Six Fort Worth Republicans are asking for an investigation of automated phone calls they say might have swung the results of a special election earlier this month.

In their letter to Tarrant County District Attorney Tim Curry, they complain that the anonymous calls ran afoul of campaign laws that prohibit people from trying to damage a candidate or campaign by misrepresenting the source of any communication or by misrepresenting a person's identity. And they say it broke the rules for robo-calls, which can't be made anonymously or during certain hours of the day.

The letter was signed by former Rep. Anna Mowery, former Rep. Bob Leonard, current Rep. Charlie Geren, former Tarrant County GOP Chairmen Steve Hollern Jr. and Warren Russell, and James Dean Schull, a Benbrook city councilman who, with Leonard and three others, was defeated in the first round of the special election.

Curry's office is already investigating complaints about flyers that were posted in Democratic and minority areas of town encouraging people to vote in the "Saturday elections." The actual elections were held on Tuesday, and local Democrats  say someone was trying to suppress Democratic votes.

The pre-recorded calls started as early as 7:00 or 7:30 a.m. on Election Day. The announcer, saying his information was from "Craig Goldman supporters," criticized then-Rep. Bob Leonard's vote on a tax bill in the late 1980s. Those two were widely expected to finish in front of other Republicans in the seven-man race. But when the election was over, Democrat Dan Barrett was in first place and Republican Mark Shelton was in second. They'll be in a runoff December 18.

The source of the calls wasn't revealed, and all of the campaigns have disavowed any knowledge of them. And the expense of making such calls doesn't appear on the campaign finance reports filed by any of the candidates.

The full text: "This is a voter alert. Please pay close attention. Bob Leonard does not want you to hear this message. Craig Goldman's supporters recently revealed that, as a state representative in the mid-1980s, Bob Leonard voted to raise your taxes. One of his last votes was to increase taxes on most household goods, cars, guns. Almost anything you can think of, Bob wanted to tax. Maybe that is why he quit to become a lobbyist after making that vote. Today, cast your vote for Texas and against Bob Leonard."

The complaints started the day after the election last week and crested this week with the filing of the complaint. They're fighting so hard you'd think they're fighting for a full term. And you'd probably be right.

The winner of the next month's runoff will get the job until January 2009. But if enough dust gets kicked up about the special election, it could take the joy out of incumbency and give one of the losers a reason to ask voters for a second look. And the complaint itself, even if Curry doesn't investigate, could start that dust cloud.

A reader pointed out another oddity while poking through the reports. Goldman's campaign reported an in-kind contribution of $2896.84 from the Empower Texans PAC. But the PAC didn't report giving him anything.

That's apparently because of a newly created hole in the state's campaign laws. The PAC didn't give the money directly to the campaign. They made the contribution in the final days of the campaign — after the last pre-election report was due. And because they didn't have any contributions of more than $5,000, they didn't have to file a special report.

Bottom line: They sent 4,000 postcards endorsing Goldman and won't have to report who gave them the money to pay for those until January, long after the special election and the runoff. Goldman reported receiving the contribution, but isn't required to say — or even to know — who gave to the PAC and made the mailing possible.

The group's director, Michael Quinn Sullivan, also was a prominent opponent of Proposition 15 — the constitutional amendment that allows the state to sell $3 billion bonds to fund cancer research. But he says that was incidental to his other work at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility — blogging and emailing to supporters — and didn't amount to a campaign. "We're not required to report that," he says.

It's a Date

The runoff for the special election in Fort Worth's House District 97 will be on December 18. Early voting will run December 10-14. Democrat Dan Barrett will face Republican Dr. Mark Shelton in that race to replace Rep. Anna Mowery, a Republican who resigned earlier this year.

There's also a runoff for a seat on the Fort Worth City Council in a district with a significant overlap of HD-97 (they're running to replace Wendy Davis, a Democrat who quit the council to run against Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth). Mowery's district has been Republican territory, but some Democrats are hoping the local government race will draw out enough donkeys to keep it competitive. Barrett finished first in the first round. He was the lone Democrat in a field of seven candidates.

Collateral Risk

Mauricio Celis, a prolific political contributor from Corpus Christi, was indicted on charges of impersonating a lawyer, impersonating a public servant, perjury and theft.

