... for a special election on February 28.Another special election is getting underway, as we noted last week. New since then is the DATE: Voters in Grand Prairie will replace Rep. Ray Allen, a Republican, on Feb. 28. Candidates have until the end of business on Monday (1/30) to sign up. So far, three have done so: Republican Kirk England, Libertarian Gene Freeman, and Democrat Katy Hubener. Those three are also running for a full term in Allen's job in November.

It's a little thing, but the two top photos in the "campaign photos" section on Ben Bentzin's website have changed.The Republican House candidate, who faded in the closing days and almost lost the special election to succeed Todd Baxter, has edited Gov. Rick Perry off of his website. Perry made an election eve appearance on Bentzin's behalf, and political rivals made hay of it, noting the juxtaposition of Perry's appearance and Bentzin's dive at the end of the campaign (a 46-40 advantage in early voting turned to a 55-34 deficit in Election Day voting. With those results combined for a total, Democrat Donna Howard missed an outright victory by just 73 votes). The Bentzin folks pooh-poohed talk of a Perry Effect after the election ended, blaming the turn on negative mailers from the local wing of the Democratic Party. But Perry's face is gone from www.benbentzin.com. A statement attributed to Bentzin says the website is being revamped and that Perry quotes and photos and such will be included in the revisions. We got several reports of Perry emails sent on Bentzin's behalf that got stalled somewhere on the Internet before they finally landed in voters' inboxes. The vote reminders, sent around lunchtime on Election Day, landed on Sunday, five days after it was over. And they included the now unfortunate tagline: "I look forward to celebrating a tremendous victory when the polls close tonight." They've got a digital "Rick Perry" signature, and included a return address at the Guv's Internet domain. The runoff election between Howard and Bentzin is set for Valentine's Day. Election officials held a drawing, and Howard's name will appear first on the ballot.

The traditional bit with judges running for election is that they run as candidates of political parties and they don't take positions on issues that might someday come before them. They do accept money from lawyers and parties who might have business before them, but they don't discuss those issues in public. And in some places, they've been barred from taking part in partisan or seemingly partisan activities.The ban on talking about issues slipped a few years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court said it violated free speech. Most judicial candidates are reserved about politicking, but they're free now to talk issues, to debate political positions and, by inference, to bang on their opponents like everyone else in politics. Now, some federal courts are knocking down restrictions on politicking. The Supremes declined to hear a case out of Minnesota, where lower federal courts struck down state laws that barred direct contributions and partisan politicking in judicial races. Minnesota was one of 29 or 30 states -- we've seen different counts from people who are supposed to know what they're doing -- that was trying to prevent judges from directly soliciting campaign contributions. That'll apparently become legal again, at least in the federal appellate district that includes Minnesota; federal courts here and elsewhere are free to follow or to ignore the precedent should lawsuits be filed. Texans will be happy to note that the post-game editorials used the Lone Star State as one of the examples of judicial races run amok. Minnesota's law prevented judges from raising money for themselves, from identifying themselves as members of political parties, and from attending partisan events, among other things. The state's Republican Party and a candidate there sued; a federal appeals court said the restrictions violated free speech protections in the First Amendment. A Texas judge can call anyone and ask for a political contribution. As it stands in Minnesota and elsewhere in the 8th U.S. Circuit, judges can be barred from one-on-one or small group solicitations. But they can solicit money by letter and in front of large groups. In an earlier, related case that did get to the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices ruled (5-4) that candidates can't be barred from stating their views on legal questions. And the issues raised in the Minnesota case could come up again, if someone sues and it winds its way up through the courts.

