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Cedar Creek, Texas (CNN)– Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Thursday that he hopes Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison remains in the Senate and acknowledged that he has spoken with her about challenging Gov. Rick Perry in the GOP primary. Barbour, head of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), would not elaborate on his conversation with Hutchison, but did say he personally hopes Perry wins another term. "I would just hate to lose Kay Bailey in the Senate," Barbour said at a news conference during the RGA's annual meeting. "She has been a great senator. I would just hate to lose a great...

Gov. Rick Perry on Monday defended efforts he once made to have girls vaccinated against the HPV virus that can lead to cervical cancer. "I've always though HPV was an issue of life," Perry said in Dallas. The governor was responding to a reporter's question about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's decision to stop requiring that immigrant girls and women seeking green cards get the HPV, or human papillomavirus vaccine. Two years ago Perry, in the face of extreme opposition, ordered a HPV vaccination program in Texas. He said it would have had an opt out provision....

Gov. Rick Perry's campaign, not too surprisingly, pounced on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's comment on Meet the Press that if Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner deserves to be fired, members of Congress do, too. "Senator Hutchison finally admitted that she is part of the problem with the out-of-control spending in Washington," said Perry spokesman Mark Miner. "After supporting record deficits, bailouts and earmarks during her more than 16 years in Washington, most Texans would agree with the Senator's statement, 'We shouldn't keep our jobs either.'" Hmmm. Doesn't that contradict Perry's old standby that Texas is better off if Hutchison stays in...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison have agreed to a debate before their hotly contested Republican gubernatorial primary next spring. Officials at KERA-TV (Channel 13) said Friday that both candidates accepted a Jan. 14 debate in North Texas. The primary is March 2. KERA says Hutchison might ask for the debate to be reset if it conflicts with a Senate vote on health care reform. The hourlong debate will include an audience and questions from journalists. It will be distributed to all TV and radio stations in the state.

Here is video of Texas Gov. Rick Perry saying the Obama Administrations is "hell-bent on taking America towards a socialist country.” Perry told an audience that Obama's Administration is seeking to "punish" the state of Texas by trucking illegal aliens caught along the border in California and Arizona to the small town of Presidio, Texas (pop. 4600) and "turning them loose" to the tune of 92 per day. The program is called the "Alien Transfer and Exit Program." Perry said that in a year's time, that is 28,000 people. Faced with the desert in Mexico or settling in Texas, they...

Governor Rick Perry says "we need to make the tea parties twice as big" as before, and says Obama is punishing Texas...(Video)

Gov. Rick Perry had some pretty strong comments about the Obama administration on Wednesday in Midland, saying, “This is an administration hell-bent on taking America towards a socialist country.”

Whatever happens tomorrow in the NY-23 race will be anticlimactic. Now that Dede Scozzafava, the Republican candidate, has dropped out, there has already been a clear and historic victory for the Conservative Party. The Republican Party is now a third party in NY-23. The Conservative Party of New York was formed in 1962, but is the focus now of national interest. And it cannot be denied that Sarah Palin was the first major national political figure to cross the river to NY-23. The new energy heading to NY-23 is formed out of the Tea Party and Town Hall movements. We...

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) is brushing off former Vice President Dick Cheney's endorsement of Perry's primary challenger, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison -- saying he'd rather have his current support from Sarah Palin. Perry touted an upcoming endorsement from Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, as evidence of Republican support. Perry was then asked if he would rather have Cheney or Palin, who endorsed him back in February. Perry's response: "I think I'd stick with Sarah."

AUSTIN, Texas — Former Vice President Dick Cheney will throw his support behind U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s campaign for Texas governor. Hutchison’s campaign confirmed today that Cheney will endorse the Texas Republican’s March primary challenge of Gov. Rick Perry at a fundraiser next month.

AUSTIN (KXAN) - An anti-earmark group Tuesday named Texas Senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kay Bailey Hutchison as October's “ Porker of the Month .” The group gives out the title to lawmakers, government officials and political candidates it thinks “have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers,” according to its website. The group said Hutchison has requested 149 earmarks worth $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2010. The Dallas Morning News reports that, by Hutcison’s own accounting, she has steered $8.7 billion to Texas in the past five years. Hutchison has argued if she hadn't secured those funds,...

