Enlarge REUTERS/Mike Stone

Sen. Ted Cruz at the third GOP debate, held in Boulder, Colorado, on Oct. 28, 2015.

Ted Cruz's presidential campaign raised $772,000 through midnight Wednesday on the heels of a well-received debate performance, according to an aide to the Texas Republican senator.

The haul puts Cruz on track to easily top his previous post-debate fundraising. He raked in $1 million in the first 100 hours after the first debate and just as much in less than half that time following the second debate.

Cruz won plaudits Wednesday night for his spirited criticism of the moderators at the third GOP debate at the University of Colorado Boulder. He told the CNBC journalists that the debate "is not a cage match" and urged them to ask more substantive questions.

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Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton voiced her support for Houston's nondiscrimination ordinance, better known as HERO, ahead of Tuesday's municipal election.

The Obama administration also voiced support for the ordinance on Thursday, though a statement from White House spokesman Jeff Tiller.

“While the Administration generally does not take a formal position on specific proposals or initiatives, the President and Vice President have been strong supporters of state and local efforts to protect Americans from being discriminated against based on who they are and who they love," said Tiller. "We’re confident that the citizens of Houston will vote in favor of fairness and equality.”

The Clinton tweet drew a rebuttal from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who said in an email to supporters, “This is misleading and disqualifying for someone who claims to be a champion for women. Equality is already the law in Houston. Prop 1 is really about letting men use women's public restrooms and locker rooms.”

The ordinance prohibits discrimination against an individual based on a list of 15 characteristics including their sex, sexual orientation, race, age and disability.

The ordinance was approved by the Houston City Council in 2014, but it faced an immediate backlash from conservative activists who circulated petitions calling for its repeal. The opponents eventually filed a lawsuit and the Texas Supreme Court ruled the city council had to repeal the ordinance or hold a public vote.

The ordinance could serve as a big test for Texas LGBT rights activists.

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Martin O’Malley, Democratic presidential candidate and former Maryland governor, is visiting Austin and Dallas to discuss his “his vision and progressive experience.” He’ll start his trip on Nov. 12 with an evening reception in Austin, and then he’ll head to Dallas for a breakfast the following morning.

Enlarge Shelby Knowles

Prop 1 signs posted at the along the Adaptive Sports and Recreation facility on West Grey in Houston, TX for the November 2015 election. Photo by: Shelby Knowles

Turnout in the state’s largest counties in advance of Tuesday’s constitutional amendment election is up by more than 117,000 votes over a similar point two years ago.

According to numbers kept by the Secretary of State for the 15 largest counties by population, 341,871 votes have been cast over the first 10 days of voting. In 2013, 224,522 votes had been cast over a similar period.

Enlarge Texas Secretary of State

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The gap in turnout is even greater when compared to 2011 and 2009, when 116,059 votes and 125,444 votes, respectively, were cast over the same timeframe.

Looking at the top five counties by population, turnout in Harris County — where voters are choosing a new mayor and voting on a controversial non-discrimination ordinance — is up 60,000 votes over 2013.

But significant gains weren’t just seen there. Four of the five largest counties registered big jumps in turnout. Only Travis County has seen fewer voters go to the polls early.

Early voting ends today.

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During his nine months in office, George P. Bush has saved Texas taxpayers millions of dollars with a 10-percent across-the-board budget cut while also implementing zero-based budgeting, the freshman land commissioner told an audience Thursday at an annual meeting of tax and fiscal experts.

The moves were among a long list of actions Bush ticked off during a short, 12-minute luncheon speech Thursday at a hotel ballroom near the state Capitol — from overhauling the General Land Office's contracting procedures to bolstering its social media presence — that he said are part of a mission to boost "trust and transparency" at the oldest state agency. The 582-employee land office oversees 13 million acres in public lands and raises billions of dollars for the state's public schools by selling mineral rights to energy companies.

"I believe in being open and trusting with the people of Texas and when you're doing things the right way, like we're doing, we shouldn't have anything to hide from,” Bush said.

