Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, former Houston Mayor Bill White, 44 percent to 35 percent in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, which was conducted May 14 to 20. Fifteen percent of the 800 registered voters surveyed are undecided about which of the gubernatorial candidates to support, while 7 percent prefer “someone else.” Perry leads among men, women and Anglos. White leads among African-Americans and Hispanics. In five other statewide races polled, each Republican leads his Democratic opponent by a double-digit margin.
Greg Abbott
Posted in
Health care
Health Care, Conservatives and 2011
When they return to Austin for the next legislative session. lawmakers will confront, for the first time as a group, federal health care reform. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on how some conservative activists and politicians think Texas should respond.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: AG: Chances of Stopping Healthcare Bill “Pretty Good”
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says he feels “pretty good” that the coalition of states suing to halt health care reform will triumph, partly due to concerns raised during “HillaryCare” in the 1990s.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: Texans Strongly Back Repeal of Health Care Reform
53 percent of Texans strongly favor a repeal of federal health care reform legislation, while 24 percent strongly oppose repeal, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll.
Posted in
Environment
Oil Spill: AGs Look for Legal Remedies
Texas Attorney General Abbott and his colleagues in other Gulf Coast states are casting their legal eyes on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports.
Posted in
Energy
TribBlog: AG Takes Action on Oil Spill
The Gulf oil spill that currently spans almost 50 miles wide and 80 miles long is “growing worse by the day“ with “no end in legitimate sight,” Attorney General Greg Abbott said at a press conference this morning.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: What Happens in Arizona…
It’s no surprise that Arizona’s new immigration enforcement law is unpopular with Texas Democrats. But it’s hard to find a high-ranking Republican in the state who’ll endorse it, either.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Texas Solicitor General Defends “Under God”
In 2007, the Texas Pledge of Allegiance was amended to include the phrase “under God.” The office of Attorney General Greg Abbott is fighting to keep it that way.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom on the fall of Norma Chávez; M. Smith and Ramsey on the runoffs, the results, and the aftermath; Hu on the Tea Party’s birthday party; Thevenot and Stiles on the path between schools and prisons; Ramshaw on prosecutors’ reaction to helping hands from Austin; Hamilton on self-appointed lawyers; Galbraith on property rights and power lines; Aguilar and Grissom sit down with the mayor of Juárez to talk about his crime-ridden city; Kraft on telling the stories of Texans and other Americans who died in Vietnam; Ramsey on slots and horses and casinos; and Hamilton goes on a field trip with Jim Hightower to hear the history of populism. The best of our best from April 5 to 9, 2010.
Posted inState Government
The Middle-Finger Vote
It’s embodied in the Tea Party movement, in this week’s runoff election results from Lubbock and Plano, in last month’s primaries, in Gov. Rick Perry’s embrace of states’ rights and the 10th Amendment, even in Barack Obama’s campaign against the status quo in 2008. Voters are furious, and politicians are listening.
