Delwin Jones, who was first elected to the Texas House in 1964 after two unsuccessful attempts, says he has handed out 765,000 promotional emery boards since his start in politics. His tenure and those files weren’t enough to win a bruising primary outright last month, though, and the veteran legislator now finds himself in a runoff against Tea Party organizer Charles Perry, who’s capitalizing on voter anger at incumbents.
Texas House of Representatives
Posted in
Higher Education
The Runoffs: HD-84
The runoff between John Frullo and Mark Griffin shares one important characteristic with the adjacent race in HD-83: It pits inside-the-tent Lubbock Republicans against a coalition of social and libertarian conservatives who are distinctly unhappy with government in Washington and Texas. In that frame, Frullo’s the insurgent and Griffin represents the establishment.
Posted in
State Government
2010: Shapleigh, Moreno Back Naomi Over Norma
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, and former state Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso, will endorse challenger Naomi Gonzalez over incumbent state Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, in the April 13 runoff that will decide the winner of the House District 76 seat, according to the El Paso Times.
Posted in
Higher Education
TribBlog: McCall’s Off to College [updated]
Brian McCall will apparently be the next chancellor of the Texas State University System. The board of regents picked the state representative, a Plano Republican, as the sole finalist to replace Charles Matthews in that job. They made the announcement on Monday.
Posted in
State Government
2010: Al Edwards Contesting Recount Results
A recount showed state Rep. Al Edwards lost his primary race by eight votes, but Edwards wants to be absolutely sure. He’s filed an election contest in district court.
Posted inState Government
The Runoffs: HD-52
Two Republicans are battling for the chance to win back a Williamson County legislative seat from first-term state Rep. Diana Maldonado, D-Round Rock. They differ more in style than substance. One says he has deeper ties to the district. The other touts more than a decade’s worth of experience as a Capitol insider.
Posted in
State Government
2010: Birdwell’s Eligibility in Question
Residency requirements tripped up Brian Birdwell’s previous effort to enter the Texas Legislature, and it looks like they will again.
Posted in
State Government
The Runoffs: HD-127
Primary night was humming along swimmingly for Humble school board president Dan Huberty, and after the early vote he seemed headed to victory. Then the numbers dipped and his fortunes changed, and now he’s in a heated GOP run-off with Dr. Susan Curling. As another Election Day draws closer, the contest is getting personal.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom on the 1.2 million Texans who’ve lost their licenses under the Driver Responsibility Act and the impenetrable black box that is the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Ramshaw and Kraft on nurses with substance abuse problems and rehabilitation that can get them back to work, M. Smith finds it’s not easy being Rick Green, Stiles on counting Texans (and everybody else), Rapoport on the State Board of Education’s war with itself and the runoff in SBOE District 10, Thevenot’s revealing interview with a big-city superintendent on closing bad schools, Aguilar on the tensions over water on the Texas-Mexico border, Hamilton on the new Coffee Party, Hu on Kesha Rogers and why her party doesn’t want her, Philpott on the runoff in HD-47, Ramsey on Bill White and the politics of taxes, and E. Smith’s conversation with Game Change authors Mark Halperin and John Heleimann: The best of our best from March 15 to 19.
Posted in
State Government
The Runoffs: HD-47
Republicans in southwest Travis County still need to choose between Paul Workman and Holly Turner before setting their sights on State Rep. Valinda Bolton, D-Austin, in November. Ben Philpott, covering the 2010 elections for KUT News and the Tribune, filed this report.
