In honor of today’s kickoff of early voting — a two-week period in which political junkies, committed activists and other go-to-the-head-of-the-class types will line up to cast ballots for their favorite candidates, unable to contain their enthusiasm or anger until March 2 — we present five different installments in our Primary Color series. Brandi Grissom reports on the GOP face-off to take on state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, in House District 78. Elise Hu tackles the four-way scrum between Republicans in HD-20 hoping to succeed retiring state Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown. Ross Ramsey asks why a perenially safe incumbent, state Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, has a fight on her hands this year in HD-98. Abby Rapoport looks at the battle for conservative cred in the race for the District 5 seat on the State Board of Education. And Morgan Smith picks apart the five-way race for the GOP nomination in Congressional District 23 — and the chance to topple U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio.
state agencies
Posted in
State Government
2010: Newspaper Endorsements: Star-Telegram for Kinky
“[O]ffers a vision for how the department can best serve all Texans, as well as the lands and animals entrusted to them.”
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Criminal Justice
Survey Says…
Texans are more worried about the economy and the direction of the country than anything else, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Other notable findings: Nearly two-thirds support either gay marriage or civil unions, nearly half prefer private health insurance to a government-run plan, and more than a third think the Legislature meets every year.
Posted in
Economy
TribBlog: Tax Revenues Continue to Fall
Sales tax collections fell by double digits, again.
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State Government
2010: Newspaper Endorsements: SAEN for Gilbert
“Gilbert is far more knowledgeable about agriculture issues and state government than Friedman.”
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Public Education
TribBlog: NYT Mag on SBOE’s “Christian Nation”
It seems the social conservatives on the State Board of Education may be on their way to getting more ink than any other politicians in modern Texas history, a cause that will be helped in this Sunday’s printing of The New York Times Magazine.
Posted in
Politics
TribBlog: CPPP Says Texas Kids Fare Worse Than Most
Texas kids are poorer, hungrier and more often uninsured than kids in almost any other state, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities.
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Economy
TribBlog: HHSC Making The Cut
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has released its best bets for how to meet the 5 percent budget reduction requested by Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders.
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Health care
This Might Hurt: A Dose of Politics
Immunization advocates want to expand our vaccination database, but the well-educated, middle-class parents who oppose them are organized and driven — and could force lawmakers to take sides in the tussle between personal freedom and public health.
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Economy
The Last Time Around
How will lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion — and maybe several billion more — in the next legislative session? In all likelihood, by doing what they did in 2003, when things were almost this bad.
