Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, can remain on the November ballot, the state’s 5th Court of Appeals ruled this afternoon. Texas Democrats had sued to remove him, saying his vote in the Virginia elections in 2006 made him ineligible to serve in the Texas Senate.
Texas Senate
Posted inState Government
2010: An Opponent for Birdwell [Updated]
Democratic officials in Senate District 22 got together in a Hillsboro restaurant Thursday evening and nominated John Cullar to run for the state Senate seat now held by Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury.
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State Government
Kip Averitt: The TT Interview
The McGregor Republican — who quit the Texas Senate earlier this year — talked to the Tribune on Tuesday about politics and parties, redistricting, things left undone and how the Legislature changed during his time there.
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State Government
A Conversation with Kip Averitt
No longer a government official, former state Sen. Kip Averitt talked with the Tribune’s Ross Ramsey about politics and parties, redistricting, things left undone and how the Legislature has changed during his time there.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Stiles’ and Torres’ three-parter on the changing Texas political map, Ramsey on questions about Brian Birdwell’s voting history and residency, Aguilar on the Obama administration’s immigration crackdown, Reed on hospitals that won’t induce early labor, Stiles on what Troy Fraser left off his financial disclosure form, the latest installment of Hu’s Face-Off video debate series, Grissom on the problem-plagued Driver Responsibility Program, Galbraith on the controversy over fracking and M. Smith’s interview with former Texas Supreme Court Justice Harriet O’Neill: The best of our best from July 26 to 30, 2010.
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State Government
One Man, Two Votes
State Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, voted in the November 2004 presidential election twice, choosing between George W. Bush and John Kerry in Tarrant County, Texas, and again in Prince William County, Virginia, according to election records in the two states.
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State Government
TribBlog: Not Who, But What?
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst made some new committee assignments last week to cover the resignation of state Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco. But the rejiggering created as many questions as it answered: Not about who went where, but about what went where. For instance: What committee will have legislative oversight of electric utility companies?
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Demographics
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 38
Evan returns for this week’s TribCast, in which the podcast gang takes up campaign finance, the Hispanic Republicans of Texas, Gov. Rick Perry’s taxes and the committee shakeup in the Texas Senate.
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State Government
TribBlog: “The Rumor Mill in Austin is Very Efficient”
State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, says he’s talking to the Texas A&M Universtity System about a vice chancellor’s job there, but says the issue is “unresolved,” and that the public conversation about his intentions “is really premature.” That said, he’s already talking about how he’d leave office.