Celis is fighting this war on other fronts. Attorney General Greg Abbott has civil actions underway on the allegations that Celis impersonated a lawyer. And that office issued a statement when the indictments were made public.

This, from Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for Abbott:

"With its indictments of Mauricio Celis, a Nueces County grand jury took a meaningful step toward protecting the integrity of our legal system. Practicing law without a license is illegal in the State of Texas. Investigators with the Office of the Attorney General will continue working with Nueces County District Attorney Carlos Valdez to ensure his office has all the investigative resources it needs to prosecute this case. We will also continue pursuing our civil enforcement action as we seek to prevent Celis or CGT Law Group from violating Texas law."

Celis has given $293,500 in cash and in-kind contributions to Texas political causes in the last five years. His favorites, by amount, include 2006 Democrat gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell, $64,500; Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Robstown, $50,500; Good Government Political Action Committee, $50,000; Save Texas Courts, $50,000; Rep. Solomon Ortiz Jr., D-Corpus Christi, $25,000; Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, $17,000; former Rep. Vilma Luna, D-Corpus Christi, $10,000; 13th Court of Appeals Justice Gina Benavidez, $5,000; unsuccessful state Senate candidate Barbara Canales-Black, $5,000; state District Judge Robert "Bobby" Galvan, $5,000; state District Judge Marisela Saldana, $4,500; 13th Court of Appeals Justice Linda Yañez, now a candidate for Texas Supreme Court, $3,000; state District Judge Sandra Watts, $2,500; and the Texas Democratic Party, $1,500.

Save Texas Courts was a political action committee set up to fight caps on medical malpractice damages in lawsuits. The Good Government Political Action Committee was set up by attorney Mikal Watts — the main contributor — and was a major booster of Juan Garcia's campaign against Rep. Gene Seaman, R-Corpus Christi; it spent money on his behalf rather than contributing directly to his campaign. Point of interest: Sandra Watts is Mikal's mom.

The three active state reps — Garcia, Herrero, and Ortiz — each gave to charity $1,000 of the money they received from Celis. That covers his most recent contributions to those three, but far short of the totals they received.

State candidates sometimes listed him as a lawyer — as in one of Yañez' 2002 reports — and sometimes as "partner" in the CGT Law Firm — as in one of Garcia's 2006 report. Others — Bell is one example — list him as self-employed attorney. Candidates aren't required to verify occupations, or in some cases, even to list them. But that's what was on their filings.

Celis has played in federal elections, too, and he's identified as a lawyer in the "occupation" blank on campaign finance reports filed by candidates with the Federal Election Commission. From 2002 to the present, he's contributed $91,846 individually, and got joint fundraising contribution credit for $27,000 to Kerry Victory 2004, and $25,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 2004. His wife, Rosa Celis, was listed giving like amounts to those two funds (her name doesn't appear in online campaign finance filings with the Texas Ethics Commission, where state candidates report and where there are no contribution limits).

Celis' federal giving went to presidential candidates John Edwards, $2,000, John Kerry, $2,000, and Hillary Clinton, $2,300. He opened his accounts to U.S. Senate candidates Ken Salazar of Colorado, $8,300, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, $4,200, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, $2,100, and to three Texans: Barbara Ann Radnofsky, $5,000, Ron Kirk, $1,000, and Mikal Watts, $4,600. He gave to U.S. House candidates Solomon Ortiz, $3,000, Nick Lampson, $4,600, and Ciro Rodriguez, $2,000, all from Texas, and to Jenny Oropeza of California, $2,300, and John Salazar of Colorado, $2,000. And Celis gave $9,946 to the Texas Democratic Party and $28,500 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Rosa Celis contributed $14,600 from 2004 to now, giving $2,000 to Ortiz, $4,000 to McCaskill; $6,600 to Ken Salazar, and $2,000 to Menendez.

Texas for Money, Iowa for Votes

Maybe it was the threat of rain, or the $3.50 Lone Stars, or the crummy opening band that hasn't had a hit since the 90s (Fastball, remember them?).

Most likely, though, it was the $15 to $25 cover charge that kept the 20,000 supporters that crowded into Auditorium Shores earlier this year away for a free rally from U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, Saturday afternoon fundraiser in Austin.

