Kirk England beat Democrat Katy Hubener and Libertarian Gene Freeman and will take the place of former Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie.England lost the election day voting by 151 votes, but came out of early voting with a 499-vote margin. That was plenty, and the Republican newcomer to politics is on his way to the statehouse. The three will meet in the November general election with the winner getting a full term in the House. England pulled in 52.9 percent of the 5,274 votes cast. In percentage terms, that's close to what Allen got against Hubener two years ago, when he won 52.6 percent of 35,815 votes cast. Hubener ended up with 46.2 percent of the vote. In 2004, running in the general election against Allen, she got 47.4 percent of the vote. Final campaign finance numbers (spending, especially) aren't in, but Hubener reported raising $110,142 for the special election and spending $81,245. England raised $147,138 and spent $91,383. Those numbers include the reports filed eight days before the election and the beginning of year reports before that, along with telegram reports on late contributions. Late spending isn't in there. But based on those numbers and the unofficial vote totals, Hubener spent $33.32 per vote, and England spent $32.77 per vote. One oddment from the election numbers: England won 259 of the 358 early mail-in ballots. That's 72 percent. He got 58 percent of the early in-person vote. On Election Day, he got 47 percent.

Rep. Kent Grusendorf, R-Arlington, is in the last week of the toughest race of his political life, and he sounds remarkably like a man who has taken himself hostage. "We will pass legislation to fix school finance this spring or I'll resign," he told a group in Arlington, and then repeated for us and other newsies in a press release.His own announcement calls that "a rare and bold move," and he says the Texas Supreme Court's ruling on the case -- which wasn't available to lawmakers who failed to solve the puzzle last year -- will make the difference. His whole quote: "For the last 19 years, I have dedicated my career to improving the lives of Texas children and today I am reaffirming my commitment and resolve to get the job done. "I am confident in my ability and the ability of the Republican leadership in the House and Senate to find common sense solutions, build on the bipartisan Sharp Commission's recommendations, and send a bill to Governor Perry he can sign with pride.? Play out the possibilities, just for sport: The winner of next week's HD-94 Republican primary between Grusendorf and Diane Patrick will face Democrat David Pillow in November. That's a Republican district, but if Grusendorf's the winner and school finance doesn't fly, Pillow could win the political lottery. • Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, is spending at least as much time running against one opponent's financiers than against the opponent. And he's gone negative on the money man, in a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "Dr. [James] Leininger is a desperate old man, a rich old man, who wants to buy his way. He wants people to whore for him, and I won't do it. District 99 is not for sale. I think next week, the voters will show Dr. Leininger that." Geren happily repeated the line a few days later, when he learned that several Republican colleagues in the House -- Linda Harper-Brown of Irving, Bill Keffer of Dallas, Jodie Laubenberg of Parker Bill Zedler of Arlington, and Mary Denny of Denton -- were endorsing Hatley. "I'd a whole lot rather have the endorsements of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, House Speaker Tom Craddick, [former Lt. Gov.] Bill Ratliff, [Sens.] Chris Harris and Kim Brimer than a bunch of sophomores... and Mary Denny, who's not even running again." He singled out Zedler who, according to Geren, had said he wasn't getting involved in Hatley's race: "He's lying just like they are." As for Leininger, Geren said, "he's just digging himself a hole." • Van Taylor, a veteran who wants the GOP nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, took the gloves off after his opponent, Tucker Anderson, sent out mail pieces quoting a woman who said Taylor's long-windedness reminded her of a U.S. senator from Massachusetts. That, in Taylor's judgment, opened the door for negative campaigning: "When my opponent called me John Kerry, I had to defend myself. It's an affront, it's low, it's dirty and it's wrong."

