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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has strong support from repeated Republican primary voters as well as senior citizens, two groups that are more likely to turn out for a July runoff for U.S. Senate, according to a Dewhurst campaign memo written by pollster Mike Baselice. Supporters of former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, a tea party favorite who placed second in Tuesday’s vote, have argued that Cruz would be favored in a runoff because his supporters are more enthusiastic and likely to show up for an unusual, mid-summer vote. So the Baselice memo was clearly intended to rebut that argument. Recent...

Gov. Rick Perry is once again slamming “out-of-state interest groups” backing former solicitor general Ted Cruz in his runoff with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst –this time tweaking Sarah Palin, U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and Rick Santorum by suggesting their states could learn a lot from Texas, but Texas doesn’t need their advice on choosing its next U.S. senator. Perry, standing staunchly behind Dewhurst, brushed off the question about whether his own tea party credibility may be damaged by his opposition to Cruz, who has been endorsed by national conservative and tea party groups and figures (including Palin, DeMint and Santorum)...

With the Texas state primary just days away, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is in the lead to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the U.S. Senate, and according to some observers, one of the factors he has working in his favor is fear. In Texas, the lieutenant governorship is a hugely powerful position. Its occupant is the leader of the state senate, meaning he appoints committee chairmen and members, determines the order in which bills are taken up, and decides which committees get to handle specific pieces of legislation. At the very least, everyone has to be aware of the sway...

Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz on Thursday gained yet another high-profile endorsement, this time from Rick Santorum. "Ted Cruz is spellbinding, a tremendous orator and principled," Santorum said on Glenn Beck's radio show Thursday morning, according to Santorum's staff. "We need people who can motivate and lead … Ted has that capability." Santorum reportedly said Cruz, a former state solicitor general, is a "good, conservative vote" and can "engage" beyond taxes and spending. Santorum repeated much of the same praise during an appearance on Dallas radio station WBAP, telling host Ben Ferguson that he's known Cruz for 5 or 6...

The Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Texas is now within nine points, according to a new poll. A University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll shows Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst with 40 percent, while his challenger, former state solicitor general Ted Cruz, is at 31 percent. Former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert is in third at 17 percent. With the the May 29 primary just a week away, Cruz appears to be gaining ground on Dewhurst. He's been aided in his effort to be the conservative alternative to Dewhurst by an endorsement from Sarah Palin, who recently recorded a robocall to Texas...

UPDATED: Poll: Cruz gaining on Dewhurst in U.S. Senate race By Kate Alexander | Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 12:31 PM Updated at 2:45 p.m. with comment from Leppert campaign A new outside poll suggests that Ted Cruz is making up ground on Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the Republican pirmary for U.S. Senate. Dewhurst still leads with the backing of 38 percent of the respondents but the support for Cruz has increased to 26 percent in the crowded primary. In January, the last time Public Policy Polling looked at the race, Cruz was favored by 18 percent of those surveyed....

Texas Gov. Rick Perry this morning endorsed David Dewhurst for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison... In a tweet this morning, Dewhurst (@DavidHDewhurst) declared, “I’m honored that veteran and conservative champion @GovernorPerry is endorsing our campaign for U.S. Senate"... Perry praised Dewhurst’s loyalty and said he was glad to return the favor.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is breaking with Gov. Rick Perry by opposing in-state college tuition rates for illegal immigrants. Dewhurst, running for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Kay Bailey Hutchison, says he understands Perry's arguments but says his stance is all about fairness.

The movement to draft Tommy Lee Jones to run as a Democrat to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison is most likely doomed to failure, but a new poll shows Jones might be a viable candidate. Public Policy Polling released its survey today on the 2012 Senate race, and it shows Jones with the best favorable/unfavorable combo among possible candidates. It also shows he is within range of two Republican candidates, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert, in head-to-head matchups. Dewhurst beats him 43-39 percent, and Leppert by only 38-37. "A Jones candidacy is probably a pipe dream...

Gov. Rick Perry this evening announced the addition of TSA anti-groping legislation to the agenda for the special legislative session. In a statement, he said lawmakers could consider legislation "relating to the prosecution and punishment for the offense of official oppression on those seeking access to public buildings and transportation." The announcement came after state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview — a Tea Party favorite — sent a letter to Perry on Sunday requesting HB 41 be added to the call, after attempts to pass it during the regular session were thwarted when the Department of Justice suggested the measure was...