An Obama staffer pegged the attendance at Saturday's event at 3500, but the bare spots in the crowd suggested a smaller crowd. For his part, Obama threw the crowd some blue meat by attacking George W. Bush's presidency and touching on his own plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, provide universal health care, and raise the minimum wage. And though he didn't mention his chief rival and current poll leader for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, by name, Obama repeated almost verbatim a new, more forceful, stump speech that he broke out recently in Iowa.

"The old textbook Washington campaign just won't do," Obama says, "Triangulation and poll testing positions because we worried what Mitt [Romney] or Rudy [Giuliani] might say about us just won't do."

Obama spent the earlier part of Saturday privately fundraising with more generous donors in Houston and Austin and was off to Iowa after the rally.

Because Texas' primary is in March, long after the primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have usually cemented each party's front runner, don't expect to see Obama much more in the Lone Star state. Ben LaBolt, his deputy press secretary, says the goal of Saturday's fundraiser was designed to "translate the enthusiasm" shown for Obama in Austin into a more concrete grassroots organization to help get out votes and raise money.

Perhaps underscoring the lack of importance Texas' voters have in deciding each party's presidential candidate, state Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, told the crowd: "Anybody who leaves here really fired up, and who has a little bit of time on their hands — we need people to go to Iowa, and New Hampshire, and Nevada, and South Carolina, those are the elections that are going to give Barack Obama the momentum to win this. And they will set you up with places to stay."

— by Alan Suderman

Flotsam & Jetsam

• You remember the flap over contracts at the Texas Education Agency? The inspector general there issued a report saying friends of top execs there were getting contracts, that the contract and grant processes were "regularly and systematically manipulated," and that the agency sometimes ignored its own procedures. That prompted State Auditor John Keel to have a look and now his report is out. Bottom line: The contracting system at TEA's regional education service centers doesn't always rely on competitive bidding but rather on the recommendations of TEA staff and outside parties. "This practice resulted in the appearance of less than arm's-length transactions," the report says. The auditor's recommendation? The agency ought to use competitive bidding for contracts worth more than $25,000.

• A group that tried to block the Texas Association of Counties from lobbying wants another bite at the apple. Americans for Prosperity won a court ruling saying TAC can't use taxpayer-funded dues money for lobbying, but the judge ruled the group can use money it makes from insurance and other services. The group's president, Peggy Venable, calls that a "hollow victory" and says the group will ask the judge to modify his ruling.

• The Texas Department of Insurance approved rate increases for the state's windstorm insurance pool. Residential rates will go up 8.2 percent and commercial property rates will rise 5.4 percent. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association had asked for 10 percent increases in both lines. The new rates hit on February 1 of next year. TDI says the rate hike on an "estimated average annual premium" will be $84, taking the total price to $1,107.

Political Notes

• Put Jim Shepherd on your candidate list. He's a lawyer who served on the Richardson City Council for 12 years and on the Richardson school board for four years before that. He'll be in the Republican primary against at least two others — Angie Chen Button and Randall Dunning. They all seek the HD-112 seat Rep. Fred Hill, R-Dallas, is giving up at the end of this term. 

• Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, says officially that she'll seek a fifth term in the House...

• Dan Grant, one of two Democrats plotting challenges to U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, has an anti-war ad up on YouTube (it also had a short run on TV) and on his website. It features Grant, a former civilian contractor in Iraq, talking over footage of caskets of soldiers killed there while a lone bugler plays taps: "Washington politicians don't want us to see the true cost or their failed policies in Iraq. I've been to Iraq, and I think we've paid enough, and that's why I'm running for Congress."

• Political bloggers from all over the country will be in Austin next July for their annual convention (they work inside, in the air conditioning, apparently). Netroots Nation — which began as the YearlyKos Convention — will be July 17-20. They hope to draw political candidates and consultants and pundits in addition to their core Laptop Liberals. Their last convention, in Chicago, attracted seven of the Democratic presidential candidates.

• The Texas Federation of Teachers endorsed Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, a so-far unchallenged incumbent who's expecting the worst. He upset a longtime incumbent last year and Republicans have him on their target list. So far, though, they don't have a candidate. Among those still pondering is former Rep. Todd Hunter, who says he'll make up his mind over the holidays. Garcia's bulking up: He claims $214,000 in his campaign bank account.

• Dean Hrbacek says he's got more than 40 Fort Bend GOP precinct chairs endorsing his bid for Congress in CD-22. The former Sugar Land mayor is one of several Republicans angling to challenge U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford in Tom DeLay's old district.

