Texas Politics
January 24, 2009 - Cisneros says no, well maybe not
In an interview with KERA in Dallas former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros told interviewer Shelley Kofler that he is not considering running for governor or any other race in 2010 or beyond. However, when pressed on that answer Cisneros hedged and didn't rule the option out. As he stated "Well, I could say no. But, um, obviously one has to think about it. I think the answer is no. But who knows." I guess that means no but then again, Cisneros is ... Read more »
January 27, 2009 - Can the Democrats win the race for governor?
There has been a lot of speculation about who will run in 2010 for governor of Texas. Governor Perry is definitely running for re-election, aiming to continue his streak of longest serving governor of the state. Kay Bailey Hutchison has launched an exploratory committee and has loaned the committee $1 million to fund the exploration. She was in Austin on Saturday and announced a list of supporters for her candidacy that included some old and new GOP ... Read more »
February 3, 2009 - Palin in Texas? You betcha
The Dallas Morning News reported yesterday that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has endorsed Rick Perry in his bid for re-election as governor of the state of Texas calling him the "true conservative." The endorsement came in a letter sent to 10,500 members of the Texas Federation of Republican Women who, according to the article, have been crucial in the past to the support of US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Hutchison is planning a challenge to Gov. ... Read more »
February 4, 2009 - Corte will not lead GOP caucus
In a posting today in Postcards, the lege blog of the Austin American-Statesman, State Rep. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio) confirmed he will not be seeking re-election as chairman of the House GOP caucus. He said that the fact that Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) was elected did not factor into his decision. Some are speculating that he may have decided not to run for chairman to avoid having to criticize a fellow representative from Bexar County ... Read more »
February 5, 2009 - Tom Craddick's arrogance
In an AP story in the Austin American-Statesman former Speaker Tom Craddick had the files from his computers wiped clean during his last day in office as speaker. The Legislature Council felt this was an acceptable practice and took no actions to preserve any records. However this act is heating up the blogosphere and may be investigated by the new Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg who took over for former DA and watchdog Ronnie ... Read more »
February 14, 2009 - Will Texas get its own version of C-SPAN?
State Rep. Joaquin Castro (R-San Antonio) is proposing that Texas has its own version of C-SPAN in a letter sent to Texas cable and satellite providers. In a posting at the Burnt Orange Report the details of the proposal are outlined. Currently this option is only available to residents of Austin. Americans have the ability to follow the federal goverrnment through C-SPAN. Local municipalities can follow their city government also. Castro feels broadcasts ... Read more »
February 20, 2009 - State Rep. Villarreal hosts workshop on learning to lobby
State Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio) hosted a workshop today on effective ways to lobby your legislator at the VIA Metro Center. Speaking before a full room Villarreal provided information on the five steps he has found to be effective when lobbying legislative issues with your legislator, both House and Senate, in Austin. The information is timely since the Lege is in session in Austin now so everyone has an opportunity to effect change through ... Read more »
February 23, 2009 - Movement to censure State Rep. Leo Burman
As a general practice I planned to keep this blog focused on issues and avoid using it to promote any causes. Doing so would serve only to slant the content away from good discussion on matters. However, after reading more about a recent incident and reading some of the activities of State Rep. Leo Burman (R-Tyler) I have to take a stand here and join the Censure Leo movement. Harsh words were exchanged during a heated conversation over immigration ... Read more »
March 3, 2009 - Redistricting bloodletting may finally end
Paul Burka, Texas Monthly political columnist, recently wrote about proposed legislation by Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) to change the way congressional districts are drawn every decade. Instead of having the Texas legislature draw the districts through committee, SB 315, proposes the creation of a bipartisan Texas Congressional Redistricting Commission separate from the legislature. Rep. Mark Strama (D-Austin) has submitted a similar bill, ... Read more »
March 9, 2009 - Voter ID - what's going on?
Tomorrow it looks like the Texas Senate will take up the infamous Voter ID bill (SB 362) on the floor of the Senate in a move called Committee of the Whole Senate. This is happening after the Senate voted at the beginning of the session to bypass normal process of a 2/3 vote for passage for a simple majority. The real question on this bill centers on what problem is it really trying to solve and why is it so important that it trumps all other business ... Read more »
March 13, 2009 - Perry rejects stimulus money at unemployed's expense
Today Gov. Rick Perry rejected $555 million in federal stimulus money destined for unemployed benefits at a press conference in Houston. "I am here today to stand with Texas employers and the millions of Texans they employ to resist further government intrusion into their businesses through an expansion of our state's unemployment insurance program," Perry said in an article by Elise Hu of Austin's KVUE. Perry held with a Republican line that infusion ... Read more »
March 18, 2009 - How much will Voter ID cost?
It seems the Voter ID bill authored by Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) will most likely clear the Senate along party lines of 19-12. While there has been much debate about the bill and the need for it the bill will be headed to the House where the debate should be more contentious and the vote much closer. The House currently has a 76-74 split between the parties so any cross-over will be highly scrutinized by the party leadership. Within the state ... Read more »
April 28, 2009 - Why not make early voting the only way to vote?
This week started early voting for municipal elections across Texas, including San Antonio. The dates are from April 27th to May 5th with hours and locations listed by the Bexar County Election Department. The date for the general election is scheduled for May 9th, a Saturday. With this many options to vote there is really no excuse for San Antonians to not vote in the municipal election. Unfortunately a majority of eligible San Antonio residents ... Read more »
May 5, 2009 - Partisan politics derail bi-partisan redistricting proposal
This legislative session Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) authored a bill (SB 315) that would change the redistricting process for congressional districts to be managed by a bi-partisan commission instead of the normal partisan wrangling that occurs in the Texas legislature every decade. However, the Austin-American Statesman's Postcards blog is reporting that Sen. Wentworth has pulled the bill from consideration after a "split among Republicans ... Read more »
May 8, 2009 - Perry leads Hutchison in latest Rasmussen poll
According to Paul Burka of Texas Monthly Gov. Rick Perry leads Kay Bailey Hutchison 42% to 38% with 7% saying they would likely vote for someone else and 13% being undecided (Source: Rasmussen Reports). According to Rasmussen Reports "Perry leads by 15 percentage points among conservative voters but Hutchison leads by 35 points among the moderates." This shows the race is really a dead heat at this point. Earlier in the year Hutchison seemed to have ... Read more »
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