Six points separate Rick Perry and Bill White, but that’s not all there is to it: The pattern of partisan preferences evident in the latest polling suggests that the Republican Party still holds a substantial baseline advantage over the Democrats in Texas.
Governor’s Office
Posted in
Economy
On the Records: Mapping Foreign Investment
Texas.gov, the state’s clearinghouse for services like driver’s license renewals and vehicle registrations, has launched a new page featuring numerous raw government data sets — including a list of foreign companies doing business here.
Posted in
State Government
And They’re Off!
The start of the 2010 election sprint finds Texas Republicans feverish: Even the sober ones think they could snatch up to 10 more state House seats. Democrats maintain they can still wrest majority control away from the GOP.
Posted in
State Government
2010: The Return of Term Limits
Taking a page out of the Kay Bailey Hutchison handbook, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White called for gubernatorial term limits today.
Posted in
State Government
A Big Dam Issue
The fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina has people thinking about whether the state and coastal cities are prepared for another big storm — especially with peak storm season again upon us. As Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports, there’s concern in particular over the sturdiness of dams.
Posted in
State Government
Perry: “I’m Not an Unknown”
The governor depicted by Democrats as a coward in statewide newspaper ads last week doesn’t seem nervous. In fact, as he traveled from Killeen to Temple and on to Texarkana last week accompanied by a reporter from The Texas Tribune, Republican Rick Perry looked comfortable, though he says he’s taking his Democratic challenger, Bill White, seriously.
Posted in
Higher Education
Data App: Regents Who Give
Over the past decade, the men and women chosen by Rick Perry to serve as regents of the state’s universities have given his campaigns a total of at least $5.8 million, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.
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Criminal Justice
Calendar Club
When Bill White criticized Rick Perry in June for “working part time” after his schedule for the first six months of 2010 showed an average of seven hours of state business per week, Perry responded that he doesn’t write down much of his work for the state. By contrast, Perry’s counterparts in California, New York and Florida do write down what they do, and they make their schedules readily available to the public.
Posted in
State Government
Face the Donation
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White is again attacking his Republican opponent, Gov. Rick Perry, for accepting contributions from political appointees — but the former Houston mayor is no stranger to the practice, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of campaign and city records. White has raised nearly $2 million over his years in public life from the people he appointeed to boards and commissions.
Posted in
Economy
2010: White: Perry Cut Corners to Help Friend
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White is calling for an independent audit of Texas Enterprise Fund grants after documents showed the governor’s office offered $2.5 million in state subsidies to Sino Swearingen, a company founded by Doug Jaffe. Jaffe is one of two partners involved in a controversial land deal that netted Perry a $500,000 profit.
