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 Daviswas 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.