Jay Root
is a native of Liberty. He never knew any reporters growing up, and he has never taken a journalism class in his life. But somehow he got hooked on the news business. It all started when Root walked into the offices of The Daily Texan, his college newspaper, during his last year at the University of Texas in 1987. He couldn't resist the draw: it was the biggest collection of misfits ever assembled. After graduating, he took a job at a Houston chemical company and soon realized it wasn't for him. Root applied for an unpaid internship at the Houston Post in 1990, and it turned into a full-time job that same year. He has been a reporter ever since. Root has covered natural disasters, live music and Texas politics — not necessarily in that order. He was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a dozen years, most of them good. He also covered politics and the Legislature for The Associated Press before joining the staff of the Tribune.Root is the author of “Oops! A Diary From The 2012 Campaign Trail,” an insider’s account of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s dramatic collapse in the 2012 presidential race. The book was released in September, 2012.
jroot@texastribune.org
512-716-8643
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photo illustration by: Jennifer Whitney
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst loaned his U.S. Senate campaign another $4.5 million and raised another $1.5 million from individual contributors in the latest reporting period. Ted Cruz raised $1.7 million in the same period.
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Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Jan. 27, 2009, before Perry's State of the State address.
Rick Perry, re-building his brand after a calamitious presidential campaign, is running some risk in the U.S. Senate race, where Tea Party darling Ted Cruz is stirring anti-establishment anger and where the governor has endorsed David Dewhurst.
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Ted Cruz speaking at the state Republican convention in Fort Worth on June 9, 2012.
Ted Cruz's campaign is bracing for a new round of attacks after he revealed on his latest ethics disclosures that he continued to perform civil legal work for a Pennsylvania developer at the center of a corruption scheme.
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photo by: Bob Daemmrich / Marjorie Kamys Cotera
U.S. Senate candidates Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst
The Club for Growth Super PAC, which helped U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz get into the July 31 runoff with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, is giving the candidate another boost with new radio and TV ads.
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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst speaking at the state Republican convention on June 8, 2012.
The speeches from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's state website were pulled down after reporters began calling about his controversial 2007 remarks on border and immigration issues, an aide said.
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Ted Cruz speaking at the state Republican convention on June 9, 2012.
U.S. Senate hopeful Ted Cruz is facing a $200 fine for failing to file his personal financial statement on time as required by law, his campaign acknowledged Tuesday evening.
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photo illustration by: Jennifer Whitney
After David Dewhurst's campaign criticized Ted Cruz for spreading "misinformation" about the legislative record of Texas Republicans, Cruz stood by his portrayal of Dewhurst as a profligate spender.
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graphic by: Jacob Villanueva
Both Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former Solicitor General Ted Cruz are trying to make hay out of the financial support their opponent is drawing from lobbyists.
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photo by: Bob Daemmrich / Courtesy, Peter Thiel
Ted Cruz, Peter Thiel
Tea Party-backed Senate candidate Ted Cruz points with pride to the army of small conservative donors supporting him. But his largest longtime contributor is a gay billionaire who supports same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization.
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Texas Republican Convention delegates congregate outside the Fort Worth Convention Center on June 7, 2012.
Big tents and boos on one hand, and talk about how to start a fire on the other: Notes from the Republican Party's convention in Fort Worth and from the Democratic Party's convention in Houston.
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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst speaking at the state Republican convention on June 8, 2012.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is doubling down on his attacks on Ted Cruz in the sizzling hot U.S. Senate race. In a new 30-second TV ad, Dewhurst is once again trying to use Cruz’s legal representation of a Chinese company against him.
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Restoration of the Texas Governor’s Mansion takes a significant step Wednesday, with the return of historic furnishings to the building. Gov. Rick Perry and the first lady are expected to return to the mansion late next month.
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Ted Cruz has extended the GOP U.S. Senate race with David Dewhurst, one of the state's most powerful elected leaders. Cruz's campaign aides said they did that by focusing on building relationships with Tea Party activists.
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Austin, TX. June 15, 2010. Perry spokesman Mark Miner flanked by Bill White supporters.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is adding some firepower to his communications team. Mark Miner, once Gov. Rick Perry’s most recognizable spokesman, is joining Dewhurst's campaign for U.S. Senate this week.
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U.S. Senate candidate David Dewhurst gestures during a final day speech to delegates June 9, 2012 at the Republican Convention
David Dewhurst again criticized U.S. Senate runoff rival Ted Cruz’s involvement in a patent case — pitting a Chinese company against a U.S. inventor — saying Monday that “this is a terrific insight into the character of Mr. Cruz.”
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