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison may be waffling about when to give up her powerful job, but a sign came this month that she's serious about leaving the nation's capital to focus on her run for Texas governor: a "sold" sign outside her suburban Washington home. Tax records show that her 4,300-square-foot house in McLean, Va., sold for $1.4 million on Oct. 2. That's about $170,000 less than she and her husband, Ray Hutchison, paid for it in 2006 and nearly $400,000 less than the original asking price in August 2008. The Hutchisons own a home valued at $2.7 million in...

It is becoming apparent that there is a possibility that neither Rick Perry nor Kay Bailey Hutchison may be the Republican nominee for governor of Texas. Both of them have issues that must be cleared up – and soon, or other big names are going to enter the race. Gov. Perry is smack in the middle of a developing controversy over the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham – indeed a very bad man, but a man who may not have started the fire that killed his three children. The strange thing is that the question of Willingham’s guilt is...

WASHINGTON – Gov. Rick Perry has hammered Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison time and again as a Washington-style big spender. He decries the $2.6 billion that she slipped "secretly" into the last two annual budgets. But he doesn't know the half of it. By Hutchison's own accounting, she has steered $8.7 billion to Texas in the last five years. And as Congress finalizes the 2010 budget, the haul will probably exceed $10 billion – a staggering sum that has never been tallied before. It ranks her among the most successful earmarkers in congressional history. How that plays in the GOP gubernatorial...

The Texas Department of Transportation is pulling the last plug on the Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's embattled plan to build a toll-road network across the state. The agency said earlier this year it was scaling down the project and dropping the name "Trans-Texas Corridor." Now, transportation officials say it's fully dead. Transportation Commissioner Bill Meadows told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of the decision in a report posted online Tuesday. The news comes a day after Perry's Republican primary opponent, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, secured the coveted endorsement of the powerful Texas Farm Bureau — a vocal opponent of the...

If Gov. Rick Perry loses the 2010 Republican primary, it won’t be because he executed too many men or made too much fun of the recession. No, if he loses, it’ll be because he mocked a woman. Six weeks into the campaign, the Cowboy Governor has forgotten the Code of the West: A cowboy treats a woman like a lady. Before Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison had even announced her campaign for governor, Perry sent an airplane buzzing overhead to taunt her with the message "Kay Come Clean — Release Your Taxes." Since then, Perry’s campaign has tailed Hutchison with a...

On Fox Business News, Governor Perry spoke at length with host David Asman about the relative economic and fiscal strength of Texas, even in these tough times. Governor Perry reiterated his five keys to success, including: 1. Don't spend all the money. 2. Keep the taxes low. 3. Make sure the regulatory climate is fair and predictable. 4. Tort reform to prevent frivolous lawsuits. 5. Fund an accountable education system to produce a skilled workforce. Because Texas has been fiscally responsible, Texas is still succeeding: Fox Business Interview (Video) The Governor also spoke out against cap and trade, which would...

The new Rasmussen poll is out and it has Kay Hutchison leading Rick Perry in the GOP gubernatorial primary 40-38 percent, with Debra Medina polling three percent. Whether these Rasmussen numbers are right or not, I don't know. I'm not a pollster. But they do raise an important point if the GOP governor's race remains close until the end. If these findings hold up over time, the culturally conservative Medina could cost Perry the race. Like Ralph Nader did to Al Gore in Florida, a protest candidate only needs to take a few points away from one of the major...

It's been said that a politician thinks of the next election, while a statesman thinks of the next generation. It's a phrase that comes to mind in the race getting under way in Texas, where US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is challenging Governor Rick Perry for the GOP nomination in March of 2010. Here we have a 3-term senator planning to vacate her position before the end of the year and try to unseat the governor of a state with an economy that has done exceedingly well, given the ravages of the financial meltdown across the country. Statistics for the...

Gov. Rick Perry’s latest plan to stomp out illegal activity along the border has all the hallmarks of an old Western movie: The state’s elite team of cowboy-hat wearing law enforcers — the Texas Rangers. A growing threat from cross-border bandits. And, in a modern twist, a few Texas National Guard troops thrown in for good measure. The only problem, local leaders say, is that it ignores ongoing efforts to clamp down on border crime and fundamentally mischaracterizes life as it is now for the region’s residents. “What does (Perry) think we’ve been doing down here for the past couple...