Later in the day, Bush got to add history teacher to his résumé. Bush co-taught a Texas history class that also was streamed live on the General Land Office’s website on Thursday afternoon.

The class, titled “Opportunity in Texas: Land and Its Legacy in Texas History,” focused on how land grants in the 1800s encouraged settlers to come to Texas, using documents from the GLO’s archive to drive the point across. Viewers were able to submit questions for the commissioner during the lesson via Twitter.

Bush taught the lesson alongside K-12 Education Outreach Coordinator Buck Cole.

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For this week’s nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked about next week's vote on a slate of proposed constitutional amendments.

Voters on Tuesday will give a final up or down on seven changes to the Texas Constitution, ranging from high profile initiatives to increase the property tax homestead exemption and funding for roads to more parochial concerns such as allowing very small counties to perform private road construction.

Then there are the constitutional provisions that defy easy category, such as allowing pro sports teams to conduct charitable raffles, allowing statewide officials to live somewhere other than Austin and enshrining the right to hunt and fish in the Constitution.

For the most part, the insiders predicted success for the proposed amendments. They were nearly unanimous in saying the voters would approve the increased homestead exemption. More than nine in 10 of the insiders also thought the voters would act to exempt a surviving spouse of a disabled veteran from property taxes and would put the right to hunt and fish directly in the Constitution.

Close to 90 percent predicted success as well for dedicating a portion of sales tax and motor vehicle sales tax revenue to fund roads.

In fact, the only proposition that was predicted to pass by less than half the insiders was the proposal to allow statewide officials to live outside of Austin.

With that said, close to three-fourths of the insiders thought turnout wouldn't surpass the 9 percent recorded for the constitutional amendment election of 2013 in which a major water funding proposition was approved.

Fully three-fourths of the insiders didn't think the amendment process was a good way to make public policy and 81 percent thought there are too many amendments to the Texas Constitution.

We collected comments along the way, and a full set of those is attached. Here’s a sampling:

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Of the proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot next week, which will pass?

• "Will Paxton be able to serve from Huntsville?"

• "They'll probably all pass. That don't mean I'm voting for them."

• "Only concern has been carving out raffles for pro sports by those concerned about gambling. It will pass because the concern is unfounded."

• "Without any organized opposition, these things always pass."

• "I have great respect for the military. But don't their kids and spouses along with the retirees still need services like education EMS Fire and police. Absolutely no one should be exempt. Republicans will tax exempt and tax reduce us into a state income tax just as they have already raised taxes on Texans. Especially the franchise tax. Since when is it a Republican ideal to tax a business that makes nonprofit. WTF? Have a plan not talking points. I say this and I am a Republican. I mean super right wing. When does the nonsense stop?"

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Less than 9 percent of registered voters turned out to vote on nine proposed amendments in November 2013. Will turnout this year be greater?

• "One-third of the vote will come from Harris County; with an important Mayoral vote in Houston and the HERO ordinance driving huge turnout in that area, I think the number will be slightly higher."

• "There's no high profile national or statewide contest to attract voters to the polls. Ain't nobody got time for proposition silliness."

• "Higher turnout will not be because of the amendments but because of local issues in Houston and Montgomery County, among others."

• "A ton of money was spent in 2013, but this cycle there is very little paid communication. Eight percent would be an ambitious goal."

• "Other elections around state will boost turnout."

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Are constitutional amendments a good way to make public policy?

• "It depends on the issue. There are times when the Constitution simply needs to be changed because we have made it such a complex document that details so much of how our state government does (and does not) operate. The problem is that important public policy issues are then punted by a Legislature without the will to make important decisions to an electorate that is too often clueless about what they are voting on."

• "The Legislature amends the constitution — the voters just ratify the changes. It is cumbersome, but it requires lots of legislative (2/3) and voter buy-in to achieve. Not a bad thing."

• "Structurally, yes, constitutional amendments are a good way to establish lasting policy. The contents of any amendment, of course, may be trash. And so, on occasion at least, we're establishing lasting trash."

