TX Lt. Gov. Dewhurst: Bitter Dispute Behind Us

On his second visit to Laredo as lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst made it clear Friday the bitter and contentious redistricting fights, which tore apart the genteel Texas Senate, are "behind us."

He also quashed rumors that he may be considering a run for governor against Rick Perry.

"I enjoy being lieutenant governor, and I will run for re-election as lieutenant governor, unless something drastic happens," Dewhurst told the editorial board of the Laredo Morning Times.

"I fully expect to be re-elected," added Dewhurst, who was accompanied by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo).

He then touched on the aftermath of the states unprecedented mid-decade redistricting effort, which is now in a federal courtroom. The first day of trial began Thursday in Austin and lasted until roughly 10 p.m.

"I believe in life you get what you expect and work for. I believe the majority of the senators think that this matter is behind us," Dewhurst said. "Its over. Its in the courts. Im working on 15 other issues."

Led by Congressman Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) and other Republican officeholders, the Texas redistricting episode caused thousands of Texans to protest and speak against the move at various hearings around the state this summer.

Furthermore, 55 state representatives broke quorum for a week in May, 51 of whom fled to Ardmore, Okla.

Two months later, and two special-called legislative sessions later, 11 Democratic state senators also broke quorum and hightailed it to Albuquerque, N.M. for six weeks, after Dewhurst made the crucial decision to suspend the two-thirds rule.

State Sen. Bill Ratliff, a powerful and long-time Republican senator from Mt. Pleasant who opposed his partys wishes to change the Texas congressional map, stepped down last month and decided not to finish out the remainder of his term.

One key question lingering over Austin is how Dewhurst can rebuild the Texas Senate and his political capital, and how can he regain the trust of his senators and the public after reversing his position on redistricting.

On the front cover of the December issue of the Texas Monthly, soon to hit the stands, is a caricature of Dewhurst, DeLay, Gov. Rick Perry and Speaker of the House Tom Craddick as the Three Stooges, plus Shemp.

In late June, Dewhurst publicly stated that redistricting was "about as attractive as a contagious flu" and said, "Im not going there." He also said he was inclined to keep the two-thirds rule intact.

Although it is the governor who calls special legislative sessions, Dewhurst, as lieutenant governor, has the power to keep or suspend the two-thirds rule in the Texas Senate.

"At the end of the day, I felt it was wrong for me, individually, to kill redistricting when most of the senators and the majority of the voters think differently on policy issues than our congressional delegation," Dewhurst said Friday.

He explained that during the first special-called session on redistricting (there were a total of three this year), he thought he had the consensus, and votes, of 21 of the 31 state senators to suspend the Senates time-honored two-thirds rule At the last minute, however, 11 Democrats plus Ratliff, joined forces to block the bill, forcing Dewhurst himself, to suspend the two-thirds rule and therefore bring the redistricting bill onto the Senate floor.

As a sign of his commitment to rebuild the Democrat-Republican relationship in the Texas Senate, Dewhurst pointed to his two-day visit to Laredo, hosted by Zaffirini.

"Im also focusing on other things," Dewhurst said, pointing to policy issues that have moved to the front burner.

He specifically cited water and higher education, as well as various reform efforts for public school finance, workmans compensation, Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program.

Health care costs for the state for Medicaid and CHIP, which services about 2.4 million needy Texans, are at 13 to 15 percent a year. These costs are expected to double every five years.

"I dont know how we can balance the budget on those kinds of projected increases," Dewhurst said. "We need to sit down with industry and state leaders to see how we can lower these costs.

Dewhurst then said he will make an announcement Monday regarding workmans compensation and how the state plans to revisit costs and potential abuses associated with this program, which is designed to financially assist employees injured on the job.

"We need to look at a network plan and see who is treating workmans comp (recipients), their number of medical visits, what kind of treatment they are receiving and so on," he said.

As for tackling the growing number of water feuds, Dewhurst said the state would be revisiting a sacred cow for landowners, the rule of capture.

Meanwhile, the state continues to wait for Perry to announce a special legislative session to tackle the thorny issue of public school finance.

Despite rumors in Austin that Perry will not call a special session anytime soon, despite the growing number of poor and wealthy school districts who have joined a lawsuit against the state, Dewhurst said he believes one will be called as early as April.

He also said his office would soon roll out a plan to identify new sources of money for the public education system that should ease property taxes for homeowners and businesses.

At the end of the interview, Dewhurst answered questions pertaining to the states growing Hispanic population and what his plans are for promoting Hispanic leaders during his administration.

"The future of Texas is the future of our Hispanic population. I am real clear that the future of the Republican Party is to bring in more and more Hispanics," he said.

He said more Hispanics and African-Americans have been elected statewide under the banner of the Republican Party, adding they have "huge opportunities" to rise politically through the Republican Party.

While replying to various questions throughout the interview, Dewhurst turned several times to Zaffirini and tapped her jokingly on the wrist, saying, "Now dont get mad."

Zaffirini returned the favor on one question, saying, "Now dont get mad," while tapping him on the wrist.

(Staff writer Tricia Cortez can be reached at 728-2568 or tricia@lmtonline.com.)

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This is apparently the first indication that Dewhurst intends to seek reelection as lieutenant governor in 2006. It had been speculated that he would run for the U.S. Senate IF K.B. Hutchison sought the governorship. Dewhurst will not challenge Perry, who is expected to seek a second consecutive four-year term in 2006. IF Hutchison runs for reelection and not for governor, Comptroller Carole K.M.R. Strayhorn is expected to challenge Perry in the GOP primary. Strayhorn is the mother of the Bush press secretary, Scott McClellan. There is no indication if a conservative might challenge Hutchison in the Senate primary. She might have primary opposition because she did not support the partial-birth abortion ban that passed the Senate last month.

Am I mistaken about Hutchison and the partial-birth abortion ban? I believe I read that she did not vote for the ban. Perhaps she skipped the vote to avoid taking a stand. Please clarify.

Carole Strayhorn is always running for higher office. She went from Austin mayor, then an absence, to railroad commissioner, then to comptroller. She had done a good job as comptroller, but in 2003, she started undermining Perry at every drop of the hat. She eyes the governorship for herself. She is in favor of higher taxes for "education" and "health care," something that Perry has THUS FAR resisted. In April, there is expected to be a special session to come up with "more money" for "education" and "health care." Hold on to your wallets, Texans, the "compassion" people are after us AGAIN.

All TX mayors are elected on a nonpartisan basis. I believe (but could be mistaken) that Strayhorn was a Democrat when she was "Mayor Rylander." She had turned Republican, however, to run for Congress. She lost to Rep. J.J. Pickle, an old friend of LBJ's, in the 1980s. I don't know just when she "changed parties." She did lead the Republican ticket statewide in 2002.

Do you think a conservative might challenge Hutchison in the 2006 senatorial primary? Otherwise, I am going to vote for any name on the ballot other than she.

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