Political People and their Moves

Donna N. Williams of Arlington was re-elected as chairwoman of the Texas State University System's board of regents. First selected as regent in 2008, Williams — a vice president with Parsons Government Services — has been chairwoman since November 2012. The board also re-elected Ron Mitchell of Horseshoe Bay as vice chairman.

Frisco City Councilman Scott Johnson will not seek the Republican nomination for SD-8. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, currently represents the district but is running for the GOP nomination for attorney general next year. State Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, announced over the summer that he was interested in running for SD-8.

And speaking of Paxton's bid for Attorney General, state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, has endorsed Paxton in that contest. Birdwell said that this marks the first time that he's endorsed in a statewide race, "underscoring how important he considers the race for Attorney General and the significance of his endorsement for Senator Paxton."

Baylor University has extended the contract of President Ken Starr and added a new title — chancellor. The board of regents said that along with the expanded title, Starr is charged with working "to increase Baylor's influence in the nation and around the world."

Lite guv candidate Dan Patrick announced his statewide campaign finance team. The effort will be chaired by James H. Lee of Houston, who served as state finance co-chairman of Texans for Rick Perry beginning in the spring of 2009 and national finance chairman of the Perry for President Campaign in 2011. Before that, he was chairman of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas board but stepped down in January 2009 after stories surfaced that he had been sued by a Las Vegas casino for an unpaid gambling debt. Other big names associated with Patrick's fundraising team include Roy Bailey of Dallas, longtime Patrick ally and leader of Conservative Republicans of Texas Steve Hotze of Houston, school voucher advocate Jim Leininger of San Antonio and conservative activist and financier Tim Dunn of Midland.

Land Commissioner candidate George P. Bush announced that he has obtained the endorsement of state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler.

Will Hurd, who lists as a bullet point on his resume a nearly decade-long stint as an operations officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, filed for the Republican primary in Congressional District 23. That district, currently held by U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, is the state's lone true swing congressional district.

Brian Sledge, most recently with Lloyd Gosselink, is opening his own public affairs shop under the banner Sledge Fancher.