The latest Republican Party Of Texas news from The Texas Tribune.
Judge Pat Priest has just denied Tom DeLay's request for a change of venue. The former congressman will be tried in Travis County, though he may still raise the issue again during the process of jury selection. The trial date has tentatively been set for Oct. 26. Full Story
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At today's pretrial hearing, Judge Pat Priest said the former U.S. House majority leader, not his associates, will be tried first. Full Story
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An Interview with former GOP gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina Full Story
The third-place finisher in this year's GOP gubernatorial primary on whether she'll vote for Rick Perry, how she feels about the mosque near Ground Zero and what her reaction to Glenn Beck should have been. Full Story
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In the wake of a court ruling keeping state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, on the ballot, lawyers for his Democratic opponent and the Texas Democratic Party are deciding whether to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. But time is short: Today is the last day a candidate who is removed can be replaced. Full Story
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Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, can remain on the November ballot, the state's 5th Court of Appeals ruled this afternoon. Texas Democrats had sued to remove him, saying his vote in the Virginia elections in 2006 made him ineligible to serve in the Texas Senate. Full Story
As President Obama made his way to a fundraiser in Dallas Monday, Republicans in Austin got in their two-cents worth, holding a "Hands Off Texas" rally on the South Steps of the state Capitol hours after Obama visited Austin for fundraiser and a speech at UT. KUT's Erika Aguilar reports. Full Story
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President Obama is coming to Austin and Dallas on Monday. He'll make a stop on the University of Texas campus to deliver a speech before throngs of supporters — and, no doubt, protesters. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the main focus of his trip is green, not burnt orange. Full Story
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Political observers, partisan faithful and a pair of campaigns have been consumed by one question for nearly eight months: How close is the race between Republican Rick Perry and Democrat Bill White? Members of both parties agree that White represents the Democrats' best shot at winning the governor's office in 15 years, despite the state's status as a Republican stronghold. But many believe that voting patterns show Texas is still years away from becoming truly competitive. Full Story
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For the final part of his three-part series, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune sat down with Hispanic student leaders to find out whether Texas Democrats and Republicans can attract first-time voters in November. Full Story
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The Hispanic vote in Texas is often referred to as a "sleeping giant" because of historically low turnout. If Hispanics were to show up at the ballot box in record numbers, they could easily influence elections of all kinds. In part two of his three-part series, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on the efforts of state Democrats to sound the alarm. Full Story
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Evan returns for this week's TribCast, in which the podcast gang takes up campaign finance, the Hispanic Republicans of Texas, Gov. Rick Perry's taxes and the committee shakeup in the Texas Senate. Full Story
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Hispanic Republicans of Texas made its public debut Tuesday. Even the group's leaders are even willing to admit that the political atmosphere could be friendlier. Full Story
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In the first installment of a three-part series, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune looks at a new Republican effort to recruit, train and fund Hispanic candidates. Full Story
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The push to get out the vote is underway. Democrats in Austin scattered about town Saturday morning to reach out to registered voters and sign up new ones for the November election — a strategy they banked on in 2008. But as Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, they've got competition. Full Story
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The chairman of the political science department at Rice University recently ranked Texas House members' partisanship based on their 2009 legislative votes. Our interactive chart highlights what he describes as Texas' increasingly polarized political environment. Full Story
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Challenger Jason Isaac, after raising nothing last year, garnered about $169,000 in six months to help him unseat Democratic incumbent state Rep. Partick Rose, D-Dripping Springs. Full Story
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If the rainbow flavors of the Tea Party feature a common taste, it’s that of fiscally restrained government — and the anti-Washington and pro-state fervor that comes along with it. Not coincidentally, that was the overwhelming theme of the GOP's recent convention, setting the tone — as the Democrats did in their state gathering — for the November general election. Full Story
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Mark P. Jones, political science chairman at Rice University, recently ranked Texas House members' partisanship based on their 2009 legislative votes. The study, which we've used to create an interactive chart, shows Texas' increasingly polarized political environment, Jones says in an interview. Full Story
It's impossible to know exactly which elections will be close in November. But with Libertarian candidates in more than a dozen House races that are on the Republican and Democratic target lists, signed up for the two Texas congressional seats on the GOP's national target list, and in the statewide races, too, here's a question: Are the Libertarians giving Texas Democrats a electoral boost? Full Story
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