• Austin lobbyist and political consultant Jill Warren has taken to the little screen: She's the host of something called Big Red Tent TV, an online effort to promote conservative candidates for federal office. And she's doing online interviews on that outfit's website, at www.bigredtent.org.

• Democrat Dan Barrett picked up two endorsements in the runoff race in HD-97 in Fort Worth. The Texas Parent PAC and the Texas League of Conservation Voters both say he's their choice. Parent PAC's endorsement is based on his position against publicly funded vouchers for private schools — Republican Mark Shelton favors vouchers — and the TLCV prefers Barrett's positions on environmental issues.

Political People and Their Moves

Tom Mason got the top job at the Lower Colorado River Authority, replacing the retiring Joe Beal. Mason was that agency's general counsel and his promotion puts an end to rumors that the job would go to someone with a political resume, like former Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Reed O'Connor of Dallas for a spot on the federal bench. He'll be a federal judge in the Northern District of Texas, replacing Judge Joe Fish, who's taking senior status. O'Conner has been both a state and federal prosecutor.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed Elizabeth Anderson of Dallas to one of the three open seats on the state's Public Safety Commission — the board that oversees the state police. She's a marketing and IT consultant, and replaces Louis Sturns, who left when Perry appointed him to a state district judgeship in Fort Worth.

Perry filled four spots on the Texas Workforce Investment Council, naming Karen Bonner of Corpus Christi, Wes Jury of Arlington, Paul Mayer of Garland, and Danny Prosperie of Bridge City to that panel. Bonner is vice president for philanthropy at CHISTUS Spohn Health System Foundation. Jurey and Mayer are the presidents, respectively, of their local chambers of commerce. And Prosperie is the training director for the Beaumont Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee.

The governor named Betty Pinckard Reinbeck, executive director of the Tomball Economic Development Corp. and the former mayor of Sealy, the chair of the Texas Facilities Commission.

Gloria Hicks and Dr. Robert Schmidt are the governor's newest appointees to the Texas Racing Commission. Hicks is CFO of Ed Hicks Imports in Corpus Christi. Schmidt is an orthopedic surgeon in Fort Worth, a partner of the Texas Hip and Knee Center, and chief of staff at Plaza Medical Center.

James Cooley is leaving the House after three legislative sessions with Rep. Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple, and will be landing soon at the Health and Human Services Commission. He'll do Medicaid policy research there, he says.

Quotes of the Week

Former Texas Youth Commission conservator Jay Kimbrough, on hiring a controversial former state official as a consultant there, quoted in The Dallas Morning News: "It doesn't matter to me if Gregg Phillips was on the grassy knoll in Dallas, Texas, if he has a solution that is good for the youth of TYC."

Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, talking with the Associated Press about state efforts to increase border security: "At some point [lawmakers] are going to have to put in money for additional personnel. The boots on the ground are great, but the boots get tired."

Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, quoted in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on funding delays to the Texas State Railroad that followed his opposition to House Speaker Tom Craddick: "If this railroad was in Midland, they probably would have added another 100 miles of track right now."

University of North Texas student Sebastian Arduengo, quoted by the Austin American-Statesman after a political rally in the capital city: "If the Texas primary actually mattered, I'd be inclined to vote for Obama."

Jason Stanford, campaign manager for Democrat Chris Bell's gubernatorial campaign last year, on Kinky Friedman's book on that contest, quoted in the San Antonio Express-News: "I will give him kudos for message discipline. He's still selling the same jokes."

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Texas Weekly: Volume 24, Issue 23, 26 November 2007. Ross Ramsey, Editor. Copyright 2007 by Printing Production Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. One-year online subscription: $250. For information about your subscription, call (512) 302-5703 or email biz@texasweekly.com. For news, email ramsey@texasweekly.com, or call (512) 288-6598.

This week bloggers are following the runoff in House District 97. They're also talking about federal House happenings, the fresh face in the U.S. Senate Democratic Primary and an excerpt from a book by the Son of One Tough Grandma. Closing it out is a list of brand-new things, and an award for Headline of the Week.

* * * * *

Runoff Run-Up

Chronic, the Austin Chronicle's blog, summarizes the situation in HD-97, concluding that the biggest thing at stake is the free parking downtown.