The Texas gubernatorial race is heating up, and we’ve got some old and new faces involved. So far, the Republicans and Democrats have multiple candidates, each vying for their party’s nomination. The plucky Libertarians have two and the lowly independents have one. All have quite a battle on their hands in trying to defeat Gov. Rick Perry, the longest-serving Texas governor. The main Democrat front runners, former U.S. Ambassador to Australia and Japan Tom Schieffer, 2006 Texas Agriculture Commissioner candidate Hank Gilbert, and musician, humorist and former Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, are all competing for their party’s nomination in...

"Come and Take It" reads the white-on-black lettering across the top of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's boots, a slogan ostensibly about the 1835 Texas War of Independence but one that could easily apply to his 2010 Republican primary challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. -snip- Perry's political goal? "I hope to be able to be an influential governor in creating a 10th Amendment movement that makes Washington less impactful on the states," he said.

In 2002 when he was seeking his first four-year term, Republican Gov. Rick Perry spent about $25 million and that was enough to crush his Democratic challenger, Laredo multimillionaire Tony Sanchez, despite being outspent almost 3-1. If Perry - the longest serving governor in Texas history because he served the last two years of George W. Bush's term when he became president in 2000 - is to be re-elected to an unprecedented third term next year, he will have to spend much more than that just to win his party's nomination. That's because despite his suggestion a few weeks ago...

Texas Governor Rick Perry came to Washington last week and I had a chance to hear him talk for about an hour on a wide range of issues before a small number of journalists. Perry is engaged in a tough primary battle against Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has much of the Texas Republican establishment behind her -- including Karen Hughes -- and who may even have a slight lead in the race if the latest Rasmussen numbers are to be believed. Perry, however, said he was "still skeptical" that Hutchison would actually run -- she has declared her...

Tina Benkiser will leave her post as chairwoman of the Texas Republican Party next month so she can join Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign as a senior adviser. In announcing her move, Benkiser called Perry the “only true conservative” in the race — a clear shot at U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is challenging Perry for the Republican nomination. While the move was unexpected, it makes sense that Benkiser would back Perry. She comes straight from the social conservative base that Perry is counting on to help him win another term. Benkiser has led the state party since 2003. During...

Litigation: The Founding Fathers envisioned the states as laboratories for ideas and choices. If the administration needs a demonstration project for successful tort reform, it need look no further than Mississippi. When President Obama said during his health care speech to Congress that he would "look into" malpractice reform and support "demonstration projects" at the state level, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a Republican, responded: "If they want a demonstration project, come down to Mississippi. I'll show you a demonstration project." Mississippi enacted tort reform in 2004, including caps on medical malpractice awards. As a result, the number of medical...

Charges of economic cluelessness and political hackery are flying in Texas as U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison challenges Gov. Rick Perry for the Republican nomination for governor. .The primary isn't until March and the big bucks haven't yet been spent on advertising, polling or voter-luring barbecues in this large and heavily Republican state. But from the get-go the race has been fierce, even by the bare-knuckled standards of Texas politics. For instance, both sides have taken to posting attack videos on YouTube, referring to one-another as "Kay Bailout" and "Tricky Ricky." Mr. Perry, who appeals to the conservative wing of...

HOW TEXAS CAN SAVE AMERICA FROM WASHINGTON Written by Governor Rick Perry Thursday, 17 September 2009 As the federal government continuously churns out ideas and policies that drive our nation deeper and deeper in debt, citizens and taxpayers are right to be worried. From federal "stimulus" bills that force state governments to change laws, raise taxes and increase spending, to cap and trade proposals that will run our energy industry into the ground, to emerging plans for an unprecedented and unsustainable expansion of government health care, it is clear that the swollen river of our federal government has overflowed its...

Federal Powers: Where in the U.S. Constitution does it say the government can force people to buy health insurance? And by what authority does it prohibit the purchasing of insurance across state lines?A key part of the administration's plan to reform health care is what is called the "individual mandate" — a requirement that everyone must have health insurance either through his or her employer or purchased individually. A good chunk of the uninsured are that way of their own volition. They are young and healthy and feel they have better things to do with their money at this point...