• "People who actually follow politics rarely know what these are about. Those who don't follow politics are going in completely blind."

• "No ... BUT, it's preferable to full R&I (referendum and initiative). States that make general law by popular election (see, e.g., California) are way more screwed up that Texas."

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Evaluate: there are too many amendments to the state constitution…

• "It is the nature of the beast. If you want to limit the number of amendments, scrap the current document and start over with something basic and simple and force the Legislature to do its job — legislate. Good luck with that."

• "As soon as I get MY constitutional amendment in there, then that'll be enough."

• "We needed a Constitutional Convention about 20 years ago when the Lege was still bipartisan. It is far to dangerous with extremist influence in the Lege today."

• "The purpose of the constitution should not be creating a law that is just harder to change in the future."

• "Streamlining the Texas Constitution: The job everyone knows needs to be done but nobody really wants to do."

Our thanks to this week's participants: Gene Acuna, Cathie Adams, Brandon Aghamalian, Clyde Alexander, George Allen, Jay Arnold, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Chris Britton, Raif Calvert, Lydia Camarillo, Kerry Cammack, Janis Carter, Corbin Casteel, Elna Christopher, Harold Cook, Randy Cubriel, Beth Cubriel, Denise Davis, June Deadrick, Tom Duffy, David Dunn, Jack Erskine, Tom Forbes, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Scott Gilmore, Eric Glenn, Kinnan Golemon, Daniel Gonzalez, Clint Hackney, Bill Hammond, Susan Hays, Ken Hodges, Kathy Hutto, Deborah Ingersoll, Mark Jones, Walt Jordan, Lisa Kaufman, Robert Kepple, Richard Khouri, Tom Kleinworth, Nick Lampson, Pete Laney, Dick Lavine, James LeBas, Luke Legate, Vilma Luna, Matt Mackowiak, Steve Minick, Bee Moorhead, Mike Moses, Nelson Nease, Todd Olsen, Nef Partida, Gardner Pate, Jerod Patterson, Robert Peeler, Jerry Philips, Tom Phillips, Wayne Pierce, Allen Place, Gary Polland, Jay Pritchard, Jay Propes, Patrick Reinhart, David Reynolds, Carl Richie, A.J. Rodriguez, Grant Ruckel, Tyler Ruud, Jason Sabo, Barbara Schlief, Stan Schlueter, Robert Scott, Ben Sebree, Christopher Shields, Jason Skaggs, Ed Small, Martha Smiley, Mark Smith, Larry Soward, Dennis Speight, Tom Spilman, Bill Stevens, Colin Strother, Sherry Sylvester, Sara Tays, Trey Trainor, Vicki Truitt, Corbin Van Arsdale, Ware Wendell, David White, Darren Whitehurst, Angelo Zottarelli.

Enlarge Todd Wiseman

Friday, Oct. 30

• Constitutional Amendment Election: last day of early voting

Saturday, Oct. 31

• State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, fundraiser with special guests Charlotte and John Sharp; 1 Miramont Blvd., Bryan (8-9:15 a.m.)
  

Sunday, Nov. 1

• Daylight Saving Time ends
  

Monday, Nov. 2

• TAHP Managed Care Conference & Trade Show; 9800 Hyatt Resort Drive, San Antonio (Nov. 2-4)
  

Tuesday, Nov. 3

• Constitutional Amendment Election
• State Reps. Drew Springer, R-Muenster; Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton; Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth; and Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, fundraiser; 110 E. Ninth St., Austin (4-6 p.m.)
  
• State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, fundraiser with special guest Comptroller Glenn Hegar; 1013 E. 15th St., Plano (6-7:30 p.m.)

Wednesday, Nov. 4

• State Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, fundraiser; 110 E. Ninth St., Austin (11 a.m.-1 p.m.)
• State Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, fundraiser; 110 E. Ninth St., Austin (4:30-6 p.m.)

