Jeff Moseley, who runs the economic development department in Gov. Rick Perry's office, is leaving state employment to head the Greater Houston Partnership.That's the second time the Houston group has gone to North Texas for a chief. Former Denton County Judge Moseley moved to Austin after he was hired to run the old Texas Department of Commerce, a job that morphed into his current post. He'll replace Jim Kollaer, who's been at the GHP for 15 years and who, before that, worked in commercial real estate in Dallas. Moseley starts his new gig next month.

The magazine's list of the ten best and ten worst legislators is out.The Best
Rep. Dianne Delisi, R-Temple
Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock
Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown
Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth
Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson
Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan
Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie
Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio
Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo The Worst
Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin
Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston
Rep. Mary Denny, R-Aubrey
Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston
Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston
Rep. Kent Grusendorf, R-Arlington
Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington
Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin
Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford
Rep. Robert Talton, R-Pasadena Dishonorable Mention
Gov. Rick Perry
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst House Speaker Tom Craddick

Kimbrough returns to the AG's office; McClellan leavesJay Kimbrough, deputy chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry, has moved back to the offices of Attorney General Greg Abbott, where he's the director of "special investigations." That's an office that handles criminal investigations and prosecutions (most of which are done in conjunction with district attorneys whose legal turf includes criminal matters). He's hopped around state government, heading the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, then the Guv's criminal justice division, then to Abbott's office to head criminal justice, then to the Guv's office to head Homeland Security, to "senior advisor" to Perry and then to deputy chief of staff. He rejoined Abbott as the legislative session ended. Bradley McClellan, who heads the workers comp section for Abbott, is leaving that job for a post in the private sector. He's not saying what that post might be, but his last day on the job is Friday. His mother, meanwhile has asked Capitol Police for permission to block off Congress Avenue north of the Pink Building on Saturday. Her name is Carole Keeton Strayhorn.

East Texans, treated to a hot race when SD-3 was open in 2000, are about to get another one just like it.David Kleimann jumped into the SD-3 race with swats at Austin and the lame duck incumbent, Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine. Kleimann, who's been considering the race for months, says Staples called him and asked him to bow out: "He said he and the powers that be in Austin have decided who the next senator should be." The call got Kleimann's blood up, and he says he will be on the Republican ballot next year. The Willis businessman, who grew up in Montgomery County, says Staples' call riled "the little bit of John Wayne spirit in me," and he's making the Austin push for another candidate his issue. Staples, according to Kleimann, is supporting Robert Nichols, a Palestine businessman who is currently on the Texas Transportation Commission and who is a political confederate of Gov. Rick Perry. The senator's consultant, Bryan Eppstein of Fort Worth, dismisses that in four words: "It's ridiculous. No comment." Staples hasn't officially endorsed anyone, but Nichols is apparently the management favorite, which can help sometimes and hurt sometimes. Staples himself got into the Senate after drubbing homebuilder Les Tarrance in a GOP primary. Tarrance was the Austin favorite, had most of the lobby money, the governor's advisors and pollsters and advertising wizards, and vacuumed up a whopping 18 percent of the vote. Staples refrain then was that Austin shouldn't pick the candidate for East Texas. Bob Reeves, a Center businessman, has been considering a race for at least a full year and has been talking off and on to Staples during that time. He plans to officially declare his candidacy next week. He calls Staples a friend and says he won't divulge what might or might not have been said in a private conversation, but says he did get a call from Staples in the same time frame as the Kleimann call. He leaves it at that. Austin consultant Todd Smith will be working on Reeves' campaign. And Frank Denton, who ran and lost a mayoral race last year in Conroe, is planning to run (apparently with consultant Bill Tryon running things). Rep. Roy Blake Jr., R-Nacogdoches, has lately expressed interest; his father was in the Senate. Neither he, Denton, or Nichols returned calls before this was written.
Nichols was reappointed to the transportation board a year ago by Gov. Rick Perry (he was first appointed by then-Gov. George W. Bush). Earlier this year, he lent his name to Perry's reelection campaign for a list of people who will serve on the governor's campaign finance committee.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison told supporters in an email Friday evening that she will run for reelection in 2006 instead of challenging Gov. Rick Perry in the Republican primary.She's been flirting with a race for governor for months, and told reporters at a Friday luncheon in Plano that she would make her decision known within a few weeks and that she wouldn't announce anything until after an expected special legislative session on school finance. But just a few hours later, she fired off the email telling supporters that she'll run for reelection instead. That message said she would announce her reelection bid on June 27, and would explain her reasoning then. A win next year would give her a third term in the Senate; when she first ran in 1993, she told supporters she'd serve no more than two terms there. This is the second time Hutchison has seriously considered a run for governor and backed down. Texas Republicans who were tangled up in efforts to get a second term for President George W. Bush four years ago asked her not to stir the pot. That would have been a free run, since she wasn't up for election in 2002. This time, she faced the prospect of running for reelection -- expected to be an easy contest with few, if any, serious opponents -- or coming home to run against Perry and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, two of the strongest campaigners in GOP politics. With Perry on the verge of calling a special session on school finance and Strayhorn on the eve of announcing her bid for governor, Hutchison bowed out. That came as a terrific surprise to people who've been watching the pre-election posturing for the last year, and was as unexpected as another big moment in Hutchison's career, when Texas Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle folded his ethics case against her in open court in 1994. Hutchison, by most accounts, was ahead in private polls of the race. It's too early for those to mean anything in terms of Election Day, but her camp considered the numbers in a race with Perry and/or Strayhorn promising. And other politicians were queuing up in anticipation: U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, hoped to run to replace Hutchison; several politicians were lining up to replace him in that instance. Cocktail party speculators wondered if Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst would run for her spot, and whether Attorney General Greg Abbott and perhaps Strayhorn would then turn their attentions to replacing Dewhurst. Lawyers were lining up to look at Abbott's job. Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs, betting early that Strayhorn would move on, is already running for comptroller. Never mind all but that last race -- Strayhorn is saddling up for a run at the only elected state office that comes with free housing. Perry's prospects improve immensely with Hutchison out of the race. She's one of the state's most popular politicians, right up there with the president -- who'd want to run against her? But the governor isn't off the hook yet. Strayhorn's getting in. Kinky Friedman is putting together an independent campaign for governor. Democrat Chris Bell, a one-term congressman and former Houston city councilman, is exploring a run. And a few other Democrats -- insurance exec and former U.S. Ambassador Lyndon Olsen of Waco, former Comptroller John Sharp of Austin, and advertising exec Roy Spence of Austin -- have all talked about it. One last bit of sand to throw in, however unlikely it might seem: There's nothing here to prevent Hutchison from deciding to run for governor after all. She's got the money to run, especially if she were to run a short race instead of a long one. The political filing deadline is after Christmas, and for a politician with solid name identification, there's no need for a "get to know me" campaign. Sitting out the next six months means six months with no attacks to tear down the positive numbers. If things look nasty for Perry in December, Hutchison could always reconsider and get back in the race.

