Former senior executive editor Paul Burka joined the staff of Texas Monthly in 1974, one year after the magazine’s founding. He led TM’s political coverage for nearly forty years and spearheaded its storied roundup of the Best and Worst Legislators each biennium. A lifelong Texan, he was born in Galveston, graduated from Rice University with a BA in history, and received a JD from the University of Texas School of Law.
Burka spent five years as an attorney with the Texas Legislature, where he served as counsel to the Senate Natural Resources Committee. He won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award in 1981. He also received a National Magazine Award in 1985, for his two-part profile of Clinton Manges. After retiring from Texas Monthly in 2015, he taught at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He died in 2022.
The opinion is 55 pages long, and much of it involves a tedious argument over the certification of a class (abortion providers) that involved the sort of legal minutiae that made law school unbearable. I was in court on July 6, the day the case was argued, and anyone who
By Paul Burka
I used to teach a course at the Lyndon B. Johnson school of Public Affairs, for first-year students, called "Policy Development." The metaphor for the course was a cauldron of soup, into which all the issues of the day were dumped. Sometimes these issues floated to the top; sometimes they
By Paul Burka
Perry 27% Romney 14% Palin 10% Bachmann 9% …and so on Perry has doubled up Romney in this poll. The more extreme his rhetoric gets, the more extreme his poll numbers get. Conditions of the poll: Interviews with 1,017 adult Americans conducted by telephone by ORC International on August 24-25,
By Paul Burka
This is an analysis of the race that was developed by the Paddie camp. It is published as it was sent to me. Quoting the analysis: Basically the district can be divided into 3 parts: 1). Christian base. This is Shelby and Sabine [counties] that are currently in Christian’s District.
By Paul Burka
Ken Herman has a story today about Mr. Morrow’s efforts to dig up dirt about Rick Perry. This includes a full-page ad in the Austin Chronicle soliciting information about Perry’s personal behavior earlier in his career. Readers of this space will recognize Mr. Morrow’s name. He is a frequent commenter
By Paul Burka
Marshall mayor Chris Paddie will seek the Republican nomination for District 9, a redrawn district that runs along the Texas-Louisiana border. The district is currently represented by conservative stalwart Wayne Christian. Paddie’s home county, Harrison, is the biggest county in the district. This will be one of the most-watched races
By Paul Burka
I’m speaking of Steve Ogden, who ripped into Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst and his own Senate colleagues this week in a speech in College Station. What he said was the truth–that Dewhurst was ineffective and that all his colleagues cared about was politics. During the discussions over a school finance bill
By Paul Burka
Huge numbers for Perry. He turned Romney’s 23-18 lead into a 17-29 deficit in one month. By region: East: Perry 16%, Romney 17%, Paul 15% Midwest: Perry 23%, Romney 20%, Paul 18% South: Perry 39%, Romney 12%, Paul 9% West: Perry 28%, Romney 22%, Paul 12% Among voters 65+, Perry
By Paul Burka
Don’t be deterred by the legalese quoted in this article. I promise that reading the orders of the Court will be fully worth the reader’s while in entertainment value. The Court’s discussion appears in italics. I. On August 9, Patrick and Miller filed motions for leave t0 appear as Amici
By Paul Burka
Because, according to a Republican consultant during a conversation this afternoon, Donna Campbell was about to announce her intention to oppose Wentworth. Campbell came close to ending Lloyd Doggett’s congressional career in 2010. Doggett survived with 53% to Dr. Campbell’s 45%. He will face another fight for survival this year
By Paul Burka
There is this thing about writing. When you publish something under your name, you own it, for better or for worse. I have experienced the “for worse” side of it. It’s no fun, as Rick Perry is finding out. He wrote a book, presumably with assistance, called Fed Up. In
By Paul Burka
The story ran in Politico on Monday: America’s trial lawyers are getting ready to make the case against one of their biggest targets in years: Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred — and fear — as Perry,
By Paul Burka
Perry has taken a lot of hits this week, perhaps the hardest of which came from GOP rival John Huntsman. Most of them won’t matter. Why? Because the criticism of Perry occurred in the context of a Republican primary race, which Perry is well situated to win. He passed Romney
By Paul Burka
For a successful politician, and Perry has known nothing but success in his career, Perry lacks, for want of a better term, a normalcy compass–the instinct to understand where the majority of Americans stand on the conventional wisdom of the day. He has spent his entire career on the far
By Paul Burka
I was on a radio interview tonight (Sunday) with Tom Bevan, the founder of the RealClearPolitics web site. The topic was Perry, of course. Tom believes, as I do, that Perry’s gaffes are not necessarily gaffes at this stage of the game, that what he loses with the media, the
By Paul Burka
I misinterpreted an e-mail that I received from Allbaugh, which I discuss below. Allbaugh was forwarding an article from Huffington Post by Howard Fineman. The headline of the article was highlighted in the e-mail: “Karl Rove created Rick Perry–Now can he stop him?” The rest of my original post
By Paul Burka
Forget about Perry’s outburst about “treason.” The significance of his attack on Bernanke is the revelation that he has been paying attention to monetary policy. Perry’s critics who are counting on him to be ignorant of federal issues and show his ignorance in the upcoming debates may be in for
By Paul Burka
The good people who sign my paychecks have asked me to do radio and television commentary regarding Governor Perry, when news organizations make requests. I have been doing a lot of this recently, including NBC Nightly News and The News Hour. They mainly want to know who Rick Perry is.