SAN ANTONIO — Gov. Rick Perry embarked on a campaign fundraising swing Tuesday with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a longtime friend and Republican ally whose views on social issues are more closely allied with Perry's primary opponent, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Neither Perry or Giuliani, who Perry endorsed for president last year, discussed or even hinted at Perry's Republican primary battle with Hutchison during a news conference on border security at a San Antonio police station. Perry, Giuliani and Hutchison are all like-minded when it comes the border and fiscal policy. But Giuliani stands closer to...

There seems to be some confusion in the Debra Medina for governor campaign on the definition of "support." An earlier version of this story reported that Medina's campaign announced Wednesday that Rep. Ron Paul is backing her. The campaign plugged a letter written by Paul in which he calls Medina a "real defender of liberty." But I just got a call from Jesse Benton, who said he's media director for Paul's congressional reelection campaign and the political director to Paul's political action committee, Liberty PAC. He said the letter is not an endorsement for Medina's campaign at all. Paul has...

DALLAS — Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says if Gov. Rick Perry calls an early special election to fill the seat of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison after she resigns, the cost will be his responsibility — not hers. The state says an emergency election soon after Hutchison quits could cost taxpayers up to $30 million, but Hutchison says it won't be that much if Perry follows the schedule. Hutchison is running against Perry for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. If she leaves the Senate in October or November as she has said, state law sets the special election to fill her seat...

Gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, stopped in Longview to gather support from local business and civic leaders during her second East Texas tour within a month. The self-proclaimed "East Texas girl," who stopped in Tyler and other regional towns in mid-August, continued her campaign to dethrone the longest-serving governor in Texas history, Rick Perry. Sen. Hutchison said, "we are treading water better than any state that is moving ahead, but that is not good enough." The senator assured attendees that she is no stranger to the region and its needs. "I have been here many times, and...

Two former Texas Tech University System regents said Friday that allies of Gov. Rick Perry's pressured them to resign after their support for Perry's political rival — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison — became public. One of the former regents, Windy Sitton, said that Scott Dueser, then chairman of the board, told her last year that the governor's office had said for Sitton "to cease and desist supporting Kay Bailey immediately or resign from the board." She said that she did neither. Perry replaced her this year after her term expired. Mark Griffin, a Lubbock businessman whom Perry appointed to...

Gov. Rick Perry says he can understand why some parent are upset that President Obama plans to talk to school children next Tuesday via a webcast. The event is touted as a way for the president to talk to students about the importance of education and taking responsibility for learning. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush made similiar pitches to school kids way back when, in a different time, in a different political atmosphere. In an interview with AP, Perry said he disagreed with some conservative groups calling on parents to pull their children out of school, saying, he's...

Texas needs to lead, not secede, the state's governor told supporters during a Wednesday campaign stop in Lubbock. Gov. Rick Perry shrugged off a lone shout for secession from the back of a crammed coffee shop as he ticked through the highlights of his gubernatorial career. "My deal is, you know what? Let's just show the rest of the nation how to do it right," Perry said. Perry told the crowd of more than 100 overflowing the small space that a stable state economy proved the value of state-level leadership as Washington Republicans behaved like Democrats. "Hogwash, I mean that's...

Republican Debra Medina, a former nurse and the pride of Orangedale, could be a spoiler candidate in the 2010 party primary for governor. Could be. If she wants to be. So far, the former Wharton County party chairwoman seems content with rallying the 5 percent of Texas Republicans who supported U.S. Rep. Ron Paul for president and agitating for geeky rules to give that faction more power. "I’ve been working 20 years to hold our elected officials accountable," Medina, 47, of Wharton, said Monday night after a speech to a Dallas chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans. "We’re not just...

AUSTIN – At the end of his first term as president of the Texas Republic, Sam Houston had to leave office before seeking another term three years later. Under the republic’s constitution, the storied Texas hero was barred from serving two consecutive terms. Nearly 170 years later, the on-again, off-again question of term limits for Texas chief executives is now emerging as an ingredient in the roiling Republican primary battle between incumbent Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. In seeking to retire the state’s longest-serving governor, Hutchison wants to limit Texas governors to eight years in office,...

More girls under 15 give birth in Houston than any other U.S. city, according to a new national report, and many of the city's teen moms have additional children before they turn 20. The report by the research organization Child Trends found that there were 20 percent more babies born to girls 14 or younger in Houston than in New York and Los Angeles in 2006 and that 24 percent of all Houston's teen births were repeat births that year, the latest for which data is available.

