Nothing like a proposal to cut $262.8 million from a state program to get negotiations going.

The Public Utility Commission staff recommended that 66 percent cut to the state's Universal Service Fund (we first wrote about the case last summer), which was set up ten years ago to subsidize phone service in high cost areas of the state (like rural areas were customers are far apart and expensive to reach with wire lines).

The USF has a couple of parts; the staff would cut the fund used to reimburse four large companies for their costs in those areas, to $132.1 million annually from $394.9 million. The money comes from a 4.4 percent tax on every phone bill in the state. The biggest beneficiary — AT&T — has been the loudest advocate for leaving the fund alone. The amount each company gets now is a trade secret redacted from the PUC's public filings. The staff recommendation would pay them only $3.3 million a year, and a spokesman for the company referred to that as a 98 percent cut (do the math, and they're getting about $165 million a year now). In the staff proposal, AT&T would go from being the biggest beneficiary of the fund to the smallest. The PUC's been hearing from a handful of lawmakers, too, who take the phone company's side and say they don't want the fund cut.

AT&T's competitors — the loudest are cable and telecom affiliates of Time Warner — say the USF provides AT&T in particular with more money than it needs to serve those high-cost areas. AT&T's starting position was that it actually needed more than it was getting and that the high-cost areas were financial losers for the company.

The three-member PUC is scheduled to hear the case next month. But the staff recommendation — issued while we and maybe you were distracted by the elections — prompted a round of negotiations that could change what goes to the commission. As we went to press, everyone involved in the case — with the exception of AT&T — was working feverishly on a settlement that would lower the amounts paid each year to the four big companies (the others are Verizon, Windstream Valor, and Embarq). AT&T is asking the commission to throw the talks to a mediator.

The question now — we're reading between the lines — is how much will be cut from the fund overall, and how much will be cut from whatever is paid to each of those four companies to provide service in high-cost areas. The staff proposal that whacks AT&T's annual cut would give Verizon $15.4 million, Windstream $100.2 million, and Embarq $13.1 million.

The commission could look at that request for a mediator within the week. And next month (assuming there's no delay), the commissioners will take a crack at the whole case, or whatever is left to decide after the current negotiations end.

Is She Really?

Have you heard the one about Carole Keeton Strayhorn considering a run for mayor of Austin?

She says, sort of, that it ain't so. Or that it could be. Actually, we didn't get a Yes or No answer.

Strayhorn is a former state comptroller, Railroad Commissioner, Insurance Commissioner, mayor, school board president and congressional and gubernatorial candidate.

She admits she still watches the City Council on public access TV from time to time, but says she hasn't given any thought to running for mayor.

But she gets asked, in emails from friends and supporters, and has conjured a standard response: "When I became mayor 32 years ago, I was the first woman mayor in Austin and the youngest woman mayor [of a major city] in the United States. If I won it back, I would be the second woman mayor of Austin, and the oldest woman mayor [of a major city] in the U.S. I haven't looked up the age thing, but I don't think anyone would want to fight about it."

Strayhorn finished third in the gubernatorial race in Travis County last year, getting 13.7 percent of the vote to Democrat Chris Bell's 45.1 percent and Rick Perry's 26.4 percent (Kinky Friedman got 13.5 percent).

Strayhorn is busy raising money and support for her new Our Texas Grandchildren foundation, a non-profit geared to help foster children in the state. She and two others — Jim Stinson of Houston and Joyce Covington of Brenham — are the only directors so far. She's also signed up two state senators for what will be a larger "statewide leadership advisory council" — John Carona, R-Dallas, and Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.

That charity is her answer when people ask what she's up to. "This is my pro bono ad infinitum," she says.

Florida 2.0

The Democratic caucuses in Texas are looking more and more like a scene for a battle between lawyers for the Party and the presidential campaigns.

The Clinton campaign's attempt to stall the delegate counting from the Texas caucuses failed; the Texas Democratic Party plans to go forward as planned.

The Democrats say they'll hold their county and senatorial district conventions at the end of the month and tally the delegate voting that took place in Democratic precinct caucuses on Election Night.

The caucuses could produce more votes for Barack Obama — who lost the popular vote in the Texas primary — than for Hillary Clinton, who won.

Her campaign — questioning the security of the ballots — wants to verify signatures on the precinct vote sheets before counting.

"As you are no doubt aware, there are significant questions about whether the precinct conventions were conducted in accordance with the Party’s Delegate Selection Plan and Rules," they wrote, over the signature of former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro. "On the night of the caucus itself we brought many instances of these irregularities to the attention of the State Party. The campaign received in excess of 2,000 complaints of rules violations, indicating widespread violations of the Party’s rules..."

Clinton's folks complain in the letter that the TDP is leaving it to the campaigns to verify the signatures themselves, but leaving them far too little time to complete the job.

