David Dewhurst

Texas GOP's Sophisticated Plan to Pass Special Session Anti-Abortion Bills: Cheating

Remember how Governor Rick Perry called a special session to talk about redistricting? And remember how sophisticated political observers (i.e. everyone with eyes and a functioning brain) predicted that the special session would soon turn into a huge, nasty dogfight about abortion? Yeah, that's happ ... More >>

All Those Anti-Abortion Bills that Failed Resurface in Legislature's Special Session

This session in the Texas Legislature was sort of stupid, but then again, they usually are. Although they did manage to pass a budget, their main piece of business each session, your esteemed lawmakers also spent time approving such vital pieces of legislation as the "Merry Christmas Bill" . They al ... More >>

Every Anti-Abortion Bill in the Texas Legislature This Session Has Failed

Man. We remember a time, long ago last legislative session, when all your state lawmakers wanted to do was talk about abortion and how much they hated it. They were super-duper against it, as they could not seem to stop talking about, so much so that they cheerily decimated the Texas Women's Health ... More >>

The Battle for Cupcakes Sales Faces a Looming Deadline at the Legislature

Having déjà vu? Feel like we've been here before? Well, don't pinch yourself. Be calm. You're not crazy. We have been here before. For years the great cupcake bakers of Texas have fought for the freedom to sell their delicate clouds of sugar and butter to a hungry public. With the fierceness of ... More >>

Dallas Interfaith Group to State Lawmakers: Expand Medicaid Now

Dallas Area Interfaith held a news conference this morning at Temple Emanu-El, where more than a dozen faith leaders from the Dallas area gathered to support Medicaid expansion. Since Friday, 60 clergy members from Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations have signed a letter calling on state l ... More >>

Lawmakers Are Taking the Battle Over Texas' Water Supply to Your Front Lawn

Water -- or the lack thereof -- has already made it to the top of the state Legislature's priority list, and it's an area of rare bipartisan agreement. After all, it doesn't take a hydrological engineer to figure out that growing population plus soon-to-be-maxed-out water sources plus historic droug ... More >>

After She Was Booted from the Education Committee, State Senator Wendy Davis' Supporters Petition for Her Reinstatement

On Friday, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst handed out his picks for the State Senate committees; from those assignments, we learned that "Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Homeland Security" is, for some mystifying reason, lumped together into one body. And in a move that's drawn a ton of attention ... More >>

Rick Perry and State Senator Jane Nelson Want Texas to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

It's the most wonderful time of the year: There's still some very stale, deeply discounted Halloween candy kicking around the aisles at CVS, Christmas music has suddenly overtaken your dentist's office, and Texas legislators have begun pre-filing bills for the upcoming legislative session. The ses ... More >>

Five Texas Takeaways from Election Night

Now that our election night hangovers have been slept off, we can now cut through the chatter and attempt to forecast what last night's election results mean to you, Dear Reader. Dallas County is really, really blue Republicans had a strong showing in local legislative races, easily fending off cha ... More >>

VIDEO: Watch Driver Kick Off 85-MPH Highway By Driving 220 MPH

It's safe to say the entire country is drooling over Texas' Autobahn, the new; $1.5 billion highway near Austin with an 85-mile-per-hour speed limit, the nation's highest. Even the New York Times is jealous. Driving 85 mph is nothing new for Texans, who already go that fast on normal roads. It's on ... More >>

The Future of Texas' Public Schools. (Spoiler Alert: With Dan Patrick, That Future is Bleak.)

Houston Republican Dan Patrick -- a conservative radio shock jock and founder of the Tea Party Caucus in the Texas Senate -- is vowing to lead the charge in the next session of the Texas Legislature for a school voucher system that would give away tax money to private and religious schools. That's ... More >>

Ted Cruz Gets His Honeymoon -- But Only in the Straight, Godly Meaning of the Word

Basic rule of American democracy: Anybody who wins an election gets 10 seconds of credibility. Let's hope in the case of Ted Cruz, lionized today in The New York Times as "A Republican Voice With Tea Party Mantle and Intellectual Heft," we can make it to the second 10 seconds without throwing up. ... More >>

Election Proves Ted Cruz is a Talented Politician, But a Harbinger of Tea Party Dominance? Not So Much.

We knew it already, but Ted Cruz is Texas' next U.S. Senator. Sure, he still has to face Democrat Paul Sadler in the November general election, but this is Texas, where so long as you promise to cut taxes and put a big 'R' somewhere near your name, you're good. The victory, unthinkable a few months ... More >>

Looks Like the Tea Party's Gonna Elect Cruz Fair and Square. So, Let's Change the Game.

Texas will elect it's next senator today. Odds are, you won't vote for him. In fact, a good number of you, even if you're registered to vote, can't vote in the truly decisive race going down Tuesday, because you were dumb enough to vote in the Democratic primary in May. Suckers. So, let's all clap ... More >>

Dewhurst Challenges Cruz to Spanish Debate. Como Se Dice "Go Back to Mexico"?

