The Last Lap

Face it: This is a political off year. There’s one race at the top of the ballot, and the polls, if they’re right, have been remarkably stagnant for a long time. There’s movement back there in the race for second, but the overall outlook is a lot like it was months ago. There’s one race in the Legislature that could change how things operate — it’s in the Senate — and a handful of races in the House that look to change the partisan makeup only slightly. Most of the statewide races are yawners, though it’s a nervous time for Republicans at the low end of the statewide ballot.

Without Houston lawyer John O’Quinn, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell wouldn’t be on television during the last three weeks of this election cycle.

A half-cent increase in the sales tax could be used on a local option basis to lower property taxes, according to the head of the governor’s task force on appraisal reform.

Old School: Politicians complain about the “filter” of the news media, a gripe usually leveled when they had something good about themselves or nasty about the opposition that they couldn’t convince anyone to run.

Start this look at Texas House races with the usual caveats: Partisans — the people who tell us about this stuff — are always wrong about some of the races on their “hot” lists. Some won’t pan out. Some might pan out when nobody’s looking. It’s a head vs. heart thing.

A new poll of registered voters done for the Texas Credit Union League has everybody in the governor’s race well below the 50 percent that would give them a majority. Gov. Rick Perry is at the front of the pack, with 42 percent, followed by Democrat Chris Bell at 20 percent, independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn at 18 percent, independent Kinky Friedman at 12 percent, and Libertarian James Werner at 2 percent.

Former Gov. Ann Richards, an iconic Texas Democrat known for her lashing wit, her crown of white hair, and her sheer charisma, succumbed to the esophageal cancer her doctors discovered  earlier this year. She was 73.

Rep. Gene Seaman and his wife have houses in Austin and Corpus and have homestead and elderly tax exemptions on both of them. Rep. Rob Eissler pays rent from campaign funds for a condo in Austin he purchased years before he became a legislator to house his sons while they were students at the University of Texas. Sen. Kim Brimer and Rep. Vicki Truitt each use campaign funds to rent Austin living spaces from their spouses.

This is your last weekend to watch television without sorting through shouting, finger-pointing, and showboating from politicians.