In their reply, signed by TDP General Counsel Chad Dunn, the Democrats say only precinct chairs have the legal right to qualify voters. The job's already done, and the proper spot for appeals, they say, is to the credentials folks at the party's convention. They also contend they don't have the legal right to move the conventions set for the end of the month; those dates are locked in by state law.

Still Counting, Part 1

Round Two of the Texas Democratic primaries comes a week from Saturday, in senatorial district and county conventions.

That's the next step in their delegate selection process. They'll collect and tally the results of the precinct conventions that were held in polling places on Election Night and send that stuff to the Texas Democratic Party. The results won't be final, though, until they're accepted at the party's state convention in Austin in June.

The places aren't all picked (they'll be posted on the party's website), but here's the breakdown: The conventions will take place at the county level in counties where the state senator serves more than one county. In counties that have more than one senator, the conventions can be held (it's not required) in senatorial districts. Those multi-senator counties are Bexar, Brazoria, Chambers, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Galveston, Fort Bend, Harris, Hidalgo, Jefferson, Montgomery, Smith, Tarrant, and Travis. The other 238 counties will have county conventions.

The conventions are open to everyone, but the people selected at the precinct conventions do the voting. And depending on who shows up and who doesn't, the results could be different on March 29 than what they appeared to be on March 4. Delegates elected next Saturday go on to the state convention.

Still Counting, Part 2

The number separating Republicans Doug Miller and Nathan Macias is now 29 (The vote canvass in HD-73 added six votes to Miller's total and 15 to Macias'). That difference comes out to just about one vote in a thousand.

Now they'll start the recount requested by the incumbent, Macias, who won in a squeaker two years ago and is trying not to lose in another. There are four counties and all sorts of voting methods from paper to electronic to optical scanning to local mixes. The count will go this way: Bandera County on Monday, Kendall and Comal on Tuesday, and Gillespie — where most of the complaints started — on Wednesday. The winner will face Democrat Daniel Boone and Libertarian Saannon Beckett McCracken in November.

Renter's Remorse

Former Rep. Toby Goodman, R-Arlington, was fined $10,000 by the Texas Ethics Commission for using campaign funds to pay rent to his wife for a house in Cedar Hill, where the couple stayed while Goodman was doing legislative work in Austin.

That's allowed if the officeholder doesn't own the property, if the rent is at market rates, and if there's no benefit to the officeholder. But in Goodman's case, the commission said the rent was higher than market. And while Goodman's wife was the sole owner of the house, he and she were both on the mortgage. Because of that, he was a beneficiary of the payments. And because the rent was higher than other houses nearby, "there is credible evidence that the payments constituted a conversion of political contributions to personal use."

When this came up during the 2006 election cycle, Goodman said he was relying on a TEC advisory opinion answering questions from Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth. The agency said it's legal to rent from a spouse if the officeholder has no interest in the property and doesn't stand to benefit. Several lawmakers, including Brimer, had such arrangements at the time.

Campaign Volleys

The state GOP says Rep. Hubert Vo, D-Houston, accepted and didn't report corporate contributions to his campaign; they've complained to the Texas Ethics Commission and to Harris County prosecutors.

Vo's campaign manager says the contributions were not from a corporation and were properly reported. The party's complain says Vo held a fundraiser at Lot 8 Salon and that he accepted in-kind contributions in the form of supplies for that party. The complaint also says the business offered coupons to people who came to the fundraiser. Candidates in Texas races can't take corporate or union money, and the coupon stuff has prompted complaints against Vo before. Karen Looper, with his campaign, said the complaint has no merit: " Hubert Vo paid for the event in question. No in-kind contribution was made, none was reported, and our campaign report is true and accurate." Vo will face Republican Greg Meyers of Houston in the November election.

• Randy Dunning picks up an endorsement from former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Flower Mound. Dunning's not running for Congress, but for the Texas House; he's in an HD-112 runoff with Angie Chen Button. One shot against her: She gave money in past election years to Democratic House incumbents from Dallas.

She's shooting back with endorsements from eight Republicans who served on the Garland City Council with her opponent. And her camp is sending reporters and others a press release, with footnotes, detailing odd votes and behavior from Dunning. Among other things, she says he's against public education, has likened DWI stops to "Nazi Gestapo tactics," and voted for two tax increases while he was on the council.

• You can say the same thing about contributions, as it turns out, about House Speaker Tom Craddick. He gave $250,000 to a political action committee that in turn gave money to Democratic incumbents in primaries this year. And his lawyers have U-turned — as reported by the Austin American-Statesman — on earlier statements that he wasn't in on the final destination of that money. His daughter and campaign advisor, Christi Craddick, wrote a letter directing the TexasJOBS PAC to dish some of the money to Reps. Kevin Bailey, Dawnna Dukes, Kino Flores, and Aaron Peña. All four are Democrats who've supported Craddick for Speaker. Bailey, Flores and Peña each got $50,000; Dukes refused the money. On Election Day, Bailey was the lone loser from that group.

