Add Tom Pauken to the list of Men Who Would Be Governor. The former Texas Workforce commissioner and Republican Party chairman filed papers this week for a 2014 run. He’s not running against Rick Perry, exactly, but he’s not exactly not. He told The Texas Tribune he wants to reunite the “Reagan coalition of social and economic conservatives.” He told the Dallas Morning News, which broke the story, that it's time for "a different style of leadership." He said he likes Perry and likes Attorney General Greg Abbott, most often mentioned as next in the line of succession in the GOP.

Put Barry Smitherman on the maybe list for the 2014 race for attorney general. He is currently chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, a post to which he was elected in November, and hasn’t made a public peep about anything else. But fellow Republicans — non-officeholders, by the way — say he is talking about a shot at AG. He says, in response, that he’s planning to run for reelection to the RRC.

Democratic activist Celia Israel says she has filed the paperwork to run for Rep. Mark Strama’s spot in HD-50 in 2014. The Austin Democrat announced early in the session that this will be his last term; Israel says she’s got 300 supporters and a website.

Press corps moves: Brad Watson leaves Dallas’ WFAA-TV after more than three decades (!) to become a spokesman for Luminent. 

Gov. Rick Perry appointed:

• Tony Buzbee of Friendswood, Morris Foster of Austin and Charles Schwartz of Houston to the Texas A&M System Board of Regents. Buzbee is a trial lawyer. Foster is retired president of ExxonMobil Production Co. Schwartz is a partner with the Skadden Arps law firm.

• John Clamp of San Antonio to preside over the board of the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority. Clamp runs the San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association.

• Leslie Bingham and Lowell Keig to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for new terms. Bingham is CEO of Valley Baptist Medical Center in Brownsville. Keig is an Austin attorney.