The speaker’s race drama continues! House Speaker Joe Straus is hitting back — hard — at challenger state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, calling on Chisum to “stop the threatening letters, mean-spirited emails, and angry phone calls.”
Elise Hu
Elise Hu was a political reporter at the Tribune, focusing on multimedia projects, from 2009 to 2011. She previously worked as the state political reporter for Austin's ABC affiliate, KVUE-TV, from 2006 to 2009. She was recognized by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters three years in a row for her beat reporting on state politics and was named Best TV Reporter Who Can Write by The Austin Chronicle. Before arriving in Austin, she held reporting positions at television stations in Waco; Greenville, S.C.; and Columbia, Mo. She's an evangelist for social media and multimedia journalism — her Political Junkie blog was listed as one of WashingtonPost.com's top Texas political blogs. A native of Plano, she has a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri.
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State Government
TribBlog: Chisum Wants Straus Pledges [Updated]
“Republican to Republican, I have to ask the Speaker to ‘Let our people go,'” said speaker candidate state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa. It’s the latest salvo in an ongoing back-and-forth between the two speaker candidates.
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State Government
TribBlog: Hughes Leaves Team Straus [Updated]
The latest defection from Speaker Joe Straus’ list of supporters is state Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, who claims the speaker’s team is “using the redistricting process as retribution.”
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Demographics
The Crackdown Begins
Republican state lawmakers, buoyed by their party’s resounding victories on Election Day, have filed several bills ahead of the next legislative session that signal how far they’re willing to go in tackling illegal immigration. State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, filed a nine-bill bundle that included a proposal to require picture IDs at polling places.
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State Government
2010: Donna Howard Wins in a Squeaker
It appears state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, will keep her seat in the Texas House. After overseas ballots were counted Monday, the final vote tally gave Howard a 16-vote victory over Republican challenger Dan Neil.
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State Government
HuTube: First to File
It’s the first day to prefile bills for the next legislative session, and lawmakers lined up early to get in their legislation. (Some lawmakers were more eager than others.) Our latest HuTube post has the action from inside the House clerk’s office.
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State Government
TribBlog: Straus on the Offensive
House Speaker Joe Straus is moving quickly to squelch any talk of a speaker’s race. His office released two letters this afternoon — one from conservative leaders expressing support for him, and another that emphasizes his strengths as House leader.
Posted inState Government
2010 Full Election Results
Complete 2010 general election results up and down the ballot, and county-by-county interactive results maps for statewide races.
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Economy
Majority Rules
Whether you call it a wave, a rout or a tsunami, one thing is clear: Republicans in the Texas House won a massive mandate for conservative bills — and budgeting — in the coming legislative session.
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State Government
The Biggest Gainers
Texas House Republicans react after defeating 22 incumbent Democrats, giving them the largest majority they’ve seen since Reconstruction.