• And that leads nicely to this: Four rivals of House Speaker Tom Craddick went to Odessa to endorse Rep. Buddy West, who's in a GOP runoff against former state District Judge Tryon Lewis. Reps. Delwin Jones, Jim Keffer, Edmund Kuempel and Jim Pitts all traveled to the Permian Basin for a campaign appearance. Lewis has said he'll support Craddick for another term as speaker.

• Mindy Montford, running for Travis County District Attorney, got a nod from Rick Reed, who finished fourth in Round One. That race featured four assistant DAs running for the top job, currently occupied by Ronnie Earle, who decided not to seek another term. Montford finished second and now has Reed's help. Rosemary Lehmberg, who finished first, earlier got the endorsement of third-place finisher Gary Cobb. That DA is just like everyone else's, but with a little something extra: It's the first stop for prosecutions against misbehaving public officials and political scoundrels.

• Congressional candidate Pete Olson picked up an endorsement from the Eagle Forum PAC. He's in a runoff with former U.S. Rep. Shelley Sekula Gibbs in CD-22.

• The authors of the new (and so far, the only) biography of the late Bob Bullock will be and center at a panel discussion at the LBJ School next week. That'll feature the writers — Dave McNeely and Jim Henderson — and a mess of luminaries: Former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, former House Speaker Gib Lewis, and current state Sen. Rodney Ellis. They'll talk about Bullock and his impact, and probably tell some stories. A signing of Bob Bullock: God Bless Texas will follow.

Political People and Their Moves

Rick Noriega starts his general election run with a new campaign manager and a new fundraiser. Mark Bell, a top staffer to former House Speaker Pete Laney, will run the campaign. Bell says the campaign will bring fundraising in-house, with former Ann Richards staffer Jennifer Treat handling those duties. Treat lives in Washington, D.C. and will work from there. Bell, who ran Laney's campaigns and was involved in a mess of races with the Texas Partnership while Laney was Speaker, replaces former state Rep. Sue Schechter, who'll still have a "major part" in Noriega's challenge to Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed federal prosecutor Kenneth Magidson to fill in as interim Harris County District Attorney. Chuck Rosenthal resigned from that post and won't be replaced until the elections produce a successor. Magidson's an assistant U.S. Attorney and a one-time assistant DA in Harris County.

Perry named Stuart Messer of Memphis to the 100th District Court, replacing Judge David McCoy. Messer was district attorney for the five-county district that's also covered by that court.

Perry put Carl Settles in charge of the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists and named four new members to that panel: Timothy Branaman, a Dallas psychologist and associate professor at Argosy University; Jo Ann Campbell, a psychologist with the Abilene ISD; Angela Downs, an Irving attorney and program manager with Mothers Against Drunk Driving; and Lou Ann Mock, a school psychologist and an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine.

The Guv named Conrado de la Garza, president and owner of Bahnman Realty of Harlingen, to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. And he named Keely Appleton of Fort Worth and Richard Battle of Lakeway to the Texas Judicial Council. Appleton is a board member at Cook Children's Hospital; Battle is vice president of KeyTrak.

Edward Foster Jr. of Hurst joins the Texas Skill Standards Board. Perry found him in the Mansfield ISD, where he's director of career and technical education.

House Speaker Tom Craddick named Dr. Joseph Bailes of The Woodlands, Dee Kelly of Fort Worth, and Cindy Brinker Simmons of Dallas to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute Oversight Committee, which will oversee the $3 billion in cancer bonds approved by voters last year. Bailes is an oncologist. Kelly's a Fort Worth lawyer and political player. And Simmons is a writer and the president of Levenson & Brinker Public Relations.

Ann Erben returns to state employment, this time at the Texas Workforce Commission as executive assistant to Tom Pauken, the newly named chairman of TWC.

Energy Future Holdings — you know it as the former TXU Corp. — formed a "sustainable energy advisory board" that'll be chaired by former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator William Reilly. He's a member of the EFH board and the chairman emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund. The panel will include Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson; Sam Jones, the former president and CEO of ERCOT; Karen Johnson, president and CEO of United Ways of Texas and former president of Entergy; Jim Marston, regional director of Environmental Defense; Ralph Cavanagh with the Natural Resources Defense Council; Reginald Gates, president and COO of the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce; and Steven Specker, president and CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute.

