No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994, but Colin Allred and Roland Gutierrez have something working in their favor that Beto O’Rourke didn’t.
The race to choose a Democratic challenger to John Cornyn has been overshadowed by other news, but it finds the Texas Democratic Party bitterly divided.
With another special session set to begin on July 1, the issue arises of how the Senate will handle the two-thirds rule. Will there be a blocker bill? Will the tradition be honored?The history is that in 2003, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst made the decision that the two-thirds rule would
Texans who take the time to do their civic duty will consider ten proposed constitutional amendments, while local decisions range from picking Houston's mayor to banning booze on the Comal.
[Editors note: an earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas Association of School Boards were among the groups that met with Senator Royce West last weekend to discuss the school finance plan. Neither TASA nor TASB were present at a
The answer is: Rodney Ellis. On the last day of the session, Ellis has become the key player, because he is effectively the minority leader of the Democrats–not just the Senate Democrats, but also the House Democrats. The nineteen Senate Republicans will need at least six Democratic votes to suspend
I keep getting e-mails from friends in the politics game that Bill White is going to switch to run for governor. Got one this morning, in fact. Burnt Orange gives life to the rumors today as well. My Houston-based colleague Mimi Swartz made some calls at my request,
I confess that I didn’t pay a lot of attention to Dan Patrick’s reelection announcement last week, but one thing struck me as very peculiar. Here are the first three paragraphs of the release: “During the past few weeks there has been speculation I might run for, or be appointed
I missed this story from the Startlegram on Saturday. The first few paragraphs: No one seems to be mentioning U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, as a candidate to replace outgoing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Turns out that Barton — who came in third in the 1993 special
Aside from the obvious—he wants to go to Washington—I can’t think of a good reason to run for Senate instead of governor. As things now stand, Hutchison will probably resign her seat in the fall. I believe that Perry will appoint either David Dewhurst or Greg Abbott. Michael Williams would
The Maine legislature is considering a measure that would merge the House and Senate into a single body. The House currently contains 151 members, the Senate 35. The proposal would convert the legislature into a single house of 151 members. The idea was proposed as a way to save money.
Ever since Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst wired around the 2/3 rule to pass congressional redistricting in 2003, I have believed that the rule cannot survive in the partisan era. It may still have some life in issues that don’t have partisan overtones, but the maneuvering on the Voter I.D. bill indicates
No one should be surprised that Hutchison has a substantial lead over Perry. She has always polled better than he has. What is surprising—according to the Hutchison camp—is that his support among Republican primary voters is down 10% since his 2006 race. (I will ask the Perry forces for their
I am going to publish below an e-mail and corresponding op-ed that I received from Senator Eliot Shapleigh. It requires no explanation. # # # # This is Shapleigh's letter to me: I’ve read your recent pieces on major issues, including tuition. In my view you miss the point. After
This was released earlier today. Cornyn 55 Noriega 40 Noriega hasn’t gotten much traction, but I’ll take the “under” on the margin. It looks more like a 10 point race to me. Cornyn 55-45.
Speculation is rampant that the Dew has set his sights on the U.S. Senate rather than run for reelection. Since Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat will not be vacant until she resigns, probably in June, Dewhurst must hope that Perry appoints him to fill the vacancy. As everybody knows, they haven’t
Evan Smith is the cofounder of the Texas Tribune, a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, and the former editor in chief and president of Texas Monthly.