PinkDome says Gov. Rick Perry's decision to hold the runoff on Dec. 18 "ought to go over like a turd in a punchbowl." "Seriously, a team of monkeys with darts could have selected a better election date," adds Capitol Annex. According to Eye on Williamson, "The strategy is the last-gasp attempt by the right-wing political machine to extend their majority for a scant few years, pass their extremist agenda, preserve their rights to despoil the environment, exploit workers, loot the treasury and widen the gulf between rich and poor."

Burnt Orange Report tells us why they're against Republican Mark Shelton, including his support from House Speaker Tom Craddick and his lack of support for CHIP, while Off the Kuff reports that Democrat Dan Barrett has gotten nods from the Texas Parent PAC and the Texas League of Conservation Voters. And BurkaBlog wonders why Parent PAC would "risk the organization's hard-earned credibility in a race that means nothing."

* * * * *

The Wrath of Congress

Kuff has "mixed feelings" about Congressional District 22 incumbent Nick Lampson's seize-the-middle-ground reelection strategy. Meanwhile, Rick Perry vs.the World alerts us to the existence of a new blog devoted to watching CD-22, called cd22 watcher, which in turn alerts us to the existence of another CD-22 blog, called Anti Corruption Republican.

And The Wartime Consigliere has a post on Lampson here, featuring a comment by Republican dark-horse candidate Alan Steinberg, as well as a couple of comments by "Anonymous," who thinks like and advertises for cd22 watcher.

Observer catches up with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, here, while Walker Report says that James Leininger is vouching for Republican challenger Quico Canseco in CD-23.

Big Brother's black helicopters are scrambling to document the alliance between presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside, and local Prison Planet patron Alex Jones, says Chronic.

* * * * *

Corpus Christi Ray

Chronic has a lengthy repartee with new Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ray McMurrey, a Corpus Christi teacher who says he wants to be the "Texan Paul Wellstone."

Kuff expects McMurrey's announcement to be the highpoint of his campaign, but he'll "keep an eye on him anyway."

"Why would a 'lifelong' Democrat want to run as an independent? Color me skeptical," says South Texas Chisme.

R.G. Ratcliffe of Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog, takes his first crack at video journalism in this moving picture of McMurrey. Here's a story by Trail Blazers, in which McMurrey is cited as almost calling himself a leper.

* * * * *

McTell-all

Like psychiatric patients identifying Rorschach inkblots, bloggers are coming away with different takes after reading a teaser from a book by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan (of the Carole Keeton Strayhorn brood).

"Bush is a LIAR!!!!" says Rhetoric & Rhythm. "Scott McClellan admits he is a liar," says Brains and Eggs.

McClellan is throwing his former superiors under the bus, says Texas Blue. Chronic, the Austin Chronicle's blog, wants to know why McClellan is writing a book rather than speaking with the media or investigators. And Trail Blazers observes that McClellan "sounds ticked."

* * * * *

New to You

New IVR poll, posted on Burnt Orange.

A shocking parking lot encounter, by muckraker.

A faster online dictionary, courtesy of Mike Falick's Blog.

Free e-books, from Mike Falick.

A challenging world geography game, via Mike Falick.

A job opportunity with a new conservative website, relayed by Pink Dome.

New border cameras, as seen by Observer.

Andy Griffith's police car, from Walker Report.

Another Hutto [detention facility]? warns Texas Prison Bid'ness.

Laredo's "Superjail," via Prison Bid'ness.

Rushing the field, Lubbock-style, from Houston's Clear Thinkers.

Rural folks using subprime mortgages to get new homes, by Burnt Orange.

Denise Davis to chair new task force, says Annex.

A new rule on baiting snitches, by Grits.

A new candidate for senator or governor? by Texas Kaos and Annex.

Headline of the Week award goes to Wartime Consigliere for a post on the Mayor of Houston called, "Bill White -- Unstoppable liberal machine?"

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria and finds Austin's climate pleasantly arid. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

You think they decorate the malls too early? Here's our version: There are only 90 money-raising, commercial-running, attack-mailing, town hall-squabbling, sign-stealing, robo-calling, finger-pointing, voter-abusing days left until the Texas primary elections.

Candidates for state and federal office start filing with the major parties on Monday, December 4, and have until January 2 to put up or shut up.

You won't know what the money looks like in most of those races for another 60 days. And if history is tradition, there'll be some races where you don't get a good look at the money until it's too late for anybody but voters to do anything about it, when candidates file the reports due eight days before the March 4 election.