Going, Going... University of Texas System Chancellor Mark Yudof is the University of California System's top choice for chancellor. He's been at UT since 2002, and before that, headed the University of Minnesota System (and before that, was provost and law school dean at UT Austin). The head of the California search committee didn't name a specific salary figure, but in a statement, said this of Yudof: "He is expensive." The deal isn't yet final.

Gone... Austin American-Statesman Editor Rich Oppel Sr., after 13 years at the helm. He'll be replaced by the paper's managing editor, Fred Zipp.

Quotes of the Week

President George W. Bush, on the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq: "Five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is worth winning, and whether we can win it. The answers are clear to me. Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight that America can and must win."

Lucianne Goldberg, a former New York book agent, talking to Bloomberg News about the pending musical career of Ashley Alexandra Dupre, made famous by her hookup with former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer: "These people have somewhere between yogurt and milk as far as shelf life is concerned. They have to grab it fast.''

Former Texas Democratic Party Chairman Bob Slagle, telling the Austin American-Statesman that rumors about his health are exaggerated, and that there wasn't any need for party officials to honor him with a moment of silence: "Maybe they had a moment of silence for me because nobody could think of anything good to say about me."

Montgomery County District Attorney Michael McDougal, admitting in the Houston Chronicle that he used drug forfeiture funds held by his office to buy alcohol for a community event: "I'm sorry. Very sorry. I'm holding myself responsible."

U.S. Rep. Thomas Davis III, R-Virginia, in the Washington Post: "The House Republican brand is so bad right now that if it were dog food, they'd take it off the shelf."

Johnny Hart of Mission, quoted by The Dallas Morning News on the subject of fencing the Texas-Mexico border: "Build a wall around Washington, D.C."

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Texas Weekly: Volume 25, Issue 12, 24 March 2008. Ross Ramsey, Editor. George Phenix, Publisher. Copyright 2006 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 (800) 611-4980 or email info@texasweekly.com. For news, email ramsey@texasweekly.com, or call (512) 288-6598.

This week, bloggers are investigating allegations of wrongdoing by former and current state representatives. They're also talking about U.S. representatives, exploring a Web-engendered controversy in Travis County and still chewing over results from Election Day. And there are some tidbits left over for the end.

* * * * *

Getting a Bad Rep

As TW reported last week, the Texas Ethics Commission fined former state Rep. Toby Goodman $10,000 for using campaign funds to pay his wife rent for a home she owned (and for which both Goodmans held the mortgage). Count musings among the unimpressed: "So for stealing over $100,000 of his donors money, he was fined $10,000, only 1/10 of the amount that he stole. And that $10,000 fine can be paid... (wait for it)... with his donors' money, or better yet, with the money he stole. What a sweet deal."

Goodman maintains that he did nothing wrong, according to PoliTex, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's blog. "If I had a dollar for every time I heard such bologna in politics I think I would be able to fund every Democratic campaign in the state," replies Burnt Orange Report.

Burnt Orange adds that the ruling might adversely affect state Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, who's facing Democratic challenger Wendy Davis in November, and PoliTex reminds readers not to forget about state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville.

The state GOP is accusing state Rep. Hubert Vo, D-Houston, of accepting illegal in-kind contributions from an Asian-American boutique owner. KVUE's Political Junkie assures readers that she is not her.

El Paso Republican Dee Margo, who beat incumbent state Rep. Pat Haggerty in the March 4 primary, is benefiting from a fundraiser hosted by someone whom Margo said he doesn't know — House Speaker Tom Craddick, reports Vaqueros & Wonkeros, the El Paso Times's blog. Meanwhile the Houston Chronicle's blog, Texas Politics, says, "don't be surprised if Haggerty endorses the Democrat this fall and don't automatically count on this seat staying Republican."

In other speaker-related news, Craddick's court deposition on March 27 (regarding alleged intimidation of a tour company) will remain in the public domain, says Trail Blazers, the Dallas Morning News's blog.

State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, claims that Austin newspapers were attacking her because she was standing up to the City of Austin, reports Political Junkie.

Texas Kaos accuses state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, of engaging in "[Karl] Rovian politics," basically, as far as we can tell, because Bohac is a Republican. And GOP consultant Bryan Eppstein got called out by a client's opponent for producing nearly identical 50-point plans for two of his candidates, according to PoliTex.

* * * * *

King Congress

Burnt Orange is endorsing Eric Roberson in the Democratic primary for CD-32. Either Roberson or Steve Love will face incumbent Pete Sessions in November.

The congressional papers of former Beaumont U.S. Rep. Jack Brooks will be housed at the University of Texas at Austin's Center for American History, reports Chronic, the Austin Chronicle's blog.

Half-Empty crunches the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama vote in U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson's CD-22, concluding that Lampson — a "superdelegate" — should vote for Obama, in part because "anti-Clinton backlash" might hurt him in November, should she win the nomination.

