He hasn't officially announced anything, but it's safe to scratch Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, off the list of possible candidates for Texas agriculture commissioner. He's been letting agriculture groups know he won't make the race next year.Swinford was one of several people mentioned as possible replacements for the current head of the agency, Susan Combs. She's readying a bid for comptroller of public accounts. Initially, she said she was getting ready to run on the assumption that Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn would be running for another office. But Strayhorn's battles with her fellow Republicans in the Texas Capitol have raised temperatures to the point where Combs would probably muster some support even if the incumbent tries to stay put. Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, wants to run for agriculture commissioner if it opens up; that's not official, but he's doing all the things you'd do to set up a run, talking to potential supporters, working on high profile legislation, and importantly, letting potential competitors know he'll be one of the obstacles they face. Swinford told us he thinks he'd be the best guy for the job and that he would announce his plans one way or another to his constituents in the Panhandle. But in conversations with various agriculture groups and their representatives, he's saying he can do more for farmers and ranchers in his present position in the House, where he chairs the important State Affairs Committee, and where he's currently one of the House negotiators on the tax bill. Combs is holding organizational meetings later this month (though she and other current officeholders are barred from collecting contributions or commitments while the Legislature is in session). Strayhorn has indicated, vaguely and through aides and friends, that she'll announce her intentions in early summer.

Mr. Luce goes to WashingtonDallas lawyer Tom Luce, who helped Ross Perot push education reform through the Texas Legislature in the mid-1980s, will join the U.S. Department of Education. President George W. Bush appointed him to be assistant secretary to Margaret Spellings. That'll continue to professional relationship dating back to the Texas reforms. Spellings was an aide to then-Rep. Bill Haley, D-Center, who authored the HB 72 reforms Luce and Perot were pushing at the time. She joined Bush's gang when he was governor, then moved to Washington when he became president.

A prosecutor quits, and a judge tries againU.S. Attorney Michael Shelby is quitting that post to take a stab at work in the private sector. Shelby, a former Harris County prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney who narrowly lost a legislative race to Kyle Janek in 1992, was appointed chief prosecutor for the state's southern region by President George W. Bush three years ago. That district includes Houston and the Gulf Coast, and runs all the way west to Laredo. He told the Houston Chronicle he'll recommend his top lawyer, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle, to hold the fort while Bush looks for a new appointee. Into the Washington Cuisinart: Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen, reappointed by President George W. Bush for a spot on the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans after two earlier busts by Senate Democrats. She joined the Texas court in 1995, and it second in seniority behind Nathan Hecht, who became a justice in 1989. If she gets through Senate confirmation, Hecht would be the lone remaining justice who was on the court when the Robin Hood system of funding for schools was found constitutional. And if Owen were replaced by appointment before the end of 2005, seven of the nine justices will be on the ballot next year either just after or just before they rule on school finance.