It's the kind of Special Deals for Politicians saga that can taint the whole institution: Texas lawmakers are accused of lying about their employees to obtain benefits to which those workers would not otherwise be entitled. Full Story
While other states are facing deficits large and small, the Texas Legislature will start its next session with a surplus of almost $15 billion, according to House Speaker Tom Craddick. Full Story
You'll hear Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst mentioned if you start a conversation about the next governor's race, but the stars are aligning to send him to Washington, if he's interested. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry, talking to reporters from The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, became the first candidate to say — without reservations — that he'll be on the gubernatorial ballot in 2010. Full Story
In the only statewide runoff race — the Democratic battle for Railroad Commission — political novice Mark Thompson outran Dale Henry, who was making a third run for a job on that regulatory panel. Thompson got 59.2 percent of the vote, and will challenge Republican incumbent Michael Williams. Full Story
We take you now to Runoff Land, where a handful of candidates are still smacking each other for a chance at their party's nomination. Full Story
Early voting in the April runoff elections runs Monday through Friday of next week (that's March 31-April 4). The pickings are slim, and you're loopy if you think turnout will look like it did in the first week of March. Full Story
Nothing like a proposal to cut $262.8 million from a state program to get negotiations going. Full Story
State election officials have asked for an investigation of voting in a Republican House race that was decided by just 38 votes. Full Story
Texas Republicans have never had a primary like this one. They got a quarter of a million more voters to the polls this year than they did in the presidential primaries four years ago. Full Story
The early voting tsunami is great for political scientists, but it sure makes elected and wanna-be-elected officials nervous. It's big, but it's impossible right now to know who's voting and how, whether the voters are new, whether Republicans are voting in the Democratic primary, whatever. It's a big, fat question mark. For incumbents, that sort of uncertainty is maddening. Full Story
Quick take on the presidential debate in Austin: Hillary Clinton didn't halt or reverse Barack Obama's momentum, and that's what she needed to do. Full Story
A week before the start of early voting in the March 4 party primaries, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama in Texas by eight percentage points and John McCain leads Mike Huckabee here by four a statistical tie according to polling done for the Texas Credit Union League. Full Story
You can always find a candidate in Texas whose campaign blueprint is dependent on a rare or unprecedented event. Full Story
From the sidelines, a handful of state judges could shake up the elections for their colleagues on the field. Full Story
The ballots are more or less complete, pending court actions and dirty tricks and all the usual stuff. And the annual courtship between the vampires and the blood banks — candidates and financiers — is well underway. Full Story
A Harris County grand jury indicted Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife, Francisca Medina, on charges related to a fire at their home. Full Story
Political cannibalism is a bipartisan activity. Full Story
Leave out the presidential contest and only a handful of the 173 statewide and legislative races on the Texas ballot are without incumbents. And they're all in the Texas House. Full Story
Add Dawnna Dukes to the list of Texas lawmakers misreporting credit card spending by their campaigns. And to the line of lawmakers going to the state to make amendments to their campaign finance reports and to try to get their fines lowered. Full Story