Texas Blue interviews Glenn Melancon, the Democratic candidate taking on incumbent Ralph Hall in the general. And PoliTex says Gotcha! to U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, for praising an earmark that doesn't exist.

* * * * *

Rebel Reb

Capitol Annex reports that GOP political consultant Reb Wayne was spotted at a news conference in support of Travis County D.A. candidate Mindy Montford, a Democrat. Montford says that's not true, and called around to several local lawmakers to tell them so, says Political Junkie. But Annex claims his "sources" are saying that Wayne is working for Montford, and that state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, is in on the sordid little scheme as well. (Guess we'll have to wait to see if this pans out.)

And Political Junkie has the endorsements for both remaining D.A. candidates Montford and Rosemary Lehmberg.

* * * * *

Primary Data

The Texas Democratic Party didn't take too kindly to Hillary Clinton's suggestion that it postpone county and state senate district conventions. Texas Observer Blog has the details, and Political Junkie has the TDP's letter to the Clinton camp, and some ensuing back-and-forth.

Burnt Orange says Clinton's public appeal was a "PR stunt," while the nicest thing mcblogger had to say about Clinton's campaign chair Gary Mauro is that his actions are "an insult to all us Texas Democrats." Half-Empty's take is here, and the view from Trail Blazers is here. And ABC13's Political Blog says Obama won Harris County caucuses.

Greg's Opinion maps the Democratic presidential results for Bexar County and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and asks for help making more maps. Meanwhile, Off the Kuff tallies results for statewide and Harris County candidates, according to state House district. And Texas Safety Forum takes a look at GOP crossover votes in Fort Bend County's Democratic primary.

* * * * *

Easter Eggs

Details of the Bob Bullock book party, via Political Junkie.

Gov. Rick Perry offers a job to U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who declines, from Austin Political Report and Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog.

State Sen. Kirk Watson turned 50, according to APR.

New Texas beer blog, via I Love Beer.

Mapping the GOP results for Harris County, from Greg.

Endorsements of Dale Henry for Railroad Commissioner, from Burnt Orange and Brains and Eggs.

More than 2.5 million pictures from the Smithsonian Institution, via Mike Falick's Blog.

Endorsements by the Houston GLBT caucus and Tejano Democrats, via Kuff.

An interview of VetVoice.com's Brandon Friedman, by Blue.

"Superdelegate" Bob Slagle convalescent (not weakening), says Texas Politics.

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Rick Noriega's national Spanish-language radio address, from Trail Blazers.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson catching more flak for Christmas Mountains, according to PoliTex.

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is spending the spring in the mid-Atlantic region. 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.

Texas isn't bound by decisions of the World Court, and doesn't have to hold a second trial for Jose Medellin, a Mexican citizen who's now on Death Row, according to the U.S. Supreme Court.The court's 6-3 decision in Medellin v. Texas is a win for the state, which said it didn't have to abide by the World Court's ruling. It's a loss for the Bush Administration, which had tried to force the state to honor the terms of the Vienna Conventions — in particular, for provisions requiring states to tell foreign nationals they have the right to contact their consulates before they're tried. Texas didn't notify Medellin before he was accused, tried, and convicted for his part in the gang rape and murder of two Houston teenagers. The full opinion is online here.

There's a tentative settlement in the fight over a state fund that subsidizes phone service in expensive-to-serve areas.The competitors battling over the Universal Service Fund told state regulators they have a settlement in principle and need time to put the details on paper. They didn't announce the terms, but the deal is expected to trim the size of those subsidies to AT&T and other phone companies, and to reduce the 4.4 percent levy on phone bills that feeds the USF. The Public Utility Commission's staff recommended huge cuts in the fund (see our earlier story), but the deal isn't expected to go as far as the staff recommended. Generally speaking, AT&T was leading the fight to leave the fund alone — that company is the biggest recipient of the money — and competitors from cable and smaller phone companies were urging cuts in those subsidies. The announcement means, for now, that the Public Utility Commission won't have to hold a planned April hearing on the USF.

Early voting in the April runoff elections runs Monday through Friday of next week (that's March 31-April 4). The pickings are slim, and you're loopy if you think turnout will look like it did in the first week of March.

• The only statewide race on the runoff ballot is on the Democratic side, where Dale Henry and Mark Thompson are vying for the nomination for the Texas Railroad Commission. The winner will face Republican Michael Williams in November.

• Two runoffs — one in each party — are on the congressional section of the ballot. Former U.S. Rep. Shelley Sekula Gibbs of Houston and Pete Olson of Sugar Land each want to challenge Democrat Nick Lampson of Stafford in CD-22. And Democrats Stephen Love and Eric Roberson of Dallas are vying for a shot at U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, in CD-32.

• No state Senate races have runoffs. The House has five — all on the Republican side.

