Two guys who've spent millions trying to get Republicans into office in Texas are being inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Not for the politics, but for how they made their bucks. Former gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams Jr. of Midland and GOP financier James Leininger of San Antonio are both on this year's slate. Williams made his money in oil and gas, and his political spending was mostly on his own run for the state's highest office, in 1990. Leininger, a doctor who turned around a defunct hospital bed company and made a fortune, is one of the Texas GOP's most prolific donors.
Debra Wanser moved to deputy commissioner at the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services from the Department of Familiy and Protective Services. She had been assistant commissioner for Adult Protective Services there.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst appointed Donald Wood of Odessa to the Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board. That's the panel that oversees the state's dormant Texas Tomorrow Fund and its active 527 college investment plan. Wood is an executive with Southwest Energy Distributors and president of Permian Enterprises LTD.
Katherine Cesinger is leaving Gov. Rick Perry's press office for the policy shop. Her replacement is Allison Castle, most recently with ROSS Communications in Austin.
The governor named Louis Sturns of Fort Worth to the 213th District Court, replacing Robert Gill, who retired. Sturns will give up his spot on the state's Public Safety Commission to take the job. He's a former Texas Racing Commissioner and a former judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Perry named three people to the State Board of Social Worker Examiners, which regulates that profession: Jody Anne Armstrong of Abilene, retired from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services; Denise Pratt, a Baytown lawyer; and Mark Talbot, a McAllen lawyer.
Perry named eleven Texans to the new Border Security Council, including Brownsville County Judge Carlos Cascos, who'll be the presiding officer. The panel will include Brewster County Judge Val Clark Beard of Alpine; Fred Burton of Austin, vice president of STRATFOR, a private intelligence company; Hudspeth County Judge Becky Dean-Walker of Sierra Blanca; Texas Commissioner of Environmental Quality Buddy Garcia; Robert Holt of Midland, a rancher and oil producer and former Texas Department of Public Safety commissioner; Maverick County Sheriff Tomas Herrera of Eagle Pass; Scott McLaughlin of El Paso, president of Stagecoach Cartage and Distribution; Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael O'Connor of Victoria; San Antonio attorney Allan Polunsky, who's a current Texas Public Safety Commissioner; and Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson.