The Evening Brief: June 12, 2012

Culled:

• John Cornyn takes to Senate floor, again blasts Eric Holder on Fast and Furious, Voter ID (Houston Chronicle): "After calling for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation at a hearing this morning, Texas Sen. John Cornyn took to the Senate floor this afternoon to reiterate the message and attempt to justify the accusations he had leveled at Holder. 'I believe the American people deserve a chief law enforcement officer who will be independent of political influence, accountable to the law, and transparent with his dealings to the Congress,' the San Antonio Republican declared. 'Unfortunately, Eric Holder has failed on all of these counts.'"

• Cruz supporter apologizes for calling disabled vet, a Dewhurst backer, ‘deformed’ (The Dallas Morning News): "A conservative activist from Garland who appeared in GOP Senate hopeful Ted Cruz’s first TV spot called a decorated, wounded military veteran 'deformed' in a comment on Twitter on Saturday. Katrina Pierson also protested that Cruz rival David Dewhurst was exploiting medically retired Marine Capt. Daniel P. 'Dan' Moran of Cypress, by featuring him in the lieutenant governor’s introductory video at the state Republican convention in Fort Worth. 'David Dewhurst exploits deformed disabled vet in intro video,' Pierson wrote. 'So sad.'"

• Second Mayor John Cook recall attempt dead (El Paso Times): "One of the attempts to recall El Paso Mayor John Cook is dead. El Paso resident Michael Hayes filed notice with Municipal Clerk Richarda Momsen on April 5 that he intended to mount a drive to recall Cook. But Hayes did not submit the required 6,100 signatures by June 4 as required by the city charter, Momsen said Tuesday."

• Heidi Cruz: Husband's ideals coincide with those of West Texans' (Midland Reporter-Telegram): Heidi Cruz said they were outspent by Dewhurst in the primary, but that Ted Cruz believes the election can't be bought. She said they're hoping voters will look at the candidate's history when casting a ballot."

New in The Texas Tribune:

• Interactive Map: Primary Results for Democratic Senate Candidates: "Paul Sadler and Grady Yarbrough are on the ballot for the July 31 runoff for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Use our interactive map to see where the candidates secured a majority or plurality of the votes."

• Both Sides in Skinner Case Ask Court for DNA Testing: "Attorneys for the state of Texas and death row inmate Hank Skinner have filed a joint motion with the Court of Criminal Appeals to send his case back to district court so he can obtain DNA testing."

• Community College Report Puts Higher Ed Board On Defense: "A new report calling for a temporary state agency to oversee Texas community colleges contends that 'important constituents have lost faith' in the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's job to do it themselves. Fred Heldenfels, the chairman of the coordinating board, has criticized the report in a letter."