Republican candidates in Texas are historically bad at courting Hispanic voters, so it's no wonder senate candidate Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst welcomes a novel approach: a debate in Spanish with his run-off challenger, the Tea Party sweetheart Ted Cruz. We hope this happens. We hope it hap ... More >>

Republican Senate Candidates Are Politically Identical

Still deciding who to favor among the Republican candidates vying for nomination to the U.S. Senate? Might as well play eenie, meenie, miney, mo, or choose based on favorite color or music preference, because politically, they're practically the same. Tom Leppert, Senate candidate and former Dallas ... More >>

Rick Perry and State Health Commissioner Insist Obama Hates Women, Loves Abortion

A few days ago, we told you that Texas's Medicaid Women's Health Program appears to be on death's door, which could leave some 130,000 low-income Texas women without vital medical care. We also mentioned that Gov. Rick Perry's administration appeared eager to blame the program's end on the feds broa ... More >>

But Riding on Floats With Gay People Was One of Tom Leppert's Great Accomplishments

​This Texas Republican primary for United States Senate is very compelling in a totally sick twisted way. The opponents are attacking our former mayor Tom Leppert for his few good qualities. Very few. Needles in a haystack of bad. But his opponents have found those rare needles of good in the ... More >>

Staubach, Aikman and Other Cowboys Greats Throw Their Support Behind Tom Leppert

Photo by Patrick MichelsReally, any reason to rerun this photo was fine.​Former Mayor Tom Leppert may well need a Hail Mary come the March 6 GOP primary -- if, that is, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst can maintain his frontrunner status in the race for the U.S. Senate. So, then, who better to l ... More >>

Tom Leppert In a "House Full of Patriots"

​Feels like it's been a long while since we've touched upon the U.S. Senate candidacy of former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, last seen gigging David Dewhurst and who's still insisting that the Trinity River Corridor Project is worthy of federal earmarks. Anyway. On Saturday he was down at the San Ant ... More >>

Texas Beer Bill Dies With a Whimper, But Saint Arnold Founder Vows to Keep Up the Fight

Daniel KramerLooks like Texas legislators still don't want you bringing souvenirs home from Saint Arnold brewery tours.​Sadly and all too predictably, House Bill 602 was never put to a vote as yesterday's deadline for House bills expired. Texas lawmakers found time to legalize catfish noodling and ... More >>

As Rick Perry "Secures the Integrity of the Ballot Box," He Says, Sure, He Might Run for Prez

​Just got a note from Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst after Perry signed into law the voter I.D. bill, which requires voters to present photo identification at a polling place. Said the gov, "The right to vote is simply too important for us to take the act of voting lightly. Today with ... More >>

Caraway, Cluck and Moncrief Tell Perry: Do "Not Pass the Buck" When Balancing Budget

​Late yesterday, Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm and I had a long talk about several subjects, one of them being her efforts to trim the budget, yet again, this go-round anywhere from $60 to $110 million -- depending, she said, upon how much the state and feds take from the city. But, she said, she ... More >>

News & Notes: Jenkins Surgery Update, Who Sent Sherbet's Stuff Home and Former Cowboys QB Poised to Swap Senate Teams

Photo by Sam MertenClay Jenkins​What a Week For the New County Judge Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has been pummeled in the media and political circles for playing Scottie Pippen to Commissioner John Wiley Price's Michael Jordan in the game to push out Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet ... More >>

Nate Silver Ponders Democrats' Chances of Taking Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate Seat

David Dewhurst​There's no shortage of names being tossed out there as would-be replacements for Kay Bailey Hutchison, who yesterday announced she won't run for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Top o' the list, of course, is Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, who made his intentions clear Thursday afterno ... More >>

The City Would Love to Get Its Hands On the Dawson State Jail. It'll Have to Keep Waiting.

​This morning, a reader wondered: Has the state decided if it's going to renew its contract with Corrections Corporation of America regarding operations of the Jesse R. Dawson State Jail on the Trinity River? When last we looked at the issue, the contract was set to expire January 15,  only ... More >>

Sweatin' It Out With the Justice League!

Photos by Sam MertenState Senator Royce West and county judge candidate Clay Jenkins help pump up the crowd as District Attorney Craig Watkins grabs the mic Saturday afternoon.​This, in case you have not heard, is the "Summer of Justice." Which, as far as summers-of goes, ranks somewhere in betwee ... More >>

Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison Are Locked In A Pitched Battle Over The Soul Of The GOP. They Are Also Running For Governor.

Things Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Apparently Hates: Rick Perry, Iran, Iraq, Obama's Health Care Plan and TxDOT

Sam MertenSenator Kay Bailey Hutchison criticized Governor Rick Perry in a speech to the local Republican Jewish Coalition this afternoon, claiming Texas has the country's highest property taxes, an education system with the worst dropout rate in the nation and a government growing faster than the ... More >>

Former State Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken Considering Run for Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate Seat

Hal SamplesTexas Workforce Commission chairman Tom PaukenTexas Workforce Commission chairman and Dallas resident Tom Pauken has informed the offices of Governor Rick Perry and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst of his interest in running for U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat. "I'm taking a ... More >>

Mayor Tom Leppert May Run for Senate? What, and Miss All The Fun?

Who'd Be Mayor If Leppert Left Early? And, Why Would Leppert Do It?

Brian Harkin Is Dwaine Caraway positioning himself as Leppert's replacement? While speaking with one of Mayor Tom Leppert's consultants last month, I asked if Leppert was considering running for Kay Bailey Hutchison's senate seat. At that point, I heard he was contemplating the political leap from ... More >>

Cut to the Chase

See Tanya Tucker ride in Fort Worth

Rafael Anchia Wants to Kill Anti-Immigration Legislation Dead. Good Luck With All That.

Best State Legislator

Senator Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant

Oklahoma Snubbed

Dems bolt for Albuquerque

Bench Warmers

In many contested judicial races, the Republicans are grabbing all the incumbencies they can

Pay for Play

Seventy-three DMNers get sent packing

Over the Line

A GOP state redistricting plan targets a longtime Democrat and others

This Sand is Your Sand

On the Texas coast, the only thing eroding faster than the sand is the state’s Open Beaches Act