The recounters in HD-73 say Doug Miller beat Nathan Macias, but we're hearing several different versions of the margin. It's tight, by all accounts.We have heard from semi-legitimate folks who are involved that Miller won by 12 votes, 16 votes, 18 votes, and 19 votes. A spokesman for the Republican Party of Texas puts it at 17, but says that might be a "soft" number. Whatever. All of the correspondents say Miller's the winner in this round, as he was in the first round. The question now: Will Macias — a Bulverde Republican and the current state representative — go to court to challenge the results? If he does, it'll be a fight over which ballots were allowed into the count and which ones were not. Legal challenges are relatively rare, but not unheard of: Democrat Ciro Rodriguez, for instance, lost his congressional seat to Henry Cuellar after a primary election count, a recount, and a trial (he won his way back into Congress later). In this one, Miller won — in the first, unofficial count — by 38 votes. The official count shaved a few off of that, but not enough to get Macias a second term. Miller won a majority in only one of the district's four counties — Gillespie — but that was enough.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed Oscar Fogle of Lockhart to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. Fogle, owner of the Oak Hill Ranch, will replace John Schneider of Lockhart on that board.

The Guv appointed Pablo Schneider of Richardson, an exec with Fusion Mobile, to the Manufactured Housing Board. He'll replace Frances Shannon of Spring Branch.

Perry made Harold Hahn of El Paso the chairman of the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority. He's the president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Mortgage Co., and replaces John Broaddus of El Paso.

Perry named John Paulo Flores of Dallas the presiding officer of the Texas Residential Construction Commission and reappointed Steven Leipsner of Austin to that board. Flores is an attorney; Leipsner is a principal of Leipsner Ventures Inc. Flores replaces Patrick Cordero of Midland.

And the governor named Stacee Bell of Horseshoe Bay and Catherine Estrada of Fort Worth to the Communities in Schools Advisory Committee, replacing Linda Navejar and Linda Mora on that panel. Bell is a community volunteer; Estrada is a marketing consultant.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst appointed Bobby Ray of Plano to the Task Force on Higher Education Funding. Ray is a regent at the University of North Texas and an exec with Hovnanian Enterprises, a homebuilder.

Dewhurst is the Texas Legislative Conference's 2008 Texan of the Year.

State Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, signed with Austin-based Brown McCarroll as Of Counsel. The firm's announcement says he'll support their operations in Austin and El Paso.

The political versions of the Oscars, presented by the American Association of Political Consultants, are public. And the Pollies (in Texas) go to: The Fort Worth-based Eppstein Group, which pulled in five of the awards for work on several ballot issues and on a Dallas mayoral race; Strategic Perception Inc., which pulled in four awards for that "Coal is Filthy" campaign that ran in statewide papers a year ago; and Houston-based Bethel Nathan, for work on a local bond campaign.

As expected, Mark Yudof is leaving the University of Texas System, where he's the chancellor, to lead the University of California System. Texas will start the search for a replacement.