. And yet here it is: a brand new drinking scandal from her underage era. Bottoms up.

The tidbit comes from Slate.com, which excerpted New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau's upcoming book, Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice. From the excerpt:

On Sept. 12, 2001, another major newspaper was set to run a story on the extraordinary diplomatic maneuverings the U.S. Secret Service had arranged with their Mexican counterparts to allow Jenna Bush, then 19, to make a barhopping trip south of the border. (She had just been charged with underage drinking in Texas.)

A few days earlier, a scoop about a presidential daughter's barhopping trip getting special dispensation from the Secret Service and a foreign government might have gotten heavy treatment. But the story never ran, and the Secret Service's maneuverings remained a secret until now. In the weeks and months after 9/11, there was no longer an appetite for such stories.

-Aman Batheja

Will Rick Perry run for governor again?

Speculation is mounting that Gov. Rick Perry will run for yet another four-year term in 2010, which could g