A threat from the federal government to shut down Texas airports or cancel flights may have killed legislation by Tea Party conservatives in the Texas Capitol to prohibit federal Transportation Security Agents from conducting "invasive searches." “I don’t cave in to heavy handed threats by the federal government,” said an angry Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, the Senate sponsor of the bill, who ultimately withdrew the bill. House Bill 1937, which was passed by the House earlier this month, would make it a misdemeanor offense for a federal security agent to “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly [touch] the anus, sexual organ, buttocks,...

Former President George H.W. Bush will endorse Republican Roger Williams this afternoon for the U.S. Senate seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison now holds. The race to succeed Hutchison, who is not seeking re-election, has drawn interest from a number of Republicans, including railroad commissioners Elizabeth Ames Jones and Michael Williams. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is also considering a run. Roger Williams is a Weatherford car dealer and former Texas secretary of state who was a major Republican donor before he was a candidate. The Bush endorsement could give his campaign a nice boost, particularly since the field is crowded and...

AUSTIN, Texas — If anyone wondered whether Texas toll road rage had subsided or lawmakers' irritation at the Texas Department of Transportation had eased, those questions got answered a few days before Christmas: Not so much. Denouncing the massive transportation agency as dysfunctional and out of control, a group of lawmakers reviewing the department said it will be intensely debated in the legislative session that begins Jan. 13. "This is a big agency that is a mess," said Rep. Carl Isett, a Lubbock Republican and one of the leaders of the Sunset Advisory Commission that periodically examines state agencies. He...

It's good to see the state's top three leaders now on the same page – literally – on at least a few ways to attack the problem of under-funded roadway needs. Breakthrough No. 1 – admitting a problem. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick – never political chums – all put their signatures on a joint statement last week conceding that Texas' "ability to fund needed transportation projects in the future is limited." Breakthrough No. 2 – committing to specific fixes. The most welcome one was a pledge to quit siphoning off road money...

Governor Perry and other state leaders have agreed to bring a halt to the practice which some say has led to toll roads...the diversion of money from the state's highway fund to other projects, 1200 WOAI news reports. "Implement a plan that sets a definitive course to end the practice of funding the Department of Public Safety with gas taxes that are needed for road construction, and return to funding the DPS with general revenue," is the first goal in a long term transportation funding plan released by Perry, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, and House Speaker Tom Craddick. 1200 WOAI...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Public investment funds based in Texas could invest directly in transportation projects through a new corporation under a plan unveiled on Thursday by the state's legislative leaders and the governor. Texas has the nation's biggest road privatization plan but the legislature, reacting to criticisms that developers were enriching themselves at the expense of taxpayers, enacted a two-year moratorium. That has crimped road-building projects and led to a series of clashes between the governor and the legislature, who now have agreed on a compromise plan. Developers, including overseas companies, investment banks and private equity funds all vie...

Executives from the state highway department are again defending themselves at the Capitol against people who say they are using taxpayer money to advance an agenda in favor of toll roads in Texas. At the heart of the issue are claims that TxDOT has hired lobbyists, using taxpayer dollars, to push in favor of projects like the Trans-Texas Corridor. Part of that is the "Keep Texas Moving" website. "Marketing is undertaken to inform drivers in the Austin area about the opening of new toll roads, toll road locations and incentive periods, and about the benefits of paying with an electronic...

State highway officials said Wednesday that the first step in carrying out their decision to build a controversial toll road along the present U.S. 59, and not through farm and ranch land, is to get federal approval. Although no federal funding has been sought for the Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor, the Texas Department of Transportation is bound by federal environmental law. The project has generated thick volumes about its likely impact on the natural environment and the communities in its path. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is expected to undergo public review late this year and then get sent to...

