Texas voters won’t be offered a real chance at change in the Legislature and Congress next year. Four out of five state and federal lawmakers face no real competition in their primary or general elections.
Texas House of Representatives
Mapmaker, Mapmaker
Think like the political pros and your mind will go to the long game instead of the short one. The short game is the elections of 2010. The long game is redistricting in 2011, when maps are drawn that corral the voters into the districts that will elect legislators for the next ten years.
2010: Gattis Bows Out
Dan Gattis’ announcement that he won’t run for Senate or for reelection to the House next year:
Gattis is Out, says Ogden is In
State Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, is dropping his bid for state Senate and won’t seek reelection to the Texas House next year, he said Sunday. Gattis said State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, will seek reelection after all.
2010: Chavez Not Running for Senate
State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, announced today on a local radio show that she plans to run for reelection to the Texas House instead of making a go at the state Senate seat that Eliot Shapleigh is vacating.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Multi-part stories from Ramshaw and Grissom and Stiles on mental health services for detained immigrants and on payday lenders who provide exorbitantly priced credit to people with nowhere else to turn… Twitter, word clouds and the race for governor — a Stiles joint… Farouk Shami is in and Hu was there to watch… Philpott went to Bastrop for a gather of Republican governors… Rapoport finds a State Board of Education that’s trying to control itself… and we have the skinny on legislative races that are likely to be competitive (only about 5 percent of the races on the ballot). It’s the best of The Texas Tribune from November 14 to 20, 2009.
TribBlog: Interim Charges
Speaker Joe Straus has given committees their assignments for the next year.
2010: Dee Margo’s in for Round Three in El Paso
El Paso Republican businessman Dee Margo said today he will run for the Texas House again, taking on Democrat Joe Moody. The campaign will be Margo’s third try for a seat in the Texas Legislature.
Fight Club
With 198 legislators on the ballot next year, there ought to be more fear in the air. But only a few are in obvious political trouble. Who’s on the list, and what makes them vulnerable?



