The Evening Brief: Oct. 26, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   CD-23 Candidates May Not Hold Debate in English: "Republican U.S. Rep. Francisco "Quico" Canseco and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Pete Gallego, debated once in Spanish a month ago. Since then they haven’t appeared on stage together, and time is running out."

•   Slurs, Fists Fly Over Obama Signs in Lubbock: "The Texas Democratic Party in Lubbock County has released a video showing several young men in an altercation with one of its volunteers and yelling racially derogatory remarks at the volunteer, who was looking out for vandals targeting signs for President Obama."

•   In New SD-10 Ad, Davis Accuses Shelton of Lying: "In her latest television ad in the SD-10 race, state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, accuses state Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, of lying to voters about Davis' record."

•   Reorganization Yields Early Reward for Senators: "Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst upset the normal order of things when he announced his Senate committee leaders four months early instead of waiting until the session starts. But he may have done the senators — and the people with business before the Legislature — a political favor in the process."

•   Insurance Lawsuits Loom Large in HD-23 Faceoff: "State Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, finds himself under attack for suing a taxpayer-supported insurance fund on behalf of taxpayers in a race with Republican Wayne Faircloth, a Dickinson insurance agency owner."

•   Slowing Enrollment Sparks Fears of Missing Higher Education Goals: "According to preliminary data gathered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the total number of students attending college this fall increased by just 12,000 over the previous year."

Culled:

•   Ethics commission rejects GOP complaint against Fort Worth senator (The Dallas Morning News): "The Texas Ethics Commission on Friday rejected a complaint filed against Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, by her Republican opponent accusing her of failing to disclose business relationships with lobbyists in Austin. In a letter to Mark Shelton, the GOP nominee in the Senate District 10 race, the ethics commission said his complaint against Davis did not comply with requirements for filing such a complaint and failed to state the source and basis for his allegations."

•   Paul Sadler to campaign at Houston churches on Sunday (Houston Chronicle): "This Sunday, Paul Sadler will go to church – three churches to be exact – to get the 'souls to the polls.' The democratic candidate for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat in Senate, has a busy Sunday planned to keep the energy going in the last weeks before the election."