Public Policy Polling’s most recent survey shows that Rick Perry has virtually no support for president among Texans. Indeed, he is so poorly regarded that he would lose a head-to-head matchup with Hillary Clinton.The days when Perry was actually relevant are long gone. No one pays any attention
The news that Harris County voters turned down a proposal on Tuesday to remake the Astrodome into an exhibit and special events center makes me quite sad. In its heyday, the mid-sixties, the Astrodome was the symbol of Houston’s ascension to major-league status, not just as a venue for baseball,
Could the rumors that University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban may be the next football coach at the University of Texas be true?
The clear winner in Tuesday's election was Speaker of the House Joe Straus, who pushed for spending on water projects.
Democrats are understandably delirious over the finding in the UT/Texas Tribune Poll that Wendy Davis trails Greg Abbott by single digits. But that is not the most significant finding in the poll.The most significant finding is that “the fundamentals of Texas politics have not changed,” says pollster Jim
Mark McCaig, Republican gadfly extraordinaire and frequent tormentor of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, posted a commentary on the Big Jolly Politics site over the weekend. Among his observations is an attack on the rankings of state legislators published by the Texas Association of Business. Writes McCaig: With the
No one should be surprised by the numbers for the governor's race in the new UT-Texas Tribune Poll, which show Abbott with a single-digit lead over Wendy Davis.
Rick Perry dismissed the ongoing impeachment hearings against UT Board of Regent Wallace Hall as "extraordinary political theater."
The evangelical leader's candidacy would be enough to cause major heartburn among the GOP establishment in Texas.
Astonishing as it may seem, I think he is worse than Perry.
What are the main challenges for the Wendy Davis campaign? Aside from the basic math of a statewide election, that is? Well, according to one trusted Democratic operative, the biggest is “to get everyone to swim in the same direction.” For instance, should Battleground Texas give up its identity and
Karen Tumulty, a Texan herself, has a story in yesterday’s Washington Post that says Ted Cruz is reshaping the Texas Republican party: Just about every GOP candidate with aspirations to statewide office in 2014 seems to be styling himself or herself after Cruz. In tight formation, they are
Moderate Republicans and Democrats who underestimate Ted Cruz are making a mistake.
If someone handed me a flier that declared, "Get your guns & Head to San Antonio," I would probably get in my car and head for Dallas as fast as I could.
Attorney general candidate Dan Branch has issued a statement vowing to attack voter fraud. And once again, I am compelled to point out that voter fraud is a solution in search of a problem. Except for rare incidents, such as those involving ACORN a few years back, voter
The good news about Brandon Creighton’s and Steve Toth’s decision to run for Tommy Williams’ Senate seat (SD 4) is that there will be one less far-right member of the Legislature. One of them has to lose. In all seriousness, I think Creighton made a mistake with this decision. He
Former state representative Sid Miller is contemplating a race for agriculture commissioner. I don’t see how Miller can be an asset to the Republican ticket. Readers will recall that Miller was the author of the sonogram bill in the 82nd Legislature. In an election year when women’s issues are likely
Oil money’s nice, but actually funding our infrastructure needs is even better.
Kudos to Greg Abbott for coming out in favor of the DREAM Act (or, at the very least, reforming it), which the Republican candidates for lieutenant governor were quick to denounce in their recent debate. It is the misfortune of Republican candidates to have to deal with base
Only 24 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of the GOP, according to a new NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll. How might these numbers affect Texas politics?
Former Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn performed a study of the impact of illegal immigration in 2006. According to the Texas Tribune, The results showed that if the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants who lived in the state in 2005 were sent home, Texas would have lost
A new Yahoo! politics piece on the battle antiabortion activists are waging against Wendy Davis.
Dan Patrick—state senator, candidate for Lieutenent Governor, and right wing talk show host—has a theory about how Fox News has been so successful. Listen here:AP Photo | Eric Gay
Texas is not winnable by Democrats at this point in its political evolution.
The resignation of Tommy Williams from his Senate seat and chairman of the Senate Finance committee is shocking. Williams was at the top of the pyramid. He will certainly enjoy a soft landing in his government relations position with Texas A&M University. Williams was a superb chair of Senate
Yesterday Rick Perry called the Affordable Care Act, “a criminal act.” This is an example of why Perry will never be president. He has a mean streak a mile wide. Readers will recall that he attacked the Fed’s Bernanke in a menacing manner during a stump speech leading
How long can the Republican party endure the civil war that is raging between tea party conservatives and mainstream conservatives?
As he can usually be counted on to do, Perry named an old crony to the CPRIT oversight board.
The Associated Press is reporting that Wendy Davis will run for governor. This will not come as a surprise to most political observers. Davis could hardly turn her back on her party after raising expectations sky-high following her filibuster.
Is Greg Abbott was running for governor? Because now it seems as if he wants to take another whirl at being attorney general and resume his favorite tactic of suing the federal government.
Nothing feeds hysteria more than a flap over Second Amendment rights.
Here is a copy of an e-mail blast that was sent out yesterday by the “Senate Conservatives Fund:” Obviously, this came from inside the Senate. “Fellow Conservatives”: This is an urgent update on the fight to stop funding Obamacare. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John
What happens after the tea party successfully drives moderate Republicans out of the Texas Legislature?
Bill Callegari's retirement
In March 2006 I wrote a long cover story for TEXAS MONTHLY about former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. This occurred at a time when Travis County DA Ronnie Earle was prosecuting DeLay for ethics infractions. It was a complicated case that involved swaps of money between DeLay and the
In the battle over the future direction of the state, one player is missing in action—the state's business community.
The probability of getting the feds to agree to a block grant—with all of the exceptions Texas is seeking—is about the same as shooting a unicorn on a hunting trip.
Wendy Davis announces she has a "big announcement" set for October 3.
Most people seem to agree that Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is a decent, reasonable fellow with good intentions. So why is he having to fight for his job?
Will the Republicans will pay a price for fielding a ticket that has no star power other than Abbott?
Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman's claim that Texas could be an independent nation is not a hard one to rebut.
The Burleson state representative's depature from the legislature means that another mainstream Republican has effectively been driven out of the pink dome after being targeted by a tea party candidate.
His latest campaign video invokes tea party language.
Before everyone declares Dewhurst to be dead, just keep in mind that while his rivals may be starved for money, Dewhurst is not.
The Missouri Legislature is on the cusp of passing a law that nullifies all federal firearms regulations in the state. A similar bill died in the Texas Senate this session.
I didn’t make the list of the Texas Tribune insiders, but I’m going to try to have my say about the survey on the lieutenant governor’s race nonetheless. First, I think Dewhurst’s 11 percent is too low. There are enough mainstream conservatives left in the Republican party that
The lieutenant governor was quoted as saying, "It's my hope, friends, that about a year from now that people are saying, 'Why were we talking about Wendy Davis?" What he should be worried about is whether people will be saying, about a year from now, "Why were we talking about David
The retirement of Jim Pitts from the House of Representatives is a sad day. Pitts, who was named a Best this past session, was one of the original eleven Republicans who met to choose a new speaker in 2009 to succeed Tom Craddick. That speaker, of course,
Is John Smithee, the Republican state rep from Amarillo, running for speaker?
It's looking increasingly likely that Wendy Davis will run for governor in 2014. But still, the paucity of credible candidates for other statewide offices is a real problem for Democrats.