Each day, I make the dreaded drive down Interstate 35 to go to work in Fort Worth. Each day, I slug through the snarl and sludge of ceaseless traffic, which intensifies my growing desire to commit hari-kari, or at least incites a vehement curse of the highway gods. Certainly, we in Texas need more lanes, more roads, more rails, more something to deal with the ever-expanding urban population and growing international commerce. Yet how do we solve our transportation needs without carving up the countryside like some congratulatory cake? Or should the construction of a superhighway-rail-utility corridor even concern us?...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry promised to keep fighting for private toll roads and his other transportation priorities Tuesday during his first major speech on the subject since the death in December of transportation commission chairman Ric Williamson. "This is a place for big challenges, not big excuses," he told state Transportation Department employees and highway experts from around the country at the annual Transportation Forum. Next year's legislative session, he said, can't be anything like last year's. "The Legislature must understand that 'no' is not a solution," Mr. Perry said. "It is an abdication of responsibility." Before last year's...

FORT WORTH -- The Trans-Texas Corridor is now so controversial, merely uttering the words in most political circles is taboo. "We're calling it a 'regional loop' because you can't say 'Trans-Texas Corridor' in the state of Texas anymore," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. "The Trans-Texas Corridor is a lightning rod," he told visiting state representatives this week while explaining how the corridor would connect to regional highways by 2030. Opposition to the proposed construction of a $184 billion network of toll roads during the next 50 years is so strong statewide that...

State Rep. Jim McReynolds has sent a letter to the Texas Department of Transportation saying he thinks TxDOT should drop the idea of tying the Trans-Texas Corridor in with plans for routing Interstate 69 through East Texas. McReynolds says tremendous negative outcry from his constituents and other East Texas residents has made it clear to him no one wants infrastructure that massive and disruptive to the quality of life to be built, taking big swaths out of the Pineywoods countryside. "Within the past several weeks, I have personally attended every TxDOT hearing held in my district regarding this proposed corridor,"...

There's been a lot of talk about the new Trans-Texas Corridor — the next-generation "super-highway" — and opinions are varying. Now the debate is coming to Lufkin's doorstep. On Monday, the American Land Foundation, Stewards of the Range and TURF will hold a workshop at Lufkin's Pitser Garrison Civic Center on how to stop the Trans-Texas Corridor 69. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A portion of Texas citizens have voiced their opposition to the TTC-69 in public meetings held by the Texas Department of Transportation, but believing they are not being heard, four cities and their...

Senior executives of the Texas Department of Transportation can expect some heavy grilling from state legislators when the state Legislature convenes next January, state Rep. Jim McReynolds said Friday. Speaking to the monthly First Friday luncheon of The Chamber, Lufkin-Angelina County, McReynolds said many legislators, especially those from rural East Texas, are unhappy with TxDOT leaders over the Trans- Texas Corridor project and how it has incorporated plans for an Interstate 69 through the region. McReynolds said he attended all four of the TxDOT hearings on the TTC held in his district, which included one in Diboll, and "never heard...

Sometimes the truth just has a way of coming to light. A public information officer with the Texas Department of Transportation this week wrote a column in the Herald-Press describing the financial woes facing TxDOT and how because of those problems the state’s transportation department doesn’t have the money to deal with many of the state’s transportation issues. Apparently, several of the state’s senators do not feel that is the case at all. David Dewhurst called out the state’s interim chairwoman of the Texas Transportation Commission, Hope Andrade, on this very issue, according to a story from the Associated Press....

Grimes County commissioners and County Judge Betty Shiflett made sure they attended a TTC/I-69 meeting at the Walker County Fairgrounds last week, as residents previously demanded they take a stronger stance against the proposed route through Grimes County. Shiflett received a roaring applause from audience members with her speech that ended with the question, “What part of “no� do you not understand?� Shiflett added that Grimes County was not given an option for having a town meeting, just the environmental meeting. “Representative Lois Kolkhorst stole the show as she announced loud and clear that she was against TTC I-69,� said...

A big protest is planned for Monday afternoon, ahead of the latest public hearing on the proposed statewide tollway. Lots of landowners are upset about the state’s plan to build a tollway from Mexico to northeast Texas. There have already been several town hall meetings about the Trans-Texas Corridor. Most of the people who have spoken out about the plan say it will put them out of business. But state officials argue the tollway is necessary to keep up with the growing population in Texas. Monday’s meeting is being held in Huntsville. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Walker...