• In HD-52, where Rep. Mike Krusee decided not to run, Bryan Danieland Dee Hobbs will face off, with the winner running against Democrat Diana Maldonado in November.

• In HD-55, Ralph Sheffield and Martha Tyroch are angling for the spot now held by Rep. Dianne White Delisi; the Democrat waiting in the wings there is Sam Murphey of Harker Heights.

• In HD-81, Rep. Buddy West of Odessa is battling to keep his seat after finishing second in the first round to former District Judge Tryon Lewis. There's no Democrat in that contest.

• Either Angie Chen Button or Randy Dunning, both of Garland, will face Democrat Sandra Phuong VuLe in November. They're in a runoff for the HD-112 seat now held by Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson.

• And in HD-144, where Rep. Robert Talton decided not to seek reelection, Ken Legler and Fred Roberts of Pasadena have another round. The winner there will face Democrat Joel Redmond in November.

RRC

It's apples and oranges in the Railroad Commission runoff.

Henry, 76, is a retired oil and gas engineer from Lampasas. He's done a lot of work with the Lower Colorado River Authority and alternative fuels. He's run in this race before, against Commissioners Victor Carrillo and Elizabeth Ames Jones, and he's run as a candidate from both major parties. He says he has no predictions about the runoff results.

"I wouldn't even want to try."

Henry has never met nor talked to Thompson, a 48-year-old former Austin police officer who's now an advocate for people with disabilities and a therapist for blind children.

While Henry is campaigning on his experience in the oil and gas industry, Thompson is doing just the opposite.

"People like me because I work with blind children... I'm not in the oil and gas industry," he says.

If he wins, Thompson wants to change the name of the agency because it has nothing to do with railroads. He also wants to get the commission to stop taking PAC money. On his site, he asks Gov. Rick Perry and all three Railroad Commissioners — Carrillo, Jones, and Michael Williams, the Republican in this year's race, to resign and return all of their campaign money collected from energy corporations.

"It's like a bad movie from the 50s when you come in and everybody's corrupt," Thompson says. "I'm not saying the whole commission's corrupt, but there are segments that need to be changed."

Thompson says his lack of experience has given Henry some ammunition. "He recently attacked me... because I didn't do a lot of voting," Thompson says. "I voted in the last city council election in Austin and I've voted off and on, but there were always the same characters running. When it comes down to it, there's no change."

Apparently, Thompson didn't vote once between 1996 and this year's primary.

So what's he doing in a Railroad Commission race? He says his first real brush with politics was advocating for a blind friend at some Cap Metro meetings (Austin's mass transit agency) — apparently, some officials were pretty rude and Thompson got frustrated. Then he started researching gas explosions in Cleburne and Wiley.

"I asked the Railroad Commission about it and they just blew me off," Thompson says.

That's when he started considering a run for the office. "I heard politics were so slimy and bad," he says. "But finally I said, 'I'm going to do it.'"

CD-22

They're getting a little testy in CD-22.

Olson's endorsements are piling up. The Olson for Congress Committee got some new members — Congressmen Sam Johnson and John Culberson, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, State Reps. Mike O'Day and Dennis Bonnen, plus a military trio of former CD-22 candidates: Kevyn Bazzy, Brian Klock, and Ryan Rowley. He's also got a list of city council folks and precinct chairs behind him. And he's got PACs and party groups, including the Eagle Forum, Concerned Women for America and the Republican National Coalition for Life and the United Republicans of Harris County.

"They're coming out of the woodworks," says Luke Marchant, Olson's campaign manager.

None of this scares Sekula Gibbs, according to campaign strategist C.B. Currier.

"Washington is in Washington," Currier says. "That would worry her if she lived in Virginia, like Pete. Unlike her opponent, who has a tremendous amount of connections in D.C., she's connected in the [House] district."

Sekula Gibbs got the most votes on March 4th. She's got endorsements from primary opponents Dean Hrbacek and Cynthia Dunbar. Currier says she's sticking to a clean campaign.

"Pete's always tried to paint her into a nasty corner, and that's an unfortunate thing for the general constituency of the district," Currier says. "Shelley's sticking with facts and reality."

Olson says he's sticking to the facts, too. His campaign just sent out a document on Sekula Gibbs' office spending during her short tenure in Washington in 2006, saying it raises questions about her claim to be a fiscal conservative.

Currier says the campaign is working on an official statement about the claims, but that Sekula Gibbs' spending was more cost-effective than the majority of Congressmen and that she returned $20,000 to the federal government before leaving Washington.

"Every statement just shows his desperation and out and out hypocrisy," Currier says.

CD-32

Roberson and Love are fighting for air.

Love, 74, has financed his campaign out of pocket. The retired clergyman and therapist says he inherited a little cash from his parents and has run a "modest campaign" – no yard signs or bumper stickers. He says this race isn't generating much heat.