By Paul Burka
Readers are no doubt aware that Perry was asked by a child in New Hampshire “how old the earth was.” Before Perry could respond, the boy’s mother urged him to ask about evolution. Perry responded, “Your mom is asking about evolution. You know, that’s a theory that’s out there;
By Paul Burka
Suggesting that the head of the Federal Reserve’s policies border on treason one day. Questioning global warming the next. Rick Perry is not on his game. The campaign appears to be shoot-from-the-hip. (I’m told that he recanted his stance on HPV without telling anyone what he planned to do.) Why
By Paul Burka
Wayne Slater has an interesting story [this was earlier in the week] — which I am unable to link to, but it is in the Quorum Report — about Karl Rove’s displeasure with Rick Perry’s lack of gratitude toward then-Governor Bush during the 1998 primary races for governor and lieutenant
By Paul Burka
A phenomenal showing by Perry, who has done nothing more than announce his candidacy and press the flesh in three venues. The impending battle for Tea Party support between Perry and Bachmann may already be over. Romney has been running for four years and is hardly any better off than
By Paul Burka
He had already reversed himself on his statement that it was fine with him if New York chose to allow gay marriage; it was a matter of states’ rights. Now he is reversing himself on his HPV edict of 2007. A couple of things to remember about that episode: One
By Paul Burka
Texas A&M’s move to the Southeast Conference is not just about football. It is also about politics. It is a way for Perry to validate himself as a southerner. In one bold move–and don’t think for a moment that Perry didn’t orchestrate this–Perry has used A&M to leverage himself into
By Paul Burka
I drove to San Antonio this morning to hear Perry’s speech. It occupied the 8:30 – 9:45 time slot. I was making good time on I-35 until an ominous message appeared on one of those black information signs. “Major accident at I-410 West. Use caution.” Soon everything slowed to a
By Paul Burka
Just about everybody thinks it is going to be Saturday, but I wouldn’t count on it. The Perry team has been playing the game very shrewdly, stretching out the time until he commits. I suspect that when he goes to South Carolina and New Hampshire on Saturday, he will continue
By Paul Burka
The gist of the piece is that Perry ignored what presidential candidates are supposed to do — participate in the Iowa straw poll, for example — and stiffed Iowa (not to mention his home state press) by planning to announce his candidacy in South Carolina on the
By Paul Burka
When early estimates of the crowd, several days before the event, were in the 10,000 to 20,000 range, it looked as if the Response might be regarded as a failure for Perry. The estimated attendance of 30,000 is a good number — almost half of Reliant’s capacity. Perry got what
By Paul Burka
I am not going to comment on it. Rick Perry is a different person today than he was at A&M. I’m a different person than I was at Rice. And neither of our transcripts was anything to write home about. End of discussion.
By Paul Burka
I don’t know if “reelection” is the right way to phrase it, since she will be running in a new district. I’m just glad to see that she is running. She is a very good member. Redistricting didn’t do her any favors, though.