If history is the pattern, you won't be sure who's safe until the sun sets on January 2. Recent political history is full of contests that didn't start until the last minutes before the filing deadline. It's not paranoia that tells you there are candidates out there in the weeds — that's experience.

So far, nobody in the Texas congressional delegation has volunteered to leave. Nobody in the Texas Senate has a hand in the air. And only nine of the 150 members of the Texas House have said they won't be back for the next regular session.

That's not unusual.

Texas elected four new members of Congress in 2002, thanks to redistricting and seats added because of the state's growth. Another seven took office after the 2004 elections, the result of a second round of redistricting. Last year, two congressmen who'd been displaced battled their way back into the delegation. But nobody, so far, is offering to leave voluntarily.

The Texas Senate got five freshmen last year, four from retirements and one from an overthrow. Two came in 2004, after retirements. And redistricting and retirements put a half dozen senators in office in regular and special elections in 2002. This year, so far, nobody's retiring or quitting.

The last election cycle put 23 new members into the Texas House. If you add special elections into the mix, 26 of the 150 members were showed up for their first regular legislative session last January. The freshman class before that had 17 members. And the group that started its first regular in 2003 had 36 tenderfeet, a jump in the numbers you can attribute to redistricting.

For state government, it's not shaping up to be the most exciting election year. But the speakership is at stake in the House. If you're playing a long game, this is the first of two elections that'll determine who draws the redistricting maps for Texas after the 2010 census.

The Legislature that makes the first attempt at that will be elected using the current maps. Republicans control both chambers now and it would take something seismic to change the Senate from Red to Blue. But House Republicans have lost ground in two straight elections, dropping from a high of 88 seats to the current 79 (they can retain number 80 if they win a special election in Fort Worth this month). They've got their fingers in the dike, but a five-seat swing would give the two parties exactly equal footing.

The 2010 election will determine who's on the board that draws political maps if, as happened in 2003, the Legislature locks up and can't do it. The Legislative Redistricting Board includes five officeholders: lieutenant governor, speaker, attorney general, comptroller and land commission. The GOP's got all five of those.

Long-term planners in both parties see the better chance in the Legislature. Maps are usually drawn there and edited by federal judges. And it's cheaper for the political financiers to win several legislative races than to win statewide seats and hope the next maps go to the LRB. And with the Senate likely to stay in Republican hands, their focus has to be on the House in 2008 and 2010.

The governor named 29 people to an advisory panel called the Governor's Competitiveness Council with this charge: "identifying impediments to the state’s ability to remain competitive in a global marketplace and recommending steps the state should take to improve its economic footing." They haven't met yet, but if and when they do, it's an interesting bunch.

There's an industry group: Charles Thomas "Tom" Burbage, executive vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company; James Epperson Jr., president of AT&T Texas; Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers; Michael Greene, CEO of Luminant; Johnny Edwin Lovejoy II, president and CEO of Lovejoy and Associates; Gray Mayes, director of public affairs at Texas Instruments Inc.; Ronald McMillan, regional vice president of governmental affairs, Time Warner Cable; Zebulun Nash, site manager of ExxonMobil Chemical Company; Joseph O'Neill III, managing partner of O’Neill Properties Ltd.; Kip Thompson, vice president of global facilities and strategic growth at Dell Inc.; Jeffrey Wade, executive vice president and general counsel of Lexicon Genetics Inc.; and Paul Zmigrosky, group vice president of procurement and logistics for Frito-Lay.

He included some elected officials: Comptroller Susan Combs, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy and Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson, who'll chair the council.

And he rounded it out with other government officials and private sector education and economic development people: Aaron Demerson, executive director of the Governor’s Division of Economic Development and Tourism; Buddy Garcia, presiding officer of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; attorney Sandy Kress, who chairs the Commission for a College Ready Texas; Texas Workforce Commissioner Ron Lehman; Charles McMahen, chairman of the Governor’s Business Council; Bill Morrow, presiding officer of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund; Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes; Education Commissioner Robert Scott; Public Utility Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman; Texas Workforce Investment Council Chairman John Sylvester Jr.; Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson; and Bob Wingo, chairman of the Texas Economic Development Corporation.

