The latest Texas Democratic Party news from The Texas Tribune.
Linda Chavez-Thompson, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, told a TribLive audience this morning that she's not afraid of being associated with President Barack Obama; quite the opposite. Full Story
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Nearly as many Texans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim as approve of his performance as president, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
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Galbraith's three-parter on the battle over wind power transmission lines, Grissom on a convicted killer who got probation, Aguilar on how the U.S. census counts inmates in the Texas prison system, Stiles launches a new interactive tool tracking the candidates for governor, Hamilton on the Texas A&M University System's latest accountability measure for faculty, Hu's interview with Democratic megadonor Steve "Back to Basics" Mostyn, Philpott on how the Texas economy compares to that of other states and Ramsey on the start of the 2010 election sprint: The best of our best from Sept. 6 to 10, 2010. Full Story
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"I always wanted to run for office," Bill Hobby writes. "And I grew up in a family that had been part of state government for a couple of generations." An excerpt from the forthcoming How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics. 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
In his first trip to the Texas capital as president, Barack Obama served up little news but plenty of red meat for supporters. Check out our pool report from his fundraiser and our audio, video and slideshow of his UT-Austin speech. Full Story
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President Barack Obama speaks about higher education at the University of Texas on Monday. 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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Democratic officials in Senate District 22 got together in a Hillsboro restaurant Thursday evening and nominated John Cullar to run for the state Senate seat now held by Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury. 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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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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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
Grissom, Hamilton, and Philpott on the Texas Democratic Party's state convention, the two-step, the forecast, and the ticket; Galbraith on the political and environmental battle between state and federal environmental regulators, and on a new age of nukes in Texas; Burnson on signs of the times in San Antonio; Ramshaw on hackers breaking into the state's confidential cancer database; Aguilar's interview with Katherine Glass, the Libertarian Party's nominee for governor; Acosta on efforts to stop 'Murderabilia' items that sell because of the association with killers; Ramshaw and the Houston Chronicle's Terri Langford on the criminal arrest records of workers in state-funded foster care centers; Hu on accusations that state Sunset examiners missed problems with workers compensation regulators because they didn't ask the right questions of the right people; Ramsey and Stiles on the rush to rake in campaign cash, and on political races that could be won or lost because of voter attraction to Libertarian candidates; and Aguilar's fresh take on South Texas' reputation for corruption. The best of our best from June 28 to July 3, 2010. Full Story
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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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Though he gave a memorable speech, Bill White wasn't the only candidate at the Democrats' state convention in Corpus Christi. The question is whether he's the only one of consequence, or if this is a legitimate statewide ticket that can return the party to power. Full Story
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In this week's TribCast, Ethe gang discusses the Democratic Convention in Corpus Christi, Bill White calling out President Barack Obama, and Mike Toomey's ties with the Green Party. Full Story