Five of the declared Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison met in Waco on Saturday night for a wide-ranging forum notable for the absence of the frontrunner, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Full Story
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A few protesters gathered in historic Charleston to jokingly welcome Gov. Rick Perry into the race for president — of the Confederacy. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry is scoring some endorsements from GOP activists and officeholders, but support for Perry among his fellow Texas Republicans isn't unanimous. The Democrats, as you might expect, are vociferously in opposition. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry formally tossed his hat into the ring Saturday, announcing in South Carolina he will pursue the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Watch the full speech here. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry jumped into the 2012 presidential race with a double-barrel blast at President Obama on Saturday, blaming him for the fiscal mess in Washington and promising to make job creation his signature issue. Full Story
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DAY 13 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: a law aimed at making college textbooks more affordable goes into effect. Full Story
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The Tribune's Jay Root is filing video updates from Charleston, S.C., where he's covering the governor's 2012 presidential campaign announcement. Full Story
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CHARLESTON, S.C. — Republican candidates have generally looked to South Carolina as a “firewall” to make a final stand in fending off the attacks from challengers. For Rick Perry, it may be more like a launching pad. Full Story
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Our all-hands-on-deck series on new laws — 31 Days, 31 Ways — continues, Root covers a challenge to the governor's school finance fix and the tax that makes it work, Philpott forecasts a presidential media tsunami will hit Texas, Murphy with a look at midyear campaign reports from candidates and PACs in Texas, yours truly on the quiet spot at the top of the 2014 ballot, Hamilton on government-required vaccinations against meningitis, Grissom reports on the heat wave in un-air-conditioned Texas jails, Aguilar on the private security business along the state's border with Mexico and M. Smith's interview with Nicole Hurd on how to get more high school students into college: The best of our best content from Aug. 8 to 12, 2011. Full Story
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John Sharp, a longtime Democratic officeholder who is a friend and former classmate of Gov. Rick Perry's, could be the next chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, sources told the Tribune Friday afternoon. Full Story
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A federal appeals court today ruled that the individual insurance mandate in President Obama's health care reform plan is unconstitutional, a decision Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott lauded as a step toward ending "Obamacare." Full Story
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The sand dune lizard, located in parts of West Texas and New Mexico, could potentially be interfering with the drilling of oil and gas. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Palin says Perry flip-flopped on running; Abbott rules lobbyist can serve on SBOE; Axelrod on Perry's "record of decimation" Full Story
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When Texas voters are asked to show a photo ID at the polls in January, they will join voters in 29 other states that have adopted voter identification requirements — but only six of which require photo identification. Full Story
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DAY 12 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: applicants for driver's licenses and IDs must furnish proof of legal status. Full Story
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Now that Gov. Rick Perry is officially joining the presidential battle this weekend, the inevitable "who is he" and "can he win" stories will begin to flood the airwaves. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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An early look at Gov. Rick Perry's presidential announcement speech reveals that the governor may have found a familiar campaign message: change. Full Story
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The prospect of an open lieutenant governor’s seat in 2014 is attracting candidates and a lot of conversation. Almost no one is talking about who might fill an open seat for governor. Full Story
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Judges are elected in Texas, but Gov. Rick Perry has picked the winners on the state's highest civil court almost without fail since he took office in 2000. Full Story
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A new law requiring every college student to be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis has colleges and universities scrambling — and some observers decrying government intrusion. Full Story
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