The subjects in the speaker's interim charges to the Legislature come right out of the headlines, past and future: Voter fraud, financial aid for college students and incentive funding for colleges, a laundry list of budget and cost-estimating reforms, pay rates for Medicaid providers, identity theft, hunting and fishing on state lands, mortgage foreclosures, health insurance, streamlining government, the Houston crime lab, the state's new business tax, border security, a review of the prison system, drunk driving laws, human trafficking, political use of government email, the marketing and sale of college textbooks, energy conservation, the state's jury system, eminent domain, concealed handguns on school campuses, online public school courses, and judicial redistricting.

And that's just a quick sampling of what had been released when we published. The between-session work for lawmakers and lobbyists is trickling out of the House (no puffs of smoke from the Senate yet) in three parts. House Speaker Tom Craddick released it in three parts.

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. And Part 3 is here.

Republican Mark Shelton bagged endorsements from Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC and from BACPAC — the political action committee affiliated with the Texas Association of Business. The Democrat he's running against is Dan Barrett, who's also a trial lawyer. It's only natural. Shelton's a doctor — the Texas Medical Association's PAC is playing here, too — who works at Cook Children's Medical Center. He also picked up the endorsement of the NRA's Political Victory Fund.

• Officially: Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, says he'll seek reelection. No surprise, but it's official... Same for Rep. Tony Goolsby, R-Dallas, who'll seek an 11th term in the House.

• U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, let the rarity of a televised football game host his fundraiser. He invited donors to watch the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers at Dallas' Granada Theater. The game wasn't on the local cable outlet.

• Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell, has some cranky Republicans in her district, and they've started a website at www.bettybrown.org. The author is Elicia Sanders, a one-time aide to Carole Keeton Strayhorn, among others. She lives on a small horse ranch in Brown's district with her husband, political consultant Mark Sanders. There's a counter on the bottom of the website's homepage, and more than 3,000 people had visited at our last check. The site, while highly critical of Brown, doesn't promote another candidate. She's the sole focus. Brown faces a GOP primary rematch against Wade Gent.

• The good news from the audit of the state's voter rolls is that only 0.4 percent of the 12.4 million registered voters in the state might be ineligible to vote, and that none of the possibly illegal voters actually voted. So they didn't find any voter fraud. But the State Auditor's Office identified 49,049 voters who possibly shouldn't have been there (we're not being cute; the report included the "possibly" label since it's difficult to tell for sure on these things. Among the potential stinkers were records for 23,114 "possible felons," records for 23,576 voters "who may be deceased," and duplicate records for 2,359 voters. They didn't identify any cases where those folks voted (the May 12 special election was the test case).

Tom Annunziato, a Fort Worth optometrist, says officially now that he'll run against Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth. And the trade group he used to head, the Texas Optometric Association, put $75,000 into his campaign treasury (he says he's raised $175,000 in all).

That's more — by a factor of more than ten — than their political action committee gives other candidates. But there's no optometrist in the Lege, and they want one. The last big contributions from that PAC came in Stacie Virden's 2004 unsuccessful race for a Waco House seat; the committee gave $21,000 over the course of that run, supplemented by individual contributions from other optometrists, including Annunziato.

Since 2000, he's given $43,500 to Texas political candidates and PACs, including $2,000 to Geren. His favorites? Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, $9,400; and Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, $6,750. Geren's been a large thorn in the paw of House Speaker Tom Craddick. King is one of Craddick's top lieutenants. And it's not hard to find people who attribute the challenger's interest to the urging of Craddick supporters.

For his part, Annunziato says he's wanted to run for office for a few years and has been active in GOP politics; he's challenging Geren, he says, because "I looked and just didn't like his politics."