By Paul Burka
Evan Smith arranged a dinner Thursday night at Curra’s for media folk. Mark Halperin was in town and the subject was Rick Perry. Others present were Emily Ramshaw, Jay Root, Ross Ramsey, Patti Hart, Evan, and myself. No one thought Romney could win the Republican nomination. He is vulnerable on
By Paul Burka
I hope Governor Perry’s experimental adult stem cell treatment is successful. I admire his courage in opting for the treatment. And I congratulate Emily Ramshaw and the Tribune for getting this story. But I do have a couple of questions. Ramshaw’s story yesterday included this statement by the
By Paul Burka
I grew up in a time when every football game, high school or college, started with a prayer to which nobody paid any attention or suggested that it violated the separation of church and state. The spectacle of sectarian public prayer did make me uncomfortable, less because it was exclusionary
By Paul Burka
From the Statesman, August 1: A spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry would not directly say Monday whether Perry supported the debt-ceiling deal reached between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders. Asked whether lawmakers should approve the deal, Perry spokesman Mark Miner said: “The governor thinks the right track to
By Paul Burka
This is the point in the legislative cycle when the reality of the misery of the legislative session starts to kick in, and rumors begin to circulate about who may and may not return. Pitts has said that he intends to run again, but he could face a tough reelection
By Paul Burka
You didn’t ask, but here’s some free advice for you and the rest of the national press corps as you prepare to write about Rick Perry.
By Paul Burka
One of the skills that has kept Rick Perry in power is that he has a knack for knowing where his constituency stands on most issues. But his instincts failed him when he comingled states-rights with gay marriage. I'm referring, of course, to Perry's statement to the Family Research Council,
By Paul Burka
Chairman Ritter posted a comment about the water bond thread of discussion. Rather than having it buried in the comments section, I am going to post it separately, below. Paul, I can certainly understand your frustrations with the legislature not finding a dedicated source of revenue to fully implement our
By Paul Burka
[This post has been revised since it was first published yesterday to reflect that the water bonds will not have to be paid for with general revenue. Since then, a reader has posted the fiscal note. It says that the bonds include both self-supporting and not self-supporting debt, and that
By Paul Burka
Not a bad resume: nine terms, chair of calendars, speaker pro-tem, and the kingmaker in the 2011 speaker’s race. She was also a major player in eminent domain legislation. A lot of members have left with lesser legacies.
By Paul Burka
The July ARG poll is based on 600 telephone interviews conducted July 18-24. MOE +/-4. JULY POLL Perry 16% Bachmann 15% Romney 15% Palin 13% Cain 11% Giuliani 7% Paul 4% Gingrich 3% Pawlenty 1% Huntsman 1% Santorum 1% Undecided 12% MAY POLL Romney 26% Huckabee 14% Gingrich 11% Palin 9%
By Paul Burka
When the Texas Freedom Network puts out an approving statement about an action taken by the State Board of Education, you know something strange is going on. Here was the TFN statement: “Today we saw Texas kids and sound science finally win a vote on the State Board of Education.
By Paul Burka
I am totally dismayed to see that Governor Perry chose Donald Rumsfeld and several of his neoconservative disciples to advise him on foreign affairs. Rumsfeld was the worst secretary of defense in American history. He couldn’t even manage to put armor on humvees. How many young lives did he
By Paul Burka
He’s not running for CD 14 (the former Ron Paul seat). He’ll run for Mike Jackson’s Senate seat if Jackson runs for Congress. If Jackson doesn’t run for Congress, Taylor will run for reelection to the House Taylor was going to have a hard time vs. SREC member Michael Truncale,
By Paul Burka
I got a robocall from Dewhurst over the weekend — along with 850,000 other Texans. The text was very similar to a video he has posted online. It’s about what you would expect: loser pays, kept $6 billion in the rainy day fund, balanced the budget without raising taxes. And
By Paul Burka
And “liberal Austin bloggers.” That’s me. Mercer issued a press release, which, I assume, also went to his mailing list, under the following headline: Democrats recruiting a “Republican” to run against Ken Mercer ( San Antonio, Texas) – Well the liberal Austin bloggers let the political cat out of the
By Paul Burka
I missed this story on Friday. State Representative Marc Veasey (D-Fort Wortht) filed a legal challenge to the state’s new congressional map in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio). Here are some excerpts from the filing: Voting Rights Act Section 2 Violations “Though minority communities accounted for 90% of
By Paul Burka
Not Bill. Not Thomas. Bennett Ratliff, the eldest son of the former lieutenant governor, is contemplating entering the race for District 115, the seat being vacated by former Dallas County commissioner Jim Jackson. As is likely to be the case in many districts that are up for grabs, there are
By Paul Burka
When I first wrote about the race for U.S. Senate, I said that there was no race, that Dewhurst has a huge lead in fundraising and name I.D. I still think that Dewhurst has the advantage over Ted Cruz, but, even in a state as big as Texas, there is
By Paul Burka
The fundraiser is scheduled for August 9 at the Austin Club. Checks are to be made payable to Texans for Rick Perry. This is a state PAC, not a federal PAC. None of the contributions may be used in a federal race, even if Perry later establishes an exploratory committee
By Paul Burka