Thursday, Nov. 5

• Texas Federation of Republican Women 2015 Convention; 1501 Mac Davis Lane, Lubbock (Nov. 5-7)
  
• State Rep. John Frullo, R-Lubbock, fundraiser with special guests House Speaker Joe Straus and Comptroller Glenn Hegar; 2508 E. Sixth St., Lubbock (5-6 p.m.)
• HD-120 candidate Lou Miller fundraiser; 110 E. Ninth St., Austin (5-6:30 p.m.)
• State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, fundraiser; 755 Springdale Road, Austin (5:30-7:30 p.m.)

Ted Cruz unveiled a plan late Wednesday that calls for a "simple flat tax" of 10 percent and promises to grow the U.S. economy by nearly 14 percent a decade from now. The Republican U.S. senator from Texas rolled out the plan minutes before he took the stage at the third Republican presidential debate, where he touted his proposed flat tax as the “lowest personal rate any candidate up here has.”

Cruz excoriated moderators Wednesday night in easily his most animated moment on the debate stage since he launched his presidential campaign. Cruz criticized the moderators of CNBC’s GOP debate for not asking questions about “substantive issues people care about.” Following the debate, Jeb Bush’s campaign manager raised questions about what the U.S. senator has done for his constituents, stating “Where’s the accomplishments?” of Cruz’s three years in the Senate.

By filing a one-page form, some producers can have their oil wells reclassified as gas wells and potentially reap huge tax savings. More such requests are being granted, and the Texas budget might start feeling the pain, a trend that could renew scrutiny of Texas’ largest tax break for natural gas drilling.

Texas officials have asked an appeals court for permission to proceed with cutting payments to a therapy program for children with disabilities — the latest development in an ongoing lawsuit over the budget state lawmakers crafted this year. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is seeking to override an order by state District Judge Tim Sulak in September that temporarily stopped health officials from implementing the cuts.

The Obama administration has warned state leaders that pushing Planned Parenthood out of the state’s Medicaid program could put Texas at odds with federal law. Federal officials alerted the state Medicaid director on Tuesday that removing Planned Parenthood from the program may violate federal law because it would limit access to healthcare for poor women from the qualified provider of their choice. On Saturday, Stuart Bowen Jr., head of the Office of Inspector General at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, told the Tribune the organization has not been terminated from that federal health care program and that it will take at least a month to determine whether it should be.

Hundreds of gas plants across the country — and as many as 180 in Texas — soon will have to alert the federal government if they discharge, produce or handle certain toxic chemicals like benzene or hydrogen sulfide. This decision was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s response to a petition and subsequent lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental and open government groups, including one from Texas.

After months of heated campaigning, Houston voters will have the final word next week on an embattled nondiscrimination ordinance, a big test for Texas LGBT rights activists. First passed by the Houston City Council in May 2014 after intense public debate, the ordinance, better known as HERO, makes it illegal to discriminate against someone based on 15 different “protected characteristics,” including sex, race, marital status, religion and pregnancy.

With more Republicans joining the cause — including six Texans — the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly, 313-118, on Tuesday to reauthorize the controversial Export-Import Bank of the United States.

With the Houston mayoral election fast approaching, attention is centering on which candidate will square off in an all-but-certain runoff with state Rep. Sylvester Turner. For most of the summer, the race for the top job in the nation’s fourth largest city seemed relatively static, with no dearth of candidates, cash and forums — but little drama to match. The mayoral contest, local Democratic strategist Keir Murray remarked, was "frozen in time."

Eleven years after a man's unexplained death in a Katy hospital sparked a lawsuit involving allegations of malpractice, deception and theft of a human heart, the bizarre case has made its way to the Texas Supreme Court, which will answer a simple yet macabre legal question: Does an autopsy fall under the definition of health care?

The University of Texas at Austin needs to consider race in admissions if it wants a diverse, representative student body, the school told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in a 70-page brief filed in advance of oral arguments in the case Fisher v. The University of Texas at Austin.

Processed meats such as bacon and hot dogs cause cancer in humans, according to the World Health Organization — but consumers shouldn't worry about it, according to Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. After the findings were released, he said they were “another example of politicized science that is not grounded in reality."

