Updated: Perry Questioned on Polls, "Birther" Issue
At a press conference hours after releasing his tax and spending plan, Rick Perry faced questions about his low poll numbers and his comments on Barack Obama's birth certificate. Full Story
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Inside Intelligence: Presidential Report Card
Our insiders are watching their governor closely, and half of the people who've been watching him the longest — and professionally, at that — say he's not doing as well in the presidential campaign as they expected. That said, they're not writing him off. Full Story
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A Fight Outlasts the Proposal that Sparked It
A recurring theme questioned the status quo of the boards that govern higher education at this week’s day-long meeting of the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence, and Transparency: Are the boards that govern higher education due for more restrictive conflict-of-interest policies? Full Story
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TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aaronson interactively asks if stimulus funds created jobs in Texas, Aguilar on new voter registrar rules that could decrease voter turnout, Galbraith on a UT professor's debunking of climate change "myths," Grissom on an epic clash of El Paso political titans, Hamilton on the right's new higher ed guru, Murphy maps household data from the 2010 Census, Ramsey on a coming rules fight in the Texas Senate, Root and M. Smith on Rick Perry's performance at the New Hampshire debate and M. Smith talks public ed cuts with the state's Superintendent of the Year: The best of our best content from October 10-14, 2011. Full Story
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Inside Intelligence: School Finance
This week, we asked the insiders whether the school finance lawsuits will play in the elections and in the next legislative session. Full Story
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Higher Ed Guru: Seven Solutions a "Good Start"
Thomas Lindsay, recently selected to head the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education, attributes the state's growing awareness of higher education to the discussion begun by the TPPF. Full Story
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Will Redistricting Court Battles Create Electoral Confusion?
The redrawing of political district lines — which ideally happens just once a decade after a federal census — could create a series of crazy election cycles for Texas voters and candidates. It happened in the 1990s, and it could happen again now. Full Story
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Inside Intelligence: Bad News, Good News
It's been a noisy week for Rick Perry, the presidential candidate, so we asked the insiders whether any of what they've heard and read over the last few days will stick. Will the stories have legs? Is the good news good enough to last? The bad news? Full Story
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Business Groups Back Water Ballot Measure
Next month, Texans will go to the polls to decide whether to authorize $6 billion in bonding authority dedicated to building and fixing water infrastructure. But some conservatives and Tea Party members have concerns about the measure. Full Story
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Campaign Chatter
Chris Harris and Will Hartnett say they won't be back, but the horde of candidates for state and federal legislative seats is growing. Full Story
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Inside Intelligence: The Money Side
Federal campaign fundraising deadlines are upon us, so we poked the insiders this week for their views on money and politics. Full Story
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When Second Place is the Same as Last
Nobody is required to pay attention to you just because you’re running for office. Not the news media, not the money people and not the voters. But where is the line on who’s in and who’s out? Full Story
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In the Map Rooms
The Justice Department didn't find fault (put an asterisk here) with the Senate and State Board of Education redistricting maps from Texas, but told a federal court in Washington, DC, that it thinks the maps for the congressional delegation and for the Texas House go backwards in minority representation. Full Story
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In Third Debate, Perry Prepared But Stumbles
Gov. Rick Perry headed into his third Republican presidential debate with a lot to prove. He left with a mixed bag. Full Story
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Inside Intelligence: The Trouble with Immigration
Immigration issues jumped into the center ring of the presidential race, so we took the opportunity to ask our insiders how that's going to play for Gov. Rick Perry. The verdict? It depends. Full Story
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Guest Column: Past as Prelude? Perry in Texas and Iowa
An Iowa victory sent George W. Bush on to capture the Republican nomination in 2000. How might Iowans judge Texas’ next governor some 12 years later? Full Story
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Higher Ed Oversight Committee Revisits "Solutions"
At today's hearing of the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence and Transparency, experts weighed in on how — and how not — to make universities in Texas more accountable and transparent. Full Story
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![Rep. Dan Branch R-Dallas and Sen. Judith Zaffirini D-Laredo, co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Oversight of Higher Education Governance, Excellence & Transparency during meeting on September 21st, 2011]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
The Texas Weekly Index: March Fights, November Peace
General elections in Texas will be less competitive than ever under the redistricting maps approved by the Legislature earlier this year. The political threats to incumbents, if any, will come in primaries and not in general elections. Full Story
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Feds: Proposed Texas Maps Undermine Minority Voting Rights
The U.S. Justice Department said Monday that new political maps for the Texas House and the state's congressional delegation don't protect the electoral power of the state's minority populations as required by the federal Voting Right Act. Full Story
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The Texas Weekly Index
Lots of things affect election outcomes. Candidates. Money. Issues. Surprises. But some of the results are wired into district maps, through redistricting. Here's our charting of the political atmosphere — Republican or Democratic — in each of the House, Senate and congressional districts drawn by the Legislature this year. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
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