The Evening Brief: June 13, 2012

Culled:

• Cruz steps into fray over supporter’s “deformed” veteran comment (Austin American-Statesman): "U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz on Wednesday waded into a Twitter fight over a supporter’s online comment that the campaign of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst had exploited a 'deformed disabled vet' by featuring the retired Marine in a video at the state GOP convention last weekend. … 'Following Katrina’s tweet, the Dewhurst campaign staff has begun relentlessly attacking her. Katrina is a grassroots tea party activist. She is an unpaid volunteer and a single mom who has devoted thousands of hours to fighting to defend liberty and restore our Nation,' Cruz wrote. 'If the Dewhurst Attack Machine must attack somebody, let them level their vitriol at me.'"

• Dewhurst digs for North Texas Leppert voters in runoff (WFAA-TV): "North Texas voters will see so much of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the next seven weeks they may think he moved here. Facing a tough runoff in the Republican Senate race with Ted Cruz, Dewhurst is looking for support from voters who backed former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert — who did well in North Texas, but fell short of enough votes for the runoff."

New in The Texas Tribune:

• Perry Confident Romney Can Win Hispanic Vote, Defends Endorsement: "Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday discussed his support for Mitt Romney, his confidence that minorities will support Republicans and the state's economic development."

• Mark Miner Joins Dewhurst's Senate Campaign Team: "Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is locked in a heated U.S. Senate runoff, is adding some firepower to his communications team. Mark Miner, who worked for Dewhurst before becoming Gov. Rick Perry’s most recognizable spokesman, is joining the lieutenant governor’s campaign for U.S. Senate this week."

• For Veteran at Center of Debate, Politics Isn't New: "Dan Moran, an Iraq war veteran, has been thrust into the center of a debate over his appearance in a video for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. But this isn't Moran's first foray into politics. He campaigned for Gov. Rick Perry during Perry's successful 2010 re-election bid and failed presidential run."

• Updated: Combs, Oil Groups Applaud Decision to Keep Lizard off Endangered List: "A federal decision not to list the dunes sagebrush lizard — whose habitat includes the West Texas oilfields — as threatened or endangered set off a round of cheering by state officials and oil groups. But some environmentalists fear for the lizard's future."