Voters routed state Reps. Delwin Jones and Norma Chavez on Tuesday, turned back former Rep. Rick Green’s bid for a spot on the Texas Supreme Court and handed victories to at least three candidates who appeared to benefit from the Tea Party insurgency in Texas.
Texas Legislature
Posted in
State Government
2010: What Brown Did for Brown
Fred Brown won another term in the Texas House, after getting himself into a four-way primary and surviving that and today’s runoff against Gerald “Buddy” Winn.
Posted in
State Government
2010: Insurgents Take Lubbock
Charles Perry is on his way to the Texas House, having defeated Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, and fellow Republican John Frullo won the GOP nomination for an open seat in his predominantly Republican district. Perry has no opposition in November. Frullo will face Democrat Carol Morgan.
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Criminal Justice
Runoff Day: A Spectator’s Guide
Today’s elections in 18 Texas primary races, all but two involving Republicans, probably won’t change the overall temperature of the statehouse or our delegation to Congress. The partisan makeup of those places isn’t at stake until November. But for three House incumbents and challengers in two other races — for the State Board of Education and the Texas Supreme Court — how the vote turns out is a big deal.
Posted in
Economy
What are the Odds?
Start with a shortfall and a Legislature that doesn’t want to raise taxes, then dangle budget-balancing money from “volunteers” — a.k.a., gamblers. With that strategy, promoters think they’ve got their best shot in years to legalize slot machines while adding $1 billion a year to state revenues.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom on her two hours in Juárez, Grissom, Ramshaw and Ramsey on four of the runoffs on Tuesday’s ballot, Ramshaw on the religious experience that is voting for Dallas County’s DA and an energy regulator’s play for a job at the entity he regulates, Mulvaney on the Texas Senate’s biggest spenders, Aguilar on whether — as U.S. officials claim — 90 percent of guns used in Mexican crimes really flow south from Texas, M. Smith on the continuing Texas Forensic Science Commission follies, Stiles on how inmates spend their money behind bars and how counties are responding at Census time, Hamilton on the creative accounting and semantic trickery that allows lawmakers to raise revenue without hiking taxes when there’s a budget shortfall, and Hu on Austin’s first-in-the-nation car-sharing program. The best of our best from April 5 to 9, 2010.
Posted in
Politics
Fee for All!
Every candidate vying for a legislative seat knows what lies ahead in 2011: a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion, probably higher, and state agency cuts to save as much of that amount as possible. But new revenue is a possibility as well, even if lawmakers are expert at the old sleight of hand, employing creative accounting and semantic trickery to avoid stepping on that political third rail, the tax hike.
Posted in
Economy
TribBlog: Coming To A State Park Near You…
The sound of clanging and banging construction equipment may interrupt the tranquil noises of nature for Texas campers this spring and summer.
Posted in
State Government
2010: What’s on the Special?
Voters in Central Texas, Dallas and Plano will get to vote for the third month in a row in May, in special elections for the Texas House and Senate. Three officeholders — Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, and Reps. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, and Brian McCall, R-Plano — resigned before their terms were up. Today was the deadline for candidate filing.
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Criminal Justice
The Senate’s Biggest Spenders
The 31-member body spent nearly $16 million last fiscal year on travel, staff and office expenses, according to records from the office of the Secretary of the Senate. Overall spending by individual senators ranged from $206,000, by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, to $637,000, by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.
