Enlarge photo by: Bob Daemmrich

Gov. Rick Perry speaking to reporters alongside House Speaker Joe Straus, center, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst during a post-session press conference at the Texas Capitol on May 30, 2011.

Your evening reading: state leaders call for moratorium on cancer agency grants; Dewhurst, Patrick reveal details of school choice legislation; Hutchison delivers farewell address

Enlarge photo by: Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

Drawing a stark contrast with the intensifying national debate over tighter gun laws, Texas has moved a step closer to allowing weapons on its public school campuses.

Enlarge photo by: Tiffany Szerpicki

Your evening reading: Dallas Republican will file bill to allow teachers to carry weapons; Dewhurst, Patrick to unveil school reform legislation; Castros talk gun control

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For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked about the influence of outside activists — in general, and then specifically on the race for speaker and proposals to change the Senate's procedural rules.

Enlarge photo by: Bob Daemmrich

Gov. Rick Perry campaigning for president in Pella, Iowa, on Dec. 28, 2011.

With the Newtown tragedy consuming the national political debate, Gov. Rick Perry on Monday joined the chorus of Texas voices calling for an expansion, not restriction, of gun rights.

Enlarge photo by: Tamir Kalifa

A conversation with Greg Abbott, Attorney General, and Evan Smith at The Austin Club October 4, 2012.

Your evening reading: 78 school districts not meeting safety standards, Abbott says; Texas Monthly on Michael Quinn Sullivan; George P. Bush fundraiser attracts supporters with ties to Rove

Enlarge photo by: Lance Cpl. Catie D. Edwards

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert at the annual alumni Aggie Muster at Camp Leatherneck Helmand Province in Afghanistan on April 21, 2012.

Even in Texas, the Connecticut school shooting has pounded new urgency into the debate over gun rights. 

Enlarge photo by: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson on the floor of the Texas Senate in May 2011.

Your evening reading: Texas officials react to Connecticut shooting; Patterson says arming school personnel would save lives; payment for CPRIT consultants stirs criticism 

Enlarge photo by: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

President Obama speaks to crowd at the Austin Music Hall on July 17, 2012.

The fiscal cliff still looms large, but the Obama administration appears to have quietly begun moving on the next great debate about to hit Washington: immigration.

Enlarge photo by: Bob Daemmrich

State Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, during the abortion sonogram bill debate on March 2, 2011.

Your evening reading: Perry sets special election date for state Senate seat; Fox News host cuts off Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson in heated interview; Hispanic groups warn Congress to fix immigration  

Enlarge photo by: Tamir Kalifa

Evan Smith interviewing U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison at the LBJ Presidential Library on Oct. 15, 2012.

Weeks away from leaving office, a candid Kay Bailey Hutchison on Wednesday opened up about some of the lingering regrets of her political career.