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CNN's Gary Tuchman heads to King County, Texas, where President Obama won only five votes. Video at link.

APIn Ryan Lizza's story in this week's The New Yorker, Texas' newly-elected Republican Senator Ted Cruz worries about the changing electoral landscape --- and how it could get even less favorable for the GOP in coming years.  Cruz provides what must be a truly terrifying thought for the Republican Party:"In not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat," he said. "If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House. New York and California are for the foreseeable future unalterably Democrat. If Texas turns bright blue, the Electoral College math is simple. We...

It turns out the calls for a stronger Hispanic voice in the GOP — more urgent than ever after Barack Obama’s massive support among the demographic Tuesday — were heard loud and clear in North Texas. George P. Bush, son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and nephew of former President George W. Bush, has taken his first step toward running for office by filing an “appointment of a campaign treasurer” with the Texas Ethics Commission, according to The New Republic.

Who Is Bolat Bersebayev and Why Is He Monitoring Our Elections? The New American 02 November 2012 Who are Bolat Bersebayev of Kazakhstan, Elchin Musaeyev of Azerbaijan, and their OSCE teammates who are "monitoring" the U.S. elections? ... As reported previously by The New American, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot has warned the OSCE monitors that they will risk criminal prosecution if they interfere in the state’s election procedures. Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz has also warned OSCE that its monitors must obey Iowa election laws or face arrest (see here and here). Janez Lenarcic, the director of the...

Red alert, local Democrats: One week into early voting, Republicans are beating you in turnout. This analysis comes courtesy of fourth-day data from early voting sites across Bexar County, comparing turnout in 2008 to this year's numbers. Democrats, of course, swept elections in 2008, when Barack Obama won the presidency and, incidentally, beat John McCain in Bexar County by more than five percentage points. In predicting the political loyalties of voters at early voting sites, local geography plays a role, according to consultants. “Typically, Bexar County's North Side are the heaviest Republican-voting precincts,” says Christian Anderson, who runs campaigns for...

Texas in person early voting begins Oct. 22 and ends Nov. 2. Check with your County Registrar of Voters for early voting sites and hours of operation. In the 2008 General Election 39.42% of the registered voters or 5,351,660 votes were cast during the Early Voting period. Texas Secretary of State Elections and Voter Information 2012 November General Election Candidates Application for Ballot by Mail   To be eligible to vote by mail in Texas, you must: be 65 years or older; be disabled; be out of the county on election day and during the period for early voting...

The Chronicle's backing of Barack Obama in 2008 broke a 44-year string of endorsing Republican candidates for president. Like so many others, we were captivated by the Illinois senator's soaring rhetoric and energized by his promise to move American politics beyond partisan gridlock and into an era of hope and change. It hasn't happened. Four years later, President Obama's deeds have failed to match his words, much less his specific vows to cut the national debt by half and bring the nation's unemployment rate to 6 percent. As Texans, it is a particular vexation that this president's attitude toward the...

Candidate Obama, an orator of great skill and cadence, might have overcome everything and put the U.S. on a brighter path. President Obama, unfortunately, fell short of the challenge. The wars have largely faded from headlines, but the economic struggles remain, along with an attendant worry about future federal spending, deficits and debt. Obama’s Democratic supporters would argue that no one could have succeeded in what he inherited, that the nation’s problems were far more severe than anyone could handle in four years. We respectfully disagree. On the central issue that will define his presidency — a stalled U.S. economy...

The Dallas Morning News announced this afternoon that they are endorsing candidate Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. In an editorial piece, the newspaper calls Romney a "principled, pragmatic leader" and that the former Massachusetts governor as a man who has "shown an ability to lead" and "can get Washington working again." The article went on to chastise Obama for being "less leader than follower" with his inability to address the escalating national debt and continually blaming George W. Bush for "the mess he left behind."(continued)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is accusing President Barack Obama of engaging in spiritual warfare and is urging Christian voters to “send a message to Washington that our nation is about more than some secular laws and activist courts." According to the Austin American-Statesman, the Republican made the claim in a conference call with evangelicals Tuesday, in which he warned that the "spiritual warfare," as he put it, "may be growing stronger as President Obama and his cronies in Washington continue their effort to remove any trace of religion from American life." He added, "It falls on us [as] Christian warriors,...

