The Evening Brief: July 16, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

• Dewhurst Puts $4.5 Million More Into Race: "Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst dipped again into his vast fortune this month and loaned his U.S. Senate campaign another $4.5 million for his U.S. Senate race, bringing the total value of his personal contributions to about $15 million, according to figures provided by his campaign Monday. Dewhurst raised about $1.5 million from individual contributors in the latest reporting period, which is slightly less then Ted Cruz, his rival in the July 31 Republican runoff. The Cruz campaign told reporters that the candidate had raised about $1.7 million between May 10 and June 30."

• Senate Camps Trade Accusation: Lies, Lies and More Lies: "Honesty, specifically a lack thereof, has emerged as a major theme in the Republican primary runoff for an open U.S. Senate seat the day before what could be the last televised debate between the candidates. Last week, both Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz have accused each other of deceiving or misleading voters on multiple fronts."

• With Paltry Turnout, Last Word Goes to the Few: "Voter turnout for the July 31 runoff is likely to fall well short of 1993, when 1.8 million voters cast ballots in the special runoff for a U.S. Senate seat, which Kay Bailey Hutchison won. That same seat is up for grabs in 2012, a year that has seen Texas' political season stretched out by redistricting."

Culled:

• Texas donors come around with big bucks to Mitt Romney campaign (The Dallas Morning News): "Texans contributed more than $13 million in the last quarter to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, making the Lone Star State one of the biggest sources of campaign cash for the GOP White House hopeful. The Romney Victory Fund — which is raising money jointly for the presidential campaign and GOP committees — reported raising $140 million in June. Texas was the fourth biggest source of campaign cash for the month (California gave the most at $17.3 million, followed by New York and Florida)."

• Dueling Houston Donors Take Feud to Presidential Campaign (Bloomberg): "Fliers distributed at the Texas Republican convention last month depict Democrat Steve Mostyn in a menacing sketch, asking why he’s trying to 'infiltrate' their party. A companion website, largely financed by rival Bob Perry, warns of Mostyn’s 'invisible hand' in state politics. … Now, the Lone Star State feud is spilling into the presidential campaign as Mostyn, a Houston trial attorney, is helping Democrats try to match the millions that Perry, a Houston home builder, has given to super-political action committees running attack ads in swing states."

• Texas foster care contracts shift in focus (The Associated Press): "Texas is on the verge of signing contracts that will fundamentally change how foster care is provided in the state, refocusing it on providing quick, successful assistance to the children and their families, officials told a House committee Monday."

• FBI to make review of Fort Hood attacks public (The Dallas Morning News): "The FBI intends to make an independent review of the 2009 attacks on Fort Hood public as soon as possible, a spokesman said. 'The FBI fully intends to release an unclassified version of the independent review regarding Fort Hood as soon as possible,' FBI spokesman Paul Bresson wrote in an email. The report, which was conducted by officials outside the agency, is an analysis of the agency’s role before, during and after the shooting and is expected to contain 18 formal recommendations for the FBI."