Sherry Boyles, a former statewide candidate and co-founder of a Democratic PAC that supports female candidates, left that group earlier this month to pursue other opportunities. She's leaving an organization that spent 81 percent of the money it raised in 2005, even though that was a political off-year with only one election.Kelly White is the new chief at Annie's List, a relatively young fundraising and political group that supports pro-choice Democrats running for state office. The group was started by Boyles, who ran unsuccessfully for Railroad Commissioner in 2002, and former Rep. Ann Kitchen, D-Austin. Kitchen and some of the original board members left in 2004, less than a year after the group's startup, and Boyles was in control until this month. Annie's List spends more on administration and fundraising than on support for political candidates, its stated purpose. Last year -- an off year with only one election -- the group spent more than 80 percent of the more than $325,000 it raised. The money went to salaries and other administrative expenses ($115,376), fundraising events ($60,823), catering and other food ($29,384), travel ($23,476), printing and photography ($15,363), office expenses ($9,470), and furniture and "décor" ($8,753). Politics ranked eighth in spending: Annie's List gave $1,000 to Rep. Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles, R-Alice, to help cover the costs of her election contest. And they contributed $6,000 to Rep. Ana Hernandez, D-Houston, who won a special election to replace Rep. Joe Moreno, who died in a highway accident last spring. Boyles was paid $81,400 in consulting and management fees and bonuses and was reimbursed for over $2,600 in travel and mileage expenses. That was about 25 percent of what the PAC collected from donors last year. The $7,000 that went to candidates was a relatively minor piece of the budget for Annie's List, and accounted for slightly more than2 percent of what the group raised from political donors. The PAC raised $325,293 in 2005, spent $270,475, and ended the year with $61,924 in the bank and with $5,000 in outstanding loans. Boyles wasn't immediately available for comment. White, who's replacing Boyles, was one of the group's top candidates in 2004. She lost a very close race to Rep. Todd Baxter, R-Austin, that year, and briefly considered running in last Tuesday's special election to replace him. Now that she's at Annie's List, the group is endorsing Donna Howard in the runoff for that HD-48 seat (against Republican Ben Bentzin). White was Howard's campaign treasurer, a position she gave up to take the job with Annie's List (Howard is now listed as the treasurer of her own campaign). The organization had some successes in the 2004 cycle. They backed two incumbent-killers, for instance: Alma Allen, who knocked off Ron Wilson in the Democratic primary, and Veronica Gonzales, who won a contested primary against Roberto Gutierrez and others, and then won a close general election race. White won't talk about happened before she took over, but says she wants the group to spend its time and money on candidates and on "campaign infrastructure" like training political workers and block walkers and such to help inexperienced and understaffed campaigns. Her background is in the nonprofit world, and she says the model there will be the model for Annie's List, with no more than 25 percent of what's raised going to administrative expenses (had that been the case last year, the PAC would have entered 2006 with more than $200,000 in its war chest). They're also encouraging donors to put up at least $100 for the group and to commit to another $200 in contributions to candidates that can be made later through the organization. They'll collect checks from their donors -- made out to candidates rather than the PAC -- and pass them along in bundles. White is talking to other candidates around the state and says the group will soon make some endorsements for the regular primaries.

Lobster audits, vote fraud, rent protection, and a problem with the barn door.Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who's also running for governor, says her agency will audit the state's contract with Cassidy & Associates, a Washington lobby firm. That inquiry follows charges from Texas Democrats that the state was laundering money through those lobsters to Republican committees and causes. Strayhorn said the audit will focus on the $330,000 deal between the firm and the state's Office of State-Federal Relations. Gov. Rick Perry's office has defended the contract and another like it, saying the lobbyists were able to increase the state's share of federal funds. State legislators -- Democrats and Republicans -- beat the comptroller by a day or two; they're also planning a review. Perry's political and government offices both issued statements with roughly the same reply to Strayhorn's announcement: She doesn't have the legal authority to do the audit. • The attorney general's office is training cops and prosecutors in 44 counties in the finer points of voter fraud. AG Greg Abbott's efforts are aimed at 44 counties that are either big enough or historically crooked enough at election time to merit extra attention. That second group includes 18 counties with "a history of voter fraud." Abbott's office has prosecuted four cases of fraud referred to it by the Secretary of State's office. Two involved illegal possession and transport of ballots, another a candidate was collecting absentee ballots, and a fourth where a woman was voting absentee -- very absentee -- for her dead mother. • The Texas Veterans Land Board voted to freeze rates at the state's six nursing homes for vets. That'll save about 600 people up to $1,500 a month, according to Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. A bond restructuring is one reason rates aren't rising in those homes. • Movie of the Week: Cell phone records. Gubernatorial candidate Bob Gammage wants to outlaw the sale of cell phone records and to crack down on anyone caught doing anything illegal with those records now. Several third-party companies obtain those records from cell phone companies and sell them, though most people assume their calls are secret. A day later, Attorney General Greg Abbott launched an investigation of the practice; he says it's already illegal.

The Texas Supreme Court says Robert Francis and Charles Holcomb should get a chance to fix their applications to run for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.The court didn't put the two Republicans back on the ballot, but gave them the opportunity to fix their errors. State Rep. Terry Keel, whose challenges to the two had knocked them out of the race, now has a hot primary on his hands. Three justices dissented. Get the opinions, if you want them, here: www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/historical/2006/jan/060061.htm