Alex Chadwick of National Public Radio's Day to Day talks to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey about what DeLay's resignation from Congress will mean for Texas politics.Here's the link: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5323047

The editors of Texas Weekly, the Quorum Report, and Texas Monthly -- Ross Ramsey, Harvey Kronberg, and Evan Smith -- gabbed about the elections in a recent forum at the University of Texas. It's available online, as is its February counterpart featuring former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff and former House Speaker Pete Laney. Next month, they'll add Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams.But this episode of the Texas Politics Speaker Series was for the nattering nabobs. Check it out at this link: http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/html/pr/speaker_series.html.

Try out this scenario, from Republican consultant Allen Blakemore of Houston: If Robert Eckels (a Blakemore client) decides to run for Tom DeLay's spot as the Republican nominee in CD-22, he'll be giving up his reelection bid as Harris County Judge.That would leave local Republican Party officials with the job of replacing their nominee on the ballot with another Republican. There's no Democrat in that race, so that Republican's appointment to Eckels' ballot position would be tantamount to election as the top official in the state's biggest county. If it's someone like, say, Harris County taxman Paul Bettencourt, there'd be another round: Someone would have to be appointed to serve out the remaining two years of his term before they'd face voters.

Ambassadors, appointments, and a suspicious election...Eric Bost, who headed what was then called the Texas Department of Human Services, is President George W. Bush's choice for U.S. Ambassador to South Africa. Bost is currently an undersecretary a the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the nomination has to win a nod from the Senate. Gov. Rick Perry appointed two Aggies and a lawyer to the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, the licensing agent for vets. Janie Allen Carpenter of Garland and David Wayne Heflin of Mission are both vets (and Aggies), and Cynthia Diaz of San Antonio is the deputy general counsel for Mission City Management. Perry named Connie Sefcik-Kennedy of Austin to the governing board of the Texas School for the Deaf; she's a state employee at the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, and a member of the school's Alumni Association. Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams won an appointment to the National Coal Council, which advises the U.S. Secretary of Energy. Deborah Ingraham, after ten years as an administrative law judge for the State Office of Administrative Hearings, is the new director of regulatory and legal affairs for the Texas Electric Cooperatives. Austin American-Statesman reporter Ken Herman -- now in Washington after a long run in the Capitol press corps -- won election to a seat with the White House Correspondents Association. Ever heard him complain about issues in a race? The big item for his group is... "the upcoming remodeling project."