Mike Krusee, the Republican state representative from Round Rock says he won't seek reelection next year. Krusee, who's 48, is chairman of the House Transportation Committee and has been in office since 1993. "I will be leaving elective office, but I intend to stay active in the issues I care about, transportation and New Urbanism, both here in Texas and nationwide," Krusee said in a press release announcing his decision not to run. He's an advocate of increased funding for highways and a supporter of toll roads as one way to pay for new and improved transportation. That's made him a target of opponents of those roads and of the Trans Texas Corridor, but allied him with Gov. Rick Perry and other advocates of TTC and highway overhauls. "I am proud that Texas has taken bold, visionary steps toward our looming infrastructure problems... time will show that we were right to take bold steps on transportation policy," he said. Krusee had a hard race last year and opponents began seriously looking at his HD-52 seat last summer. He got just 50.4 percent of the vote in last year's general election, after winning 63.8 percent against a Republican challenger in the March primary. He's been unopposed just once in his eight successful campaigns. The 2006 result was the tightest since he unseated an incumbent Democrat in 1992 with 51.7 percent of the vote. This year, Democrat Diana Maldonado, a Round Rock ISD trustee and a state employee, announced her intention to run before Krusee got out and was planning a campaign based on his perceived weaknesses. This week brought the announcement of her endorsement by Annie's List, an Austin-based political action committee that gives to pro-choice Democratic women running for state office. She is, for the moment, unopposed. Republicans say privately they'll have a better chance with a fresh face — that the results of the last election were about Krusee and not about Democratic growth in Williamson County. So far, though, they don't have a candidate. Potential Republican candidates — being talked up by fellow Republicans in the district — include Larry Gonzales, a House staffer long involved in Williamson County GOP politics; Round Rock Mayor Nyle Maxwell, who recently announced he won't run for reelection next year; Brian Daniel, a former Texas state director of USDA Rural Development; and former Round Rock City Councilman Gary Coe. That's not to say they're likely, or that they're in — just that those are the names we're hearing in the wake of Krusee's announcement. Krusee bridled under former House Speaker Pete Laney and came into his leadership position by supporting Tom Craddick's successful bid for that job in 2003. But by the end of the last legislative session, he was among those questioning Craddick's management of the House. While he never openly threw in with any challengers, he made a personal privilege speech in the last days of the session calling on Craddick to loosen his grip on the reins. After the session, there was talk that Craddick was offering support to potential Krusee challengers in the GOP. And Krusee was among six House members — each with adversarial relationships with Craddick — who joined in a legal brief prepared for the Attorney General on the limits of a speaker's powers. Even with that, Craddick put his name on a Krusee reelection fundraiser earlier this year. That quelled talk of a feud, but didn't stop rumors about whether Krusee would run again. That fundraising came after the latest mid-year reports. At the end of June, Krusee reported cash on hand of $321,505 in his political accounts. Krusee is No. 9 on the list of folks who won't be back. Candidates start filing for office next week, but these names won't be among them, at least for their current spots: • Robby Cook III, D-Eagle Lake, HD-17, won't seek reelection. • Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple, HD-55, won't seek reelection. • Fred Hill, R-Richardson, HD-112, won't seek reelection. • Anna Mowery, R-Fort Worth, HD-97, resigned in August. • Rick Noriega, D-Houston, HD-145, running for U.S. Senate. • Mike O'Day, R-Pearland, HD-29, won't seek reelection. • Robert Puente, D-San Antonio, HD-117, won't seek reelection. • Robert Talton, HD-144, R-Pasadena, running for U.S. House. Krusee's statement:

Gov. Rick Perry appointed Daniel Rios of Edinburg to the new 449th District Court. Rios is a private practice lawyer and a former Hidalgo County prosecutor.

He named David Farr of Houston to the 312th District Court. Farr is an associate judges in the 257th District Court. Those are both family courts. He'll replace James Squier, a Republican (one of several) who's running for Congress in CD-22.

The governor named three new regents at the University of North Texas: Don Buchholz of Dallas, co-founder and chairman of SWS Group Inc.; former Rep. and Texas Secretary of State Gwyn Shea of Irving; and Jack Wall, a rancher and investor who lives in Dallas. All three went to school at UNT.

Perry is keeping James Lee of Houston on the Teacher Retirement System of Texas board. Lee is president of a private investment firm.

He named John Brieden, a Brenham insurance agent, to be presiding officer of the Texas Veterans Commission.

And the Guv named four to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education: Midland County Constable Charles Hall, who's been on the commission but will get boosted to chairman; Ada Brown, a Dallas attorney and former judge; Sugar Land Police Chief Stephen Griffith; and Randall County Sheriff Joel Richardson.

After six years with the Texas Hospital Association, Greg Knaupe is joining Santos Alliances, an Austin-based public affairs outfit.

Deaths: Bill Wells, the original director of the state's Sunset Advisory Commission. He ran it from its start as a division under the Legislative Budget Board through the transition to a standalone agency and into the early 1990s, when he retired after the Legislature nearly killed the commission.