The Evening Brief: July 17, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

• Perry Won't Press Romney to Release Tax Returns: "Gov. Rick Perry, who called on Mitt Romney to cough up his tax returns when they were running against each other, stopped short Tuesday of pressing the presumptive Republican nominee to produce more records. Perry said candidates for public office should be 'as transparent as you can be with your tax returns and other aspects of your life,' but he wouldn’t directly answer whether Romney should produce more than the two tax returns he has promised to give the media."

• Perry Calls on Obama to Rebuke Holder: "Gov. Rick Perry has some unsolicited advice for Barack Obama during the president's visit to Texas on Tuesday: apologize for Attorney General Eric Holder's comments about the state's voter ID law. 'Perhaps while the president is visiting Texas, he can take a break from big-dollar fundraisers to disavow his attorney general's offensive and incendiary comments regarding our common-sense voter identification law,' Perry said in a written statement. 'Eric Holder purposefully used language designed to inflame passions and incite racial tension. It was not only inappropriate, but simply incorrect on its face.'"

• Cruz, Dewhurst on the Offensive Ahead of GOP Debate: "On the heels of fresh attacks from both sides and less than a week before early voting begins, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz will take part in a televised debate Tuesday night. While both Republicans in a runoff for an open U.S. Senate seat have ratcheted up the attacks in recent days with new ads, it remains to be seen whether they will be as combative at Tuesday's debate, which is hosted by Belo. At some recent events, both Dewhurst and Cruz have worked to keep a positive tone to their remarks."

• At Capitol, Protesters Criticize Perry's Medicaid Announcement: "About 150 Texans gathered in front of Gov. Rick Perry's Capitol office on Tuesday to protest his announcement that Texas would not expand Medicaid or establish a health insurance exchange."

Culled:

• Ron Paul to Mitt Romney: Release tax returns (Politico): "Texas Rep. Ron Paul said Tuesday that Mitt Romney should release more of his tax returns, adding to the pressure on the GOP nominee to share personal financial information with the public. 'Politically, I think that would help him,' the Republican congressman and former presidential candidate said in an interview with POLITICO. 'In the scheme of things politically, you know, it looks like releasing tax returns is what the people want.'"

• Sen. Wendy Davis outraises opponent 4 to 1 (Houston Chronicle): "It looks like incumbent state Senator Wendy Davis (D-Ft. Worth) of SD 10 will have the campaign coffers to outspend her Republican opponent by nearly four to one at the start of the general election. That statistic is based on today’s finance report from Davis’ campaign, indicating $824,870 raised in the reporting period from January to July – bringing her reserves to a total of $1,097,238."