TAMPA, Fla. — The Texas delegation at the Republican National Convention is, for the most part, backing the candidacy of Mitt Romney. But that doesn't mean everyone here is enthusiastic about the former Massachusetts governor. Romney, who is expected to accept the nomination tonight, was not the first choice for many members of the Texas delegation, several delegates said this week. Gov. Rick Perry, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum each sent their backers to Romney after they dropped out of the race. And like good party soldiers, the converted supporters see Team Romney...

Michael Quinn Sullivan, leader of the conservative activist group Empower Texans, agreed that Texas voters were pushing out Republican moderates, like state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, who lost to tea party leader Donna Campbell. He said lawmakers allied with [RINO] Texas House Speaker Joe Straus continued to lose key races."It's a very bad night for Joe Straus, losing two big committee chairs (Miller and Hopson)," he said, adding that five Straus chairs have now lost in the GOP primary. "The state Senate has become a lot more conservative after this cycle, and especially with this runoff." Gov. Rick Perry tried to...

Election '12: Once again, the GOP establishment has been shocked by the resilience of the Tea Party movement. Ted Cruz's Senate nomination in Texas shows that ideas trump fundraising this fateful election year. The Tea Party is deservedly celebrating a stirring win by former Texas solicitor general Cruz in a runoff that determined which Republican vies for the seat of retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in November. Massively outspent by establishment-backed opponent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Cruz finished with nearly 57% of the vote. But another factor is at play, which also explains Richard Mourdock's recent primary defeat of Senator-for-life...

Ate tonight at the Chick-Fil-A at roughly the corner of FM1960 and North Eldridge in Cypress, Texas, a suburb of Houston.

AUSTIN — Ted Cruz, the top appellate lawyer turned tea party favorite, shocked the political establishment Tuesday, grabbing the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate and virtually guaranteeing that he’ll be Texas’ first Hispanic senator. Cruz handily defeated Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a Republican runoff for the seat of U.S.

The anointed Texas political establishment contender, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, was leading in the GOP runoff race to capture the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. He had a who’s who list of solid republican mainstream backers. Most state and national election experts had already inked Dewhurst into the senatorial win column. Yet, in the conservative voter trenches of Texas, the real who ’s who that truly counted was the voters and a Tea Party movement that would not say die or give up. In their corner was the former Alaskan...

"The victory of Ted Cruz in the Texas Republican Senate runoff primary means that the torch is being passed to a new generation of principled small government constitutional conservatives and that the 'let's make a deal' Republican Party of old will soon go the way of the Dodo bird. "Ted's nomination sent a strong signal that a new conservative Republican Party is being born and, by 2016, principled conservatives will replace most leaders in Congress and the Party at the national, state, and local levels. GOP leaders should 'ask not for whom the bell tolls -- it tolls for thee.'...

WASHINGTON - Ted Cruz's stunning come-from-behind victory over David Dewhurst in Tuesday's Republican Senate runoff sends an unmistakable message to the political establishment in Washington that the next U.S. Senate, like the Republican-controlled House, is going to be more conservative and less willing to compromise with President Barack Obama or even a possible President Mitt Romney. "This is going to reverberate around the Capitol in Washington and around the country," said Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak. "If you can do this in Texas, you can do it anywhere. This is a hell of a wake-up call for the establishment." The decisive...

only a tweet report at present

Tea party-backed Ted Cruz has defeated Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. FILE - In this June 22, 2012 file photo, Texas Senate Candidates Ted Cruz, left, and Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst , right, are seen after their televised debate in Dallas, Texas. Democrats have their thumbs heavily on Republican scales in Senate primaries in Missouri and Wisconsin this summer, hoping to tip the balance and improve their own chances of maintaining a majority in November. The idea isn't as far-fetched as it might sound. The former state solicitor general won the runoff...