The Week in the Rearview Mirror

Big money donors dominated the campaign finance filings by the two leading candidates for governor, Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis. Abbott demonstrated his fundraising prowess over the last half year with 25 six-figure donations, including a total of $900,000 from the late Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons. And Davis scored not one but two million-dollar donations — from Austin doctor Carolyn Oliver and from the Mostyn Law Firm of Houston.

An eagerly expected appearance by U.S. Senate candidate Steve Stockman at a Tarrant County Tea Party meeting Monday evening turned into a bust when he was a no-show. A stand-in said the congressman, who recently returned from Egypt, was stuck in traffic.

The plight of a pregnant North Texas woman being kept on life support against her family's wishes captured headlines nationwide and is stirring political debate in a state immersed in competitive primary races.

After reviewing University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall's handling of information that may be confidential under federal student privacy laws, outside lawyers for the system concluded that no prosecution was warranted.

Texas is preparing for a new drug screening procedure required of applicants for unemployment benefits, but the federal Labor Department has yet to set the parameters.