Bill Kenyon, who's been flakking for the Texas Secretary of State, abruptly left that agency after finding "difference of philosophy of communications with the governor's office."Kenyon was on board when Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams took office, having worked for SOS Geoffrey Connor for a few months before that. He joined the SOS, and came into Gov. Rick Perry's political sphere, after working for Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. They met working on Clayton Williams' ill-fated gubernatorial campaign in 1990, and Strayhorn brought him back to Texas from a political consulting practice in California. Kenyon says he's thinking about hanging out a consulting shingle in Austin.

Three new or promoted judges: Pena, Moore, and HancockGov. Rick Perry named Horacio Peña Jr. of Mission to the 92nd Judicial District Court in Hidalgo County. He's currently a municipal court judge in Mission and a private attorney. Dan Moore of Athens is Perry's pick for a court seat in Henderson County. He's a municipal court judge in Gun Barrel City and the city attorney for City of Athens. Perry named district Judge Mackey Hancock of Lubbock to an open spot on the 7th Court of Appeals in Amarillo, an appointment triggered when the governor named that court's Phil Johnson to the Texas Supreme Court. The governor next gets to pick Hancock's replacement.

Take Roy Blake Jr. off your list of candidates seeking to replace Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine.The Republican state representative from Nacogdoches says he looked at it but has decided to seek a second term in the Texas House. Frank Denton of Conroe, David Kleimann of Willis, Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, and Bob Reeves of Center all say they're definitely running. Staples has announced that, later this summer, he will announce his candidacy for Texas agriculture commissioner.

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn is expected to announce her candidacy for governor in Austin this Saturday, June 18.Her staff -- and her husband, Ed Strayhorn -- have been calling around to ask supporters to show up for an event this weekend. The comptroller, who's been giving Gov. Rick Perry fits for the last two years, is going to stop long-running speculation that she would challenge him. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is also considering a challenge, and 2006 could see the first competitive GOP primary for governor since 1990. Strayhorn asked Capitol Police for permission to block off Congress Avenue, on the north side of the Pink Building, for several hours on Saturday. That's a slow time of the week in that area, and the stretch of road between the Capitol and the University of Texas only gets really busy six or seven times a year -- when the Longhorns are playing football at home. The permit allows up to 500 people, and will let Strayhorn erect a stage to announce her political plans with the dome of the state government's coolest building as a backdrop. The timing is clever. Perry has until midnight Sunday to sign legislation, veto it, or allow bills to become laws without his name on them. Strayhorn is jumping that by a day, beating any other candidiates -- including the incumbent -- to a formal announcement. On Monday, after the deadline for bills is over, state officeholders are free to raise political money (a prohibition begins a month before the legislative session and continues until the veto pen is put down). Strayhorn's advisors hope the earlier announcement will give U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison pause and will allow the comptroller time to get some traction for the March primary. If Hutchison decides to run -- all signs are that she will run -- and looks like the favorite, Strayhorn could always hop to another race. You'll find people who say that's not a good idea, but well-timed changes of course can get candidates out of impossible races and into competitive ones. For instance: Attorney General Greg Abbott was a candidate for lieutenant governor in 2002 before switching to the AG's race. Democrat John Sharp ran for lite guv in 1998, losing narrowly to Rick Perry, after openly considering a run for governor against George W. Bush. It's hard to find solid information about Hutchison's plans, but the received wisdom from her campaign is that she'll decide soon and then make an official announcement sometime between now and August. Choose your poison: That's either a long wait that gives Perry and Strayhorn too much time to set up, or it's a smart move that lets them throw knives at one another while Hutchison stays above the fray -- and out of throwing range -- for a few more weeks. A political graybeard might remind us that nobody pays attention to politics during the summer anyway, and that voters' eyes and ears aren't available to candidates until school starts. And the start of school gives the candidates a peg for arguing school finance. If the Legislature squeezes out some solution in a special session, Perry might have something to brag about when the kids get their new haircuts and put on their backpacks. If things remain as they are now, the start of school will give challengers a chance to point out the failure to solve what might be Texas government's most persistent problem.