AUSTIN — Two state lawmakers are requesting formal inquiries into whether the Texas Department of Transportation is improperly spending money on advertising. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, question whether an estimated $7 million to $9 million TxDOT is spending on its "Keep Texas Moving" campaign is a proper use of resources. The lawmakers have asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick look into the matter. Paxton said he is concerned that the transportation department is spending the money to argue its case before the public in response to lawmakers' questions about projects such...

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry's campaign Web site touts public education as a long-standing "top priority" of his, but the school year began this week with teachers and administrators still wondering who will be the next commissioner of education. That question mark is one among many with nearly 400 expired gubernatorial appointments this year alone to state boards, commissions and universities. Senators — worried that Perry is dodging their constitutional role of confirming most gubernatorial appointments — are crying foul. By Friday, 388 of Perry's appointments will have already expired so far this year, but only one in eight have...

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry doesn't like a transportation bill Texas lawmakers sent him and threatened Wednesday to call them back to address the issue if no solution is reached before the legislative session ends May 28. "The good news is, there's still time to fix it .... if not, I have no other option as the leader of this state than to bring the Legislature back until we address these issues and we get Texas back to where it can have a vibrant transportation infrastructure," Perry said. Though a two-year moratorium on private toll road contracts is a major...

AUSTIN — The House gave final approval Wednesday to placing a two-year moratorium on private toll road contracts, sending the bill to Gov. Rick Perry and setting up a showdown over the future of the state's transportation policy. Perry had urged the Legislature to reject the freeze but has stopped short of promising a veto. The House approved the measure 139-1, showing it has broad enough support that lawmakers could vote to override the governor if he tries to kill it. The Senate approved the bill 27-4 last week. The Legislature can override a veto with a two-thirds vote of...

AUSTIN -- The Texas Senate passed its second bill this session creating a two-year moratorium on privately funded toll roads Friday, a sharp rebuke of Gov. Rick Perry's plan to solve the state's transportation problems. Senators voted 27-4 to approve the bill, which would prevent the creation of toll roads made by public entities contracting with private companies. The Senate passed a similar bill earlier, but that version appears dead in the House. The version approved Friday easily passed the House this month by a vote of 137-2. The bill's Senate sponsor, Republican Tommy Williams of The Woodlands, said he...

AUSTIN - A two-year moratorium on private toll roads that won preliminary approval in the House last week would put the brakes on the Trans-Texas Corridor, a superhighway that a private firm received a contract for earlier this year. The moratorium also would halt seven near-term projects in the state, said Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, the Brenham Republican who added the proposal to a House bill. "This is us tapping the brakes, looking before we leap ... into contracts that last 50-plus years," Kolkhorst said. Her proposal would require the state to create a commission to study the effects of private...

Hundreds of people angry with the state's toll road contracts sounded off before state senators Thursday. Public hearings on toll roads and the Trans Texas Corridor began early Thursday morning. Senators invited public input because state lawmakers will make some important decisions this session about how to pay for highways. So many people showed up that crowds were forced into overflow rooms. The Texas Department of Transportation and toll roads have found many critics, largely because of the private companies hired to build and run them. There are also questions about how much taxpayers pay for the roads. Speakers sounded...

p>AUSTIN - Repeat sex offenders who prey on young children would face the ultimate wrath of the state -- death by lethal injection -- under a proposal unveiled Tuesday by Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. The proposal is aimed at combating what Dewhurst, leader of the state Senate, calls an "epidemic" of sex crimes targeting children. Under the plan, those who sexually prey on children under 14 would receive no less than 25 years in prison for a first conviction. "And heaven forbid you should ever do it a second time," Dewhurst said. "It's the death penalty."Republican Attorney General Greg...

Hutchison choice softens intensity of GOP primary ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN (AP) - With Gov. Rick Perry and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn now strapping up for what promises to be a fiery gubernatorial campaign, expectations of shifting across the Republican primary have all but fizzled out. The GOP holds every statewide elected office in Texas and party leaders had been gearing up for a grand game of political musical chairs in case U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison jumped into the 2006 governor's race. Instead, Hutchison opted for another run at the Senate, leaving most GOP office holders sitting right where they...

h2>$400 million surplus forecast for Texas AUSTIN - Texas lawmakers will have more money to work with in this year's legislative session, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said today. In her highly anticipated revenue estimate released the day before the two-year legislate session begins, Strayhorn reported Texas will have $64.7 billion in state money for the 2006-2007 biennium. That would give the state $400 million surplus after paying for existing programs, higher than earlier estimates. Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate, had said he expected a shortage of $1 billion to $2 billion. "Our state's great economic...

