On the Campaign Trail With Gov. Rick Perry

Gov. Rick Perry, campaigning at a barbecue restaurant in Temple.
Gov. Rick Perry, campaigning at a barbecue restaurant in Temple.

The governor depicted by Democrats as a coward in statewide newspaper ads last week doesn't seem nervous. In fact, as he traveled from Killeen to Temple and on to Texarkana last week accompanied by a reporter from The Texas Tribune, Republican Rick Perry looked comfortable, though he says he's taking his Democratic challenger, Bill White, seriously.

Five Years Later, Houstonians Conflicted About Katrina

'Astrodome' stadium filled with refugees from Louisiana in Houston, Texas, USA, on September 3, 2005.
'Astrodome' stadium filled with refugees from Louisiana in Houston, Texas, USA, on September 3, 2005.

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana exiles have fundamentally changed Houston, and vice-versa. The uneasy arrangement was a shotgun marriage: Many evacuees had no choice in whether or where they went, and Houstonians had no choice, for humanity's sake, but to take them in.

On Katrina Anniversary, Austinite Heads for N.O.

As New Orleans measures how far it has come since Hurricane Katrina — and how far it has to go — an Austin man who was an aide to Mayor Will Wynn in 2005 traveled to the Big Easy to put some ghosts to rest. He talked with Matt Largey of KUT News.

The Watch List

Texas Weekly

School's in. Labor Day is coming soon. And it's time for a scouting report on 21 Texas House races to watch this fall. We based our picks on interviews with politicos and consultants, our own analysis of district voting patterns, campaign coffers, the relative strength of the candidates and issues that could turn each contest.

Top Texas News for the Week of August 23 to 27, 2010

Hu compares and contrasts the official schedules of four big-state governors (including Rick Perry) and picks the 21 Texas House races to watch, Ramshaw on a 19-year-old with an IQ of 47 sentenced to 100 years in prison, Stiles on Perry's regent-donors, Galbraith on a plan to curb the independence of the state's electricity grid, Thevenot on the turf war over mental health, Grissom on whether the Texas Youth Commission should be abolished, Aguilar on a crucial immigration-related case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, Ramsey's interview with GOP provocateur Debra Medina and M. Smith on how changes to campaign finance law will affect judicial elections in Texas: The best of our best from August 23 to 27, 2010.

Top Texas House Races to Watch

Only 10 days out from Labor Day — the unofficial start of the campaign season — we bring you a scouting report on the 21 Texas House races to watch. We based our picks on dozens of interviews with politicos and our own analysis of district voting patterns, campaign coffers, the relative strength of the candidates and issues that could turn each contest. Most of the vulnerable incumbents are Democrats, which is no surprise in a Republican year. But a few veteran R's are at risk, thanks to alleged ethical lapses that could swing voters against the national mood.

An Interview With Harris County DA Pat Lykos

District Attorney for Harris County, Pat Lykos.
District Attorney for Harris County, Pat Lykos.

The first female district attorney of Harris County on the massive scope of her job, softening her office's tough-on-crime reputation, the link between mental health care and criminal justice, why she set up a Post-Conviction Review Section and what she's learned from innocence cases so far.

Will SCOTUS Opinions Affect TX Judicial Elections?

A joint meeting between the House Elections and Judiciary committees on Aug. 26, 2010
A joint meeting between the House Elections and Judiciary committees on Aug. 26, 2010

Do two recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions have the far-reaching effects on Texas judicial elections that some in our legal community fear? Or do the state's current campaign finance laws adequately address the issues presented by both cases?