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott warned the Dallas County sheriff on Monday that her new and softer approach to dealing with undocumented immigrants who commit crimes here “will no longer be tolerated in Texas.”  Abbott wrote a letter to Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, a Democrat, in the wake of reports that she planned to free some of the immigrants processed through the Dallas County jail rather than hand them over to federal authorities as requested.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. Planned Parenthood was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune in 2011. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Andrea Thompson of Plano and Brett Busby of Houston to a nine-member commission set up by the Legislature this year to review and make recommendations on the repeal of certain penal laws.

Abbott named Charles Eskridge of Houston to the 11-member Timothy Cole Exoneration Commission. The panel, which was established by the Legislature this year, will review and examine exonerations since 2010 in order to make recommendations on how to avoid future wrongful convictions.

Abbott named Debbra Ulmer of Pearland to the Texas Private Security Board for a term set to expire on Jan. 31, 2019.

GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz announced Monday that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was his pick for state campaign chairman. Later the same day, Rand Paul’s presidential campaign announced that state Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, will serve as the Kentucky senator's Texas state chairman.

The Latino Victory Fund named U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, to serve alongside New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the former mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, as the fund's first three honorary co-chairs.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas named Chad V. Seely its next general counsel last Friday. Seely has spent a decade at ERCOT, serving as assistant general counsel since 2011.

Lynn Stucky, a Denton veterinarian, announced Thursday he is entering the race for the open HD-64 seat in the Texas House. Stucky is the third candidate to enter the race for the seat held by state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, since 2000.

The Texas Alliance for Life PAC and the Texans for Life Coalition’s LIFE PAC both endorsed Justice Debra Lehrmann on Monday in her bid for re-election to the Texas Supreme Court. She has served on the court since 2010 and is facing a contested GOP primary contest. Her challenger, Michael Massengale, was endorsed Tuesday by the Texas Right to Life PAC.

Ahead of next week's election, Houston mayoral candidate Bill King announced Tuesday he has received endorsements from a number of local conservatives, including state Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston, former City Council member Pam Holm, Cheryl Dalton, former president of Daughters of Liberty, Deany Meinke, former president of the Texas Federation of Republican Women, and Mary Sage, former president of Magic Circle Republican Women’s Club.

GOP SD-24 candidate CJ Grisham was endorsed late last week by the Republican Liberty Caucus, a group working for limited government.

GOP SD-24 candidate Brent Mayes was endorsed late last week by the Concerned Women for America (CWA) Legislative Action Committee.

GOP HD-7 candidate David Watts was endorsed on Tuesday by Grassroots America - We the People PAC, one of the state’s most prominent grassroots conservative groups.

GOP HD-126 candidate Kevin Roberts this week won endorsements from the Concerned Women for America and the Texas Homeschool Coalition as well as a slew of conservative leaders that included Dave Welch of the Houston Area Pastor Council, Heidi Group founder Carol Everett, Jonathan Saenz of Texas Values, Cathie Adams of the Texas Eagle Forum, Mary Moss, founding member of Cy-Fair Republican Women and Claudette Martin, former president of Northwest Forest Republican Women.

GOP HD-130 candidate Tom Oliverson was endorsed Tuesday by the Texas Homeschool Coalition and Concerned Women of America.

State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, has won the endorsement of the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC for re-election in HD-150.

The Texas Alliance for Life gave its "Courageous Defense of Life" awards to 14 lawmakers. They are: Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels; Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown; Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana; Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth; Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi; Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland; Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria; Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound; Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Spring; Rep. Drew Springer, R-Muenster; Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond; Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound; Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock; and Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa.

Ray Sullivan, former chief of staff to Rick Perry and former co-chair of Perry’s presidential super PAC, will spearhead the expansion of the state-based lobbying firm Capitol Resources LLC into Texas.

David Anthony announced Wednesday that he’s stepping down as CEO of Raise Your Hands Texas in May 2016. He cited the need to spend more time with his 90-year-old father, who resides in Louisiana and is in declining health.

Disclosure: Raise Your Hand Texas is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.