The Evening Brief: Oct. 31, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   Texas Women's Health Program Will Not Launch as Planned This Week: "On Wednesday morning, Kyle Janek, the state's commissioner of health and human services, said the new state-led Women's Health Program would be ready to start Thursday. But the program will not launch until court controversy is clarified or federal funds run out."

•   Cruz Highlights Father in Latest TV Ad: "Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz showcases his father's journey from Cuba to Texas in his latest election ad for television."

•   UT/TT Poll: Economic Issues Are Top Concerns: "Economic and immigration issues remain top concerns in the state, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll."

Culled:

•   The sleeping giant of Texas’s Latino vote, by Gilberto Hinojosa and Eva Longoria: (Politico): "This might be the last presidential election during which Texas is not considered a swing state. We know that the Latino vote matters in this year’s election. And the sleeping giant of the Texas Latino vote is poised to awaken and alter the fate of every future election."

•   Oct. 30: What State Polls Suggest About the National Popular Vote (FiveThirtyEight): "Or take the poll of Texas, also out on Tuesday, which had Mr. Obama behind by 16 points there. He’s obviously no threat to win the state or come close to it, but that still represents only a 4-point decline for Mr. Obama from 2008, when he lost Texas by 12 points instead. High-population red states like these, Texas and Georgia, are just the sort of places where Mr. Obama would need to lose a lot of ground in order to increase the likelihood of his winning the Electoral College while losing the popular vote."