"With these bit fights between Obama and Clinton, nobody's going to listen to anything else," he says. "They're sucking up all the oxygen."

That said, he's zeroed in on two facts about Roberson — that he lives outside the district and switched parties in 2006.

"I live outside the district by 2.1 miles," admits Roberson, a trial lawyer. "I was honest with folks about that." He says he didn't move so his kids could stay in the same school.

As for the jump to the blue side, Roberson says after the 2006 election, he was fed up: "I couldn't take it anymore... I was displeased that the Republican Party was getting away with not being challenged."

The residency thing will prevent him and his wife from voting in the runoff, but Roberson says he's found plenty of support among Republicans who are cutting their ties to the party. He says friends and neighbors who never talked politics with him before are suddenly telling him all about their own skepticism of the GOP. He's also picked up endorsements from the Dallas Morning News and the Burnt Orange Report, plus State Rep. Allen Vaught, D-Dallas, and some local government folks.

If he doesn't come out on top April 8, Love's not too worried. He had fun: "Anyone who feels like they're just brown shoes in a sea of tuxedoes should run for political office."

HD-52

The candidates in HD-52 hadn't strayed far from their positions as friendly foes.

"I think it's certainly competitive," says Daniel, who's got endorsements from a list of conservative PACs, like Texas Right to Life and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. "Voters are beginning to draw distinctions on the issues, but there's no personal attacks and I think it'll continue in that vein."

Daniel says he knows the media is sick of hearing them say the campaign is issue-based.

The district just doesn't like dirty campaigning, says Hobbs, who picked up endorsements from the other two primary candidates, Vivian Sullivan and John Gordon.

The big challenge is getting voters back to the polls. Hobbs says he hears plenty of "Don't worry, son, I already voted for you!" He also says he and his opponent joked about making a commercial with the two of them dressed in sumo suits.

"Anything to remind people to vote again," he says.

But to dampen their clean campaigning, Daniel just sent out a mail piece with a quote from the Texas State Rifle Association that Hobbs is "hostile to 2nd Amendment issues." Hobbs says he and his opponent both got "A" ratings from TSRA, and that Daniel just has more money to send out mail.

HD-55

Sheffield is smacking Tyroch for involvement in the Trans-Texas Corridor. She's smacking him for a history of delinquent taxes.

John Alaniz and Mike Pearce, the other two from the primary, are both endorsing Sheffield. So is the Empower Texans PAC, which made a parody of one of Tyroch's campaign videos and stuck it on YouTube. Tyroch requested they pull it. (You can see the original add and link to the parody here.)

Sheffield caught a bit of luck on TV. Fox News 44 did a story on how the Internet shapes campaigns — the anchor and reporter both refer to him as a state representative instead of just a candidate. You can see the report here. That'd be illegal if the candidate did it, but when the media does it, it's free advertising. They even mentioned his MySpace and Facebook profiles on air.

Sheffield, owner of Las Casas Restaurant in Temple, has been attacking Tyroch for her spending on the Temple City Council. He says she increased spending on culture and leisure services by over 100 percent, but gave highways and public safety much less. But, he does say she only has the endorsement of the firefighters and police force because she raised their salaries — so she hasn't completely left public safety in the dust.

Her return volley on the corridor is that the local panel doesn't approve or disapprove the thing — it's just an advisory committee.

The two haven't held any debates or forums since the primary. Sheffield says he's invited her, but she's refused. His answer on the taxes? He says he had some tough times but has paid all his debts and turned the business around.

HD-112

Want some heat? Look in Dallas' northeastern 'burbs.

Craig Murphy, Button's consultant, contends the campaign wanted to stay clean — but after starting calling Button out for her campaign donations to influential Dems, they had to get serious. Button's campaign sent out a footnoted press release with all kinds of attacks: Dunning raised property taxes and spending while on the Garland City Council, wanted to abolish the public school system, and wore a bulletproof vest to a city council meeting. There's also talk of him having a bunker under his home and calling a co-worker a Nazi. State Sens. John Carona, R-Dallas, and Florence Shapiro, R-Plano,wrote a letter to Republican voters, encouraging them to read up on Dunning and support Button.

Even the Dallas Observer is on Button's bandwagon. One story on Dunning features his picture with the caption "Republicans: Want a body-armored, property-rights advocating survivalist with links to the Republic of Texas militia as your next state representative? Vote for Randall Dunning on April 8."

Dunning has a lengthy reply to all this posted by Suzyblitz, a blogger we mentioned in our last HD-112 report. There, Dunning says the main source for these rumors is Garland City Councilman Larry Jeffus — and that Jeffus does some expensive political consulting for Button. That's true — she paid him more than $25,000 over the past few months. Dunning admits to donning the bulletproof vest — but as a joke after a council colleague threatened him. His "bunker" is apparently a tornado shelter.

