Freshman state Rep. Thomas Latham, a Sunnyvale Republican and a former cop, has trouble at home — with his own ilk.

The Mesquite Police Association is calling him "an embarrassment to the badge" and withdrawing its support.

The group's president, Don Williams, says Latham didn't listen to the cops or other local officials — he named the mayor, the city manager, and the city council — on legislation that would have prevented a statewide police union from receiving state grant money, allowing that money to go to cities and police departments instead. (Some of this stems from a battle over HB 1200 between the Texas Municipal Police Association, or TMPA, and the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, or CLEAT. Latham voted with TMPA; the Mesquite folks preferred the CLEAT position.)

MPA was with Latham early, when he squeaked past incumbent Rep. Elvira Reyna, R-Mesquite, in the primary, and on into the general election. Williams says they're talking to "other highly qualified candidates," but didn't name anybody. Put Mesquite Mayor Mike Anderson on your list of possible candidates; he was out of town this week and not returning calls, but several folks we've talked to say he's thinking about running for the statehouse.

• Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, says he's still considering a run for Congress in CD-22, where U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, replaced Tom DeLay last year. Republicans want that seat back, and Talton — currently a state rep and a thorn in the side of GOP Speaker Tom Craddick — is calling around to see if he could raise the money for the race. So is Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, a special election winner who kept the seat warm until losing the general election to Lampson in November, and former Sugar Land Mayor Dean Hrbacek. Other names in the hat: Pete Olson, who worked for former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm and for then-Attorney General John Cornyn as chief of staff.

• Kill your Beverly Woolley rumors before they start this year: The Houston Republican is running for reelection to the Texas House. And she says in her announcement that she wants another crack at the eminent domain bill that passed this session and got voted by Gov. Rick Perry.

• Put former state Rep. Glen Maxey officially in the hunt for a Travis County job. The Austin Democrat wants to be Travis County's tax collector-assessor and says he'll run next year for that post. He'll face a four-term incumbent from his own party: Nelda Wells-Spears.

Donna White leaves Gov. Rick Perry's employ after six years for a new job at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. White ran administration and constituent services for the Guv.

Appointments: Perry named Cecilia May Moreno of Lubbock — the superintendent of the Carrizo Springs ISD — to the Texas Woman's University Board of Regents. She's a former city council member in Laredo and worked in that city's school district for 37 years. She's a TWU alum.

Perry named three regents for Stephen F. Austin State University. Carlos Amaral is president and CEO of Sequoia Network Services in Plano. James Dickerson Jr. is a retired attorney who lives in New Braunfels, and John "Bob" Garrett of Tyler is President and CEO of Fair Oil Co. and Fair Management Co. All three are alums.

Perry named Erin Berling of Coppell, Kenneth Mueller of Brenham and Richard Neider of Lubbock to the Texas Board of Orthotics and Prosthetics. Berling and Neider are reappointments. Mueller is a veterans services officer for Washington County.