Free Republic

Tom Pauken, former chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission and former head of the state Republican Party, withdrew from the Texas gubernatorial race. Pauken had struggled to raise money against a well-financed Greg Abbott. The following statement is excerpted from a letter the Pauken campaign sent today to donors and supporters: Thanksgiving is a time to count our blessings, and I have much to be thankful for with such a great family and so many wonderful friends. The past month has made that even clearer and more dear to me. I want to thank you personally for your gracious and...

"Now in Texas you have Republican Primary for Governor. And there's a fellow running in the Republican Primary that I've known since I was - how old? - 22 years old. His name is Tom Pauken. He's a Reaganite. He was a long-time Reaganite. Before Reagan he was a Goldwater guy. As solid as they come. A good friend of mine. And Tom Pauken would make an OUTSTANDING Governor of Texas. So I want to wholeheartedly tell my friends all over the state of Texas if you get a chance give Tom a very careful look. You won't be disappointed."

Tom Pauken criticized Attorney General Greg Abbott for joining with the U.S. Justice Department in a suit challenging the merger of American Airlines and US Airways. Texas, along with five other states, the District of Columbia and the justice department sued to stop ther merger on the grounds that it would diminish competition and potentially shut down air service in some Texas towns.

Abbott, fresh out of law school, was jogging through Houston's River Oaks neighborhood on July 14, 1984, when a 75-foot oak tree suddenly splintered at its base, striking him in the back and partially paralyzing him. Abbott sued the homeowner and a tree company that had worked in the area and collected millions. He has since become a proponent of limiting civil litigation in Texas and capping the amount of damages that can be awarded. Opponents have called him a hypocrite, but Abbott has largely shrugged off such criticisms. He rarely speaks about his accident, but chose to Sunday. "Piecing...

He’s practically an unknown against the big boys, but he’s seeking the top political job in Texas. Tom Pauken, former Chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission, has hard work in front of him, as he chases the Republican nomination for governor. The primary is in March 2014. “There’s too much on auto pilot in Austin,” Pauken told The Llano News, May 28, at the gazebo on the Courthouse Square. He criticized alleged overuse of sound bites, and, “not getting things done.” Pauken, who calls himself a Reagan Conservative, had a campaign stop in Brady, after his mid-afternoon conversation with Llano...

AUSTIN – As Karl Rove makes the rounds this week with his memoir burnishing the Bush legacy, another book by another Texas Republican offers a decidedly different view. Former state GOP chairman Tom Pauken, a Dallas lawyer and foot soldier in the Reagan revolution, offers a sober counterpoint to Rove's full-throated defense of his former boss. In Pauken's view, the former president and "Bush's Brain" not only hijacked conservatism, they nearly destroyed it.

The Texas unemployment rate jumped from 6.7 percent in April to 7.1 percent in May. While the percentage of Texans out of work is much lower than the 9.4 percent national figure, continued unemployment claims for individuals out of work for more than a week are 175 percent higher than they were in our state a year ago. In San Antonio, unemployment increased to 5.8 percent in May from 5.4 percent in April. The national jobless rate is the highest since July 1983, and this current economic environment has a more worrisome feel to it than that recession. What is...

WASHINGTON - They've been an unlikely pair since the day they met - the nerdish bookworm and the cocky backslapper - but Karl Rove and George W. Bush have been partners and political allies for more than 30 years. Now their friendship is being tested by Rove's involvement in the unauthorized outing of an undercover CIA officer. Depending on the outcome of a grand jury investigation, the president soon could face a painful choice between protecting his trusted aide or forcing his resignation to limit political damage. ''It's going to be an interesting test of his loyalty if this goes...