Perry's approval rating lowest seen in 10 years AUSTIN (AP) — More than half of Texans surveyed in a new poll rate Republican Gov. Rick Perry's job performance as fair or poor, the lowest for a Texas governor in almost a decade. Only 6 percent of respondents in a Scripps Howard Texas Poll released Tuesday said the governor is doing an excellent job, and 31 percent said he is doing a good job. Another 32 percent listed Perry's performance as fair and 20 percent rated it as poor. Eleven percent did not know or didn't answer. By contrast, 50 percent...

Monday, May 10, 2004 Consider these ingredients: The governor, who once opposed the idea of gambling to raise money for the state, comes out in favor of it. A tax bill is taken apart on the House floor by restive members. The Senate is called upon to try to clean up and perhaps cure the school finance mess, while the courts stand ready to act. That was in 1991. But it seems like it's happening all over again. In 1991, Democrat Ann Richards was governor. Though she'd earlier spoken negatively about a lottery, she was backed into endorsing it in...

Commentary: Dave McNeely Comptrollers count office as rung up Thursday, April 22, 2004 The three Texas comptrollers since 1975 have wanted to be governor. Carole Keeton Strayhorn is no exception. The first two — the late Bob Bullock and John Sharp, both Democrats — eventually settled for a run at lieutenant governor. Bullock won; Sharp didn't. Strayhorn, one loud grandma, has yet to announce her plans. Though she's a Republican like Gov. Rick Perry, Strayhorn has been slapping Perry every time he turns around. She says he: is an ineffective leader, should put more money into the Children's Health Insurance...

Schools may teach Perry new lesson Dave McNeely Thursday, December 11, 2003 Gov. Rick Perry has said he'll call a special session on school finance when legislators agree on a solution. But that might never happen — particularly if Perry continues his opposition to new taxes. The Republican governor said in his inaugural speech Jan. 21, "(W)e will continue to invest in the greatest economic development tool in the history of this state: the education of our children — all of our children." But five paragraphs earlier, Perry said, "When the economy is uncertain, it is precisely the wrong time...

Remap fray envelops Dewhurst 'Mr. Inclusion' sees role turn into 'Mr. Hardball' in state fight08/04/2003By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN – It's been a trying month for the man who many consider the most powerful elected official in Texas. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, widely praised by Democrats and Republicans for his smooth running of the Senate in the regular legislative session this year, has seen his bipartisan image tarnished in the bitter fight over which party should have the most congressional seats in Texas. Mr. Dewhurst, a Republican, was compelled to take up his party's fight...

Dewhurst optimistic Senate would OK redistricting map He says votes would be there if House draws up fair plan on boundaries06/13/2003 By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst predicted Thursday that the Senate would give final approval to a new congressional redistricting map if the House came up with a fair plan. "There are not 21 hard votes today," said Mr. Dewhurst, the president of the Senate. "But if a good plan comes out of the House, I believe we will have 21 votes and will pass redistricting." At least two Democratic senators would...

Analysis: Tallying Senate redistricting votes is tricky By Laylan Copelin AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, June 11, 2003 If the Republicans want to take over the state congressional delegation, they will have to overcome a venerable Texas Senate tradition and an unpredictable group of senators. For the Democrats to lose on this partisan issue, it will take at least two and perhaps more Senate Democrats to vote with Republicans to even bring up the issue of congressional redistricting. Under a tradition that's evolved since the 1950s, a two-thirds vote of the senators present is required to get a bill to the...

Start cuts now, Texas agencies ordered State leadership directs budgets to be trimmed by 7 percent 01/24/2003 By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN - Texas' top three leaders, in their first joint effort to combat the state's budget woes, on Thursday called for a 7 percent spending reduction in all state agencies that is expected to include hiring freezes and possible layoffs. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick sent a letter to all agency chiefs directing them to enact immediate cutbacks so the state can pare a projected $1.8 billion...