Updated: Perry calls border wall ‘nonsense’ By Jason Embry | Friday, August 28, 2009, 05:28 PM In a speech today to at the Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Forum, Gov. Rick Perry said he prefers a “technological barrier” along the Texas-Mexico border instead of a physical border wall. Here’s a 43 second clip....Update: Perry spokesman Mark Miner said Perry is “for a fence in strategic areas, but he believes you need to use technology and other innovative resources to protect the border. He doesn’t believe you need to build a fence from one end of Texas to...

Texas may need to borrow $1.5 billion from feds AUSTIN — A state official says Texas will likely borrow $1.5 billion from the federal government to pay jobless benefits through December. It's unclear when state employers will have to pay a higher tax to repay the loan and build a required $863 million cushion in unemployment compensation trust fund.

· Yes · No · Both will loose Currently 42% Yes 45% No and 11% Both will loose.

EL PASO -- Governor Rick Perry said he was deeply troubled by drug cartel violence in Mexico, and Juarez in particular, and has asked President Barack Obama to authorize 1,000 National Guard troops for use in support of civilian law enforcement agencies along the border. "As violence in northern Mexico continues, it is paramount that our international borders be secured to ensure the safety of our citizens and the security of our Homeland," Perry said in his letter to the President. Perry said drug cartels have recruited Texas teenagers for operations on both sides of the border. He also stressed...

To me she's the face of America. I mean she's a hard worker, she didn't come from money, she didn't come from privilege, she just worked hard. . .

Texas law already requires buckling up in the front seat, and starting Sept. 1, it'll be the law to do so in the back seat, too. The change affects people ages 17 and older; those 16 and younger already are required to wear a seat belt in the back seat

Most heard the news yesterday that Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announced that she would run for Governor. I am not a resident of Texas and I certainly don't know that much about the inner dynamics of the state. I do know that a corrupt politician is one that we cannot stand for and I believe that Governor Perry is corrupt. I want to lay that case out and leave no doubt that in fact Governor Perry is corrupt.

This particular story was the climax of a nearly five year ordeal for a nurse anasthesist that found him the target of a sham peer review that dwindled his savings and nearly cost him his license. The Texas agency in charge of disciplining doctors has launched its own investigation into the drug testing allegations uncovered by Local 2 Investigates at Cuero Community Hospital. Former staff members at the publicly funded hospital near Victoria say patients were used as "human guinea pigs" without the patients' knowledge, with a drug that was never approved for trials or use on humans. The Texas...

MEDINA FOR TEXAS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES BALLOT INITIATIVE DRIVE; "WE TEXANS MUST DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY FROM REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES" Austin, TX, July 2009 - The Medina For Texas campaign, in an effort to bring about a restoration of accountability in government and to create new tethers insuring our elected officials serve the people, has launched an effort to place unprecedented provisions on the Republican Party primary ballot in March 2010. The campaign plans to gather signatures in support of six ballot initiatives at Tea Parties being held around the state this July 4th weekend. "We Texans must demand accountability from Republican candidates. We...

The 24-page report released this month by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) entitled, “The Second Wave: Return of the Militia” is sweeping in its indictment. In it, police officers, soldiers, veterans, tax defiers, Patriots, tea party members, right-wing militias, “birthers” and sovereign citizen proponents are all said to exhibit elements of a resurging anti-government movement that reached it’s zenith in the mid-1990’s and spiraled out of control with violence and domestic terrorism. A number of national and local citizens groups are called out in the report — the National Rifle Association, Minutemen, Oath Keepers — as well as mainstream...

TEL AVIV, Israel – Gov. Rick Perry compared Mexico to the Gaza Strip this week, saying Texas can learn from Israeli security efforts after touring a town that has been hit by Palestinian rockets. Perry, who has demanded a heightened U.S. troop presence along the Rio Grande, went to Israel's border with Gaza and was briefed by Israeli army officials. "Kassam rockets have killed 28 Israelis over the last eight years. Well, 1,000 people have been killed in Juárez since the beginning of the year," the governor told the Jerusalem Post in Friday's editions, referring to the drug-related killings across...