"All of these attacks are a desperate attempt to rescue Ms. Button's campaign which is sinking from the weight of her numerous contributions and decade of support for liberal Dallas County Democrats," Dunning says, returning to his original strategy.

One more: His latest press release claims his opponent endorsed him — the last time he ran for Garland City Council.

HD-144

After the primary, we reported that Talton, the incumbent (he gave up the statehouse for an unsuccessful run for Congress), is backing Roberts. So is John Hughey, who ran against Legler and Roberts in the primary.

"Things are pretty status quo as far as information going out," says Roberts. "We send out one thing, they send out another."

Roberts says the most recent conflict involved Legler accusing Roberts of being responsible for tax increases — Roberts is a trustee of the Pasadena School Board.

"What he doesn't understand is that your taxes are associated with your appraisal caps," Roberts says. "Somebody coached him and had bad information."

Return fire? How's this: Legler has two homes, one in HD-144 and one in Friendswood, which is part of HD-129. That other house allows his daughter to go to Friendswood High School, where she's a junior and a Wranglerette. That's not only in a different House district; it's in a different school district, too.

One more thing. Legler's campaign site refers to him as "Legler, A Republican State Representative" across the top. Other banners on the site have the required "for," as in "Legler for state rep"; that one's missing.

—by Karie Meltzer

• U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has added a blog to his campaign website and found — in a sea of liberal bloggers — a list of conservative bloggers who've endorsed him for reelection. You know things have changed when a politician takes an endorsement from something called yeah, right, whatever. His chief challenger, Democrat Rick Noriega, turned his campaign website into a memorial this week to honor Americans killed in Iraq on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of that country.

• He can't vote in the election, but former Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting endorsed Rosemary Lehmberg in the hard-fought runoff for Travis County District Attorney. She and Mindy Montford are battling to replace their boss, Ronnie Earle, in the DA's office that has jurisdiction over state political and government figures.

• Now that he's committed to it, El Paso Democrat Joe Moody is trying to pull Republican Dee Margo into a self-imposed limit on the size of campaign contributions. Texas races have no limits; Moody's following the federal limits ($2,300 for individuals and $5,000 for political action committees) and says Margo should, too. The Republican's answer? Fuggetaboutit.

• An international dispute most people didn't know about has ended: Texas will start exporting beef to Mexico after a four-year ban. Ag Commission Todd Staples blocked Canadian cattle from being shipped to Mexico through Texas almost a month ago. The other border states on the American side joined in and that little blockade forced a settlement. Mexico blocked the sales in December 2003 because of concerns about mad cow disease.

Disappearing donors... mulling a vote count with a judge in the middle... and dirty tricks on the eve of the Party caucuses in Texas.

House candidate Randy Dunning lost the support of one of the state's best-known conservative financiers. Dunning's opponent, Angie Chen Button, gleefully announced that Dr. James Leininger of San Antonio decided to get off the Dunning bandwagon.

According to Button, Leininger called to say he won't give further support to Dunning and didn't give any specific reason other than saying he'd been misled.

Her camp is stepping up the attacks in these last days before the start of early voting. They're also shooting at Dunning for a letter to The Dallas Morning News in which he blasted the federal government for its handling of the Branch Davidian standoff near Waco. In a press release, she referred to Dunning's "fascination with the lunatic fringe" and his "ravings."

Leininger has given $15,000 to Dunning's campaign. Among his other contributions this cycle is a $100,000 donation to Empower Texas PAC, a group that "continues to proudly support" Dunning, according to Michael Quinn Sullivan, the exec there.

In a written statement, Dunning acknowledged the Leininger defection without naming him, saying, "our campaign is not and has never been about the agenda of one person." And then he renewed his attacks on Button for supporting Democrats — like Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk — in past elections.

• Rep. Nathan Macias — defeated by 38 votes on Election Day and still down by 17 after a recount — says he hasn't decided whether to keep up the fight over the numbers. The Bulverde Republican says he's still weighing his options and won't make a decision until after Monday, when election officials take their next step in finalizing the count. Doug Miller, the New Braunfels businessman on the winning side of that election, says he's hoping to put the thing to rest, now that the count and recount have both called the victor. Macias won that seat two years ago, in a similarly close election in which the incumbent lost the primary.

• On the eve of their county and Senate district caucuses, Texas Democrats are telling their voters that the deal's still on and that rumors of cancellations are untrue. They've had reports at the state party headquarters of people sending emails and making automated calls to tell delegates that the caucuses have been canceled. It's bunk: The second round of the Clinton-Obama fight for Texas delegates is on. Here's a list of locations.

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.