The latest Eric Johnson news from The Texas Tribune.
Voters in Central Texas, Dallas and Plano will get to vote for the third month in a row in May, in special elections for the Texas House and Senate. Three officeholders — Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, and Reps. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, and Brian McCall, R-Plano — resigned before their terms were up. Today was the deadline for candidate filing. Full Story
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Voters in South Dallas and Central Texas will have special elections on May 8 to pick new legislators. Gov. Rick Perry called those to replace Rep. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, in HD-100, and Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, in SD-22. Full Story
With 60 percent of precincts counted, Dallas attorney Eric Johnson has a more than 40 percentage point lead over incumbent Rep. Terri Hodge in the District 100 Democratic primary. Hodge pled guilty last month in a citywide corruption scandal. Because there is no Republican or Libertarian running for the seat in the general election, Johnson doesn't have to wait until November to claim victory. Full Story
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Thevenot on the abysmally low community college graduation rate and higher ed's coming budgetary winter. Ramshaw on Terri Hodge's guilty plea and hasty exit. Grissom on the Department of Public Safety's use of dreaded federal stimulus funds to plug a hole in the state's border security budget. Hu on the first of the intraparty face-offs in our Primary Color series. Ramsey and Stiles on the congressional candidates with the most money on hand. Ramsey on whether Farouk Shami's accent and name are an obstacle to his election. Aguilar on the fever-tick epidemic overwhelming South Texas. Rapoport on TxDOT's hard road and the State Board of Education's lack of finance expertise. Philpott on how Barack Obama's budget will impact Texas. M. Smith on whether lawyers giving to judges is a good thing. Hamilton on the latest transportation innovations on the drawing board. The best of our best from February 1 to 5, 2010. Full Story
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Dallas Democrat Terri Hodge pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom Wednesday and agreed to resign her post as a state representative. Full Story
State Rep. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, dropped her reelection bid on Wednesday to plead guilty to lying on a tax return. But it's too early for Eric Johnson, her West Dallas-born, Ivy League-educated primary opponent, to claim victory. Full Story
A review of campaign finance reports for the period from July to December 2009 reveals that some candidates for the Texas House are capable of raising serious money. Full Story
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