Back in the middle 1980s, a Dallas savings and loan tycoon who gave a lot to Texas Democrats said it was usually better to be the second- or third-biggest political giver in any given election cycle, since the guy giving the most took the shots in the papers. But sometimes, the guy you think is giving the most money is actually in second place.Dr. James Leininger of San Antonio (along with his wife, Cecilia Leininger) has been taking the shots in the papers, but look over his shoulder: Homebuilder Bob Perry of Houston (along with his wife, Doylene Perry) has given $588,000 so far this year, according to the Texas Ethics Commission. And since July, when the fundraising for the current political cycle was already well underway, he's given $2.3 million. Add a little more: If you count the money the Perrys (no kin to the governor) have poured into Texas politics since the regular legislative session ended last May, you'll get $3,176,779.50. (The significance of that DATE: most state officeholders are barred from raising money during regular legislative sessions, and they end their six-month fast with a powerful hunger for campaign cash.) Leininger, by way of comparison, has contributed $2,897,817.89 over that same period. Leininger's contributions this cycle have been concentrated, with $1.8 million going to the Texas Republican Legislative Campaign Committee and another $495,000 going to the Future of Texas Alliance. The rest went to a variety of candidates and causes and committees, including $106,600 to Gov. Rick Perry, $100,000 each to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and to Texans for Marriage, $65,000 to the Texas Republican Party, and $50,000 to Attorney General Greg Abbott. Perry has a longer list of beneficiaries, including $401,000 to Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC; $320,529 to Abbott; $210,000 to Dewhurst; $205,000 to Gov. Perry; $100,000 to Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams (who's not on the ballot); $200,000 each to Ag Commissioner Susan Combs, who's running for comptroller, and Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones (who is on the ballot); $195,000 to Hillco PAC; $185,000 to Rep. Joe Nixon, R-Houston, who's running for state Senate; $150,000 to Texans for Marriage; $95,000 to the Texas Republican Party; and $80,000 to Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. Unlike Leininger, Perry has some Democrats on the list of people he has supported in this cycle, including Reps. Ana Hernandez of Houston, $25,000; Norma Chavez of El Paso, $10,000; Allan Ritter of Nederland, $7,000; Harold Dutton of Houston, $1,000; Ismael "Kino" Flores of Palmview; Armando "Mando" Martinez of Weslaco, $1,000; Jose Menendez of San Antonio, $1,000; Sylvester Turner of Houston, $15,000; Mike Villarreal of San Antonio, $1,000; Sens. Rodney Ellis of Houston, $12,500; Frank Madla of San Antonio; Mario Gallegos of Houston, $11,000; Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa of McAllen, $2,500; Eddie Lucio Jr., $15,000; Eddie Lucio III (running for the House), $10,000; and John Whitmire of Houston, $20,000. The two big donors aren't always on the same side. Leininger is the money behind Wayne Christian's effort to regain his old House seat against Roy Blake Jr.; Perry's with Blake. But Leininger has four other Republican primary races (in particular) in his gunsights, and Perry's with him in three of those, supporting Van Wilson against Rep. Delwin Jones in Lubbock; Mark Williams against Rep. Tommy Merritt in Longview; and Chris Hatley against Charlie Geren in Fort Worth.

Behind all the election noise, that business about taxes and school finance is still rumbling along, and it's not a smooth ride. There is nothing like the prospect of a tax vote in an election year to get lawmakers and taxpayers twitching.The state has a surplus, and some lawmakers want to use that $4.3 billion as a temporary fix for school finance -- a solution that would make for a short and sweet special session this spring followed by a regular session next year that starts with the need for a $6 billion tax bill. That idea is appealing to legislators who face opponents in November because it means they wouldn't have to make any politically hazardous votes on taxes between now and then. It also would make for a quick session -- and after two special sessions last summer, lawmakers don't relish the thought of a dragged-out fight in Austin. Former Comptroller John Sharp, enlisted by the governor to come up with a state tax that would replace part of those local property taxes, is trying to keep the tax fix alive. He and Gov. Rick Perry have been visiting with small groups of legislators, and Sharp is trying to enlist the support of business groups and trade associations. We caught him at the Texas Motor Transport Association's meeting, but we've asked around, and it's pretty much the same version other groups are getting. If you listen carefully to his pitch, you can detect some of the political trouble spots that have come up in the sessions with lawmakers and tax policy types. The state has to pay a bigger share of public school costs to lower pressure on local school property taxes, so districts can lower those rates and the Texas Supreme Court will settle down. The current rig, the court says, is unconstitutional. Perry and other state leaders want to broaden the state's tax on businesses and to lower local property taxes by the same amount, so they can fix this and still say, with straight faces, they didn't raise taxes. That'll be true, on average. But it also means some Texas businesses will be paying a new tax with no obvious benefit to anyone but state government: Current taxpayers would get a break at the expense of new taxpayers. The legislators who have to vote on the thing want to know that those new taxpayers won't have a bad reaction.

Sharp wants to replace the state franchise tax with a tax on business receipts. Companies would take their gross receipts, deduct their choice of Cost of Goods Sold or Payroll and Benefits, and then pay a one percent tax on what's left. That's the gist of it; the actual mileage will vary as they fiddle with definitions and such. The pitch from Sharp and the tax reform panel he's heading starts with the things that can't be done. Bigger homestead exemptions wouldn't satisfy the court. Wiping out property tax exemptions already on the books would hurt economic development. Raising sales taxes would put the state on the high end of consumption taxes among the states and could hurt bidness. Though he's not saying it would be on the agenda this spring (he's not saying otherwise, either), Sharp says the state needs to make increases in property taxes more difficult so that local governments can't hide rate increases behind increases in property values. Waiting until the regular session, he warns, would put all the bargaining chips back on the table; school finance would get lost in a fight between lawmakers who want more money for schools, he says, and those who want education reform first. That's his argument for a spring fix, when the governor can limit what's on the agenda for consideration. Catch the trouble spots? There's a faction on his committee that wants to raise sales taxes. There's a group that wants to put a permanent fix off for a year. There's a group that wants property tax reform. There's a group that wants homestead exemptions. And there are groups that don't want to do anything with taxes unless they can get education reform or more money for schools -- or both -- in the bargain.