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If the Chronicle is Endorsing Dewhurst because Ted Cruz is too Conservative Republican then Cruz is the guy for me!   Editorial: Who should fill Hutchison's boots? Houston Chronicle Tuesday, May 15, 2012 http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Who-should-fill-Hutchison-s-boots-3560958.php There's a torrid race in the Texas Republican primary to replace a Washingtonmonument. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the first woman to represent the state of Texasin the Senate, is retiring after three-plus terms of service in the world's most exclusive club. Given a magic wand, we'd order up a replacement who would blend the skills ofHutchison with those of Lloyd Bentsen - with just...

Earlier this year, the big race I was involved in was to help get black, super conservative, Republican State Rep James White re-elected after White was attacked by Speaker Joe Straus via redistricting. White ended up beating a Straus Chairman, Mike "Tuffy" Hamilton. Now my focus has shifted to the US Senate race. This race is very important. It is a runoff election between David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz. The Runoff Election Day is July 31st, 2012. Texas MUST elect Ted Cruz for US Senate July 31st! Let me first say that I do not hate David Dewhurst or think he is a liberal or a bad...

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) was booed at his state party's convention on Saturday, a warning sign for the Senate candidate as he heads into his runoff against former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz (R) as well as a sign of the increasing discord within the state party. Dewhurst received a tepid response to his speech and was booed when he sought to subtly attack Cruz and the outside groups backing him, according to the Texas Tribune. "This runoff is a clear election between a lifelong conservative businessman, a conservative leader, a Washington outsider and a lawyer who is...

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...