The Midday Brief: January 4, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• “On the final day of filing, former state Sen. Hector Uribe has decided to take on incumbent Jerry Patterson for Land Commissioner. First, he would have to get past Athens real estate instructor Bill Burton in the March 2 primary.” — Hector Uribe to run for Land Commissioner — Trail Blazers

• “Today is the deadline for candidates who want to run in the Democratic and Republican primaries on March 2 to file for office. These filings will set the ballot once they are accepted. The deadline for a candidate to withdraw already has passed.” — Today is the primary filing deadline — Texas Politics

• “Opposition research, or "oppo," will be an integral component in scores of Texas races this year from courthouses to the statehouse. But nowhere are the fruits of oppo more apparent than in the Republican gubernatorial primary race between Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.” — Texas candidates pay top dollar for ammo about the opposition — Fort Worth Star-Telegram

• “The contact sport of Texas politics is about to evolve from its easy comparison to gridiron contests of hard-hitting marches toward goal lines. No, football is played with pads.” — Expect low blows, high volume from Perry, Hutchison — The Dallas Morning News

• “U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry said this week that Congress should consider passing a law to force federal agencies to share certain information.” — Lawmaker says intel should be shared — Amarillo Globe-News

• “Two recent editorials from the Houston Chronicle and the Austin Statesman look at the same set of facts regarding incarceration in Texas, with the Chron declaring the glass half-full while the Statesman sees it as half empty.” — Two different views, both accurate, of Texas' overincarceration woes — Grits for Breakfast

New in The Texas Tribune:

• “If you've heard the rumor about state Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, getting a federal appointment and not seeking re-election to the Texas House seat he's held since 2005... it's not true.” — 2010: About That Strama Rumor — The Texas Tribune

• “The four major gubernatorial campaigns will spend big bucks — maybe as much as $60 million — between now and the March 2 primary. What is that deluge of cash and advertising going to look like?” — Money Matters — The Texas Tribune

• “The idea that the popularity of a candidate at the top of the ballot can pull down-ballot candidates to victory may be only slightly more real than the Loch Ness monster.” — Do Coattails Exist? — The Texas Tribune