Vol 31, Issue 4 Print Issue

Quotes of the Week

Greg Abbott and his folks have picked a fight with the wrong Texas gal if they think that I will shrink from working to fight for a just and right future for all Texans. I will keep fighting hard — no matter what the other side throws at me.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis jabbing back hard at critics who have seized on discrepanices in her life story to say she's unfit for office

Frankly, a citizen who cannot carry a firearm is not much of a citizen. Frankly, he’s a serf.

Lieutenant governor candidate Jerry Patterson in Monday's televised debate, speaking on the importance of Second Amendment rights

Stockman and State Department officials met with and held press conferences with foreign leaders on matters of U.S. interests. ... Stockman also used the official trip to expose the partisan bias of the American media, who claimed they did not know where he was.

U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, explaining the reason for his absence from the campaign trail — he'd been on a 10-day official visit to Egypt, Israel and Russia

Money attracts consultants like honey attracts bees.

Political consultant Mark McKinnon on why Texas races attract the top consultant talent from across the nation

The question is, Are we prepared to say as lawyers that a man who is no longer considered moral enough to be a journalist is moral enough to be a lawyer? If people flame out in journalism because of dishonesty, is the law open to them? I think the answer is no.

New York University legal ethics professor Stephen Gillers on what makes disgraced journalist Stephen Glass' attempts to remake himself as a lawyer compelling to the world at large

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

Saying she’d “had enough,” state Sen. Wendy Davis unloaded on Attorney General Greg Abbott on Tuesday night, blaming him and his allies for waging a smear campaign against her family. Davis used the occasion of a Travis County Democratic Party fundraiser to address criticism of certain aspects of her life story and to try to turn the page on the controversy "once and for all."

GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott said on Saturday at an anti-abortion rally that his opponent, Wendy Davis, was fighting to “return Texas to late-term abortion on demand.” The reference was to Davis' filibuster of an abortion regulation bill over the summer. Abbott never mentioned Davis by name, though, referring to her just as a “little-known state senator” who rose to stardom through her filibuster.

The four GOP candidates for lite guv — David Dewhurst, Dan Patrick, Jerry Patterson and Todd Staples — spent this week's statewide televised debate staking out conservative positions on wedge issues like abortion, immigration and end-of-life issues.

Democrat Celia Israel defeated Republican Mike VanDeWalle on Tuesday in a special election runoff for House District 50. She will serve the remainder of former state Rep. Mark Strama's term. Israel and VanDeWalle are on course for a rematch in November as they are both unopposed in their party primaries.

U.S. Senate candidate Steve Stockman resurfaced on Monday after extended absences from the campaign trail. The congressman said he had been on a 10-day congressional delegation visit to Egypt, Israel and Russia. In a statement, he was critical of media coverage of attempts to contact him, saying that media outlets knew where he was.

Political People and their Moves

Bret Griffin of Friendswood was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry as judge of the 212th District Court in Galveston County for a term to expire at the next general election.

Lindsey Scott of Nederland was appointed by Perry as judge of the 252nd District Court in Jefferson County for a term to expire at the next general election.

Cory J.H. Crenshaw of Beaumont was appointed by Perry as Jefferson County criminal district attorney for a term to expire at the next general election.

TxDOT chief of staff Scott Haywood is moving on. He will join Move Texas Forward next week as the group's president. Move Texas Forward, a project begun by several former Texas transportation commissioners — Ned Holmes, Deirdre Delisi, Bill Meadows and Henry Muñoz — is working to build support for the constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would dedicate close to $1.4 billion annually for road and highway projects.

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht on Sunday became the longest-serving justice in the court's history. He broke the record for service of the late Chief Justice Joe R. Greenhill, who served 25 years and 25 days before his retirement in October 1982. Hecht's tenure on the bench began Jan. 1, 1989.

Deaths:

Adelfa Botello Callejo, 90, Dallas attorney, civic leader and nationally recognized Hispanic civil rights activist